Thursday, December 24, 2015

COLD SW EAT



Slow moving story of an ex-GI who assumed an alias as a fishing boat captain in a Mediterrenean coastal town. He is hiding from the authorities and his old partners with whom he committed a robbery; they were nabbed and imprisoned but he escaped and now they are back for revenge.

Limited scenery, "hamy" acting and awkward fight scenes. Overall cheap production, even by the standards of the late 1960s. Probably a "payday" movie for Bronson and his wife Jill Ireland. As a fan of Bronson, I believe that this is not his best work. The superbly talented, luminous Liv Ulman, sleep walks through her role as the captain's wife. Similarly, the great James Mason's acting skills are wasted in this turkey.This is not the greatest Bronson movie ever made but it is nonetheless entertaining. It does have one spectacular car chase or rather motorcycle pursuit on winding roads of south of France. There are some nice performances and it's fun to see James Mason play a villain although he's a likable one. Liv Ullman is fine and Jill Ireland plays a hilarious rich hippie chick.

There are the usual plot absurdities but Bronson is the reason we watch these movies and he's no different here. He's a very likeable tough guy trying very hard to be nice around bunch of incorrigable villains.

The main concern here though is the resolution quality. It looks like they transfered a video quality image. On a high def flat panel it looks aweful, but you can still enjoy the film. I wish they would remaster but I guess that's why the price is cheap. If image quality and DVD presentation are important then this should really get a 2 star rating.

Love and Bullets 1979 Charles Bronson Full Length Movie

True fans of Charles Bronson do not need to have a movie critic tell them that a movie is entertaining or fun to watch. Copying and pasting, in bold print, an arrogant criticism from Roger Ebert doesn't alter my enjoyment of this film or any of Bronson's movies. If movie critics had the final say only a couple of his films would've been screened in theaters and there certainly would be no re-airings on TV or any DVD releases of any of his films but fortunately holier-than-thou critics don't have the final say on what makes a film entertaining. Critics never seemed to grasp that Bronson's fans, myself being one of them, never particularly cared too much about cinematic staging or aesthetic accomplishments or other things that movie critics are likely to seize upon. Most of us just like to see his performances, his delivery of a line, his facial expressions, his overall demeanor. It's amazing that several people find so much negativity in this film. I happen to think it's highly entertaining. I guess there's an unwritten rule that every actor/actress needs their share of critics.

Love and Bullets (1979 film)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Love and Bullets
Love and bullets.jpg
Directed byStuart Rosenberg
Produced byPancho Kohner
Written byWendell Mayes
John Melson
StarringCharles Bronson
CinematographyFred J. Koenekamp
Anthony B. Richmond
Edited byMichael F. Anderson
Production
company
Distributed byAssociated Film Distributors
Release dates
Running time
103 min.
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Love and Bullets
 is a 1979 film directed by Stuart Rosenberg.[2] Starring Charles Bronson,[2] it is based on a screenplay by Wendell Mayes (writer of the 1974 film Death Wish) and John Melson.
The film was originally to have been directed by John Huston and advertisements were taken out in Varietyto promote this fact. Huston apparently did film some scenes but walked off the set after disagreements with the producers. Veteran director Rosenberg stepped in on the troubled production. The resulting movie received almost-unanimously poor reviews.

Plot[edit]

Phoenix Police Detective Charlie Congers is tasked to assist the FBI in bringing a gangster's girlfriend, Jackie Pruitt, back to the USA to testify. The FBI thinks she can give inside information to law enforcement that will put Joe Bomposa behind bars once and for all.
It turns out that Jackie doesn't know much of anything useful to the FBI. The trouble is, Bomposa wants her dead anyway, feeling betrayed, while Congers is falling in love with her. Bomposa has her shot while she embraces 

Cast[edit]http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9B03EEDE1638E732A25757C1A96F9C946890D6CF

MOVIE REVIEW

Love and Bullets (1979)

Film: 'Love and Bullets' Stars Charles Bronson:Bringing Home the Moll

Published: September 14, 1979
"WITH this scum, you gotta take the law into your own hands. You don't just book these guys, you kill 'em." That's a line of dialogue from "Love and Bullets," the new Charles Bronson movie, and it bears the unmistakable paw print of Wendell Mayes, who also wrote "Death Wish." However, this time there's a twist: Mr. Bronson doesn't speak that line, nor does he even endorse its sentiments very strongly.
Mr. Bronson plays a police detective who's sent from Arizona to Switzerland to bring back a gangster's moll. And since the moll is played by Jill Ireland, who is Mrs. Bronson, a bit of moderation is called for. So Mr. Bronson does not even begin blowing people up, or puncturing them with a homemade blowgun, until the movie is nearly over. Instead, he spends most of his time escorting Miss Ireland onto trains, into hotels and across the snow.
  • Charles Bronson: Charlie CongersThis is all very chivalrous, but it's also dull. The British-born Miss Ireland has no luck in affecting a hillbilly accent, and as a comic presence she's simply not there. However, she and Mr. Bronson approach each other with an appealing ease, which would be more appealing if it were not the movie's only selling point. Mr. Bronson grows ever more coolly dependable with each new film, but "Love and Bullets" is too clumsy to show him off to much advantage.
    Stuart Rosenberg, who directed "The Amityville Horror" as well as "Love and Bullets," is one of the great wonders of the movie world. Mr. Rosenberg has had a long and successful career, and yet he still pays little heed to the most basic tricks of the trade, like establishing clear time sequences or letting the viewer know on which continent the action is taking place or even keeping his actors' faces out of the shadows. The Swiss scenery for "Love and Bullets" involves a lot of bright, snowy outdoor shots in which Mr. Bronson and Miss Ireland virtually disappear.
    Another of Mr. Rosenberg's trademarks is his way of keeping his extras just busy enough to distract attention from the principals. You may not be sure where Mr. Bronson and Miss Ireland are going on any particular leg of their journey, but you can't help noticing who else is on the train.
  • Jill Ireland: Jackie Pruit
  • Rod Steiger: Joe Bomposa
  • Henry Silva: Vittorio Farroni
  • Strother Martin: Louis Monk
  • Bradford Dillman: Brickman
  • Michael V. Gazzo: Lobo
  • Paul Koslo: Huntz
  • Val Avery: Caruso
  • Sam Chew Jr.: Cook (as Sam Chew)
    LOVE AND BULLETS, directed by Stuart Rosenberg; an original story written for the screen by Wendell Mayes; film editors, Michael Anderson, Lesley Walker and Tom Priestley; cinematograhers, Fred Koenekamp and Anthony Richmond; music by Lalo Schiffrin; produced by Pancho Kohner; a Sir Lew Grade presentation for ITC Entertainment Ltd. At the Rivoli, Broadway and 49th Street, and other theaters. Running time: 103 minutes. This film is rated PG. 
    Charlie Congers . . . . . Charles Bronson 
    Jackie Pruitt . . . . . Jill Ireland 
    Joe Bamposa . . . . . Rod Steiger 
    Louis Monk . . . . . Strother Martin 
    Vittorio Farroni . . . . . Henry Silva 
    Brickman . . . . . Bradford Dillman 
    Huntz . . . . . Paul Koslo 
    Lobo . . . . . Michael Gazzo 
    Coroner . . . . . Joseph Roman 
    Cook . . . . . Sam Chew 
    Andy Minton . . . . . Albert Salmi 
    Caruso . . . . . Val Avery 
    Alibisi . . . . . John Belluci 
    Carlo . . . . . Rick Colliti
  • Billy Gray: Durant (as William Gray)
  • Jerome Thor: Senator
  • Joseph Roman: Coroner
  • Albert Salmi: Andy
  • John Hallam: Cerutti
  • Sidney Kean: Machonni
  • Lorraine Chase: Vittorio's Girlfriend
Congers before she leaves for the US under the protection of the FBI.