Charles Bronson began acting in movies and on TV shows in 1951. Through the mid-fifties, he established himself as a solid character actor with a strong physical screen presence. Beginning in October of 1958, he was given the opportunity to headline his own TV show, MAN WITH A CAMERA. The show, which ran for 29 episodes, features Bronson as a freelance photographer from New York named Mike Kovac, a guy who specializes in the difficult and dangerous assignments that his peers stay away from. Always on the side of truth and justice, Kovak will do anything to get the picture. 

In the first episode of the series, Mike Kovac (Charles Bronson) wants to get a picture of his old neighborhood pal, Joey Savoyan (Tom Laughlin). Joey has risen in the boxing ranks, and is getting a title shot at the champ, Sal Benning (Don Kennedy). But it seems that success has changed Joey from the guy Mike knew, and there have been many reports that he’s turned into a jerk who’d rather punch a reporter or photographer than look at them. When Mike goes to Joey’s training camp, and proceeds to tell him that his attitude is an embarrassment to the people pulling for him back home, Joey gets pissed and the two men end up in the ring. Apparently Mike could whip him back in the day, but times have changed and after absorbing a few of Mike’s jabs, Joey lays his ass out cold with one punch. The photograph that makes the papers that night is Mike laying flat on his back with the headline “Joey Savoyan puts ace photographer in darkroom!” Licking his wounds with spare ribs at a local restaurant that night, another pal from the old neighborhood shows up to see him. This time it’s Dolly (Ruta Lee), Joey’s main squeeze, who’s there on his behalf. Joey’s in trouble and needs Mike’s help. Mike goes out to Joey’s cabin where he’s filled in on the truth. The reports of his punching photographers and reporters were all made up to create his “killer” image. What’s even worse is the fact that Joey had found out the day before that the fights he had won to get the title shot were all fixed. Now, gangster Willie Fletcher (Theodore Marcuse) is putting the pressure on him to take a dive. Joey doesn’t want to do it, so he asks Mike to get a picture of him, Willie, and the champ planning the fix that night. He believes he can use this picture as leverage to turn the dangerous mobster down. It wouldn’t be much of a show if things went exactly as planned, and the fun is seeing how it all plays out! 

The series MAN WITH A CAMERA stretches our ability to suspend our disbelief right off the bat, when it asks us to accept that anyone, including Billy Jack himself, could lay out Charles Bronson with one punch. The fact that Bronson is shirtless, revealing muscle on top of muscle, makes it that much harder to believe. That lack of realism aside, I really did enjoy this first episode. Bronson plays Mike Kovac with a determination and uncompromising integrity that lets us know right off the bat that he will do whatever it takes to get to the truth, and that he doesn’t care who he has to piss off to accomplish that goal. He seems fearless and very tough. When the gangster Willie Fletcher, who’s known for using his gun, threatens Mike, he responds with “Boy, you talk tough… you scare me, Willie” in a way that would indicate it’s impossible to scare him and you get the feeling he can back it up. As a lifelong fan of Bronson, it’s nice seeing his powerful screen charisma and toughness come across so easily at this early point in his career. It’s also fun seeing Bronson and Tom Laughlin on screen together, even if the writers came up with the unrealistic scenario that I discussed earlier. I have to admit I would love to see Billy Jack take on Chaney from HARD TIMES. I think that would be one hell of a show!

This is a solid first episode, and I’m looking to see where the show heads from here. I’ve watched various episodes of MAN WITH A CAMERA over the years, but this will be first time I’ve ever started from the beginning and watched and reviewed each episode. Although he’s only talked about in episode 1, I remember Mike’s dad being a fairly big part of the series. Father/son relationships on TV and in movies are my favorites, so I’m looking forward to seeing that play out. If Tom Laughlin is any example, I’m also looking forward to the quality of guest stars we’ll be seeing. A quick look on IMDB reveals actors like Don Gordon, Angie Dickinson, Gavin McLeod, and Lawrence Tierney will be showing up throughout the series. This should be a lot of fun!