The Outfit (1973)

The Outfit (1973)

starring Robert Duvall, Joe Don Baker, Karen Black

directed by John Flynn

103 minutes

Earl Macklin (Robert Duvall) gets out of prison. He learns from Bett (Karen Black), his girlfriend, that his brother has been killed by the mob. Soon thereafter there is an attempt on Earl's life. Bett reveals that she was forced to set him up by Jake Menner, a mobster. It all goes back to a robbery that the two brothers pulled a few years before Earl got out of prison.

Earl and Bett go looking for Jack Cody (Joe Don Baker), the only other surviving member of the gang that pulled the heist. The three of them team up to get revenge on the mob for what they did to Earl's brother. They rob from the mob and demand a payout from Mailer (Robert Ryan), Menner's boss.

Eventually the mob starts to strike back and Earl decides that it is time for them to end the war by taking the fight to Mailer's home turf.

Thoughts

This movie did not blow me away. I had not seen it before. I wasn't sure what to expect. It is based on one of the Parker books by Richard Stark. I've read a couple of the graphic novelizations of Parker books by Darwyn Cooke. I didn't love those either. I find the character to be cold, lifeless, dead on the inside. The only other movie that is based on a Parker novel that I have seen in Payback (1999).

Notes

This movie was part of the George Pelecanos Presents series at the AFI Silver Theater. It was shown in 35mm. It was not the cleanest of prints, which wasn't a problem for me.

There are a couple actors (Joe Don Baker, Sheree North) in this movie that were also in Charley Varick (1973). I have also seen Joe Don Baker in The Distinguished Gentleman (1992) but I'm pretty sure that these two movies are the only things in which I have seen Sheree North.

Robert Duvall was in a number of other movies I have seen including but not limited to The Godfather (1972), Apocalypse Now (1979), and The Great Santini (1979).

Karen Black is a familiar name but I think the only other movie in which I have seen her is Easy Rider (1969). She was in an episode of The Invaders but it was from the second season, which I have yet to watch.

This was one of Robert Ryan's last films. He died in 1973, the same year that this movie was released. The only other films he was in that I am positive I have seen are Crossfire (1947) and The Wild Bunch (1969).