The Outfit

Excellent adaptation of a novel by Richard Stark (Donald E Westlake), who also provided the source material for Point Blank, The Split and Godard's Made in USA. A taut, grim thriller, it sees Duvall, just out of prison and with revenge burning in his heart for the murder of his brother, taking on the Syndicate with the help of heavy Joe Don Baker. Tightly scripted by Flynn himself, sharply shot by Bruce Surtees, it's a cool, exciting thriller in the Siegel tradition, paying more than passing reference to classic film noir with its host of character actors (Cook, Windsor, Greer, Carey), a cruel performance from Ryan as the mob leader, and its vision of people caught up in a chaotic, confused and treacherous world.