Unsung Heroes: Death Wish II
As vigilante Paul Kersey in 1974’s Death Wish, Charles Bronson’s performance had audiences hooting and hollering and on their feet in movie theaters. Finally someone was taking a stand against the increase in crime in the major cities of the United States and that action resonated with audiences. Paul Kersey was not just an eradicator of street crime, he was an urban hero.
Charles Bronson would reprise the role of Paul Kersey in four sequels, the first of which was released in 1982. Death Wish II was arguably the biggest film Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus’ Cannon Films had produced up to that point and further cemented Bronson’s Paul Kersey as a heroic vigilante.
But Paul Kersey was not the only hero in Death Wish II, there were others who did their part in bringing justice to the streets, they are the unsung heroes of Death Wish II…
Fred McKenzie
Played by veteran character actor Robert F. Lyons (Murphy’s Law), Fred McKenzie was an employee of KABC Radio in Los Angeles. With Paul Kersey in and around the radio station (Kersey was the architect hired to build the new radio station) he and Fred struck up a friendship. A good friend is gift enough and worth more than all the material possessions in the world, but it is not uncommon for friends to exchange actual gifts as a token of their appreciation for one another… for example, Fred hooked up his buddy Paul with a police scanner radio.
This piece of technology upped Kersey’s vigilante game and provided him valuable intel in his war against the street punks who raped and killed his daughter. I’d like to believe that Paul sent Fred a nice thank you card or maybe an expensive bottle of scotch to show his appreciation for what Fred did for him.
Frank Ochoa and His Citizens on Patrol
Vincent Gardenia reprised his role as police lieutenant Frank Ochoa in Death Wish II. Ochoa was the cop in charge of investigating the vigilante murders in New York, when a pushed to the limit Kersey first went into the judge, jury and executioner business. Almost a decade later, Ochoa once again finds himself on Paul Kersey’s trail after his superiors receive a request from the LAPD to help them solve their vigilante problem.
Some could label Ochoa as a villain in the film, but when you consider that Ochoa made the ultimate sacrifice, choosing between the lesser of two evils and saving Kersey’s life in the process… then there is no doubt Frank Ochoa is one of the good guys. But Frank Ochoa would have never been able to save Kersey’s life if not for the help of two ordinary citizens who stepped up and did their civic duty.
First is Mike, an old friend of Frank Ochoa’s who is now working for one of the major newspapers in Los Angeles. Mike gets Frank all the newspaper clippings his paper had on Kersey, with most of them being the stories about the horrific events involving Paul Kersey’s daughter Carol. Later when Frank called upon Mike to help him again, Mike did not hesitate.
While you should be able to count on friends, counting on the help of a complete stranger is highly unexpected. But that is exactly what happened when Frank Ochoa jumps in front of a moving car, flashes his badge and ends up with a super enthusiastic wheelman… or in this case wheelwoman. If not for this unnamed woman in a hat, Frank Ochoa may have lost Paul Kersey and not been there to ironically take the bullet for the very man he was sent out to Los Angeles stop.
Donald Kay
Donald Kay (played by Charles Cyphers of Escape from New York fame) is the orderly on duty at the McClarren State Hospital when Paul Kersey shows up posing as Dr. Peter Carter in hopes of taking out Charles “Nirvana” Wilson, the last of the punks responsible for the death of his daughter. Thanks to some quick thinking on Kersey’s behalf he is able to “interview” Nirvana… and by interview I mean attempt to shoot Nirvana, get stabbed by Nirvana and eventually electrocute Nirvana to death with the defunct electroshock therapy equipment.
Enter Mr. Kay… he sees the aftermath of the confrontation between Kersey and Nirvana. He could have easily subdued Kersey, who was just in the fight of his life and bleeding badly. But Mr. Kay now recognizes Kersey from the newspaper coverage of Carol Kersey’s demise and gives him a head start before he calls in security. This simple act of compassion allowed Kersey to get away with murder (literally) and more importantly meant that Kersey could return for more vigilante action and the world would get the greatest movie of all-time Death Wish 3!
