The Mechanic

• Directed by Michael Winner
• November 17, 1972 (New York)

An assassin takes under his wing the son of the former head of the organization he works for. What does that organization do? Be nefarious.

I admit to seeing the 2011 Statham version of The Mechanic before viewing this or even starting this blog. No smack on Bronson. Just how it worked out but I always wanted to see what the legendary Charles Bronson did in the original iteration of the story. He was a singular talent and presence that was amongst the scariest old men to ever get on camera.

Famously The Mechanic opens with professional hitman Arthur Bishop (Charles Bronson) not saying a word. He is on assignment and it is him going about his business. An interesting choice in general. Reflexively characters start yammering even if it is to NPCs that populate the scene just to convey whatever. Director Michael Winner, remembered largely for his Bronson collaborations, had enough skill to make interesting choices many of his contemporaries would not. This simple action tells you how cold Bishop can be about his work without taking a large chunk of dialogue to do so.

Bishop uses varied methods to kill his targets though never the same twice. Unlike other stories involving hired killers, his methods are designed to look natural or accidental. Like others he is cold and ruthless. There is the obvious indication that Bishop is succumbing to the pressure of the job. Whether it’s guilt or that his time may eventually come is never made clear. You could draw a conclusion based on the discovery of the contract given to his eventual protégé that he’s going to get killed some day that the stresses are building.

The story is a dangerous tutelage narrative where Bishop takes young Steve McKenna (Jan-Michael Vincent) under his wing after offing the senior McKenna (Keenan Wynn) whose hit was ordered by the mysterious and never elaborated upon group Bishop works for. No idea what they do or what their purpose is other than to be sinister. That works a bit in the story’s favor by keeping things focused on the main characters by avoiding that group’s extraneous complexities.

Jan-Michael Vincent was a talented young actor with a promising future then. I believe someone described him once as a surfer Robert Redford and I can see that. Steve is all smiles and charm but every word he utters shows a guy that is a genuine psychopath. He sees what Bishop is and wants to be just like him. That and he is fine with the fact Bishop killed his father at the behest of The Organization. Vincent married the charm and disturbed nature into an engaging character you forget has problems.

The darkest thing I ever saw Keenan Wynn take part in was an episode of The Twilight Zone and that wasn’t even that dark. As a numbers guy connected to the underworld not only does he have a different part, but he looks kind of different. His hair and mustache are trimmed down in a way I don’t can’t recall seeing him do you ever in his career. More observation that review.

It struck me as a bit predictable that Steve gets contracted to kill Bishop. Bishop upset his superiors by not asking before getting a student. It is not like Steve has several kills under his belt. The one he helped with went badly despite its eventual success. So was this something to create a win-win for them? Steve either kills a possible issue or Bishop kills the unapproved addition. That is all head canon though.

I was left feeling that this script started out as a bit of something else. The dossiers issued for the kills gave this the feel of a spy thriller but those we meet in The Organization make this have the appearance of a crime drama. Did this begin as something else or were Winner and pals trying to make it into something else? You cannot watch this and come away not thinking that.

I was a little surprised by how few kills there were in The Mechanic. I don’t know why but I was expecting much more murders. Maybe it is because of his later work. The film works hard to be a character study involving a man who knows his time is coming paired with a cocky upstart who wants to learn but always thinks he knows just a little better.

In an oft used movie trope there are shades of don’t-count-out-the-old-guy when it comes to Bishop who may have slowed a bit still has skill and experience on his side. The ending demonstrates that perfectly. A kill from beyond the grave accompanied by a Bronson voiceover.

The Mechanic is one more violent classic from Charles Bronson. Despite a feeling of being repurposed, it is an interesting story with a near perfect ending.