I’ve loved Joe Don Baker since I first saw him portray Buford Pusser in WALKING TALL on Fox 16 out of Little Rock when I was a kid. There was something about the way he wields that big piece of lumber that got me excited. As I’ve watched more of his work, I realized just how charismatic he could be in the right roles. And he excelled at being a ruthless bad guy! Today, I share a scene from the excellent film CHARLEY VARRICK (1973), where Baker portrayed the sadistic “Molly.”
Enjoy my friends!
Through the Shattered Lens 
Cool! Many happy returns to Joe Don! My obscure fascination with Joe Don Baker was ‘Golden Needles’ with Jim Kelly. (I was too young to appreciate Elizabeth Ashley!:-))
Thanks, Brad, for sharing that scene from CHARLEY VARRICK (1973). It was many years into film-watching before my appreciation for the actors who portrayed ‘baddies’ was recognized. Andrew Robinson was voice-trained, and Shakespeare-trained, but for most of us we just know that he “committed to the bit!”. Director Don Siegel and writer Dean Reisner also worked together with Andrew Robinson and John Vernon two years earlier on DIRTY HARRY (1971). Game recognize game!
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I was looking for that to watch today, John C. I’ve never actually watched the film, but I’ve known about it for years. And that was when Kelly was in his prime. And I’ll have to check Ashley out as well. I wonder if Baker’s character had a little “boy named Sue” complex in that role. And considering he was beating the heck out of a guy who gave one of the all-time best bad guy performances. That was just cool! Charley Varrick is that movie that I watched for the first time about 10 years ago or so, and it’s been a favorite ever since. It’s a 70’s classic in my opinion.
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