Brian Garfield, in an introduction to a reprint of the novel on which this film is based, notes that it originally was written by director John Flynn as a period piece, intending to be set in the postwar 1940s. That's why such "film noir" veterans as Elisha Cook Jr., Richard Jaeckel, Marie Windsor, and Jane Greer appeared in it. The studio, however, decided it would be too expensive to shoot a period picture, so the script was superficially updated --- the World War II vets became Vietnam vets, and actors and actresses like Robert Ryan, Karen Black, and Sheree North joined the cast. The result was that the story was restored to its original concept. (The series on which this book was based was written and set in the then contemporary 1960s and 1970s). Had the period piece idea gone through, this would have represented a rare case of backdating a character.
Film critic Roger Ebert said that this was the first movie in a long time to resurrect that great piece of 1930's slang language: "gunsel."
John Flynn's screenplay is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Richard Stark, pseudonym (one of many) of Donald E. Westlake. It features a character modeled on Stark's fictional character Parker, who was introduced in "The Hunter." The character name of Parker was changed to Macklin for this film. Stark's novel first appeared in the Apr 1963 issue of Manhunt magazine.
If Organizzazione crimini (1973) bears a striking similarity to "Point Blank" in its narrative trajectory, it's because it's based on one of the sequels to Richard Stark's "The Hunter," the basis for John Boorman's 1967 film version of Senza un attimo di tregua (1967). "The Outfit" was the third Richard Stark novel that featured Parker.
If Organizzazione crimini (1973) bears a striking similarity to "Point Blank" in its narrative trajectory, it's because it's based on one of the sequels to Richard Stark's "The Hunter," the basis for John Boorman's 1967 film version of Senza un attimo di tregua (1967). "The Outfit" was the third Richard Stark novel that featured Parker.
Selected by Quentin Tarantino for the First Quentin Tarantino Film Fest in Austin, Texas, 1996. Tarantino has a chapter on this movie in his 2022 book Cinema Speculation.
One of the five final films of Robert Ryan which were all released in the same year. Publicity for Organizzazione crimini (1973) declared that this movie was his eightieth picture, and was released in Ryan's 31st Anniversary Year of working in motion pictures.