Charley Varrick (1973) Retrospective 

One of the best crime movies ever, great video.

This is my favourite movie of all time, bar none. The poster hangs above my bed. Criminally underrated. Long live Charley V.

Great Film..One of my all time favorites!

Great movie, one of the best ever! The casting was great too.

We named one of our dogs after Charley Varrick, and today happens ot be his 1-year adoptaversary. The back side of his tag even includes "Last of the Independents" above our phone number. ;)

This came out the year I was born and saw it for the first time today good show. I liked Walter’s son cameo with the sheriff

The scene by the cow field with John Vernon and Woodrow Pafrey is stunning. Brilliant acting in a single 7 minute take

Another thing worth mentioning is the great score by Lalo Schiffrin. Puzzling over how to craft the music, he came upon a brilliant concept. The urgent, propulsive music mirrors the questing, inventive, always moving nature of Charley's mind as he grapples to find tools to remain alive.

This channel really fills a void on youtube. There just aren't too many channels covering retro classics. Keep up the good work. I couldn't recommend Charley Varrick any more.

When I first saw it, I checked to see if Donald Westlake had anything to do with the script. Felt like it had his flavour to it. One of my favorite films.

I love gritty 70s crime films like this. Would love to get your takes on "Busting", "Report To The Commissioner", "The Seven-Ups", "Across 110th Street", "Electra Glide In Blue" and "The Gambler".

Charley Varrick is one of my favourite heist movies. Joe Don Baker is great as Molly

John Vernon... in 'The Black Windmill' 1974 played the most ruthless villain. A villain you could believe in.

watched this for the first time recently and was entertained but the two ‘romance’ scenes with the woman in the third act were a pretty hard pill to swallow

Love it, any chance for "Friends of Eddie Coyle" retrospective?

2 cool details I noticed in the film: 1. Varrick tells the officer that pulled him over that "we been operating outta Reese[, NM] since the first of the year." I take it this was an homage to John Reese, author of "The Looters", the book upon which the film was based. 2. The poster in Varrick's barn/office (at 4:51) foreshadows the stunt he will pull at the end ("the flip of death"), deliberately flipping his plane in order to draw Molly into his trap.

Oh and some trivia - The Pretenders' 1993 album Last of the Independents takes its name from the title of our fine film here. Chrissie Hynde is a huge fan of the film.

This was probably Joe Don Baker's finest hour

Really appreciate your summary and analysis. Many thanks!

One of my favourite films, good commentary and well done video.🙏 I subscribed.

I realize this is only a movie, but I never figured out how Charley flew from NM to Reno Nv in a biplane in the short amount of time it took him to arrive, and back by early morning. Don't get me wrong, this and Hopscotch has to be two of my favorites.

Saw this one many years ago and thought it was fine, but it didn't really stick with me. Your video may prompt a re-watch though, as on paper, it's right up my alley.

Great critique. The populist take is great and what really moves the film. From the perspective of 2024, the freedom that existed in those days -- to hide your identity, to buy explosives, to re-invent yourself, stands out. We can't be independent like that any longer.

11:48 The film expresses revelation in waves to the audience of plot twists & details along with sudden elements of shocking surprise that seem to come out of nowhere. It's obvious that Charley's mind is continuously working on countermeasures to foil plans already set in motion. We grasp the depth & seriousness of the film shortly after the surprisingly violent bank robbery scene(s) followed by the explosion of the getaway car ostensibly with character Nadine's body still within. ✨

Great film and very, very 70's....and I mean that in the best way possible.

Pretty sure you forgot to mention that Andrew Robinson was also in Don Siegel's previous movie _Dirty Harry_ playing the Scorpio killer. Overall, a very good retrospective that I thoroughly enjoyed watching.

That was fascinating. Really enjoyed that. Thank you. Is the book a good read? You got me all curious now. And I’m amazed at Matthau’s negativity toward the movie, as it really is one of his best parts. Of course, the film’s lack of box office success (certainly compared to Siegel’s Eastwood output) may have left Matthau searching for answers to account for that? Perhaps he was making his excuses? Yet we mustn’t forget that, though he may well be better known now as the comedy star of Oscar winning films like The Sunshine Boys and romantic screwball comedies, he started out playing the heavies (usually representing the mafia) in films like Kid Creole, or westerns. So, this was not unfamiliar territory for Matthau in that respect. Another thing I really enjoy about that film is the fact that the rest of the cast are almost all drawn from the same cast list as Dirty Harry and its sequels. The same stable of actors that Eastwood drew on for what was probably his best directed film, The Outlaw Josey Wales. Charlie Varrick always sits in my top 10 crime films. I can’t help but feel a bit disappointed that its star didn’t get it. But I guess he had a better agent than he realised at the time? As it’s a highly regarded movie these days. At least, among movie buffs. Though too many haven’t heard of it now, it seems.

Great review of an under appreciated film! If you are on a Walter Matthau roll, please do videos on The Taking of Pelham One Two Three and A New Leaf.😃

You did a very good job explaining the politics of the movie. I'm a Matthau fan but didn't like the movie when I saw it. The main issue, as was mentioned in passing here, is that Matthau's character is largely unsympathetic (for me due to the loss of life resulting from the initial bank heist scene). That may be a bit simplistic on my part, but I wasn't able to get past that issue. Interestingly, in watching your review, it crossed my mind how this movie has several elements similar to his 1980 movie Hopscoth; a movie which I adore as it celebrates the more charming and humorous aspects of Walter's character range. Thanks for your review.

Great video, very informative as always. Looking forward to getting the 4K release from Kino Lorber when it comes out!

great stuff, remember this being so good. Really comes out of left field in a way. One happens upon it at a certain point in their film "journey".

Near classic just rewatched it

Joe Don Baker !

That was a nice video, and a really good appreciation of the film. Although i think the use of the term conspiracy is misleading in almost every respect. And I would venture to guess about your political leanings. Not that there's anything wrong with that, it's just that viewpoint, i believe, is wrong. Things arent corrupted because of conspiracy, they're corrupted because they are innocent. It's like a meth dealer buying a nice suburban home to do his drug business in, not because the suburban neighborhood is corrupted, it's because it's not. You know they are trying not to get caught, so you don't set up a criminal enterprise in a big city bank, you find a nice sleepy town to enact your criminal schemes. The path of least resistance.

I can't see how this movie gets the accolades it does. There's enough plot holes in the first 20 minutes to drive a semi through. No wonder Clint passed this one up.

Is it just me or does this movie seem a little cynical.