Cinema Retro spoke and Warner Brothers listened! In one of our previous "We Want Our DVD!" columns, we called for the release of this obscure 1974 crime film on DVD. Lo and behold, it has just been released by Warner Archives. What follows is our original review.
By Lee Pfeiffer
Although Robert Duvall had been playing supporting roles in major films since To Kill a Mockingbird, it was his Oscar-nominated turn as Tom Hagen in The Godfather that elevated him to leading man status. Before long, Duvall was being courted for numerous other gritty crime thrillers. One of the best is one of the least-heralded, The Outfit, a 1974 production from MGM. Written and directed by John Flynn, the film is expertly-made and enacted on all levels. Duvall plays a small-time crook doing time for a bank robbery. As soon as he is released from jail, he finds he's been marked for death by mob boss Robert Ryan (excellent, as always, in what turned out to be his final screen appearance). Apparently, Duvall had been unaware that the bank he held up was secretly owned by Ryan, who has already killed his brother for acting as an accomplish during the heist. Duvall becomes obsessed with avenging his brother's death and getting to Ryan before the mob can exercise its contract. He enlists the help of sultry girlfriend Karen Black and fellow petty crook Joe Don Baker. Before long, they are barely escaping death as they raid various mob locations to bleed Ryan financially. The climax finds Duvall and Baker trying to infiltrate Ryan's seemingly impregnable compound to deliver the coup de grace.