Charles Bronson Stages a Breakout

Charles Bronson as Colton.

When her husband is framed for murder (by his grandfather, no less!) and tossed into a Mexican prison, Ann Wagner (Jill Ireland) becomes determined to free her man. She engages a border bush pilot named Colton (Charles Bronson) to fly her husband to freedom, but his first attempt fails miserably. Colton's second rescue scheme involves disguising his partner (Randy Quaid) as a prostitute. As you can imagine, that's unsuccessful as well. 

By this time, Ann is considering other alternatives. However, the rugged Colton has developed a soft spot for the grieving wife. He promises to come up with a foolproof plan, which is contingent on acquiring and learning to fly a helicopter.

Jill Ireland as Ann.

Breakout (1975) is an oddball Bronson action film that's pretty light on action scenes. The star seems to be having fun as the play-it-as-it-goes hero. It was, no doubt, an enjoyable change-of-pace for Bronson after appearing in Death Wish the previous year. 

However, this is the kind of movie that depends heavily on colorful supporting characters and this is where Breakout comes up short. Jill Ireland and Robert Duvall (as the husband) are saddled with poorly-developed roles. The audience has little invested interest in Duvall's escape because his American businessman is a blank slate. Ireland fares slightly better just because she has more screen time. Strangely, she and Bronson don't have much chemistry in their scenes--even though they were married in real life (their best film together is the 1976 Western satire From Noon Till Three).

Sheere North.

There are some bright spots in the supporting cast. A young Randy Quaid is amusing as Bronson's sidekick, but he's relegated to the sidelines for most of the film. Sheree North shines as a former Bronson crony who rejoins the "team." It's the kind of tough, sexy role that Angie Dickinson played so well during her later career. 

Eliot Asinof (Eight Men Out) co-wrote the screenplay, which was based on his nonfiction book The 10-Second Jailbreak: The Helicopter Escape of Joel David Kaplan. It told the story of an American imprisoned in Mexico whose sister financed a daring helicopter rescue. (Incidentally, Breakout was filmed in France instead of Mexico.)

Breakout did play an important role in cinema history. It was one of the first studio films to employ a nationwide release strategy, opening with1,325 prints in distribution simultaneously. Prior to the 1970s, movies--with a handful of exceptions--were released to a few hundred theaters at one time, typically playing in large cities weeks before opening in smaller markets. Following Breakout's successful rollout, Jaws employed a similar mass marketing strategy--and that became the accepted norm for distributing major motion pictures.