1973 Directed by John Flynn
A two-bit criminal takes on the Mafia to avenge his brother's death. Earl Macklin is a small time criminal who is released from prison after an unsuccessful bank robbery only to discover that a pair of gunmen killed his brother.
Robert Duvall Karen Black Joe Don Baker Robert Ryan Timothy Carey Richard Jaeckel Sheree North Felice Orlandi Marie Windsor Jane Greer Henry Jones Joanna Cassidy Tom Reese Elisha Cook Jr. Bill McKinney Anita O'Day Archie Moore Tony Young Roland La Starza Edward Ness Roy Roberts Toby Andersen Emile Meyer Roy Jenson Philip Kenneally Bern Hoffman John Steadman Paul Genge Francis De Sales Show All…
Échec à l'organisation, Hämnarna, A társaság, La organización criminal, A Quadrilha, To syndikato, Organizzazione crimini, Opgør i underverdenen, Kostaja kiven sisältä, Echec à l'organisation, Revolte in der Unterwelt, Organizacija, سازمان, Команда
USA
Germany18
Germany
USA
75
Here's the pitch: a grimy, nails in your breakfast cereal, totally downbeat revamp of 1940s crime-noir and 70s existentialism. John Flynn is a firm and guiding hand with this excellent ensemble cast, from Robert Duvall to Karen Black to Joe Don Baker, Robert Ryan, and more. While not necessarily a high watermark for intricate characters, The Outfit doesn't match the stakes or complexity of the greatest crime-thrillers of its era, but it does accomplish a vicious, singular tone of not giving a fuck - all in for the energy and spontaneity of the frazzled plot. The contrast between the sudden violence and its methodical pacing makes for quite an evocative watch. It's damn difficult to take your eyes off of the screen, and watching all of these actors do their thing is often enough.
Viewed with Rem, the collaber of this outfit, who I’d escape with in an ambulance if the situation required it! His review here!
The Outfit is such a sublime piece of cinema it has essentially gone under the radar for all its existence. For a decade that is known for the “gritty crime-thriller” one would think this Robert Duvall led-vehicle would be at the top of everyone’s checklists. In stripped-down 70’s fashion, the film is bookended by simple, almost lackadaisical moments of career criminals in their natural environments. Supported by “heavy” Joe Don Baker in all his charismatic beauty, Duvall is quick, quiet and relentless, working only as a professional works and providing some similar vibes to James Caan’s more stirring turn in…
Flynn's bare-bones crime outputs spiked with practical and realistic grit are often a safe bet, "The Outfit", though a worthy and effortless watch, feels particularly sustained by its unpolished quality and serves better as the restrained raw sketch for the highly superior "Rolling Thunder". Still, plenty of washed-out texture and period sleaze to satisfy the pulp craving.
You know you're in for a damn good time when the credits 'Based on a novel by Richard Stark' appear onscreen. And John Flynn, the director of "Rolling Thunder" and "Out for Justice," is a perfect fit for this material: "The Outfit" is a taut and driving little film that feels like a retro 40's crime picture that just so happened to be made in 1973—there's very little that ties this to a specific period beyond the automobiles, and Southern California is portrayed as an open wasteland, its wide empty spaces dotted with rundown motels, its urban centers little more than empty structures meant to house backroom poker games and racketeering operations.
Lest one think the film is all tight-lipped…
This mostly boils down to the brief scene when Robert Duvall and Robert Ryan waste some tough guy small talk while trying not pretending they are condescending to each other. It's 40's potboiler texture under a 70's sensibility and while both sometimes fight (with poor Karen Black as victim) most of this is quite great mean B film that almost never feels like an empty exercise like so many genre updating often does. Duvall and Joe Don Baker camaraderie and the long army of character actors and good lived in detail carries deal through the occasional rough sketch. The direction is by the very underrated John Flynn.
1973's The Outfit is another of MGM's big screen adaptations of a Richard Stark/Donald E. Westlake novel featuring his anti-hero Parker. The first, 1967's Point Blank, starred Lee Marvin as Parker. The second, The Split, came a year later and, due to Marvin's decision not to reprise the character, Parker became McClain and was portrayed by former NFL star Jim Brown. Here, Robert Duvall takes centre stage as the Parker-clone Macklin, going up against Robert Ryan's mob boss in revenge for the murder of his brother.
Written and directed by John Flynn, The Outfit is a more satisfying movie than The Split and is in the tradition of hardboiled pulp fiction. This influence can be seen in Flynn's decision to…
“And I don’t want this cracker asshole following me around the country with a shotgun. Next time I’ll kill him.”
Underrated early 70’s crime drama with fine performances from a truly gangbuster cast.
With a plot similar to Don Siegel’s ”Charley Varrick” (a film I coincidentally rewatched just before taking in this movie), which was released the same year, the mob is incensed at our main characters for ripping off one of its small town banks, and payback is due. But which side will be the one dishing it out?
Robert Duvall gets an early leading role as a petty crook searching for those who killed his brother. He’s surrounded by one hell of a gaggle of familiar faces...Joe Don…
The Outfit bridges the gap between 70s grit and 40s Noir. The leads are new New Hollywood faces: Robert Duvall, Karen Black and Joe Don Baker. But for the supporting roles, the filmmakers make a deliberate reach-back for Noir Hall of Famers Robert Ryan, Jane Greer, Timothy Carey and Elisha Cook Jr. The result is like those Old-Timers' Days that Major League clubs would have back in the 70s when I was growing up. You’d have a chance to see Catfish Hunter and Thurman Munson on the same field as Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford.
Whoever did the location scouting in the film deserves and honorary Oscar. We are talk on a neorealisme tour of 1970s chop shops, flop houses,…
The Outfit is the kind of neo-noir heist roadtrip that doesn’t get made nowadays. A low-key all-business thriller inhabited by taciturn professionals and their flickers of humanity amid mean urgent action. Flynn’s crime canvas encompasses both impactful violence and causal peeks into a well-established small-town underworld. The character-driven approach turns the simplest crime-story beats like swapping cars or buying guns into their own intriguing episodes, always unfolding with purpose.
And with all due respect to Boorman’s classic, this is the best Parker film. Everyone shines with distinct personality - a fiercely loyal Joe Don Baker, a craggily cold Robert Ryan, even the bit parts - but Duvall as “Macklin” is almost the ideal embodiment of Richard Stark’s character. His blunt menace and shrewd composure perfectly captures the literary Parker like no one else.
“Damn you. Why'd you have to kill him?”
“He owed me money.”
A sleek little crime joint. Pulls no punches whatsoever. Some of the finest ‘70s action you will find. Stellar performances, Robert Duvall and Joe Don Baker are better than ever. Also one of my all time favorites Robert Ryan turns in one of his last performances. Great direction and minimal yet effective camerawork. With Rolling Thunder being my second favorite film, this had been on my radar for a while. Did not disappoint one bit. A couple of macho guys taking out their rivals and drinking beer, exactly my kind of cinema. A total fuckin’ blast.
Disillusionment In Sun-Drenched 1970s American New Wave Cinema: A Watching Brief
Donald E. Westlake's Parker has been given numerous outings on the big screen, and all the of the films featuring his character (loosely or otherwise) have proved to be extremely enjoyable.
The Outfit, as it did on my first viewing proves to be the most single-minded and tight film deriving from that character to date. You don't see much in the way of planning here. Just two extremely good criminals winging it from one situation to another, pursued by an 'outfit' that are amusingly sloppy to completely incompetent.
John Flynn, an excellent and under-prized director, gives this some classic noir flavour with his support casting (Ryan! Windsor! Cook Jr.! Greer!) shot through with that gritty, violent 70s sheen of thick dirt that I always love. Straightforward, quick-thinking crime cinema that we've largely forgotten how to make.
