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.

The Crime Doctor Solves the Millerson Case

One of the more offbeat "B" detective series of the 1940s was the Crime Doctor. Based on a Max Marcin's successful radio series, the premise has an amnesia victim study to become a renowned psychiatrist--only to learn ten years later that he was once a criminal. Armed with “insider knowledge” of how the criminal mind works, Dr. Robert Orday repays society by bringing villains to justice. Warner Baxter, an Oscar winner as the Cisco Kid in 1929’s In Old Arizona, was the only actor ever to play Ordway on screen. He made ten films for Columbia, starting with 1943's The Crime Doctor.

My favorite may be The Millerson Case (1947), which finds Dr. Ordway taking a well-deserved vacation to do a little hunting and fishing. However, he barely arrives in the rural town of Brook Falls when a local outbreak of "summer complaint" turns out to be typhoid fever. Ordway agrees to assist with vaccinations and documenting those few townsfolk who have died from the disease. Yet, while doing the latter, Ordway discovers that one victim died from poisoning rather typhoid--and it's not long before a murder investigation is launched.

Warner Baxter as Dr. Ordway.

The killer's idea of using the typhoid outbreak to mask the murder is a clever one. For his part, Ordway employs a shooting competition and a handwriting analysis to help solve the case. Unfortunately, much of his investigation consists of asking suspects a few brief questions that yield little relevant information. Of course, it doesn't help that that the first victim turns out to be the local lothario--resulting in a bevy of individuals with motives. 

The cast consists of veteran "B" movie actors such as James Bell. Despite a face full of whiskers, I recognized him instantly from his key roles in two Val Lewton classics from 1943: The Leopard Man and I Walked With a Zombie. The worst performance in The Millerson Case belongs to Mark Dennis, who plays a teen with an intellectual disability; granted, it's a poorly-written part, too. Dennis only appeared in ten movies during his career, but two of those were Peter Bogdoanich's Targets (1968) and Nickelodean (1976).

The Millerson Case lacks the charismatic heroes and snappy writing of "B" detective classics such as The Scarlet Claw and The Falcon and the Co-eds. Still, it's a cut above most of its ilk and there's a welcome lack of comedy relief. Warner Baxter made his last Crime Doctor film in 1949 and died two years later from pneumonia at age 62. He lived with chronic pain for much of his later life due to arthritis.