John Flynn

John Flynn (March 14, 1932 – April 4, 2007) was an American film director, known for the taut and gritty style he brought to various crime, thriller, and action films. His best known works include The Outfit, Rolling Thunder (1977), Best Seller (1987), Lock Up (1989), and Out for Justice (1991).

Flynn subsequently worked as a second assistant director on Kid Galahad and Two for the Seesaw. He then worked as first assistant director on The Great Escape and second unit director on Kings of the Sun ("a bullshit script, a popcorn script", according to Flynn

Flynn's next movie, The Jerusalem File was shot in Israel. It did not perform well at the box office.

Following this, he directed the Donald E. Westlake adaptation The Outfit (1973), starring Robert Duvall and Joe Don Baker. It was both a critical and commercial success, and was praised by Westlake himself as the most faithful adaptation of his Parker novels.

Flynn achieved a dedicated cult following with the 1977 gritty revenge thriller Rolling Thunder starring William Devane and Tommy Lee Jones. The film was highly controversial because of its violence.

TV movies

Unrealized projects On the Day of His Death, from a short novel by Polish writer Marek Hłasko about immigrants in Israel - Flynn had wanted to make it since the 1960s. A police procedural drama set in Paris "in the spirit of Le Samouraï.