Movie review: ‘The Mechanic’ (1972)

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Charles Bronson made his biggest mark on screen with “Death Wish” bringing vigilante justice to the streets at just the right time when people were getting fed up with the rising crime rate. From one film came a franchise. However, Bronson wasn’t a one-trick pony and despite being labeled a Clint wannabee or an Eastwood light, Charles starred in all the genres: Westerns such as the classic “The Magnificent Seven;” war films such as the classic “The Great Escape” – click here to read my review – or the equally classic “The Dirty Dozen;” espionage such as “Telefon” – click here for my review; and crime such as “The Valachi Papers” (click here to read my review). However, one film with him that stands out in my mind as much as “Death Wish” or “The Great Escape” and it is a minor classic in its own right because it is so good: “The Mechanic.” Bronson plays a cold, ruthless killer and is much, much more than just a “Bronson action flick.

‘The Mechanic’
(1972; 100 minutes; rated PG; directed by Michael Winner and starring Charles Bronson, Jan-Michael Vincent and Keenan Wynn)

BRONSON DOESN’T WORK ON CARS IN ‘THE MECHANIC’

(NOTE: I expanded this review with a little more opinion, some extra trivia and the updating of links on Oct. 24, 2016. I again expanded the review on April 2, 2020. I again expanded the review on June 1, 2024.)

Yes, “The Mechanic” is an action film. Yes, “The Mechanic” is a Charles Bronson film. Yes, “The Mechanic” is a Charles Bronson action film. However, don’t be fooled if you choose to stereotype him or the genre. “The Mechanic” is an intricately layered motion picture and has great characterizations that ultimately overpower the solid action sequences – and that makes it a film worth seeing.

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“The Mechanic” brings Bronson and director Michael Winner together two years before the beginning of their better-known collaboration in the great “Death Wish” and then for its horrible sequels both with and without Winner. “The Mechanic” adds a solid co-starring turn by a then-youthful (and now the late) Jan-Michael Vincent and four stars for Keenan Wynn’s supporting performance.

Someone “rebooted” the film in 2011 and laid a pretty big egg with “The Mechanic” with Jason Statham. It wasn’t very good (only 102nd at the box office and even behind the equally pathetic “reboot” of “Footloose” at 67th) and the original is certainly embarrassed for it. I like Statham and know he can do good work, but ah, Hollywood, what a wasteland of creativity you’ve been in for years now with crappy remaking of excellent films.

Well, now, back to the better “Mechanic” film …

Bronson plays “Arthur Bishop,” a professional killer – or a “mechanic” in crime lingo, well, supposedly such a moniker. His trademarks are a cold professionalism and detachment from his job as being apart from the rest of humanity. Bronson perfectly plays his character as an urbane, sophisticated and knowledgeable man who stays within himself and doesn’t let anyone near – he even has a smoking jacket and pipe in the visual of wealth and sophistication of the era that appears so tacky today. He lives in elegant seclusion in a wonderfully decorated home, which looks really tired and dated today, and works out by playing handball and studying the martial arts. He’s even a pilot.

Still, despite the veneer of civilization, he is a killer and nothing, not even something like his lifetime friendship with a friend stand in the way of one of his assignments. It’s not the usual characterization of a killer and I’m sure Bronson was proud of his work in this one.

Of course, his persona evolves when he meets Vincent, who plays “Steve,” the son of Wynn’s character “Big Harry McKenna.” Wynn was Bronson’s friend, but that didn’t prevent “the Mechanic” from going to work on him. Vincent doesn’t know that Bronson has killed his father and hooks up with him to become his apprentice and therefore a protégé killer learning the trade.

Surprisingly, the film is intricate in its structure, with Winner taking time to show Bronson’s meticulous preparations for hits and his life in general from flying to karate. Bronson also uses arcane techniques such as lip reading to help in his profession. In the romance department, Bronson’s character is drawn to a high-class hooker played by his real-life wife Jill Ireland. Ireland’s character is known only as “The Girl” and at first you believe she is a real love interest. However, it’s soon obvious that their relationship is important to him but in a kind of creepy way.

Bronson and Vincent wend their way together through training and a mission, but not all is well. The story then takes a different turn and the two wind up in an overseas assignment that runs out to just before the end of the film.

The final frames are a surprise and I won’t ruin it for you here.

Here’s a look at some in the principal cast:

  • A Golden Globe winner and Primetime Emmy nominee, Bronson manages to bring subtle excellence to a role that could have been a shallow effort by another actor or even by himself (he did it many other times). Bronson really pushes himself in the “Arthur Bishop” character and comes off much more solid in acting talent than most would give him credit. Just as “The Mechanic” would be “rebooted,” so has another Bronson was in: “The Magnificent Seven” from 1960. I haven’t the remake, but I’m positive it won’t be as good as the iconic classic from which it sprung. I also liked Charles in “ Majestyk.” He won the Globe’s “Henrietta Award” (now a “retired” honor as “World Film Favorite – Male”) along with Sean Connery in 1972 and was nominated for his Emmy for an episode of “General Electric Theater.” Unfortunately, he could scrape the bottom of the barrel, too, as he did with “The Evil That Men Do” (click here for my look at it). Bronson died at 81 in 2003 of a variety of ailments including COPD and lung cancer.
  • A two-time Golden Globe nominee (not for this one), Vincent gives a wonderful turn with a near-perfect definition of insouciance here. He just doesn’t care about anything – until he joins up with Bronson and learns his lessons very, very well. Vincent is very, very good and plays well to the camera. I like how Vincent kept from overplaying the role – and it would have been all too easy to do – and that this performance from him wound up being part of a hit (no pun intended). He was in a variety of films such as “Born in East L.A.” and TV shows such as being the star of “Airwolf” and even going back to the classic “Bonanza,” where his credit was as just Michael Vincent. I liked him best in the stuntman flick “Hooper” opposite Burt Reynolds (click here for my review) and he was nominated for the movie “Going Home” and the TV mini-series “The Winds of War.” I first saw Vincent as a crime victim in September 1967 on the iconic Jack Webb tee-vee series “Dragnet” in “The Grenade” (season 2, episode 1) when he was billed as Michael Vincent. He died at 73 in 2019 of cardiac arrest.
  • Ireland gave a solid effort here, but her character is basically lost. There just wasn’t much of a way to elevate with what little she had to work. Still, she earns a positive grade for this one. Ireland, who had been married to Bronson since 1968 when “The Mechanic” came out, had previously been married for a decade to “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.’s” David McCallum. Bronson and Ireland worked together 16 times and she has a resume stuffed with memorable 1960s TV shows including “Mannix” and “Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.” Sadly, she died at 54 of breast cancer in 1990.
  • A Primetime Emmy nominee, Wynn is also solid here with his blustering countenance. However, he turns it over as he begs Bronson to help him. Not bad, Kennan, not bad. He had an astoundingly prolific career with 278 credits spanning from World War II until his death from pancreatic cancer in 1986. Wynn’s better known films include “ Strangelove or: How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb” and “The Great Race” and was with most major TV series (including “The Mod Squad”) and motion picture megastars (such as Rock Hudson in “Pretty Maids All in a Row”) in his amazing career. Wynn was nominated for an episode of “Police Woman.”

Overall, the action scenes are tight and dramatic, from a motorcycle chase to the two men’s assault on a yacht and subsequent chase along the coast of Italy. I’m glad to note there’s no over-the-top, artless and just plain foolish action such as you’ll find stem to stern in the vile “Shoot ’Em Up” from 2007 (click here for my look at that one).

You can do a checklist to show why you should watch “The Mechanic:” It is entertaining; it has nice action; it has excellent work presenting the characters; there’s nothing really profane or too bloody to offend; and, finally and best of all, it has a wonderfully layered plot. Watch it!

Here is artwork used on the DVD release of “The Mechanic” starring Charles Bronson.

Also, don’t be fooled by the silly DVD art showing Bronson with a rifle with a target-shooter’s handle. It’s pure marketing and you can check out the neat original movie posters in this review.

“The Mechanic” was outside the top 10 grossing films of 1972, according to Wiki. The year’s No. 1 film was, of course, “The Godfather” with $133.6 million. It was followed by “The Poseidon Adventure” ($93.3 million) and the Barbara Streisand crapfest “What’s Up Doc?” ($66 million). The porn flick “Behind the Green Door” would have come in fourth with $50 million, but Hollywood was turning up its official nose at it. Here are films from 1972 that I’ve reviewed …

Here are some cast and film notes (via IMDb.com):

  • The original casting decision of having Cliff Robertson and Jeff Bridges in the co-starring roles was a pretty stupid one. I don’t have anything against either actor and have enjoyed the work of both, but neither would have fit in here as well as Bronson and Vincent.
  • The body count in this one is reportedly 25 (I didn’t bother to count the last time I watched it before I wrote this review).
  • Linda Ridgeway plays Vincent’s girlfriend and IMDb.com notes she is “known for The Mechanic.” Of course she is … it’s her only role in either TV or films.
  • The film doesn’t begin dialogue until more than 15 minutes after the start.
  • Bronson was 50 when the movie was filmed and, in an interesting note, shared a room in a boarding house with Jack Klugman in the 1940s.
  • Finally and directly from IMDb.com: “Notable Hollywood and Los Angeles locations seen in this picture include a Manderville Canyon ranch once owned by actor Robert Taylor, the Pasadena mansion used for Wayne Manor in the TV series Batman (1966), the Hollywood Wax Museum and La Esperanza, a forty-roomed Hollywood Hills manor house at the time belonging to actress Greta Garbo.”

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