# Charley Varrick
**Charley Varrick** is a 1973 American crime film directed and produced by [Don Siegel](https://www.edgepedia.org/don-siegel), starring [Walter Matthau](https://www.edgepedia.org/walter-matthau) as a small-time Nevada crop duster whose crew robs small-town banks and accidentally steals Mafia money, drawing the pursuit of both the police and a mob hitman.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/54542-CHARLEY-VARRICK) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/charley_varrick) The screenplay by Howard Rodman and Dean Riesner adapts John Reese's 1968 novel *The Looters*.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/54542-CHARLEY-VARRICK) Matthau's performance marked a noteworthy dramatic turn in a primarily comedic career and won him a BAFTA Award for Best Actor.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/54542-CHARLEY-VARRICK) • [3](https://godalmingfilmsoc.org.uk/film-archive/2021-22/charley-varrick/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | October 1973; New York and Los Angeles openings October 19, 1973[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/54542-CHARLEY-VARRICK) |
| Director and producer | Don Siegel, for Siegel Films and Universal Pictures[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/54542-CHARLEY-VARRICK) |
| Source | Novel *The Looters* by John Reese (New York, 1968); screenplay by Howard Rodman and Dean Riesner[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/54542-CHARLEY-VARRICK) |
| Lead cast | Walter Matthau (Charley Varrick), Joe Don Baker (Molly), Felicia Farr (Sybil Fort), Andy Robinson (Harman Sullivan), Sheree North (Jewell Everett), John Vernon (Maynard Boyle)[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/54542-CHARLEY-VARRICK) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/charley_varrick) |
| Technical | 111 minutes; Technicolor; Panavision; music by Lalo Schifrin; cinematography by Michael Butler[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/54542-CHARLEY-VARRICK) |
| Rating | MPAA PG[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/54542-CHARLEY-VARRICK) |
| Recognition | BAFTA Award for Best Actor for Walter Matthau; 82% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer (28 reviews); Metascore 76 on Metacritic[3](https://godalmingfilmsoc.org.uk/film-archive/2021-22/charley-varrick/) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/charley_varrick) • [4](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/charley-varrick/critic-reviews/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Charley Varrick makes a meager living as a crop duster in Nevada and supplements it by robbing small local banks, taking only minor sums so the thefts go unnoticed.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/54542-CHARLEY-VARRICK) At the Tres Cruces bank outside [Albuquerque, New Mexico](https://www.edgepedia.org/albuquerque-new-mexico), Charley, disguised as an elderly man in a leg cast, waits outside with his wife Nadine while accomplices Al Dutcher and the hotheaded Harman Sullivan rob the bank. A passing patrolman checks Nadine's license plate, discovers the car is stolen, and returns; Nadine shoots the officers, and in the shootout inside Al is mortally wounded and the guard killed. The getaway ends with Nadine driving into pursuing police cars and crashing.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/54542-CHARLEY-VARRICK)
The surviving robbers find their haul far larger than a small-town bank should hold. Reviews give the figure as $765,000[3](https://godalmingfilmsoc.org.uk/film-archive/2021-22/charley-varrick/) or, in another account, $751,118.[5](https://petersonreviews.com/2022/06/13/charley-varrick-is-an-expertly-constructed-thriller/) Charley concludes the bank is laundering Mafia money, and that spending it will bring both mob vengeance and shoot-to-kill police pursuit; he advises laying low for years.[5](https://petersonreviews.com/2022/06/13/charley-varrick-is-an-expertly-constructed-thriller/) The mob sends Molly ([Joe Don Baker](https://www.edgepedia.org/joe-don-baker)), a sadistic hitman, to recover the cash, and Charley must outthink both Molly and the law.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/charley_varrick) The film's self-description comes from Charley's crop-dusting jumpsuit, which bills him as "the last of the independents".[6](https://motionstatereview.com/2017/12/10/charley-varrick-1973/)
## Production
The film's working titles were *The Looters* and *The Last of the Independents*, the latter the phrase used to describe Charley within the film.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/54542-CHARLEY-VARRICK) In February 1969 the New York Times reported that [Peter Bogdanovich](https://www.edgepedia.org/peter-bogdanovich) would produce and direct an adaptation of Reese's novel for CBS's Cinema Center Films, with Al Bezzerides signed to write the screenplay that April. According to a December 1972 Los Angeles Times article, producer Walter Wanger had originally approached Siegel, who recommended Bogdanovich; after Wanger's death in late 1968 stalled the project, Siegel took it over with Bogdanovich's support.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/54542-CHARLEY-VARRICK)
**Shooting.** Production ran from August 23 to mid-October 1972 in Nevada, primarily in Minden, Reno, and Sparks.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/54542-CHARLEY-VARRICK) The film was photographed by Michael Butler in [Technicolor](https://www.edgepedia.org/technicolor) and [Panavision](https://www.edgepedia.org/panavision), edited by Frank Morriss, and scored by [Lalo Schifrin](https://www.edgepedia.org/lalo-schifrin); Universal Pictures registered the copyright on October 5, 1973.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/54542-CHARLEY-VARRICK) It marked the last feature film appearance of the veteran character actor Tom Tully (1908 to 1982).[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/54542-CHARLEY-VARRICK)
**Casting and in-jokes.** Siegel cast Matthau, then known mainly for comedies, against type as the bank robber; the role began a mid-1970s run of crime dramas for the actor, including *The Taking of Pelham One Two Three* and *The Laughing Policeman*.[6](https://motionstatereview.com/2017/12/10/charley-varrick-1973/) In one scene, when Molly introduces himself to Jewell Everett, she says, "I didn't figure you for Clint Eastwood", a reference to the star of Siegel's previous four films, including the 1971 hit *Dirty Harry*.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/54542-CHARLEY-VARRICK) Andy Robinson, who plays Harman, had also appeared in *Dirty Harry*.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/charley_varrick) Siegel himself appears briefly as "Murph", a losing ping-pong player, and [Mustang Ranch](https://www.edgepedia.org/mustang-ranch) owner Joe Conforte appears as himself.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/54542-CHARLEY-VARRICK) According to one retrospective account, [Clint Eastwood](https://www.edgepedia.org/clint-eastwood) declined the script because of its amoral tone and made *Thunderbolt and Lightfoot* instead.[7](https://film-authority.com/2024/02/23/charley-varrick/)
## Reception
Contemporary and later critics have generally rated the film highly. Rotten Tomatoes lists an 82% Tomatometer from 28 reviews and an 83% audience score, with a critics consensus crediting "Walter Matthau adding hangdog soul to Don Siegel's propulsive direction".[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/charley_varrick) Metacritic records a Metascore of 76, with 11 positive reviews and one mixed out of 12 tallied.[4](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/charley-varrick/critic-reviews/) The Chicago Reader called it "one of the finest examples of action montage from its period", and Variety described it as a sometimes-fuzzy melodrama that emerges "a hardhitting actioner with a sock finale".[4](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/charley-varrick/critic-reviews/) Pauline Kael of The New Yorker was an exception, criticizing the film's look and pacing.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/charley_varrick)
**Critical themes.** Commentators have read the film as an expression of Siegel's recurring subject, the professional under pressure, and of 1970s paranoia about large organizations: Charley's small, self-organized crew of "independents" is pitted against the Mafia and police bureaucracies, and the heist is played as the family business versus the corporation.[8](https://ndl.ethernet.edu.et/bitstream/123456789/26592/1/85.pdf) • [9](https://asidehouse.com/screen/charley-varrick-the-last-independent-against-the-mob/) [The A.V. Club](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-a-v-club) praised its "quiet professionalism" in depicting criminals and federal agents alike laundering money, forging passports, and robbing banks as jobs.[4](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/charley-varrick/critic-reviews/) Later writers have traced the film's influence on subsequent heist pictures, from *Ocean's Eleven* to the work of [Quentin Tarantino](https://www.edgepedia.org/quentin-tarantino).[7](https://film-authority.com/2024/02/23/charley-varrick/)
## Home media and later releases
Universal Home Entertainment released the film on video on September 29, 1994.[10](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Charley-Varrick) The Numbers records a limited theatrical re-release in New Zealand on October 12, 2023, with a reported international gross of $198.[10](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Charley-Varrick) Kino Lorber has issued a special edition from a new 4K master.[11](https://kinolorber.com/film/charley-varrick-special-edition)
## References
1. [Charley Varrick (1973), AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/54542-CHARLEY-VARRICK)
2. [Charley Varrick, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/charley_varrick)
3. [Charley Varrick, Godalming Film Society film archive](https://godalmingfilmsoc.org.uk/film-archive/2021-22/charley-varrick/)
4. [Charley Varrick critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/charley-varrick/critic-reviews/)
5. [Charley Varrick is an Expertly Constructed Thriller, Peterson Reviews (2022)](https://petersonreviews.com/2022/06/13/charley-varrick-is-an-expertly-constructed-thriller/)
6. [Charley Varrick (1973), Motion State Review (2017)](https://motionstatereview.com/2017/12/10/charley-varrick-1973/)
7. [Charley Varrick, film-authority.com (2024)](https://film-authority.com/2024/02/23/charley-varrick/)
8. [The Cinema of Urban Crisis (academic text)](https://ndl.ethernet.edu.et/bitstream/123456789/26592/1/85.pdf)
9. [Charley Varrick: The Last Independent Against the Mob, Aside House (2026)](https://asidehouse.com/screen/charley-varrick-the-last-independent-against-the-mob/)
10. [Charley Varrick (1973), The Numbers](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Charley-Varrick)
11. [Charley Varrick (Special Edition), Kino Lorber](https://kinolorber.com/film/charley-varrick-special-edition)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works) › 1970s films*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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