“It’s sad when they go young like that… 95? He was just a kid!” Gangster genre fans online have used the above statement as a thoughtful and respectful tribute to the late actor Robert Duvall. The line is a modified version of mob boss Phil Leotardo’s quote in The Sopranos, where he mourns his 47-year-old brother Billy. Indeed, among many other roles, Duvall will forever be remembered for his work in the first two Godfather movies. Interestingly, The Godfather franchise overshadowed The Outfit, his other slick ‘70s gangster movie.
Directed by John Flynn, The Outfit stars Robert Duvall as Earl Macklin, a hard-boiled gangster who comes out of a 27-month sentence to find his brother murdered by the Chicago mob, aka “The Outfit.” Even worse, he soon realizes that he is also being hunted down. When he stops by a motel, he gets ambushed by hitmen, forcing him to go on the offensive against one of the most powerful mafia organizations in America.
Sandwiched Between the First Two ‘Godfather’ Movies, ‘The Outfit’ Couldn’t Thrive
Like The Godfather, The Outfit is a book adaptation. It’s loosely based on the novel of the same name by Richard Stark, the pseudonym of the great Donald E. Westlake. Before Robert Duvall was cast, Charlton Heston (better known for Ben-Hur) read the script, but he wasn’t interested. However, he later regretted the move, writing in his journal:
“I found time to read The Outfit again… Maybe I made a mistake. It’s a good script and should make a good film.”
Duvall turned out to be the perfect fit. Many have compared his character Earl to the antiheroes of Get Carter and Point Blank. The film also impressed many critics, including Roger Ebert, who described it as a “classy action gangster picture.” On top of that, Quentin Tarantino wrote a chapter on the movie in his 2022 book Cinema Speculation. He wrote that he totally loved it and had seriously considered remaking it.
Unfortunately, there was never any major buzz surrounding The Outfit. That was partly due to its release date. 1973 was the worst time for any gangster movie to come out, as audiences were still delighting over The Godfather, which set the bar too high the previous year. The sequel had already been announced shortly after, and that’s all everyone was looking for. Part II would come out in 1974, trapping this lower-budget Duvall flick between two of the greatest gangster movies of all time. Despite its high-octane action, it just couldn’t shoot its way out of obscurity.
‘The Outfit’ Is a Gangster Movie for Viewers Who Love More Action and Less Talk
“If you want to shoot… shoot. Don’t talk.” The bandit, Tuco Ramirez, famously says these words in the Spaghetti Western The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly after killing an enemy who cornered him in a bathroom. The enemy talked too much about how he had “waited forever for this day,” giving Tuco the chance to get the better of him. Interestingly, many gangster movies tend to have more talking than shooting, including the three installments of The Godfather trilogy.
Everyone who claims The Godfather movies are boring presumably hates them for the spaced-out action. It often takes a while for the Cosa Nostra members and their rivals to grab guns. Thankfully, The Outfit doesn’t suffer from that ailment. The film is clearly made to entertain, not to be studied in schools, so audiences are treated to intense violence right from the opening minute.
The Outfit is what The Godfather would look like if Sonny’s killers spent the entire movie hunting Michael, too. From a cook throwing a bowl of pepper at a mobster to someone planting a bomb under a table, there is too much going on. And that’s a good thing. Despite his feline calmness and brooding introspection, Duvall thrives in the chaos. Casual audiences who don’t care about terms like omerta and consigliere will totally adore this movie. It’s an offer too good to refuse. Even Donald Westlake loved it, describing it as one of the only adaptations of his works that “got the feeling right.”
- Release Date
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October 19, 1973
- Runtime
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103 minutes
- Director
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John Flynn
- Producers
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Carter DeHaven
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
