Charles Bronson was such an anomaly among box office champions back in the 1970's. He is not the best looking guy on screen, he's very laid back and doesn't have a huge emotional range.
Bronson IS a great action star though, always believable as the tough hero and the street wise good guy. 1976's ST IVES is a prime example of Bronson at his peak, bringing a solid performance to a standard B action flick as former columnist/cop and present writer Ray St. Ives.
St Ives gets sucked into the world of mysterious rich senior Abner Procane (John Houseman), Procane's assistant (bodyguard?) Jacqueline Bisset and his doctor, played by Maximillian Schell.
Serving as the "go-between" in an exchange of money for some documents that have been stolen from Procane, St. Ives soon finds everyone he comes in contact with dead, dying or being murdered as he arrives.
The film starts off slow, but the mystery of the story and a large team of great character actors draw you in for some decent, if predictable reveals.
Bronson is in fine form, Bisset brings all her "The Deep" and "Airport" sexiness into play and journeyman director J. Lee Thompson (the original CAPE FEAR and THE GUNS OF NAVARONE) does a nice job of moving things along. Look for Jeff Goldblum and Robert Englund (Freddy Kruger) in very early roles as thugs in the same gang.
The highlight of the movie is Lalo Schifrin's great action movie score, with hints of his classic "Mission Impossible" and "Bullitt" music.
Light 1970's mystery fun that reveals it's steady but average way to a C.
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