Charley Varrick

Charley Varrick and his friends rob a small town bank. Expecting a small sum to divide amongst themselves…

• Director: Don Siegel
• Genre:Crime / Drama / Thriller
• Runtime:106 minutes

Cast

Walter Matthau : Charley Varrick
Joe Don Baker : Molly
Felicia Farr : Sybil Fort
Andrew Robinson : Harman Sullivan (as Andy Robinson)
Sheree North : Jewell Everett

Charley Varrick (Matthau) is a crop-duster by trade. (Siegel wanted Varrick’s company’s motto, “Last of the Independents,” to be the title of the film.) By inclination Varrick prefers armed robbery to crop dusting, but the aging trailer-park dweller has clearly not been too successful. Together with three others, including his wife Nadine (Jacqueline Scott) and edgy Harman Sullivan (Robinson), Varrick robs a small bank in Tres Cruces, New Mexico. During the robbery, two policemen and the fourth robber are killed, and Nadine is mortally wounded.

Varrick and Sullivan find themselves with $750,000 — far more money than they expected. However, the bank manager (a timid character played by Woodrow Parfrey) reports only $2,000 stolen. Realizing they have stolen the proceeds of a money-laundering Mob operation, Varrick and Sullivan find themselves in trouble not only with the police, but with several shady characters, in particular Mob ally Maynard Boyle (Vernon) and amoral killer Molly (Baker).

Also being threatened by Sullivan, his own partner, Varrick decides to double-cross him (before Sullivan can do so to him). He decides to flee the country and puts in a rush order for two fake passports with a pretty photographer (Sheree North), who promptly puts Molly on their trail. The sadistic Molly catches up with Sullivan and brutally disposes of him while attempting to determine Varrick’s whereabouts.

Boyle, meanwhile, terrifies the mousy bank manager with the threat that the Mob will suspect the robbery was an inside job. One of the descriptions of torture that Boyle suggests involves a pair of pliers and a blowtorch. The bank manager soon commits suicide with a gunshot to the head.

After seducing Boyle’s secretary (played by Felicia Farr), Varrick sets up a meeting with Boyle, arriving for it in his crop duster. But he greets Boyle so warmly that it convinces Molly the men are partners. Molly angrily runs down Boyle with a car. Varrick tries to escape by plane, but Molly’s car forces Varrick to flip upside-down.

Seemingly in mortal danger, Varrick has actually set a booby trap for Molly, who is blown up. In the remains of the explosion are a number of hundred dollar bills and Sullivan’s dead body to be mistaken for that of Varrick (who had earlier switched dental records). Varrick vanishes with the remaining money. Read more