Charley Varrick - The Last of the Independents hits back

Charley Varrick, the titular character from Don Siegel's hard-as-nails 1973 crime thriller very obligingly offered up the inspiration for the title of my new blog  - "The last of the independents", a pithy little one-liner that sums up not only Varrick's modus operandi in the world of small-time crime, but also possibly director Don Siegel's view of himself as a filmmaker.

I have written about Charley Varrick previously, but it is perfectly apt that it is this movie that I have chosen to kick off the blog, so I am coming back to it once again.

Charley Varrick opens with the kind of explosive, efficiently orchestrated, tightly edited action sequence that undoubtedly secured Siegel's reputation as one of the outstanding American B movie directors.   A small bank in a sleepy, nothing sort of town, Tres Cruces, New Mexico, is hit by three professionals, bringing heat down on the town and themselves.   By the time they are clear of the town border, one robber is dead and another, Charley Varrick's wife Nadine, is mortally wounded.  That just leaves the unflappable leader Varrick and his not-altogether-stable partner, Harman, alive to figure out what to do next.   So far, this is classic Siegel territory - protagonists defined wholly by their skills (cops/criminals) at odds and independent from mainstream society, plying their trade with brutal efficiency, a stark economy of storytelling with not a frame wasted, an edgy score from Lalo Schifrin - but then the pace winds down for the second third, as Varrick, having discovered that his supposedly modest little tickle is in fact a ton of mafia money on its way out of the country for laundering, is forced to set up a thoroughly devious but highly effective plan to escape the murderous attention of the seemingly unstoppable mafia thug Molly (a never-better Joe Don Baker).   From here, Charley Varrick focuses more on duplicitous plotting and vicious characterisation before seriously revving up once again at the climax for a fantastically staged (though somewhat improbable) high speed chase between Varrick's bi-plane and Molly's thoroughly intimidating set of wheels.

Siegel brings what is on first inspection a fairly convoluted piece of storytelling in at a most acceptable 106 minutes, while successfully keeping things tight and focused, ensuring that the audience is never completely lost at any point.  The abiding characteristic of Charley Varrick in fact is the utterly cynical world view on show; everyone is on the take here, from crippled gun shop proprietors to the higher echelons of big business (John Vernon's mafia chief is seen directing operations from the boardroom of an ultra-modern office block).   The authorities on the case are bureaucratic automatons.  Varrick himself is no action man.  His main weapon is his cunning ability to turn the avarice of the world around him back in on itself, thereby allowing himself a clear run.   Though he loses his wife early on, Varrick can only allow himself a moment of regret at her passing before coldly switching himself back into the role of ruthless professional.  Charley Varrick is never that violent, but the world view is as bleak as hell.  

Many of Siegel's stock company turn up here, giving highly enjoyable turns - Albert Popwell, John Vernon, Woodrow Parfrey, Tom Tully.   Andy Robinson, fresh from his role of Scorpio in Siegel's previous film, Dirty Harry, gives another very entertaining portrait of snivelling villainy (Harman being this film's arrogant, youthful sidekick whose main role in the events of the story is to be thoroughly expendable).  Lalo Schifrin creates another highly atmospheric score, complementing the attractively stark landscape, beautifully captured by DP Michael Butler, perfectly.   Best of all though is Matthau himself, his craggy features and laconic delivery ideally suited to the hard-boiled proceedings here.

So economic is the filmmaking here that Siegel chooses to end the film not with standard credits, but with the film's obvious subtitle "Last of the Independents" burning away into nothing, as apt a conclusion to this bleak but highly enjoyable caper movie as one could possibly hope for.