History of crime fiction quite complicated, forcing him to embark on an odyssey through the urban landscape. He is involved with organized crime and other lowlifes on the "mean streets" of, preferably, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, or Chicago. A hard-boiled private eye has an ambivalent attitude towards the police. It is his ambition to save America and rid it of its mean elements all by himself. As Raymond Chandler's protagonist Philip Marlowe—immortalized by actor Humphrey Bogart in the movie adaptation (1946) of the novel "The Big Sleep" (1939)—admits to his client, General Sternwood, he finds it rather tiresome, as an individualist, to
The Outfit (1973 film) "The Outfit" (much like "The Friends of Eddie Coyle" and other crime films of this period) has aged rather well, finding itself on many lists of lesser known films recommended by writers on film in the 21st century. The Outfit (1973 film) The Outfit is a 1973 crime film directed by John Flynn. It stars Robert Duvall, Karen Black, Joe Don Baker and Robert Ryan. Flynn's screenplay is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Richard Stark, pseudonym of Donald E. Westlake. It features a character modeled on Stark's fictional character Parker, who was introduced in "The