Retro Movie: Don Siegel's "Charley Varrick"

Sheree North & Walter Matthau in Charley Varrick

1970s movie screens were filled with celebrated thrillers such as The French Connection, Klute, The Parallax View, Chinatown, and Serpico, but there were a number of other excellent genre films released during this period, including The Friends of Eddie Coyle, The Outfit and Night Moves, which are just as good as those well-remembered classics. One of these under the radar gems is Don Siegel's 1973 crime drama Charley Varrick. Siegel is best known for helming hard-edged crime films like Riot in Cell Block 11, Private Hell 36, the 1964 version of The Killers, Dirty Harry, and Escape From Alcatraz. He also directed the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

Walter Matthau plays the title character, Charley Varrick, a former stunt pilot and crop duster who masterminds the robbery of a small-town bank in New Mexico. Unfortunately, two members of the crew, including Charley's wife Nadine, are killed during the heist, leaving the world weary Charley and a younger man, Harman Sullivan, on the run. When Charley and Harman discover that they've gotten away with a lot more money than they expected, Charley figures out that the bank must be a drop that launders Mafia money, and that the mob will be after them to recover their cash.

Charley's theory turns out to be correct. The mob dispatches a lethal hit man named Molly to recover the money, and kill the two thieves. It's a race against time as Charley tries to stay one step ahead of both the cops and the mob, while dealing with the impatient Harman, who wants to start enjoying their unexpected windfall. Charley Varrick is a tense, well-acted thriller, featuring a terrific lead performance from Matthau, who during this period was also exercising his flair for fine dramatic work in films like The Laughing Policeman and the original version of The Taking of Pelham One Two Three.

The marvelous supporting cast is chock full of faces that will be familiar to fans of 1970s cinema and TV shows, including Joe Don Baker, Sheree North, William Schallert, Woodrow Parfey, Norman Fell, John Vernon, Benson Fong, and Andy Robinson (best known as the serial killer Scorpio in director Siegel's Dirty Harry, and later as the duplicitous Garak on Star Trek; Deep Space Nine) who does a good job as Harman. In addition to the taut direction by Siegel, the film also features some fine cinematography by Michael Butler, and a cool score by Lalo Schifrin. The well-crafted screenplay was written by Dean Reisner and Howard Reese, based on the novel The Looters by John Reese.

The sharp, suspenseful Charley Varrick definitely earns its place among the pantheon of must-see (albeit lesser known by some viewers) 1970s films like Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, The Yakuza, Rolling Thunder and The Driver. If you're a fan of 1970s crime dramas with well-defined characters, a clever plot, and a touch of noir, you should definitely add Charley Varrick to your watch list. The film has been released on DVD and Blu-ray, and is also available on some streaming services. Here's a look at the trailer for the movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mqv1VwhWTv.