Death Wish 1974

In this pivotal segment of the film, Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) and his wife Joanna (Hope Lange) return from their Hawaiian vacation to their New York City home, where Paul continues to practice his profession as an architect. Their tranquil life is shattered when Joanna and their daughter Carol Anne (Kathleen Tolan) venture out to D’Agostino’s market for groceries. However, this ordinary errand takes a dark turn as they encounter three malevolent youths (one played by Jeff Goldblum), who wreak havoc on the supermarket and target Joanna’s address after she requests delivery of her purchases.

As fate would have it, these hooligans follow Joanna back to their apartment, burst in, and unleash destruction upon the unsuspecting family. Their search for valuables is futile, leaving them with a paltry $7, but not before they commit heinous acts against Carol Anne, including rape, and brutalize Joanna. The perpetrators escape undetected, leaving behind a trail of devastation.

The news of this atrocity reaches Paul through his son-in-law Jack Toby (Steven Keats), who conveys the gravity of the situation with somber brevity. As Paul waits anxiously for updates on his family’s condition, he is met with devastating news from medical professionals: Joanna has succumbed to her injuries, while Carol Anne, traumatized by the ordeal, remains silent and sedated.

Feeling helpless in the face of justice, Paul takes to the streets that night, only to find himself confronting a mugger brandishing a gun. Unarmed but resourceful, he employs a creative defense mechanism – a sock filled with quarters – and flees the scene just moments before being shot.

The following day, Paul’s work obligations take him on an extended business trip to Tucson, Arizona, where he meets client Ames Jainchill (Stuart Margolin) at Old Tucson, a meticulously recreated Western frontier town. Here, he witnesses a mock gunfight that serves as a poignant reminder of his own skills with firearms. At a local shooting club, Ames is impressed by Paul’s marksmanship prowess, and the two engage in conversation about their shared experiences during the Korean War.

As Paul returns to New York, he’s met with devastating news from Jack: his daughter remains catatonic, her chances of recovery all but slim. The emotional toll is compounded by the discovery in his suitcase of a nickel-plated .32 Colt Police Positive revolver, a gift from the deceased Ames. That night, Paul takes a solitary stroll through Riverside Park, his mind reeling with thoughts of his daughter and the weight of his own mortality. It’s then that he encounters Thomas Leroy Marston, a doped-up ex-con wielding a .38 Smith & Wesson Model 36 revolver. In a split second, Paul finds himself face to face with death, but his training kicks in and he takes down Marston with his trusty .32.

The incident leaves Paul shaken, but he can’t shake the feeling that he’s been given a sense of purpose. Over the next few nights, he continues to patrol the streets, taking aim at would-be muggers who dare to cross him. His targets include three black men - one sporting an afro, courtesy of Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs - who are terrorizing a defenseless old man in an abandoned alleyway. Paul’s vigilantism doesn’t go unnoticed, and soon he finds himself facing off against multiple assailants on the streets and in subway tunnels.

Despite his success, Paul’s actions don’t sit well with everyone. Police Lt. Frank Ochoa (Vincent Gardenia) is tasked with investigating the vigilante killings, and as the body count rises, he becomes increasingly convinced that Paul is behind it all. The public, however, sees things differently - they’re thrilled to have a hero on their side, taking matters into his own hands. As tensions build, Lt. Ochoa’s department narrows its focus to men who fit a specific profile: those with a personal connection to the victims and a history of military service.

When it seems like Paul is about to be brought in for questioning, the District Attorney (Fred J. Scollay) intervenes, suggesting that it might be better to let him continue his work elsewhere. Ochoa reluctantly agrees, knowing that he’s not getting the whole story from above. As Paul disappears into the night, the city is left wondering what’s next for its mysterious vigilante and whether justice will finally prevail.

As Paul navigates the aftermath of his wife’s brutal murder and his daughter’s subsequent institutionalization in upstate New Hampshire, he embarks on a sinister crusade to “clean up” the city by taking matters into his own hands. Unbeknownst to his friends, including Jack (who is perplexed by Paul’s newfound enthusiasm), Paul has become a calculated and cold-blooded killer, dispatching muggers with precision and ease.

Meanwhile, Lt. Ochoa seizes an opportunity to anonymously contact Paul, hoping to provoke a reaction or catch him off guard. When Paul is briefly detained by the police after leaving his office, they fail to uncover any incriminating evidence, allowing him to continue his vigilante activities uninterrupted.

As the authorities begin to close in on him, Paul becomes increasingly cautious, utilizing his cunning and resourcefulness to evade capture. He slips out of his apartment building through a backdoor service entrance, retrieves his gun from his office, and continues to stalk would-be muggers, eventually encountering three street gang members in Central Park who attempt to mug him.

Paul dispatches two of the thugs before being wounded in his right leg by the third, who is armed with a .45 caliber M1911A1 pistol. Despite his injury, Paul gives chase through the park, streets, and industrial areas, only to have the third mugger slip away as he falls to the ground.

Hospitalized for his wounds, Paul is confronted by Ochoa, who has been tracking him down. A sympathetic policeman has recovered Paul’s revolver from a crime scene, and Ochoa demands that Paul leave New York permanently in exchange for immunity from prosecution for his vigilante killings. Paul responds with an ominous promise to depart the city “by sundown.”

One week later, Paul arrives at Chicago Union Station, where he is greeted by a company representative. As he notices a group of hoodlums harassing a woman, he excuses himself and intervenes on her behalf. The thugs react with obscene gestures, but Paul’s response is a subtle hint that his vigilantism will resume sooner rather than later, as he winks at the camera with his right hand raised like a gun.