This makes three times now I've seen Charles Bronson portray a boxer. Each of those times occurred roughly a decade apart in his career, the first one going back to a 1952 episode of 'The Roy Rogers Show' if you can believe it, in a story titled 'Knockout'. Then in 1961, he appeared in an episode of 'One Step Beyond' as an American boxer in London during the Second World War, that story was 'The Last Round'. It was in that show that Bronson appeared the most muscular, almost as if he was using steroids at the time, though I have no way of knowing that. In "Hard Times", Bronson appears to have slimmed back down somewhat, though still looking formidable for his age of fifty four at the time.
Bronson and James Coburn make a good pair, two iconic actors who made their most impressive marks in the Seventies. I like the kind of character Bronson gets to play here, a loner type who calls his own shots with integrity and supreme self confidence. It's that 'take it or leave it' attitude that makes him both antagonistic and endearing at the same time. The first time I heard (back in the day) that he was married to actress Jill Ireland I didn't know what to make of it, but with the hindsight of years gone by I believe I get the chemistry now.
With quite a bit of positive reviews here, I can't say that I found the film to be all that compelling or riveting as some suggest. It's a pretty standard story of getting by during the hard times of the Depression era with the single talent one might possess, be it Speed's (Coburn) con-man finesse or Chaney's (Bronson) fists. I'm not sure why Strother Martin's Poe character was even needed here. Unless I missed it, I don't think he ever served his purpose as a cut man in Chaney's corner.
One thing I'd do if I had a say so would be to reverse the opponents that promoter Gandil (Michael McGuire) had for Chaney to go up against. Street (Nick Dimitri) didn't particularly impress in size or ruggedness to wind up in Gandil's stable for the final match against Chaney. I would have saved the brawler Jim Henry (Robert Tessier) for that contest, especially after putting holes in a wall with his head as football brute Shokner in "The Longest Yard" made the year before. He was just that much more intimidating than any other fighter in the story.
Bronson and James Coburn make a good pair, two iconic actors who made their most impressive marks in the Seventies. I like the kind of character Bronson gets to play here, a loner type who calls his own shots with integrity and supreme self confidence. It's that 'take it or leave it' attitude that makes him both antagonistic and endearing at the same time. The first time I heard (back in the day) that he was married to actress Jill Ireland I didn't know what to make of it, but with the hindsight of years gone by I believe I get the chemistry now.
With quite a bit of positive reviews here, I can't say that I found the film to be all that compelling or riveting as some suggest. It's a pretty standard story of getting by during the hard times of the Depression era with the single talent one might possess, be it Speed's (Coburn) con-man finesse or Chaney's (Bronson) fists. I'm not sure why Strother Martin's Poe character was even needed here. Unless I missed it, I don't think he ever served his purpose as a cut man in Chaney's corner.
One thing I'd do if I had a say so would be to reverse the opponents that promoter Gandil (Michael McGuire) had for Chaney to go up against. Street (Nick Dimitri) didn't particularly impress in size or ruggedness to wind up in Gandil's stable for the final match against Chaney. I would have saved the brawler Jim Henry (Robert Tessier) for that contest, especially after putting holes in a wall with his head as football brute Shokner in "The Longest Yard" made the year before. He was just that much more intimidating than any other fighter in the story.