Mr. Majestyk (1974)

Read more

Vietnam vet and ex-con Vince Majestyk just wants to live quietly on his Colorado farm, where he hires migrant pickers to harvest his melon crop. When he won`t replace them with pickers provided by small-time racketeer Bobby Kopas, Kopas threatens him with a rifle. Vince disarms him and drives him off. However, Kopas files a complaint, and Vince is arrested. He`s being taken to court with Mafia hit man Frank Renda when the police bus transporting them is ambushed. In the confusion, Vince drives off with the still-handcuffed Renda. He offers to return Renda if the police will let him finish harvesting his melons, but Renda escapes with help from his girlfriend, Wiley (the cooly beautiful Lee Purcell). Still in trouble with the police, Vince now has a hit man seeking revenge as well.

Mr. Majestyk pits the taciturn Bronson against the volatile Lettieri. Intricately plotted by master crime novelist Elmore Leonard, directed by veteran Richard Fleischer, and shot on location in Colorado, Mr. Majestyk is notable for its action set pieces, especially the beautifully shot and edited ambush of the police bus and the quirky machine gun assault on Vince`s melons.