Taught, quiet, and determined to do whatever it takes to get the job done.
Charles Bronson on this episode of Superstars of Action.
Novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald is credited with the statement, action is character, a sentiment
that perfectly describes the film persona of Charles Bronson.
Dependable, resolute, and proud, a man defined not by what he says, but by what he does.
Well, you know what they say, a picture's worth a thousand words.
Charles Bronson is one of the most enduring heroes in movie history.
His tough, honest performances have made him a top box office attraction for more than
five decades.
Charles Bronson was born Charles Bunchinsky, the fifth of 15 children.
The only family member to finish high school, young Bronson inherited a working class ethic
that he never lost.
He told me a story one time that I thought was kind of intriguing.
He discovered that...
Producer, director, Irvin Kershner.
He said, well, I came to Philadelphia when I left my coal mining town, which was either
Scranton or Wilkes-Barre or something like that in Pennsylvania.
He said, I came to Philadelphia and joined a gym and got a job in a restaurant on Broad
Street.
Yeah, I was a waiter and just waited on the tables.
And after a week, and he thought he was doing a great job, he was rushing around and trying
to get everything right.
And the owner came to him and called him over the side and said, I'm sorry, Charles, but
I have to let you go.
He said, well, what do I do?
I mean, I've been working hard, long hours, 12 hours a day.
What do I do?
He said, you're scaring the customers.
Bronson served during World War Two as a tail gunner aboard a B-29 bomber.
I was drafted into the army.
It wasn't lucky for me.
I was drafted into the army, saw what the world looked like, and started making decisions.
And that was back in 1943.
When his tour of duty ended, he returned home and began college as an art student.
When I got out of the army, I started moving around and I ended up in Philadelphia and
I was involved with a bunch of people who were artists of different sorts.
They were mostly opera singers.
They were studying opera.
Some were actors.
I was going to an art school at the time and, you know, some were painters as well as
myself. I was only learning at the time.
And getting involved with some of the actors, you know, who were friends, I became
interested. And that's how I started.
Bitten by the acting bug, Bronson headed to Hollywood.
There is only one way east.
Of course, there are many side trails.
Started out doing small roles.
And lucky for me, it went my way.
It was Australian TV at its very best, a showcase of exceptional talents that shaped a
television generation.
You missed a tremendous time.
8.30 tonight, Don Lane returns in a special presentation.
Not tonight, it's my pyramid.
With special guests, the D Generation.
You realize we're on air?
And witness the origins of our 90s icons.
Plus a remarkable reunion with Burt Newton, the very best of the Don Lane show.
8.30 tonight online.
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Can you spot the warning signs?
That's right, the top button.
Obviously, this person lacks pride in his personal appearance.
He's addicted to battle arena toast in death for safety reasons.
We may view only a few seconds.
Do not underestimate the power of PlayStation.
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If this was a commercial for an ordinary hand blender, it would finish about now.
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Old Major Colner.
Go. Move ahead.
Bronson's craggy chiseled features and muscular physique made him perfect for the macho
westerns and war films being made in the early 50s.
Sorry, it's against regulations.
This man mustn't leave ship.
Wait now, my wife, we live here right in the city.
I fought for this country.
You'll have a fair hearing, Stanishevsky.
When?
In 1954, Hollywood was in the grips of an anti-communist red scare led by the infamous
Senator Joe McCarthy.
Names that sounded even vaguely Russian were deemed suspect and Charles Bunchinsky was
advised to change his name.
Reluctantly, the young actor found a new name at a famous Hollywood street.
Now working as Charles Bronson, his rugged good looks helped him win his first starring
role in the 1958 B movie Machine Gun Kelly.
Producer director Roger Corman.
What I saw in Charlie Bronson for Machine Gun Kelly was a powerful persona, yet at the
same time, a persona, a psychology that had some elements of sensitivity within it.
During most of Charlie's career, the films he's played have enabled him to show much
of that element of sensitivity.
But for Kelly and for much of his other good work, he's been able to show that he's
really a very gifted actor.
Bronson continued to build his reputation as a respected character actor with notable
performances in two classic films, The Epic Western, The Magnificent Seven, and the
classic World War Two film, The Great Escape.
In 1967, Bronson turned in a dark, brooding performance in The Dirty Dozen.
Bronson's performance showed he was ready to become a leading man.
What the hell are you talking about, claimed?
He was going over the hill.
My outfit was pinned down by half of him bleeding to death, and this lover, he took
off like a jackrabbit with all the medical supplies strapped to his back.
The only way to stop him was to shoot him.
Yeah, but you only made one mistake there.
You let somebody see you do it.
Bronson left the United States in 1968 to seek more substantial roles in European films.
Went over there to do a picture with Alan Dillon.
It was called a Julie Me, farewell friend.
And then I was asked again to do a picture over there called Rider on the Rain.
Now, the picture was big here in America, but both of them were some two of the best
pictures I'd ever done.
And Sergio Leone, the guy who did Fistful of Dollars and A Few Dollars More, he asked
me to do those pictures, by the way, which I turned down because reading the script of
Fistful of Dollars, it was so ridiculous, you know, that I thought, no, I can't do that.
So I turned it down.
Then he offered me the part with Clint Eastwood in for a few dollars more.
I think Lee Van Cleef did it and I turned that one down and then he wanted me to do
the ugly and good, bad and ugly and I turned that down.
Then he came along with Once Upon a Time in the West and I kind of liked that and did that.
Bronson's perseverance paid off when he won the Golden Globe as the world's most popular
actor.
His ability to speak through action enabled him to cross all language barriers.
It's international pictures that I have been doing.
I mean, they were suitable for audiences all over the world.
I mean, they were that kind of story.
This is why I try to do what I'm doing now, because they're entertainment for international
audiences.
You obviously, when you go on action, when you feel it's right for you to go, go.
But when you get back here, Charlie, I'd like you to fall down here.
I'd like you to fall down here for two reasons.
One, I want to stop my next shot on you and two, for protection.
In 1972, Bronson starred in the Spanish-British western Chateau's Land.
Bronson's silent presence was so powerful that he was able to lead a cast which included
Jack Palance and Richard Baszart while speaking only 15 lines in the entire film.
With the U.S. release of the Vallachi papers, Bronson's fame was exported back to the United
States.
Bronson proved that he was now a box office draw anywhere in the world.
Next, Bronson scored big with The Mechanic.
I'm empty.
The Mechanic stars Bronson as a professional hitman who teaches his deadly craft to a young
protege played by Jan Michael Vincent.
He was pretty experienced by the time he'd been in the business for a long time and I
was relatively new at it.
One of them had a walkie-talkie, he was in contact with somebody.
And there they are, it's a roadblock.
Slow down.
When you're about 200 feet from them, put it in first like you're going to stop.
Keep it rolling.
Watch this against the gas pedal.
Jump when I say so.
Well, he appears very set and hard on the outside, but I think he's got an awful lot
of tenderness inside me.
I know he really cared for his family.
He's very, very involved in his family.
Director Michael Winner.
He's very, very believable as a family man, but I don't think anyone would want to see
him as a family man for a hundred minutes.
You'd want to see him as a family man plus a protector and killer.
And I think this odd European face and this rather strange voice, which he himself hates,
he hates his voice.
He's very happy to cut lines out because he just hates his own voice.
But in fact, I think it's a rather reassuring voice.
Erwin Winkler produced The Mechanic.
He didn't talk a lot and he was a man of action rather than words.
And again, I think it suited a certain time and place in cinema history.
It's the kind of scripts that are offered me.
They're a kind of action based an awful lot on realism rather than the comic strip, you
know, superhero kind of thing.
And we try to stay within that category, the category of reality.
It took 20 years for Charles Bronson to grow from bit player to box office champion.
Next, Bronson came home to make his mark on Hollywood.
See the first television performance of Berlin, a show from Ice House and the Sydney Dance
Company, a newswoman's shocking revelations, plus Russell Crowe and Lee Carnegie.
This week, midday online.
From the start, she's been unforgettable.
Now Madonna gives us something to remember.
Something to Remember also features 3D songs, including the new single.
14 of Madonna's greatest ballads is Something to Remember.
My Jess is basically a do-it-yourself expert.
She's even done a course in tech, so she knows what to look for in a hardware store.
Our friend Rusty goes more for the bigger power tools and stuff.
I must say they've got a big choice of brands and good prices.
Jess is very fussy about price too.
So, now Rusty's happy and so are me and Jess, which just goes to prove there's no place like home.
Here's a fantastic offer from Copper Art.
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It's the craziest collection of comical calamities destined for grand final glory.
The best of the best go head-to-head in the battle for the $50,000 first prize.
Funniest time videos end of year grand final 7.30 Tuesday online.
In the 1970s, Charles Bronson had become the quintessential strong silent action hero.
You know, I saw a picture quite a while ago, a long time ago.
Bob Aldrich had it and he showed it to us when we were doing The Dirty Dozen.
And it was called The Sins of Our Ancestors.
And it was a Russian picture.
It was a terrific picture.
You could cut any frame out of that picture and hang it on a wall that was so beautifully photographed, you know.
And this is what, when I was watching it I was thinking,
this is what they meant when they said one picture's worth a thousand words, you see.
Now words of course are very important, but not that important in making movies.
In Mr. Majestic and other of Bronson's best films,
he plays a Colorado farmer marked for death by syndicate hitmen.
Director Richard Fleischer worked with Bronson, Mr. Majestic.
He emanated a great strength and he has the look of kind of the common man,
which I think is his great appeal and great attraction that people in the audience can identify with him.
Bronson was at the top of his form in Death Wish, one of the biggest hits of 1974.
Bronson plays a frustrated citizen determined to punish the criminals who brutalized his family.
Come on down, we're going to take you.
Come on down and bring us the money, honey.
How much money you got, honey?
He will adapt any character to his own persona,
which I think is quite right and proper for a star to do.
And you knew that if Paul Kersey, the architect of Death Wish, was played by Bronson,
it would be a very different portrayal than if, say, it had been by Paul Newman.
And Charlie plays them as a taciturn man who is thinking far more than he says.
And what he is particularly good at, Charlie, is not talking.
He's absolutely wonderful at walking, appearing from behind corners, looking, shooting, running.
He's a very good athlete. Some actors are not good at running.
And he brings this great sense of menace and this great sense that he was a rather nice, decent man
who is capable and will explode.
Death Wish struck a raw nerve with contemporary audiences.
So popular was Bronson's avenging vigilante character that four Death Wish sequels have followed.
Producer, Manakam Gola.
He's like Gary Cooper, you know? He's a cool star.
And people like a cool kind of a man when he's on the screen.
I mean, the make-my-day kind of characters.
The man is protecting a family, a wife, a child.
And he's doing it in a very cool way that people will identify with it.
Hollywood Reporter columnist, Robert Osborne.
He is the one that I think that when you think of urban action star, you really think of him first and foremost,
particularly from all those films in the 70s.
In 1975, Bronson starred with James Colburn in Hard Times.
Bronson plays a tight-lipped street brawler and Colburn plays the hustler who finds him work.
Hard Times producer, Lawrence Gordon.
Charlie Bronson, if you're going to make a film about a street fighter,
a guy who makes his living fighting on the streets for money in the Depression,
that's the perfect casting. He was just great.
We were so excited that he was interested in even talking to us.
We couldn't wait. And neither of us had met him.
We went to his agent's office to meet with him.
And I remember he said to me, I'm no bigger than you are.
Why do you think I could play this kind of role?
And I said, Charlie, we may be the same height, but you look a lot better than I do.
You have to stay in shape in order to handle the action.
And not get hurt.
My exercise is nearly every day or no less than every other day.
Use them.
Foul!
God damn it, get those poppers out of here!
Use them!
F**k it, b**tard!
Throughout the 1980s, Bronson continued to make movies that reinforced his image as an
international action superstar.
In many of these films, Bronson co-starred with his wife, actress,
actress, Jill Ireland.
In 1981, Bronson starred in Death Hunt, produced by Albert S. Ruddy.
A consummate professional.
I mean, no nonsense.
He'll stand out in the cold for an hour and a half, waiting for the next shot.
I mean, he's, the man is no fluke.
I mean, Charlie Bronson isn't a star just because, you know, he happened to be at the
right place at the right time.
I mean, he's a guy who's worked very hard in the business.
And you get what you see with him.
And as a producer and as a director, a delight to work with.
In 1988, Bronson retired from filmmaking to devote himself to his wife, Jill Ireland,
as she heroically battled cancer.
Bronson refused to leave her side.
When she passed away in 1990, Bronson made sure that the entire family was with her.
Charlie Bronson was unconsolable.
He had lost the love of his life.
I'm sure the secret to Bronson's success is kindness.
You feel that there is a kind man in there.
You feel there is a man who cares.
And I think that gives him a little edge on some of his contemporaries.
I had heard stories how difficult he was, or at least he could be.
Well, I didn't find that to be true.
I found it very easy to work with him.
He wanted to make sure that you knew what you wanted.
And once he was satisfied with that, he was yours.
He did what he had to do.
I found him difficult to get to know and difficult to break through a kind of barrier that he puts up.
But he does have a depth of character that he brings to the part.
One word says it all.
A drug lord they can't nail.
He's just one man.
And he's D-Man.
Because of a leak they can't find.
Because of the witnesses.
They can't keep alive.
He collects copper scalps like you and I collect crocs.
A Wednesday mystery full of fire, power and conflict.
With John Stanton, Lisa Hensley and AFI award winner Stephen Peidler.
He had a gun aimed at your partner.
Today's the day.
AFI award winner Stephen Peidler.
He had a gun aimed at your partner.
Today's your day.
And my day is coming.
Prevention.
Streamy as Wednesday, 8.30 on 9.
Are you locked into a dull old world with no future?
Use language as the key and escape to an exciting new world.
Our revolutionary new language learning system will open the door to new career opportunities in commerce and travel.
The Vocational Language Learning Centre can have you speaking a new language in just 10 weeks.
If you're serious about a career with a future, call the Vocational Language Learning Centre now.
Communication pays.
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At America's oldest registered distillery, Jack Daniels in Tennessee, nobody hurries much.
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Communication pays.
In 1993, Bronson was finally ready to return to work.
The result was Donato and Daughter.
The story of two tough cops who also happen to be father and daughter.
When I was a kid, I didn't see very many movies.
As a kid, to get a dime to see a matinee was very difficult.
At that time, this was pre-World War II.
You would have to go out and look for junk to sell to the junk man.
And for a hundred pounds of iron, you got eight cents.
And then to haul it to the junk man who lived a mile and a half away,
you carry this hundred pounds either in a wheelbarrow or on your back in a sack.
For ten cents, you didn't see many movies.
And you could make better use of that ten cents.
Charles Bronson defied the popular wisdom that movie heroes must be young hunks
willing to share their personal lives with their fans.
Bronson became a sex symbol at 50 and has been as tight-lipped about his life
off-screen as his characters are on-screen.
His career has shown that actions speak louder than words.
Charles Bronson brings the soul of a working man to his films.
He remains a symbol of toughness, dependability, and moral strength.
Never one to speak pages of dialogue.
Every line on Bronson's legendary face speaks volumes to audiences around the world.
Until next time, see you at the movies.
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