"Then Came Bronson" Pilot (1969)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

William A. Graham

Writer:

Denne Bart Petitclerc (writer)

TV Series:

"Then Came Bronson" (1969)

Original Air Date:

24 March 1969 (Season 1, Episode 0)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama

Plot:

A newspaper reporter quits his job and travels across America by motorcycle.

Plot Keywords:

TV Series Pilot | Motorcycle | Character Name In Title

Cast

Michael Parks	...	Jim Bronson
Bonnie Bedelia	...	Temple Brooks
Akim Tamiroff	...	Papa Bear
Gary Merrill	...	Inspector Otis
Sheree North	...	Gloria Oresko
Martin Sheen	...	Nick Oresko
Bert Freed	...	Editor Carson
Bruce Mars	...	Troy
Ted Gehring	...	Diner Owner
Lawrence Hauben	...	Eddie
Michael Bell	...	Petty
Gene Dynarski	...	Boots
Art Metrano	...	Barker
Peter Brocco	...	Stationmaster
Stanley Schneider	...	Deputy

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Stockton, California, USA

Company:

MGM Television

Trivia:

We learn from the Pilot, Jim Bronson is a Taurus, April 21 to May 20, 21, and Michael Parks was born 24 April.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: During the hill climbing you can see that the bike Jim is on is not a Sportster, the exhaust pipes give that away.

Quotes:

Jim Bronson: What's your name?
Temple Brooks: I don't have one!
Jim Bronson: Well everyone I have ever know had a name, that's really weird. My name is Jim incase your interested.
Temple Brooks: Well I'm not!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Morirás con el sol (Motociclistas suicidas) (1973)

Snapshot of the late 60's, early 70's

Then Came Bronson was seminal and what I remember most about it (since I was 12 when I saw it for the first time) was the notion that you could lose yourself in America by simply getting on a motorcycle and disappearing. The imagery was perfect for young guys like myself who were watching people come back from Vietnam, utterly broken by the events of the period. The theme of "no ties" was utterly appealing to many people who felt that any connection to the "establishment" was empty and devoid of the satisfaction one could get from simply getting lost and "being free." The main character was far less hardened than other similar leading dropouts of the same genre (Fonda, Brando, Hopper) and far less psychodelic than guys pushing the "trippy" side of late 60's America. Bronson was more of a workin man's dropout and that's what I loved about him. And the mountain climb was unique. I think a whole generation of dirt-bikers caught the bug after seeing this movie for the first time.

Very cool, man.