The Outfit
An immovable object and an unstoppable force inevitably coming together, which will splinter and fragment? The man going by the name of Earl Macklin released after a short stint in prison, he is met by his girlfriend Bett Harrow, but bad news follows in her wake, his brother Eddie dead, murdered, and Bett herself followed by a hitman who has the same plan for Earl and his friend Cody who years before unknowingly pulled a hit on the Outfit back in Wichita, Kansas.
A war of attrition escalating between the two sides, any opportunity for negotiation and truce, for forging a settlement which will see Macklin and the agents of the Outfit, if not satisfied, then at least not actively pursuing each other, swiftly evaporates as they hunt each other down across the country and strike at safe houses, motels and strongholds, Macklin unwilling to back down and his organised adversaries enraged and offended.
Based on the third of the Parker novels by “Richard Stark,” first published in 1963, The Outfit was released in 1973 starring Robert Duvall as Earl Macklin, Parker established as a man who employs a variety of aliases and the petty charge of carrying a concealed weapon on which he was convicted indicating the prosecution failed to connect him with the bloody events depicted in Point Blank when Lee Marvin played the role but lacking the style and panache of that film.
Another vendetta of blood debts, cold hard cash and angry men unable to forgive, in tow are Karen Black and Joe Don Baker as Bett and Cody, the well-armed and relentless enforcers and officers of the Outfit anonymous in their suits and puffed up faces, led by vengeful wealthy horse-breeder Mailer (Robert Ryan) who lives behind the protected walls and gates of his mansion with trophy wife Rita (Blade Runner’s Joanna Cassidy).
A film of bitter fatalism less about the action and more about the long moments between, waiting and uncertainty, the torment of not knowing if a chance encounter is a hit man on the hunt or if any moment could be your last, Macklin’s idea of “hiding” is not low profile, North America a huge area in which it should be possible to live anonymously but where the trio are tracked with the same ease as they locate the hidden dens of the Outfit, matters perhaps better explained in the source novel than director John Flynn’s adaptation.
Restored from the original 35mm camera negative by Arrow, their new edition of The Outfit is supported by a recently discovered alternative end sequence, an audio commentary by critics Jedidiah Ayres and Mike White, an appreciation of author Donald Westlake (Richard Stark also being a pseudonym) by expert Levi Stahl, an appreciation of the film by critic Walter Chaw, an overview of the Parker novels by Alissa Marmol-Cernat and Shay Dennis and an archive interview with co-writer Walter Hill on his friendship and collaboration with Flynn.
The Outfit will be available on Blu-ray from Arrow from Monday 27th July
