Death Wish

A New York City architect becomes a one-man vigilante squad after his wife is murdered by street punks in which he randomly goes out and kills would-be muggers on the mean streets after dark.

• Director: Michael Winner
• Genre:Action / Crime

Cast

Charles Bronson : Paul Kersey
Hope Lange : Joanna Kersey
Vincent Gardenia: Detective Frank Ochoa
Steven Keats : Jack Toby
William Redfield: Sam Kreutzer

The film opens with a montage of Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) and his wife Joanna (Hope Lange) vacationing in Hawaii. They return to New York City where Paul works as an architect. That day, Joanna and their daughter Carol Anne (Kathleen Tolan) are out shopping for groceries at D’Agostino’s Supermarket. Three hooligans (one of whom is played by Jeff Goldblum in an early film appearance) are wreaking havoc in the supermarket, and catch Joanna’s address after she tells a man at the store that she would like the groceries delivered to her apartment. They follow her to the apartment, and ring the doorbell. Believing it to be the delivery man from the grocery store, Carol answers. The hooligans proceed in and trash the apartment. They then search the apartment for money, but only find $7. The three hooligans then sexually assault Carol, killing Joanna in the process before fleeing the scene.

Paul receives a call from his son-in-law Jack Toby (Steven Keats), explaining that both Joanna and Carol are in the hospital, but is not told yet of their current condition. After waiting impatiently at the hospital, Paul is told by a doctor that his wife has died. Devastated by the loss, he goes to the police but is told that the likelihood of catching the criminals is small. The next day at work, Paul’s boss gives him an extended business vacation to Tucson, Arizona to meet a client, Ames Jainchill (Stuart Margolin), who shows him the ropes.

While in Arizona, Paul witnesses a mock gunfight at Old Tucson, a reconstructed Western frontier town that is often used as a movie set. The day before Paul leaves, Ames invites him to a gun club, and is impressed when Paul shoots near bulls-eye accuracy. He reveals that he used to be a crack shot in his youth, and although he was a “CO” (conscientious objector) during the Korean War he served his country as a combat medic. Ames drops Paul off at the airport, and puts a little going-away present in his bag. Read more