Point Blank (1967 film)

Point Blank is a 1967 American crime film directed by John Boorman and starring Lee Marvin, with Angie Dickinson, Keenan Wynn and Carroll O'Connor in supporting roles. It is adapted from The Hunter, the 1962 crime noir novel by Donald E. Westlake, written under the name Richard Stark, which began the Parker series. Producers Irwin Winkler and Judd Bernard believed the script suited Marvin, and Boorman directed at the actor's request after Marvin passed all approvals on script and principal cast to him; Marvin played a central part in shaping the project. The film follows Walker, who is shot and left for dead by his friend Mal Reese after a robbery and sets out to recover his share of the money. It is known for a fractured timeline echoing the novel's non-linear structure, long slow passages broken by sudden violence, and stylised compositions of concrete riverbeds and bridges. It grossed more than 9 million dollars in theatrical rentals in 1967 and became a cult classic, praised by critics such as the film historian David Thomson. In 2016 the United States Library of Congress selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry.