The Outfit (1973 film)
| The Outfit | |
|---|---|
Theatrical poster
|
|
| Directed by | John Flynn |
| Produced by | Carter De Haven |
| Screenplay by | John Flynn |
| Based on |
The Outfit by Richard Stark |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Jerry Fielding |
| Cinematography | Bruce Surtees |
| Edited by | Ralph E. Winters |
| Distributed by | MGM |
|
Release date
|
|
|
Running time
|
103 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Outfit is a 1973 crime film directed by John Flynn. It stars Robert Duvall, Karen Black, Joe Don Baker and Robert Ryan.
Flynn's screenplay is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Richard Stark, pseudonym of Donald E. Westlake. It features a character modeled on Stark's fictional character Parker, who was introduced in The Hunter.
Two hitmen drive to Eddie Macklin's house to assassinate him as he builds a brick wall in his backyard. Meanwhile, Eddie's brother Earl (Robert Duvall) is released from prison in Illinois after a 27-month term for carrying a concealed weapon. His girlfriend Bett (Karen Black) picks him up and takes him to a motel. She informs Earl of his brother's execution by the Outfit. Earl deduces that the motel stay is a setup, and when one of the hitmen who killed his brother bursts into the room, Earl ambushes him and tortures him for information.
Macklin lets the hitman live and sends him back to Chicago as a warning. Bett confesses that the Outfit tortured her and threatened to cut off her face if she didn't lure Macklin to the motel. His next move is to rob a poker game where Outfit member Jake Menner (Timothy Carey) is playing. Menner explains that the Wichita, Kansas bank that Eddie and Earl robbed together was an Outfit cover, so the contract on the two of them is simple retribution. Macklin calculates that the Outfit owes him $250,000 for the trouble it has caused him. He says whatever he earns by ripping off the Outfit's operations in the meantime is just gravy. Then, he shoots Menner in the hand as revenge for the treatment of Bett.
Menner tells his boss Mailer (Robert Ryan) that the Outfit has a problem, but Mailer insists that it is Menner's problem to solve. The hitmen who killed Eddie are sent to kill Macklin's old partner Cody (Joe Don Baker) at a diner that he owns. Cody gets them to leave by pointing out that the town sheriff is there; then he and Macklin hatch a plan to keep robbing the Outfit, using Bett as a driver. Their next target is a dive restaurant that does not even have a safe. On their way out with the money, the cook throws his cleaver at Cody and three gunmen lie in wait outside the restaurant. Bett mows two of them down, and the trio escapes.
...
Wikipedia