Hard Times

Set during the Great Depression, Hard Times follows Chaney, a quiet, hardened street fighter who travels by freight train to New Orleans. There he teams up with Speed, a fast-talking promoter who arranges bare-knuckle bouts for money. Speed borrows cash to back Chaney in the underground fight circuit, but his gambling habit and careless way with money create trouble for both men, drawing them into debt and conflict with local criminals. A relationship with Lucy, a woman Chaney meets along the way, becomes another part of the life he has drifted into. The film was released in August 1975 and runs 93 minutes.

Hard Times was the first film Walter Hill directed, the start of a career that would eventually span 22 features, followed by The Driver in 1978. Hill wrote the screenplay with Bryan Gindoff and Bruce Henstell, and Lawrence Gordon produced. Charles Bronson plays Chaney, with James Coburn as Speed, Jill Ireland as Lucy Simpson, Strother Martin as Poe, Margaret Blye as Gayleen Schoonover and Michael McGuire as Gandil. Thirty-five cast members and 53 crew are credited. Made for about 3 million dollars, it returned roughly 5 million worldwide.

On IMDb it holds a 7.2 rating from around 14,000 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 6.8 from about 245 votes. A critics' rating of 7 out of 10 from 88 reviews places it close to the audience scores, suggesting a fairly consistent reception across viewers and reviewers.