Charley Varrick certainly sounds promising. It was produced and directed by Don Siegel which is a very good start. And it was co-written by Howard Rodman, who also co-wrote the excellent
Madigan for Siegel. Rodman’s achievements in television are second to none. He was story editor on
Naked City and
Route 66 and created one of the best-ever TV private eye series,
Harry O. So does
Charley Varrick live up to its promise? The short answer is, yes it does.
Charley Varrick is a somewhat battered crop-duster pilot. Earning a living crop-dusting became almost impossible - independents like Charley couldn’t compete with the big combines. Charley started to supplement his earnings by robbing banks, on a small scale.
His latest robbery, of a bank in Tres Cruces in New Mexico, looked easy but didn’t go so smoothly, with a trail of corpses left in its wake. That’s not the biggest problem. The biggest problem is that the robbery netted three-quarters of a million dollars. That was just not possible. A small local bank in a one-horse town in New Mexico would never have even a tenth of that amount of money on hand. Something is wrong. Charley thinks he knows what it is. He is pretty sure that he has inadvertently stolen Mob money. If he and his partner lie low for a while the police will eventually give up the chase. But not the Mob. If you steal money from the Mob they will pursue you to the ends of the Earth even if it takes years.
Charley’s partner Harman Sullivan (Andy Robinson) worries Charley as well. Charley knows that it will not be safe to spend any of the money for at least three or four years. Harman wants to spend his share right away. Harman isn’t interested in listening to Charley’s advice - he’s a young punk and he thinks Charley is a broken-down old man who has lost his nerve.
Charley is not the only one with troubles. Maynard Boyle (John Vernon) is really worried. He’s a fairly senior Mafia guy and he’s one of only two people who knew that all that Mafia money was sitting in that bank in Tres Cruces. He knows his superiors will suspect that it was an inside job, and he knows they’re going to suspect him. He’s going to have to act fast to get that money back. He dispatches hitman Molly (Joe Don Baker) to take care of this.
Charley meanwhile is giving the whole situation a lot of thought. He thinks he may have a plan that will allow him to keep the money and stay alive.
We don’t really think Charley is going to get away with it but we admire him for trying and maybe he’ll get lucky. To find out whether he does get away with it you’ll have to watch the movie.
I had never ever seen this movie until now. The poster and the fact that the star is Walter Matthau gave me the idea that it was going to be a lighthearted semi-comic romp. In fact there’s nothing lighthearted about this movie. It’s a rollercoaster of an action movie and it’s pretty dark.
The action scene with the crop-dusting biplane is inspired. There’s plenty of suspense and Siegel keeps things humming along at a brisk pace.
Matthau proves to be excellent in a rare serious role (the only other such role in which I can recall seeing him is in
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three and he’s excellent in that one as well). John Vernon is very good as always. Joe Don Baker adds major creepiness as the brutal Molly.
Kino Lorber as usual have provided a very good 16:9 enhanced transfer and as usual they’ve loaded with disc with entirely worthless extras. I bailed out of Toby Roan’s audio commentary after fifteen minutes when it became clear that he was just going to continue reading out every bit player’s screen credits from the IMDb. The making-of documentary is also very dreary.
Charley Varrick is top-notch entertainment with plenty of excitement and an unlikely hero we can’t help liking. Don Siegel was on a roll at the time, having made Dirty Harry a couple of years earlier. A few years after
Charley Varrick he would make the superb spy thriller
Telefon.
Charley Varrick is highly recommended.
I wasn't surprised to see Matthau in a serious role, but I was surprised by how bleakly violent this was at times. Although I would also highly recommend it - decent plot, awesome cast. (I also need to catch up with Telefon again)
ReplyDeleteWHY are so many DVD commentaries, which ought to be either fun or fascinating or informative or loaded with all sorts of trivia, instead BORING, USELESS chatter from someone who barely knows what he or she is talking about?? And, so often, costars of the film either have in-jokes between them that aren't enjoyable or else just sit there watching themselves, in awe of the fact that they did said movie all those years ago and unable to remember anything of note! LOL
ReplyDeleteI agree, and DVD/Blu-Ray commentaries are getting worse. It seems to be getting harder to find people who know how to do worthwhile audio commentaries.
DeleteDee, good write-up of CHARLEY VARRICK(filmed 1972, released 1973), which is a movie that I really enjoy. I first saw the movie on the NBC SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE MOVIES in 1974. I think it's a very slick entertaining crime drama highlighted by Walter Matthau's skillful and clever performance as a circus stunt pilot turned crop-duster pilot who dabbles in robbing banks on the side.
ReplyDeleteI think one of the movies strong points is an ensemble of supporting roles, which have been cast aptly in every instance to a "T." What a masterfully performance by Joe Don Baker as Molly the pipe smoking, cool as a cucumber, cruel, sadistic Mafia enforcer. Andy Robinson as a greedy punk of a partner to Varrick. This movie has some really sensual mature women in it, Sheree North, Felicia Farr, Jacqueline Scott, and Monica Lewis. I got a kick out of the scenes with Matthau and Farr, who is the wife of Jack Lemmon, who is Matthau's best friend in real life.
My first memories of Walter Matthau are as a dramatic actor and the first ten years of his movie career proves that, in his supporting roles. He portrayed heavies well. Not a heavy, but I especially liked his performance as the New Mexico sheriff in the contemporary Western LONELY ARE THE BRAVE(filmed 1961, released 1962) with Kirk Douglas, Gena Rowlands, and William Schallert as the deputy sheriff, who portrays the New Mexico sheriff in CHARLEY VARRICK. Other serious lead roles that I think Matthau is excellent in are THE LAUGHING POLICEMAN(1973) and HOPSCOTCH(filmed 1979, released 1980). I think they are worth viewing.
Walter, I must confess that the only serious performances by Matthau that I've seen are this one and THE TAKING OF PELHAM ONE TWO THREE. But I liked him a lot in both these movies so I'll have to search out more of his non-comedic movies.
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