The Outfit (John Flynn, 1973)

[Fletch F. Fletch]

This is an underrated crime film in need of a proper DVD release. Every once in awhile I catch this on TV late at night (TCM has even shown it once or twice) and end up watching it from beginning to end.

It's a no-nonsense adaptation of one or Richard Stark's Parker novels (very loose adaptation apparently) with Robert Duvall playing a professional thief who gets out of prison and finds out that his brother has been killed by the mob (or the Outfit if you will) and that he and his partner, played by Joe Don Baker (along with Charley Varrick his best role) are next. So, they hook up and take down the syndicate in methodical fashion.

Duvall is so good in this one. His performance is reminiscent of Lee Marvin's in The Killers -- completely ruthless and all business. The way he deals with various mobster flunkies on the way to take out the boss man (played very effectively by Robert Ryan) is chillingly efficient (smashing a glass into the face of one guy, shooting a poker player through the hand, etc.) and I bet Tarantino is a fan of this movie as he certainly seems to be vamping off the vibe of this movie (and others) in films like Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, etc.

The film also features some truly memorable tough guy dialogue: "You shouldn't use a girl's arm for an ashtray," is one that always sticks in my mind. The ending is a little upbeat compared to the rest of the grim tone of the movie and apparently the TV version ends on a much more downbeat note. Definitely worth checking out if you're into neo-noir/'70s crime films.

[jesus the mexican boi]

And for those of you Parker fans keeping score, there's a brand new Parker book from Richard Stark just out: ASK THE PARROT. After the last Parker adventure, in which Parker appeared cornered without recourse, I'm damned curious to see how he got out of that one.