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Charley Varrick

 Charley Varrick
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Charley Varrick
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A 1973 crime thriller film directed by Don Siegel and starring Walter Matthau in the title role, adapted from the novel The Looters by John Reese.Following their bungled robbery of a small town bank, Charley Varrick and his friends are surprised to find that they stole considerably more money than they'd anticipated. Varrick quickly works out that it's actually laundered mafia money, and that they now have to contend not only with the cops but also the mob, who send out a thuggish enforcer named Molly (Joe Don Baker) to exact revenge and recover the money. It soon comes down to a battle of wits between the wily Varrick and the relentless Molly.The supporting cast includes Andrew Robinson as Varrick's hapless associate Harman and John Vernon as the mob's middleman; both men had appeared in Siegel's Dirty Harry two years earlier.
 Charley Varrick
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2024-02-13T07:29:52Z
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2024-02-13T07:29:52Z
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Dropped link to PulpFiction: Not a Feature - ITEM
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DBTropes
 Charley Varrick / int_22cf536c
type
Chekhov's Gun
 Charley Varrick / int_22cf536c
comment
Chekhov's Gun: Near the start of the movie, Charley and Harman have a seemingly irrelevant conversation about them using the same dentist. This becomes important later on, as Charley breaks into the dentist's office after-hours to steal Nadine's dental records, so the police cannot identify her body. He also switches his and Harman's dental records, which will allow him to pass off Harman's dead body as his own.
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Everybody's Dead, Dave
 Charley Varrick / int_22f6000b
comment
Everybody's Dead, Dave: By the end of the movie, Varrick's three fellow robbers are dead, as are Molly and Maynard, leaving Charley as the Sole Survivor.
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Psycho for Hire
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Psycho for Hire: Molly.
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Batman Gambit
 Charley Varrick / int_38d02d44
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Batman Gambit: Charley's final plan to extricate himself from the mess he's in. He arranges to meet Boyle and makes him promise that Molly will not be with him (knowing that either Boyle will double cross him or Molly will come anyway). He then makes it seem as if he and Boyle are in cahoots, knowing Molly will think Boyle has betrayed him. Molly sees this and does as expected by killing Boyle. Fleeing from Molly, Charley is seemingly injured when his plane flips over. He knows Molly won't kill him until he learns where the stolen money is, so he offers to tell him in return for Molly letting him go. Molly agrees and Charley directs him to the trunk of his car, which is rigged with dynamite. Also in the trunk is the body of Charley's partner Harman, who Molly had killed earlier (and whose dental records Charley had swapped his own with). After the explosion kills Molly, Charley strips off his coveralls and tosses it and some of the money into the fire, making it look like he died in the explosion along with Molly.
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Bookends
 Charley Varrick / int_5313c266
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Book Ends: The movie starts and ends with Charley Varrick's personalized overalls being burned.
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 Charley Varrick / int_567e7c4d
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Wounded Gazelle Gambit
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Wounded Gazelle Gambit: It pays off for Varrick.
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No Honor Among Thieves
 Charley Varrick / int_5937a87c
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No Honor Among Thieves: Both the passport forger and the man who sent Charley to her inform on him to Molly.
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Police Are Useless
 Charley Varrick / int_59907e4f
comment
Police Are Useless: The police never come close to catching Varrick and his gang. The mob do.
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Nosy Neighbor
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Nosy Neighbor: Varrick has one at his trailer park. She also doubles as a Cranky Neighbor.
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Driven to Suicide
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Driven to Suicide: The bank manager.
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Casting Gag
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Casting Gag: The secretary Varrick sleeps with is played by Felicia Farr, wife of Matthau's friend and frequent costar Jack Lemmon.
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Politically Incorrect Villain
 Charley Varrick / int_729c69f3
comment
Politically Incorrect Villain: Molly, after knocking out a black man who insulted him:
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 Charley Varrick / int_898ff050
type
Villain Protagonist
 Charley Varrick / int_898ff050
comment
Villain Protagonist: Varrick is a criminal who robs a bank in his first scene, as a result of which several people die. He is nevertheless easy to root for, as the people pursuing him are worse.
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Identification by Dental Records
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Identification by Dental Records: Genre Savvy Charley is aware of this, so after the robbery he makes an after hours visit to his dentist's office to remove a few records.
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Robbing the Mob Bank
 Charley Varrick / int_90ff49cb
comment
Robbing the Mob Bank: The film's premise and one of the best cinematic examples.
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Plethora of Mistakes
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Plethora of Mistakes: The opening robbery is botched, leading to the deaths of two gang members and a police officer.
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Foreshadowing
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Foreshadowing: Varrick tells Harman that the mob will never stop looking for them, "unless they think you're dead".
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Gender-Blender Name
 Charley Varrick / int_a536f3a3
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Gender-Blender Name: Molly. It is (presumably) his last name, but he only ever refers to himself as Molly.
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 Charley Varrick / int_aa07ca54
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Obfuscating Disability
 Charley Varrick / int_aa07ca54
comment
Obfuscating Disability: Varrick walks into the bank wearing a fake plaster cast over his foot.
 Charley Varrick / int_aa07ca54
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 Charley Varrick / int_acecb17d
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Chekhov's Skill
 Charley Varrick / int_acecb17d
comment
Chekhov's Skill: Varrick being a professional crop duster and former stunt pilot comes in handy during the movie's finale.
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 Charley Varrick / int_ad1db87c
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Oh, Crap!
 Charley Varrick / int_ad1db87c
comment
Oh, Crap!: Molly, when he opens the trunk of Varrick's car, which has been rigged with TNT.
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Accidental Misnaming
 Charley Varrick / int_af616e40
comment
Accidental Misnaming: Someone accidentally refers to Molly as "Sally". He doesn't take it well.
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What You Are in the Dark
 Charley Varrick / int_afc6df04
comment
What You Are in the Dark: Charley breaks into the dentist's office to remove Nadine's dental records, so the police can't identify her body. He's about to leave, when he recalls his earlier argument with Harman. He decides to switch his and Harman's dental records too. This paves the way for his eventual Batman Gambit to solve his Mafia and police issues by passing off Harman's dead body as his own.
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 Charley Varrick / int_b5914444
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Noodle Implements
 Charley Varrick / int_b5914444
comment
Noodle Implements: Maynard warns the bank manager that the mob will "go to work on you with a pair of pliers and a blowtorch". See Driven to Suicide. The phrase was later borrowed for Pulp Fiction.
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Evil Gloating
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comment
Evil Gloating: Molly does this when he finally has Varrick cornered.
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Shout-Out
 Charley Varrick / int_c75df49a
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Shout-Out: When Molly shows up at Jewell Everett's place and introduces himself, she sarcastically replies, "Yeah, I didn't figure you for Clint Eastwood."
 Charley Varrick / int_c75df49a
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There Are No Coincidences
 Charley Varrick / int_d02a0c91
comment
There Are No Coincidences: Boyle explains that the mob will never believe it was a mere coincidence that Varrick's gang robbed the bank on the exact same day that a large amount of mob money was stashed there.
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Contrived Coincidence
 Charley Varrick / int_dc579c91
comment
Contrived Coincidence: Varrick's gang just happen to rob a small New Mexico bank on the very day that a large amount of dirty mob money was being stashed there. In-universe, the mob do not believe it to be a coincidence and think they have been set up.
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Colliding Criminal Conspiracies
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comment
Colliding Criminal Conspiracies: Charley and his pals robbing a small town bank coincides with the bank being used as a drop-off point for The Mafia's dirty money.
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Last-Name Basis
 Charley Varrick / int_e28f88b8
comment
Last-Name Basis: Molly. We never find out what his first name is.
 Charley Varrick / int_e28f88b8
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 Charley Varrick / int_e9e35e8f
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Exact Words
 Charley Varrick / int_e9e35e8f
comment
Exact Words: Varrick has just bought dynamite and detonators from a store.
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Faking the Dead
 Charley Varrick / int_f9876f7e
comment
Also in the trunk is the body of Charley's partner Harman, who Molly had killed earlier (and whose dental records Charley had swapped his own with). After the explosion kills Molly, Charley strips off his coveralls and tosses it and some of the money into the fire, making it look like he died in the explosion along with Molly.
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Charley Varrick

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

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Character Title / int_d1c8b416
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Film Noir Index / int_d1c8b416
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Identification by Dental Records / int_d1c8b416
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Psycho for Hire / int_d1c8b416
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Robbing the Mob Bank / int_d1c8b416