THE FILM
FILM DIRECTOR: Richard Fleischer
SCREENWRITER: Elmore Leonard
FILM STARS: Charles Bronson, Linda Cristal, Al Lettieri, Lee Purcell, Paul Koslo, Alejandro Rey, Bert Santos
COUNTRY: USA
THIS BOOK
AUTHOR: Elmore Leonard
TYPE: Novel
PUBLISHER: Dell
THIS EDITION PUBLISHED: 1974
COUNTRY: USA
COVER: Paperback
THE ORIGINAL BOOK
ORIGINAL AUTHOR: As Above
YEAR FIRST PUBLISHED: 1974
ORIGINAL BOOK TITLE: The film title
NOTES
GENRE: Action
WORDS: The film follows the book closely or, rather, the book follows the film closely. Despite being called a novel it seems to be a novelization. Leonard wrote the film’s original screenplay first it seems, and the book followed and must have included most of the rewrites (if any). But, it reads like a novel as Leonard flushes out his characters with lots of back story and internal monologue that aren’t in the film.
Leonard took the name Majestyk from a character in an earlier novel of his, The Big Bounce (1969) but, otherwise, there seems to be no further relation between both characters. Leonard’s book is vivid in its violence as its hero deals with corruption and organised crime. What is especially attractive is the semi rural (Colorado) setting rather than the city as you would otherwise expect in man up against the mob type film.
The title character Vince Majestyk, a stubborn loner, is a role that is perfect for Bronson. It is perhaps one of Bronson’s best leading roles. No one can play an angry watermelon farmer like Bronson!
Cops talking to Majestyk who want to arrest a bad guy but need Majestyk’s help.
“Still worried about your melons. You’re not going to get them picked if you’re dead.”
“And if I’m dead it won’t matter, will it?”
“You want to bet your life against a melon crop— All right, you’re on your own”.
“I have been from the beginning.”
This could have been Bronson writing a script for his own persona.
Leonard has a knack for short punchy paragraphs giving all the characters lives and backstories, even marginal or fringe ones. Bad guy, Frank Renda, wondering what he is doing with his boring girlfriend and life …
“She was starting to annoy him. Not too much yet, but starting. He had dumped a wife who had bored the shit out of him, talking all the time, buying clothes and showing them to him, and now he had a girl who was a college graduate drama major, very bright, who read dirty books. Books she thought were dirty. He said to himself. Where are you? What the fuck are you doing?”
Of course, what the bad guys don’t know is the farmer happens to be a Vietnam vet, with skills. The quiet loner pushed too far and who, unbeknownst to the bad guys, happens to be a Vietnam veteran, is a recurrent theme in 70s actions films … Billy Jack (1971), Welcome Home Soldier Boys (1971), (the great) Rolling Thunder (1977), Good Guys Wear Black (1978), and culminating in First Blood (1982) which launched another cycle of Vietnam vet action films. But here under director Richard Fleischer (a much underrated director) it is given A movie status rather than 70s B Action Movie status … even if is A status with B trappings. Fleischer’s films are always good to look at, expressive and vivid without being excessive.
Perhaps there is a wider message (about labour – Hispanic farm workers were in the news at the time) but the film unfolds from one incident and is in short compass. It is a great 70s action film (any film with Al Lettieri and Paul Koslo in the supporting cast has to be watched) and the book, a great read.
LINKS
TRAILER
Again you fail to mention “Chrome and Hot Leather” as a movie about a Vietnam Vet that gets pushed too hard. You referred to a few B grade movies in your post but maybe you weren’t including C or D grade movies. That’s fair enough. But it was Marvin Gaye’s biggest and best acting role! (TBH – woeful.)
Mitchell
Good point – I did forget about “Chrome and Hot Leather” (though to be fair to myself, I knew there was a biker film on theme but I couldn’t recall which one). As you know Marvin’s other “acting” role in the Made for TV film, “Ballad of Andy Crocker (1969) has similar themes but without the explosive violence.
Another B Grade Vietnam Vet movie around this time was Norwood with Glen Campbell. It’s not in the “pushed too far” category though. As you know, it reunites True Grit co-stars Glen Campbell and Kim Darby and was based on the novel of the same title, written by Charles Portis (who also wrote True Grit), but updated from the original 1950s setting to 1970s. Wikipedia also quotes Richard Combs of The Monthly Film Bulletin “At its best, Marguerite Roberts’ screenplay provides some amiable regional comedy; at its worst, when tidying up the novel’s loose ends (complete to Norwood’s final appearance on country and western radio), it suggests how the material of Midnight Cowboy might have looked if turned into a vehicle for Elvis Presley.” Pretty sure I have the book lying around at home…with the Patrick dvd.
Ta. I have the “Norwood” film tie-in edition (and the film). It will end up on here sooner or later. I didn’t include in the Vietnam vet film references because it’s more of a comedy drama rather than an action film. I love Glen but lead role material he wasn’t.