The Mechanic (1972 film)

The film was based on an original story by Lewis John Carlino. He said he came up with the idea while researching his script for The Brotherhood (1968). Producer Ted Dubin, a New York entrepreneur, put up some development money so that Carlino could write it.[2] Carlino called it, "a sort of existential statement on the licence to kill and what is occurring in our society, how legalized murder is occurring through our institutions."[3]

Carlino formed a partnership with Dubin and producer Martin Poll. In February 1969 Carlino announced he had written two films that would be made by producer Martin Poll the following year: The Catalyst, about a wealthy man whose search for meaning leads him to start a revolution in Africa, and The Mechanic. He said The Mechanic was about "professionals who dispassionately murder people by contract" and was "a look at the nature of violence and counter-violence in our society."[4] In April 1969 it was announced Cliff Robertson would star with Ted Dubin to produce alongside Poll for Universal.[5]

Filming was delayed. Eventually the film was sold to Chartoff-Winkler who had a deal with United Artists. Carlino was paid $100,000 plus one-third of 50% of the profits.[6]

Monte Hellman was scheduled to direct The Mechanic. He and screenwriter Lewis John Carlino worked on the script for several weeks before producers switched studios and hired Michael Winner to direct.[7]

In Carlino's original script, the relationship between Arthur Bishop and Steve McKenna was explicitly gay. Producers had difficulty securing financing and several actors, including George C. Scott, flatly refused to consider the script until the homosexuality was removed. Carlino described The Mechanic as "one of the great disappointments of my life", continuing:

"I wanted a commentary on the use of human relationships and sexual manipulation in the lives of two hired killers. It was supposed to be a chess game between the older assassin and his young apprentice. The younger man sees that he can use his sexuality to find the Achilles heel that he needs to win. There was a fascinating edge to it, though, because toward the end the younger man began to fall in love, and this fought with his desire to beat the master and take his place as number one ... The picture was supposed to be a real investigation into this situation, and it turned into a pseudo James Bond film."[8]

In November 1971 it was announced Charles Bronson would star under the direction of Michael Winner for producers Chartoff and Winkler. Filming was to begin December 6, 1971.[9] Jan Michael Vincent's casting was announced early December 1971.[10]

Filming took place in Los Angeles and in Italy.

The film's martial arts scenes were shot in one day at the dojo of Takayuki Kubota who also appears in the film. The shooting required 65 camera setups. The scenes were cut short in the final edit, because, according to associate producer Henry Gellis, their inclusion made the film seem like an installment in the James Bond series.[11]

"It's pretty violent," said Vincent. "Bronson is totally nonverbal. So I can't say that much about him."[12]

Screen Archives Entertainment has released The Mechanic for the first time on Blu-ray on June 10, 2014.

Vincent Canby of The New York Times described The Mechanic as a "solemn, rather spurious action melodrama". Noting the "father son rivalry" between Arthur and Steve and picking up on the "latent homosexual bond" between the two, Canby concluded that the film was "non-stop, mostly irrelevant physical spectacle" and pondered what a different director might have done with the same material.[13] A review in Variety called it an "action-drenched gangster yarn which has all the makings of a heavy b.o. grosser, but simultaneously is burdened with an overly-contrived plot development."[14] Roger Ebert gave the film 2.5 stars out of 4 and praised Bronson's performance, noting that he appears to be truly listening to Vincent rather than simply waiting for him to stop for Bronson's next line. While finding the plot twists "neat", Ebert found that director Winner failed to squarely address the relationship between the leads in favor of too many boring action sequences.[15] Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film only 1 star out of 4 and wrote, "The entirely unoriginal production moves at a numbing pace with Bronson mirroring the directorial lethargy with his silent, 'don't I have strong cheekbones' demeanor."[16] Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times praised the film as "A hard-edged, brutal yet absorbing contemporary gangster movie" with "top-notch" performances.[17] Judith Crist dismissed the film as "a banal expedition into slaughter and sadism and stupid dialogue". Any hint of authenticity, she wrote, was obliterated by Winner's "bang-bang-bang approach".[18] Gary Arnold of The Washington Post wrote, "It's a predictable, expendable piece of formula moviemaking, and the men responsible for it seem considerably more proficient at manufacturing thrills than generating and sustaining dramatic interest."[19]

A novelization credited to screenwriter Lewis John Carlino was published by Signet Books to accompany the film's release.[20]

On May 7, 2009, it was announced that director Simon West would be helming a remake with Jason Statham taking the lead role.[21] The remake opened in the United States on January 28, 2011, making $11,500,000 on its opening weekend. A sequel was released in August 2016.