Hard Times

Hard Times is a 1975 action drama sport film marking the directorial debut of Walter Hill. It stars Charles Bronson as Chaney, a mysterious drifter freighthopping through Louisiana during the Great Depression, who proves indomitable in illegal bare-knuckled boxing matches after forming a partnership with the garrulous hustler Speed, played by James Coburn. Plot In 1933, an older man named Chaney watches a bare-knuckled street fight, on which bets are made. The fighter backed by the cocky, fast-talking "Speed" loses badly. Chaney talks a very skeptical Speed into letting him fight the winner. Chaney bets all of the six dollars he has on himself and quickly dispatches his younger opponent. Chaney and a suitably impressed Speed travel to New Orleans to match Chaney against local fighters at long odds, recruiting genteel drug addict Poe as a cutman. Between fights, Chaney finds a down-on-her-luck woman named Lucy Simpson to sleep with. Chaney easily disposes of his next opponent, a Cajun. When Pettibone, the loser's sponsor, refuses to pay off his bet, Chaney advises Speed to leave, as they are greatly outnumbered by the locals, but suggests they return later. That night, Chaney sneaks into Pettibone's honky-tonk joint and proceeds to beat up anyone who tries to stop him from collecting the money. For the next fight, the stakes are unexpectedly raised to $3000 instead of the usual $1000. To cover the shortfall, Speed gets a loan from a gang of local mobsters headed by Doty. Chaney wins this fight handily, but gambling addict Speed blows all his winnings in a backroom craps game, leaving him unable to repay the loan sharks. Afterwards, Speed and Chaney disagree about selling a piece of Chaney to fish tycoon Chick Gandil, the sponsor of Chaney's most recent victim, Jim Henry. Gandil instead pays off Speed's debt and takes him hostage. Chaney must wager his entire winnings to take on a prize fighter imported from Chicago named Street, or Speed will be killed. Chaney does not want to rescue Speed from his own folly, but Poe talks him into it. Street proves to be a worthy foe, but Chaney gradually gets the upper hand. When Street is knocked down and is on his hands and knees, Gandil slams two metal cylinders on the ground for him to wrap his fists around, but Street is too proud to cheat. Chaney then finishes him off.