Mr Majestyk **** (1974, Charles Bronson, Linda Cristal, Al Lettieri, Lee Purcell, Paul Koslo) – Classic Movie Review 8,320

The 1974 film Mr Majestyk is one of Charles Bronson’s most effective action thrillers thanks to Richard Fleischer’s buzzing direction and Elmore Leonard’s hard-nosed original screenplay.

The 1974 film Mr Majestyk is one of Charles Bronson’s most effective action thrillers thanks to Richard Fleischer’s buzzing direction and Elmore Leonard’s playful but tough original thriller screenplay. It is Bronson’s only cinema movie written by Leonard, though they seem made for each other.

Bronson overcomes unlikely casting as a troubled Middle-American melon farmer, Vietnam veteran Vince Majestyk, working with Chicano workers, who is wrongly jailed by Detective Lieutenant McAllen (Frank Maxwell), but escapes in a freedom bid by hit men trying to rescue menacing mobster hit man Frank Renda (Al Lettieri). Then Bronson captures Lettieri and tells the cops that he will swap him for his own release.

Mr Majestyk is different, intriguing and involving – and excellent of its kind.

Also in the cast are Linda Cristal, Lee Purcell, Alejandro Rey, Taylor Lacher, Jordan Rhodes and Bert Santos.

Paul Koslo (1944-2019).

Paul Koslo has a notable role as Bobby Kopas, a local strong arm guy who makes the mistake of trying to muscle Majestyk into hiring his crew. And, intimidating Bronson in Mr Majestyk, Lettieri shows why he was one of the most convincing heavies of Seventies cinema. His best known role was as mobster  Virgil ‘The Turk’ Sollozo trying to eliminate Marlon Brando in The Godfather (1972) and he notably played the brutal, libidinous henchman Rudy Butler in The Getaway. He died of a heart attack in New York City in October 1975, aged 47 .

Alfredo Anthony Lettieri (February 24, 1928 – October 18, 1975).

It is shot on Colorado locations in La Junta, Cañon City, Rocky Ford, and Manzanola.

The Ford Motor Company used scenes of Charles Bronson driving Majestyk’s 1968 Ford F-100 pickup truck in commercials for its 1976 trucks to show how tough their trucks were.

Elmore Leonard took the name Majestyk from a character in his 1969 crime novel The Big Bounce and later wrote a novelisation of the film.

Release date: July 12, 1974.

Running time: 103 minutes.

The cast

The cast are Charles Bronson as Vince Majestyk, Al Lettieri as Frank Renda, Linda Cristal as Nancy Chavez, Lee Purcell as Wiley, Paul Koslo as Bobby Kopas, Taylor Lacher as Gene Lundy, Frank Maxwell as Sheriff Detective Lieutenant Johnny McAllen, Alejandro Rey as Larry Mendoza and Bert Santos as Julio Tomas.

Mr Majestyk is directed by Richard Fleischer, runs 103 minutes, is made by the Mirisch Corporation, is released by United Artists, is written by Elmore Leonard, is shot in 35mm Panavision and DeLuxe colour by Richard H Kline, is produced by Walter Mirisch, and is scored by Charles Bernstein.

 © Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8,320

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