I saw this movie on T.V. when i was a kid and asbsolutely loved it.
And has remained a favorite ever since.
I've heard that Walter Mathau hates this movie,
Too bad as i think his performance is very powerful.
The DVD deserves way more than what it got, No chapter menues? Come on!
It's strange to see such a great film not get the recognition it deserves.
i AGREE, this movie is one of my all time favs.
share"I've heard that Walter Mathau hates this movie,"
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I don't think he hates it any more. But I agree with you, great great film, a superb 70s time capsule.
hey. Anyone know WHY Mathau hated Varrick, at least for a time, and where did he reveal this, an old Letterman show ??????
Thanks!
I dont know. A guess would be that the movie could be offensive to politically correct types. The way that black guy was crying after he got his car repossesed,the way Molly slaps that chick,then she sleeps with him. There some other things like that. Maybe he said that to be tactful and avoid offending feminists and others.
Who knows...
A guess would be that the movie could be offensive to politically correct types. The way that black guy was crying after he got his car repossesed,the way Molly slaps that chick,then she sleeps with him. There some other things like that. Maybe he said that to be tactful and avoid offending feminists and others.
Indeed the film is not just politically correct it is totally politically incorrect! I see myself having light problems with the movie nowadays. A sign of times I guess. When I first saw it as a kid I liked it because of the intelligent way Varrick got rid of his chasers. Today I get a heart attack when seeing Matthau chewing gumming the whole time. I would not talk to anyone longer than one minute who has a chewing gum in his mouth. I would tolerate him smoking much more because it is a dependence.
The scenes with the black man and the guy in the wheel chair are brutal but not politically incorrect in my book because it reflects reality. Politically incorrect is Charley Varrick himself. He don't give a dime when his wife or his compagnon died (he even forced Herman's death and used his body for faking his own death). His morals are not better than the ones of Molly. He's just more polite.
Varrick did not want to kill anyone during the robbery. But he let his wife and Herman die because they could not deliver a good job.
If you watch closely Charley Varrick and Maynard Boyle are the same. The talks Varrick with Herman and Boyle with the president of the bank have the same attitude. At the end Varrick has just the upper hand.
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You've seen it all you've seen it before, like a fool you always comeback for more
>>He don't give a dime when his wife or his compagnon died
I thought that was one of the touching aspects to the slam bang opening--the fact that he took time to kiss her not once but twice goodbye. That he sleeps with Fort later isn't a stab in his dead wife's back, it's more he just wants some tenderness... and she was hot.
I disagree with Chandler on a couple aspects..Varrick orginally wanted Sullivan to keep low for a couple of years after the robbery, which the dim witted Sullivan angerly called Varrick out said that he was going to 'Whale' with the money. Sullivan, a younger and stronger man, then made a 'crazy eyed' threat 'what use are you' and made clear that he would call the shots. Varrick then had the classic line 'Ok kid you're callin it..'
Well this 'call' is akin to suicide for the both of them, flying out a big red flag for the mob and the cops to see. Varrick knew this, but Sullivan did not or was too eager to spend the money and brag to women. It could be strongly argued that Varrick's own life was in danger because of the reckless Sullivan's plan of spending and Varrick's actions of setting him up were of self-preservation.
If you noticed in a seen where Varricks wife dies, you see Sullivan pull out his gun from his jumpsuit behind Varrick. This implies that if Varrick became overly emotional and would want to take Nadine to the hospital , that Sullivan would have killed him right there.
"Life is a state of mind"
Siegel tells about Walter's dislike of the script in his autobiography.
What I had in mind was boxing the compass.
I ALSO LOVE THIS MOVIE!! HEADS UP IT WILL BE ON TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES 30 APRIL 06 @0200. ENJOY IT AGAIN.
shareI've heard that Walter Mathau hates this movie
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When he was alive, Matthau didn't much care for it -- at the time he made it.
Director Don Siegel gave this version in his autobiography, "A Don Siegel Film":
Matthau was a fine actor but a rather cantankerous one who was known for giving his directors a hard time sometimes.
Matthau claimed that he, "a man with a high IQ," read the "Charley Varrick" script and didn't understand the plot. And since HE didn't understand the plot, he felt audiences would be confused as well. So he advised Siegel to have the script re-written so that Charley Varrick narrates the story (to a psychiatrist! I think Matthau was kidding here) in flashback, explaining each part of his plan along the way.
Siegel refused. Matthau made the movie, but bad-mouthed it and wouldn't help promote it much. Siegel claimed (rightly)that if a star won't promote his own movie, it is bound to fail, and "Charley Varrick" did fail. (Modernly, stars are paid big bucks to promote their films; if they don't, they don't get that extra money.)
Matthau made a bet with Siegel that "Charley Varrick" wouldn't clear a certain gross, and when it didn't, Siegel sent Matthau a check. Matthau sent the check back with a note saying something like "all the money isn't in yet."The bet was never paid off by either side.
"Charley Varrick" won the Best Picture and Best Actor (Matthau) awards at the BRITISH Academy Awards for 1973. Few saw it in 1973, but TV and video have given it a whole new life. It's an acknowledged classic today.
Walter Matthau was wrong.
It's an acknowledged classic today.
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I think he was right in some sense that the audience does not understand it. There are a myriad of threads here where the poster doesn't get what's going on.
shareI saw in a documentary on Walter Matthau recently. Matthau mentioned, of course the documentary was made several years before his passing, that he didn't like some of the dialogue in the script. Don Siegel allowed him to change anything that Matthau didn't like.
I agree that Charley Varrick is a terrific film. Matthau made another impressive film a year after this one called The Taking of Pelham One, Two, Three.
"Dry your eyes baby, it's out of character."