The film also made me a champion of its director, John Flynn. At least the three action films he did in a row in the seventies, The Outfit, Rolling Thunder, and Defiance. It seemed all the cool critics had their special filmmaker to champion and Flynn was mine. So much so that I sought him out at nineteen to interview him. How did I manage that? Simple—if not easy—I looked up every John Flynn in the phone book, called them up and asked, “Is this John Flynn?” If they said yes, then I asked them, “The John Flynn who directed Rolling Thunder?” Till eventually one said, “Yes it is, who is this?”
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