Alternate Best Actor 1975: Charles Bronson in Hard Times

Charles Bronson did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Chaney in Hard Times.

Hard Times is an entertaining enough film about a street brawler and gambler during the great depression.

In the primary lead role you have Charles Bronson in a role that was written with a younger man in mind, as this drifter who goes around just scraping by through fights. This is an interesting casting choice, but really an essential element in granting the film a bit more of an emotional impact than it might have had otherwise. On the surface Bronson certainly proves worthy of the role as he is wholly convincing as a fighter even at his age at the time of filming. In addition to that he is quite simply one of the great stoic badasses from the period. This is to the point that he makes a fellow stoic badass James Coburn look properly weak as the gambler, Speed, who bankrolls Bronson's Chaney. Bronson simply commands the screen as to be expected both in terms of offering that sort of physical intimidation needed for the character, but also just the power of the spirits embodied within that. Bronson is this force of a man that the film needs, of a man driven within the fight, which Bronson realizes so effectively without even raising his voice. He rather creates that calm cool that makes Chaney both appealing and intimidating.

Of course the film as written by Walter Hill is pretty bare bones, however that isn't not explicitly a negative value in film, or this film. It is rather an approach and what matters is what is within this approach. The script is already elevated to be sure by Hill's own direction which creates a vibrancy in the period through the aesthetic he realizes. According to Hill's own design for the film though there is not suppose to be a moral to this story. It is rather just a story that is engaging. Now if one inflicts just that much style one can overcome the lack of a thematic weight, however it is still a bit of a challenge. Bronson helps to alleviate this problem through his performance that creates within itself a certain substance that likely would've been completely absent with a bland performer in the role. Bronson can be stoic, however he is not bland as there is more than a shallow fighter within his eyes. It is in those eyes that define his best work, this performance included. It is interesting in that the tough Bronson, when relying on this quality becomes a deeply emotional performer.

We see this in his first scene where he approaches Speed and the fighting den. In Bronson's eyes we see the weight of a life of hardship in his eyes, and in this conveys that with his age has come much experience. An experience that is never illustrated in dialogue however is sensed through Bronson's performance which carries this weight. A weight that makes the fight as much of a life line for the man, well beyond the monetary compensation within it. Although Chaney is never a vulnerable character, Bronson creates a certain vulnerability surrounded by the defense of his might as fighter. A vulnerability that alludes to a desperation again within his eyes that create such a potency in terms of a life he seems to try to avoid. This is also shown in his scenes with local woman, that don't wholly work only because Jill Ireland in the role, despite being Bronson's real life wife, is a bit stiff in the part. Bronson does not falter in his side though by bringing out a definite charm but with this certain emotional distance. A distance he portrays as a reluctance though, as again he shows the honest fear at what the relationship would brings out of him in the most expressive part of his face, yet still overall maintain a near facade of a man who simply toughens everything out. Although Chaney in the end does not change, Bronson's performance does take the character and the film further by hinting at the potential to do so, while also creating a stronger sense of the man's motivation throughout the film.