I hadn't seen this movie for years until today, I forgot just how gay this movie really was - Bronson's character has personal tastes that run to . . . shall we say . . . the esthete. Art, classical music, fine furniture, decorating - not exactly the manliest of men. He seems more interested in the hooker's artwork than actually having sex with her. And with the thrusting down of her payment on the nightstand, he even shows a disdain, perhaps for all women, or maybe even his having to go through the motions? Vincent's character minimizes his relationship with his girlfriend as serving a purpose -"she does something that relieves tension." And what exactly drew Bronson's character to Vincent's in the first place? His stunning good looks perhaps?
I could go on, but I wasn't watching too closely.

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Who started this thread anyways??

This guys is a troll! He never responded to his thread.

For goodness sake just cause a film centers on 2 male characters and their friendship/relationship/bonding does NOT MEAN THEY ARE GAY.
I get pissed off when I read the same thing about midnight cowboy, that film has no homo erotic undertones, ITS ABOUT FRIENDSHIP.
Ya know,loyalty, trust, respect, care, that kind of thing.
Men can be close friends without having to be gay ya know. Just cause a mate of mine decides to take a break from his girlfriend and come round and have a man to man chat, a few beers, and watch a movie or something does not mean either of us are gay.
And the mechanic, well, is probably the most un gay film I've ever seen. I think people looking out for these things are gay themselves and read man to man friendship differently from heterosexuals.
If you wanna see a REAL homo erotic movie watch 'cruising' (that starred al pacino, directed by william friedkin), velvet goldmine and of course brokeback mountain.
Hollywood can kiss my assssss!!!!

I have read the novelization (and 2 pre-shooting drafts of the script) and neither Arthur Bishop or Steve McKenna are homosexual or is it ever implied that they are.
Bishop and Steve McKenna live in their own homes in both the film and novelization of "The Mechanic". When Steve McKenna is going over Bishop's dossier, it is in the same bedroom seen earlier in the film when Steve takes his girlfriend Louise's telephone call threatening suicide. Both these scenes take place at the McKenna home.
Bishop discovers his dossier at the McKenna home. He is there looking for Steve McKenna because Steve has missed an appointment with Bishop at Bishop's home. Bishop's anxiety over not being able to find Steve is because they've just been assigned a rush contract in Naples Italy by "The Man" and need to prepare for this involvement and leave the U.S. quickly and pursue the mark.
As for the Bronson / Hudson comparisons, I believe that the similarities begin and end with their moustaches.
As for the rumour of the Hudson / Vincent affair on the set of "The Undefeated" , I don't know enough about that to make a comment.

My understanding is that in the novel the two men were homosexuals.
Some people have argued that Bishop and McKenna were living in two different houses. However, in the scene where McKenna is in bed he is going over Bishop's dossier. Earlier, Bishop discovers the dossier in a drawer in his house and also when Bishop arrives home he calls out for McKenna expecting him to be there. Its obvious that Bishop and McKenna are living together in Bishop's home.
As for Bronson being too macho to be gay well of course in the early seventies Rock Hudson also had a macho image complete with a handlebar moustache.
Incidentally, it is rumoured that Jan Michael Vincent had an affair with Rock Hudson on the set of "The Undefeated".

It's father and son. Leonard Maltin's an idiot.
The parts are all there for it. Talk about his father, killing Steve's father, regret of not getting married, Steve looking for a father figure.
It's got family undertones and that's what's cool about it.

ive never read the book but i have to say that anyone who denies that this movie has a palpable homoerotic vibe must be blind or kidding themselves. if someone missed the first 10 minutes of the film then the next half hour or so until bishop opens up about his work plays out like a gay melodrama. im sure certain people involved in the production did their best to edit this subtext out but nevertheless it krept back in and for the majority of the film its right there on the screen.

Obviouslywhatever "The Mechanic" was in it's original form, in the film version, it was clearly depicting 2 heterosexuals. And if anything, Bronson portrayed an almost fatherly mentor to the Vincent character. The devil finding a little demon to pass the torch toalbeit a very cute demon.

what's silly is that it's obvious that hardly anyone ever takes the time to actually read through the posts before responding.
upon first reading the parent post, i thought to myself that i never picked up on any homosexual undertones when watching this movie in the past. however, i admit i never read the novel. from some of the previous posts i understand that the original story did portray the characters as being gay. this theme carried over into the original treatments of the script, but was eventually edited out.
assuming that the critic had either read or was familiar of the original storybut that doesn't make his critique right, if you're a movie reviewer then you have to critique the movie and disregard the book version.

off-topic a bitbut oddly, Jan-Michael Vincent was the first choice for the Hooper character in Jaws (1) and Richard Dreyfuss ended up with the part, which I thought he was perfect in. Although maybe Vincent would've added a little sex-appeal in a movie sorely lacking it. So it seems the Hollywood dance works out in the end. I could never see Dreyfuss as McKenna in The Mechanic. Bronson was brilliant in the role but the arrogant upstartthe spoiled rich kid with everything he could ever wantcold and iceywith a taste for killing, really fit and made this film a classic..
Reading this thread has me in stitches. But seriously, I would have to agree with the "asexual" theory. Both men had very artificial relationships with womenBronson with a hooker who fabricated a real relationship which did not exist. For Vincent, he appears to care about his girlfriend when on the phone he declares her accusations of "not caring" as being sillyand yet later he coldly watches her attempt suicide. Was it a psycopathic personaluty or an effort to prove to Bronson that he could "pick up the tab" have the aptitute to be a "mechanic"? Later, Vincent claims that he has spent time with this same girlfriend having sex.
So it would seem that both men are straightand this whole thread is what's so silly.

I was suprised to see this thread on a 1972 film. Which I thought was excellent by the way.
I recently attended a Michael Winner film retrospective and talk, from what I remember, he said when the script first came to him it had Burt Lancaster and Richard Dreyfuss pencilled in and a heavy homo subtext, obviously it underwent changes prior to being greenlighted.
and
he also said when Death Wish came to him it had Walter Mattheau pencilled in and he stood up to the studio's and suggested Bronson.
Just thought I say.
If anyone is still reading.

Charles Bronson was a very different cowboy. The man had a father figure to me (he still has). What do you think that Bronson would say if he was asked to do Brokeback Mountain?

At the time Charles Bronson were being carefully built up in Hollywood as the new super action hero. He was already very popular overseas after his European movies, and now Hollywood wanted in !
Gay ?
That would have ruined his image completely ! No way Hollywood producers would ever allow the upcoming biggest action hero in the world to even hint at being gay ! And I can't picture Bronson wishing to appear in any gay part in any movie.

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Bishop and McKenna are never shown sleeping in the same house in the CA scenes.
In the Naples sequence we assume they are sharing a room, as only one is shown, but this could be Bishop's room and McKenna had his own room.

The characters "The Mechanic" are as gay as the main characters in "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot" that is to say, very gay indeed and if I may say so, rather obviously so. The whole film in fact, plays a gay porno without any actual sex. Until you have seen "The Mechanic" (or "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot" for that matter) play in a bar full of out and happy gays you simply haven't seen the film. And as far as that goes, from my experience Charles Bronson was always a bit of a gay icon, and I thought Jan Michaels Vincents fan base wasz entirely gay.

How in the living hell did they come up with homo-tones?
The Divinci Load

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They're actually close to being asexual. Both guys are so cold-blooded and unfeeling (the needed qualities for hitmen) that they might as well have no relationships at all.

Who sent Steve that file ?
The file is identical to those he receives for his own assignments.
Wasn't Bishop just criticized for the messiness of the hit on the drug dealer ? His superior are losing confidence in him. They suspect he is past his prime. Losing his touch. And he does know too much. Steve is given the assignment of hitting him to 'retire' him.
Steve was connected through his family. The same boss Bishop reported to ("Nobody lives forever") sent Steve his new assignment.

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