Mr. Majestyk | |
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Theatrical Poster |
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Directed by | Richard Fleischer |
Produced by | Walter Mirisch |
Written by | Elmore Leonard |
Based on | Mr. Majestyk by Elmore Leonard |
Starring | Charles Bronson Al Lettieri Linda Cristal Lee Purcell Paul Koslo Alejandro Rey |
Music by | Charles Bernstein |
Cinematography | Richard H. Kline |
Editing by | Ralph E. Winters |
Studio | The Mirisch Corporation |
Distributed by | United Artists |
Release date(s) | July 17, 1974 |
Running time | 103 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Mr. Majestyk is a 1974 American action film directed by Richard Fleischer and starring Charles Bronson. The film is based on a novel written by Elmore Leonard.
Contents |
Vince Majestyk (Charles Bronson) is a former U. S. Army Ranger instructor and Vietnam War veteran who now owns a remote watermelon farm in rural Colorado. He needs to harvest his crop in order to keep the farm financially solvent.
A small-time hoodlum, Bobby Kopas (Paul Koslo), attempts to coerce Majestyk into a protection racket of using unskilled drunks to harvest his watermelon crop. Majestyk runs Kopas off (with his own shotgun) and instead hires skilled Mexican migrant workers, including Nancy Chavez (Linda Cristal), with whom Majestyk begins a relationship. Kopas brings assault charges against him, however, causing Majestyk to be arrested and taken to the local jail.
There he meets Frank Renda (Al Lettieri), a notorious mob hit man being transferred to a higher-security prison. Renda's men break him out of police custody during a prisoner movement in a bus. In the escape attempt, Majestyk drives off in the bus with Renda still in handcuffs. Majestyk plans on trading Renda back to the police so that he can finish his harvest. Renda offers a fortune for his freedom but Majestyk just wants to get back to his melons.
With the help of his girlfriend Wiley (Lee Purcell), Renda escapes from Majestyk. He meets up with his lawyer and his right-hand man Lundy and plans his revenge on Majestyk. The violent Renda is advised to fly to Mexico to elude a police dragnet looking for him, but he is blinded by his desire for revenge. He tells his men to find the "melon picker" so that he can have the satisfaction of killing him personally.
Rather than being afraid, Majestyk turns the tables. He sets a trap at Renda's cabin hideout. Renda betrays his own men, Lundy and Kopas, leading to Lundy's death and to Kopas being captured, prior to a final showdown between Majestyk and Renda.