Dirty Harry (1971)

The film that started the Dirty Harry series. Clint Eastwood was one of the legends in the Western movie business with iconic classics such as the Spaghetti Western Trilogy and Hang Em’ High. He also had been in World War 2 based Where Eagles Dare, another classic. The common theme to the majority of his movies were that they were set in the past, either in the old west or world war 2. Could the now 41 year old Clint play a modern character? Clearly, Dirty Harry meant yes. It was directed by Don Siegel and released on December 23, 1971. Originally it was supposed to be Frank Sinatra in the starring role but he suffered a wrist injury and couldn’t commit. Paul Newman was offered the role next but he declined and suggested Clint do it. Imagine either Frank Sinatra or Paul Newman saying the same lines, doesn’t quite work due to their different styles.

*SPOILER ALERT*

Clint Eastwood plays babyface police officer Harry Callahan, old school and tough as nails. A serial killer is loose in San Fransisco and its up to Harry to save the day. The movie opens with a healthy looking young lady (Diana Davidson) going for a swim. All fine and dandy right? Except….there’s a maniac with a sniper rifle who tags her in the back. Soon the credits roll and Inspector Callahan finds the shell casing and a letter. Thus we begin.

The Mayor (John Vernon) reads the letter which states that the killer wants $100,000 or he’ll kill “a catholic priest or a nigger”. Those are fighting words in my country….but too bad we’re not in my country. It IS Harry’s country and he’s chosen by the Chief (John Larch) and police Lieutenant Bressler (Harry Guardino) to get him. Its established that he shoots first and asks questions later. Which is proven in the next scene where Callahan stops for some coffee but he notices a homeboy parked in front of the bank with about a dozen cigarette butts on the ground. Harry smells a rat and tells Mr. Jaffe (Woodrow Parfrey) to call the cops while he checks it out. Nowadays people would claim Harry was being racist, but they can stick it in their hat because the bank is, in fact, being robbed. Harry then caps all of the robbers but not before they run over a fire hydrant and tags Harry in the leg, getting blood on his fresh suit. What an inconvenience! By the way, if you can look closely, the movie showing on the marquee on the movie theater reads Play Misty For Me…Eastwood’s other movie he did in 1971. Anyway, one of the homeboys is still alive so Harry comes over and points his gun at him. He then utters his iconic line “Do you feel lucky, punk.” The punk (Albert Popwell) “gots to know” and Callahan pulls the trigger…click, out of ammo. After a scene where he gets patched up by a black doctor named Steve (Marc Herstens) and another where police choppers seach the rooftops for the assassin, we go back to the station for Bressler to surprise Harry by giving him a partner. Enter Chico (Reni Santoni), and Callahan is about as excited as last night’s toast.

Apparently Harry’s last two partners ended up in the hospital or stone cold dead, but since Chico doesn’t immediately run away screaming with his hands waving in the air when Harry tells him, Bressler tells Harry that he’ll do. Harry would much rather work with De Giorgio (John Mitchum) but instead he gets Chico who apparently was a light heavyweight boxer from San Diego State. Callahan is unimpressed and they run into the portly De Giorgio in the next room. Chico innocently asks why he’s called Dirty Harry and Di Giorgio says he hates…and I quote, “Limeys, micks, hebes, dagos, honkies and chinks”. Chico asks what about Mexicans and Harry answers “Especially spics.” Ya see, its not racism if you hate everyone equally.

Meanwhile ol Scorpio (Andrew Robinson) sees the ad in the San Francisco Chronicle that says the police need more time to pay him. Tearing up the paper in disgust, he then chooses his next target, a jiving black lady who has a conversation on a nearby bench. Scorpio locks and loads but the alert police chopper spots him and he beats a hasty retreat before they can identify him. Now later on in the night, Chico and Harry ponder how he could get away while they drive through the red light district. A police dispatch identifies Scorpio’s attire and Chico thinks he sees the guy as two local yokels jump in front of the car, causing Harry to call one of them (Don Siegel, the director of the movie) hammerhead. Finally, they spot someone running down the street with a tan suitcase like the one Scorpio carries his rifle with. Chico and Callahan get out and chase the man. Callahan sees him run into an apartment so he disturbs a nearby cat to stand on the garbage can it was occupying….only to find out its some civilian bringing a suitcase of clothes to his portly wife. Just as the man undresses the woman’s top, Harry is pulled down by five members of the neighborhood watch and is beaten up as a peeping tom. Chico fires a warning shot and puts them against the wall. Harry tells him to let them go as they were just being concerned citizens. One of them even says that he was peeking in on Hot Mary (Lois Foraker) who pulls down the shades with her goods hanging out. Chico can’t help but say “Now I know why they call you Dirty Harry” as Callahan walks away disgusted.

All of a sudden they get an 8-0-4 call from dispatch and they take off in hot pursuit. Apparently a man (Bill Couch) on the roof of a building can’t take this cruel world and he wants to take a swan dive into the afterlife. Harry involuntarily goes to the top to talk the poor guy out of jumping. Harry then uses reverse psychology to get the jumper to take a swing at him. Harry then lands a right cross to the jaw, knocking him out but luckily Harry’s got him and they’re lowered by the fire chief to safety. Harry tells Chico THAT’S why they call him Dirty Harry, he does every dirty job that comes along. The next morning they are dispatched to look at the remains of a young black boy that was shot in the face. Upon entering the crime scene, a nearby woman (Mae Mercer) tells them the boy’s name was Charlie Russell and it was her son. Harry pulls the sheet off the corpse and Chico nearly vomits up his intestines. Sure enough, they find the 30-06 shell casing nearby proving that the killer was Scorpio.

Back at the station the Chief, Bressler, Chico and Harry go over patterns and discover that his next target will be at the local church. After all, in the letter Scorpio wrote he said he’d kill a black and a priest…and he just offed a black. That night Harry and Chico set up surveillance on a rooftop across the street from the church. Apparently the priest was warned he was a marked man but refused to let someone stand in for him to take a bullet. While looking for the binoculars, Harry spots a healthy looking young lady in her underwear…who strips them off. Two people come to her door but before she can strip them too, Harry spots the door to the roof open. He and Chico lock and load as a figure appears on the nearby roof. Chico shines the light and its Scorpio alright. Harry fires but misses and Scorp starts blasting with an uzi (nice change of pace). After a brief shootout where the neon Jesus Saves sign bites it, he runs away. As Chico and Harry run down to catch him, Scorp blows away a police officer and gets away, D’OH!

The next day Chico and Harry head to the station where Bressler looks at pictures of a 14 year old girl named Ann Marie Deacon (Debralee Scott) that apparently Scorpio kidnapped the night before. He enclosed a letter saying he buried her alive, what a humanitarian. He also says he’s upped his ransom to $200,000 in used 10’s and 20’s. Apparently huge stacks of 5 dollar bills won’t count. The letter also says that the girl has enough oxygen to last her until 3 AM and she has nice tits (so he’s a sicko as well as a murderer, lovely). Bring the money by 9 PM or else! Also enclosed are locks of her hair, her bra and a tooth that was pulled out with pliers. Bressler assigns Harry to crack the case but tells Chico to hit the bricks. Chico scoffs and goes with Harry anyway where Harry gets a wire from Sid the electrician (Maurice Argent). Harry speaks into it and nearly blows Chico’s eardrum out. Sid reminds him he only has to whisper and to kindly bring it back in one piece. Back at the Chief’s office, they’ve come up with the money. Harry takes the yellow duffel bag of money and Bressler escorts him to his office, telling him he may be in on a wild goose chase. Once inside he tells Harry to pay the man and leave. Harry then flicks a switchblade and demands Bressler to give up his wallet….just kidding. He asks for scotch tape so he can hide it on himself in case things fall into close quarters combat. Bressler says its disgusting that a police officer knows how to use a switchblade and Harry just ignores him.

Harry is now on the docks where a nearby payphone (remember those?) rings. He answers and its Scorpio asking if he’s got the money. He asks who he is and Harry answers that he’s a cop, drawing a long silence from the other end of the phone. Finally Scorp says he’s going to bounce him all over town to make sure he’s alone (just as Bressler predicted). Apparently he’s going to be running (no car, per order) all over town answering pay phones. If he talks to anyone or doesn’t answer, the girl dies. He tells Harry to hightail it to Forest Hill Station which causes Chico to take off in the car. Harry makes it to the station and Scorpio tells him to take the bus to the next phone located on Church, once again Chico takes off. Harry literally runs to catch the bus. Remember the wire can’t be heard in a tunnel so Chico can’t really hear him. He makes it to the next phone panting. Scorpio then says he’s going to make him run for the next one, Aquatic Park. Forest Gump would be proud as Harry hoofs to the park where he’s accosted by 3 thugs. They demand his wallet and Harry knocks two of them down before the third runs away when Harry pulls his .44 mag. As he approaches the next phone, some old guy answers it (Charles Murphy) which spooks Scorpio. Luckily for Harry, he rings back and tells him to step on it over to Mt Davidson Park. Callahan looks tired but off he goes.
At this point, I’m only halfway through the movie and I’ll be here a month from Sunday continuing the play-by-play. Instead here’s a brief rundown….Scorpio gets the jump on Harry, Chico saves the day but gets shot up in the process. Harry buries knife into Scorp’s leg and he falls down a hill. Both Chico and Scorp make it to the hospital ok. Callahan and Bressler get a call from the hospital that they treated a patient with a knife wound. Once there, its revealed Scorp is actually the guy who sells programs during football games and lives at Kezar Stadium. Di Giorgio and Harry beat feet there and find Scorp’s hideout but no Scorpio. Apparently he’s limped away only for Harry to hear him and limp off himself in slow pursuit. The next few minutes is just Harry chasing Scorpio through the stadium. Di Giorgio hits the stadium lights and now Harry’s got Scorp in his sights. He surrenders and Harry plugs him in the leg. Scorp begs for his life and Harry takes him into custody rather than blow his head off. Next they pull the girl’s body out of where she was buried and she’s very dead. Next day at the Hall of Justice, District Attorney Rothko (Josef Sommer). Rothko chastises him for his use of force and lack of using Miranda rights, which means as soon as he’s healthy, he walks. Rothko says the rifle won’t hold up in court because of the illegal search without a warrant and Judge Bannerman (William Patterson) says they have no chance in hell to win a trial, all evidence including Scorp’s confession would be excluded. Sure enough, Scorp goes free and he limps to a playground where Callahan stalks him. Next, he visits the Roaring 20’s strip joint with Callahan watching him like a hawk. Useless information but Road Warrior Animal once bounced at the Roaring 20’s in Minnesota. Anyway, next day Scorp limps to some abandoned building where he pays $200 to get beaten to a bloody pulp by a black man. Why? To set up Callahan and claim HE did it. BRILLIANT! The press mob his stretcher as he fingers Callahan and the Chief grills him in his office. Harry says he’s been following him but he didn’t beat him up, citing that he would have beat him to death if it were up to him. After the obligatory checkup scene with Chico and his wife (Lyn Edgington), Harry vows revenge after revealing his wife was killed by a drunk driver. Now Scorp walks into a liquor store where he asks the owner (James Nolan) how many times he’s been robbed. Owner says 14 and the last two were taken out on a stretcher. Scorp then breaks the 5th of Seagrams (it was 5 dollars back then, imagine that now) over the owner’s head, steals the owner’s gun, some bottles of booze and limps away. Next day he boards a school bus and hijacks it much to the chagrin of the driver (Ruth Kobart). He then proceeds to sing Ol McDonald with the kids on the bus before we cut to Callahan walking into the Mayor’s office who reveals Scorp has once again demanded 200K or else he kills the 7 kids on the bus and the driver. The Chief asks Callahan to take the money to him and he refuses, he’d rather kill him now. Mayor will have none of that and he yells at him. Meanwhile back on the bus, Scorp leads the kids in singing Row Your Boat. Finally one kid has enough and demands to go home….which angers Scorp into smacking him. The rest of the kids are frightened and he flips completely out. Once he reaches an overpass, there’s Callahan on the bridge. He freaks and Harry hops onto the top of the bus. Scorp fires a few rounds and knocks the screaming driver out, taking over the wheel. After a shootout, Scorp abandons the bus and takes off for a nearby mill. Another chase scene concludes with Scorp snatching a kid fishing in the creek. He demands Harry drop the gun and Harry goes to do it…then whips up and pops Scorp in the arm. The kid runs away and now its one on one. He repeats the same “lucky punk” line that he used on the bank robber. This time, Scorp reaches for his gun and Callahan blows him away into the drink. He then takes his star out of his badge and tosses it into the drink as the credits roll.

Cast-

Clint was outstanding as Dirty Harry. His cold, sarcastic style that worked in Westerns also worked for this character as well.

39 year old John Vernon was a royal prick as The Mayor, a role he would play to perfection years later in Animal House.

56 year old John Larch was good as the rough but fair Chief.

46 year old Harry Guardino did a great job of being the annoying superior that always butts heads with Callahan.

52 year old John Mitchum was great as Di Giorgio. He’d reprise his role a few times and later appear with Clint in Outlaw Josey Wales.

29 year old Andrew Robinson as the Scorpio Killer was great as he wasn’t given a lot of speaking time until halfway through. The character is a great heel and Robinson plays great heels. He’s also got long, flowing hair to boot.

49 year old Woodrow Parfrey played the friendly cook Mr. Jaffe.

35 year old Albert Popwell played the bank robber that “gots to know”. Cool for a one line appearance.

32 year old Reni Santoni was average as the sidekick cop. His dialogue had no zip, even when he made jokes.

Lois Foraker/Phyllis Katz looked great as Hot Mary, although she would become a regular guest star with her clothes on during M*A*S*H.

45 year old stuntman Bill Couch took a mighty good punch as the suicide jumper.

39 year old Mae Mercer fresh off The Beguiled, works with Clint again as she plays Mrs. Russell. Only problem was, she didn’t act as shaken up as most mothers do when they find out their children have been murdered.

The swimmer was actually 42 year old Diana Davidson. She looked more 22 than 42.

18 year old Debralee Scott made her film debut as Ann Marie Deacon and she’d later go on to fame for her roles in the Police Academy series.

55 year old Maurice Argent gets a scene as Sid the electrician.

37 year old Josef Sommer, a German born actor makes his American film debut as DA Rothko. He’d go on to appear in over 100 movies and tv shows. Here, he’s the prickly DA who pretty much lets the killer walk free.

52 year old William Paterson, a Cleveland stage legend, plays Judge Bannerman here. Not bad considering his small role.

32 year old Lyn Edgington had a great monologue as Chico’s wife Norma. She previously worked with Clint on Rawhide although this was her last major film appearance.

56 year old James Nolan was reaching the end of his film career after appearing in many tv shows since the 40’s.

Long before she was a nun in Sister Act, 47 year old Ruth Kobart played the bus driver.
Soundtrack: Catchy early 70’s funk.

Nudity – Opening scene had Diana Davidson in a bathing suit, but later we get full on big juicy jugs graciously bared by Lois Foraker. Then we get full frontal nudity by all sorts of girls. Debralee Scott’s naked body is pulled out of a burial, thankfully she was 18 at the time even though the character was supposed to be 14 (yuck!). We got totally naked girls at the strip joint and Lyn Edgington’s great legs.

Gore – Gunshot wounds. Smatterings of splattered blood from gunshot wounds, Andrew Robinson gets his face kicked in.

Language – Salty for the time period. Everything but the F bomb is thrown out there and remember the f-word was first used by M*A*S*H* only a year earlier.

Final Thoughts:

Highly recommended but only if you’re not left wing liberal. This was 1971 so politically correctness was non-existent. Lot of racist jokes and comments, lot of shoot em up bang bang and a lunatic killer on the loose. Not exactly family fun for all. Still, this was Eastwood at his best, capping bad guys with the accompanying one liners. For the most part the movie had you on the edge of your seat near the end. Remember this was 1971 so special effects weren’t really special. Films back then relied on visual and psychological effect. The best parts of the movie are the one liners more than the action. I’m going to give it 9 out of 10. 1 point off because the ending was a little lame, but everything else from cast to soundtrack and dialogue went smoothly. If you like action, old school police force, a decent support cast, a great heel and a great lead…this one’s for you.