Don Siegel’s superior crime picture Charley Varrick (1973) was supposed to be called Last of the Independents, but that title was nixed by Universal honcho Lew Wasserman. This probably gives even more credence to the subversive, stick-it-to-the-system notion nestled inside this tale of a crop-duster pilot who has resorted to small-scale robbery for a living because he can no longer compete against the capitalist monopoly in his legal job.
The film begins with the heist of a backwater bank, in which Varrick (Walter Matthau) loses two accomplices—including his wife (Jacqueline Scott)—but makes an unexpectedly big haul. When the amount is covered up in official reports, Varrick realizes that he and his dimwitted surviving partner (Andy Robinson) must have unknowingly made off with laundered mafia money, and has to rely on…
You're reading a preview of
Cinema Scope (Digital) - 1 Issue, Issue 97 - Winter 2024