10 Things You Didn’t Know About The Mechanic (1972)

If you are a collector of physical media and Scorpion Releasing is not on your radar, you need to correct that oversight as soon as possible.

Scorpion has released some true action classics on Blu-ray and loaded them up with special features. Among the classics they have released is 1972’s The Mechanic starring Charles Bronson and Jan-Michael Vincent.

Scorpion’s The Mechanic features a brand new 2K scan of the film, an interview with writer Lewis John Carlino and two commentary tracks including one with Author Paul Talbot of the Bronson’s Loose book series.

Paul Talbot is a Charles Bronson expert and always comes prepared with tons of behind the scenes information and The Mechanic was no exception. Talbot’s commentary was the source material as I present, 10 Things You Didn’t Know About The Mechanic…

1. Actors Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster, George C. Scott and Cliff Robertson were offered the role of Arthur Bishop. The role would ultimately go to Charles Bronson. One of Bronson’s conditions for accepting the role was that Michael Winner be hired on as the film’s director.  

2. The opening scene of The Mechanic was shot in the Skid Row section of Downtown Los Angeles. Winner and Bronson would return to Skid Row for 1973’s The Stone Killer and 1982’s Death Wish II. 

3. Charles Bronson was convinced that Jan-Michael Vincent was right for the part of Steve McKenna after Michael Winner showed Bronson The Tribe, a TV movie Vincent starred in a few years earlier.  

4. The Ford Motor Company engaged in some product placement by providing many of the vehicles used in the film at no charge. This included Steve McKenna’s 1972 Ford Mustang Mach 1. A Mustang Mach 1 that was involved in an insurance claim was given a fresh paint job and used for the explosive finale of the film.

5. The house that served as Arthur Bishop’s house in the film also was featured in the movie Truck Turner. Diana Ross, Prince and Zsa Zsa Gabor all lived in the “Arthur Bishop house” over the years.

6. The screenplay included an explicit sex scene that included nudity between Arthur Bishop and The Girl (played by Charles Bronson’s real life wife, Jill Ireland). But both Bronson and Ireland refused to film the scene. The screenplay also had Bishop visiting The Girl a second time. This scene was actually shot, but Michael Winner removed the scene from the final cut of the film, feeling it was redundant.

7. The guy who played the Chickin Lickin’ driver was noted stunt player, Ernie Orsatti. Orsatti, who would become a legend in the stunt game, served as the stunt coordinator in numerous Charles Bronson films including The Evil That Men Do, Murphy’s Law and Death Wish 3.

8. In typical Michael Winner fashion, Celeste Yarnall, the young lady who plays the love interest of “The Mark” that Bishop and McKenna are sent to kill in Italy, was actually dating Winner at the time.  

9. The production of The Mechanic moved to Naples, Italy for the last three weeks of filming. However, the scene that takes place “off the coast of Naples” where Bishop and McKenna scuba dive their way on to The Mark’s yacht was actually filmed in California. In fact, the beach used was the same beach from earlier in the film where Arthur Bishop murders Steve’s father Harry McKenna (Keenan Wynn).

10. In 1975, United Artists re-released The Mechanic as Killer of Killers in some markets after learning many people passed on going to see the film during its original release as they believed it was a movie about Bronson working in a garage.