10 Things to Know About 'The Evil That Men Do' (1984)

10 Things to Know About The Evil that Men Do

10 Picked up by Tri-Mark Pictures

The Evil That Men Do was made independently by ITC Entertainment, a company that somehow survived making both Can’t Stop the Music and Raise the Titanic in the same year. And part of what kept the company going was companies like Trimark making big deals to acquire their movies.

Trimark was the hottest new mini-major studio of the 80s and The Evil That Men Do was part of a big run of distribution deals that also included Rambo First Blood and the eventual flop that was Santa Claus starring Dudley Moore as a scheming elf.

The Evil That Men Do would go on to turn a profit but not a big one, $13 million versus an $8 million dollar budget.

9 Based on a 1978 Novel

The Evil That Men Do was based on a 1978 novel by R. Lance Hill who also received a co-screenplay credit with screenwriter John M. Crowther known for his screenplay for Missing in Action and, in a wild twist, was also well known as one of the founding cartoonists for Mad Magazine.

8 Those Poster Taglines

The poster taglines for The Evil That Men Do are wild. The newspaper ads had not one, but two taglines:

“Most criminals answer to the law. The world’s most savage executioner must answer to BRONSON”

The second tagline is right below the title:

“It’s 1984 and Bronson’s Never Been Hotter.”

7 Theresa Saldana’s First Film After Surviving Being Attacked by a Stalker

In 1982, actress Theresa Saldana survived a horrific attack. She was stabbed multiple times by a stalker who had become obsessed with the actress after seeing her in Raging Bull.

The stalker hired a private investigator to locate the actress’s Los Angeles home and invented a further ruse about a connection to director Martin Scorsese, to get to Saldana who was stabbed 10 times and may have suffered further injuries if not for the intervention of a delivery driver who happened to hear her screams for help.

By 1984 Saldana was finally out of the hospital and able to resume her career. And The Evil That Men Do became her first Theatrical feature on her comeback. That same year, Saldana would also play herself in a TV movie about her attack called Victims for Victims. The TV Movie was named for the victims advocacy group that Saldana started during her recovery.

6 Opened In England Months Before America

Part of guaranteeing a profit for ITC Entertainment was foreign pre-sales and one of the deals resulted in The Evil That Men Do opening in England in May of 1984, a full three months before Trimark Pictures distributed the film in America.

5 Mighty Mouse Opened for Bronson in Australia?

Upon the film’s Australian release in June of 1984, The Evil That Men Do was preceded by a public domain Mighty Mouse cartoon in a jarring bit of tonal whiplash that I am told by Aussie friends, was a typical practice at the time, even with such violent adult fare as The Evil That Men Do.

4 Bronson Kept a Tight Schedule

Charles Bronson was serious about his schedule. He worked 8 hour days and no longer. Anyone who has ever worked a 12 to 16 hour day on a film set undoubtedly respects Bronson’s advocacy for a more reasonable workday, even on the kind of tight budget and schedule for a typical studio film.

3 Last Minute Director Change

Director J. Lee Thompson, a longtime collaborator of Charles Bronson, was a late addition to the production of The Evil That Men Do. Thompson arrived on the Mexico City set days after the official start of filming to replace director Fielder Cook who allegedly left the production over Bronson’s schedule demands.

2 Script Rewrites

The cinematic adaptation found its roots in a 1978 novel penned by R. Lance Hill, who initially drafted the screenplay using the alias David Lee Henry. The production required extensive revisions by John Crowther to address notable narrative inconsistencies present in the early script.

Consequently, various peripheral characters and brief segments—most notably a bizarre dream sequence featuring Molloch—were ultimately excised from the final film script and never made the jump from book to the screen..

1 Jill Ireland and Charles Bronson were Incredibly Generous on Set

Stories of the generosity of Jill Ireland, a producer on the film, and her husband, Charles Bronson, extended to cast and crew and the Mexico location. Not only did Jill Ireland push for Theresa Saldana’s casting in the movie, it’s reported that she stepped out of the role to make room. There is also a lovely story about Ireland and Bronson helping a young boy who came by the set.

They helped him with offers of free food from craft services and gifts that the boy was able to take home to his family. This story isn’t independently verified but was shared as an anecdote in a Bronson biography after his passing.