Dirty Harry
March 10th, 2010
Dirty Harry
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| Dirty Harry | |
|---|---|
 Film poster by Bill Gold |
|
| Directed by | Don Siegel |
| Produced by | Don Siegel, Robert Daley |
| Written by | Screenplay: Harry Julian Fink R.M. Fink Dean Riesner Story: Harry Julian Fink R.M. Fink Uncredited: John Milius Terrence Malick |
| Starring | Clint Eastwood Harry Guardino Reni Santoni John Vernon Andy Robinson |
| Music by | Lalo Schifrin |
| Cinematography | Bruce Surtees |
| Editing by | Carl Pingitore |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
| Release date(s) | December 22, 1971 |
| Running time | 102 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $4,000,000 |
| Gross revenue | $35,976,000 |
| Followed by | Magnum Force |
Dirty Harry is a 1971 American crime film produced and directed by Don Siegel, the first in the Dirty Harry series. Clint Eastwood plays the title role, in his first outing as San Francisco Police Department Inspector “Dirty” Harry Callahan.
Dirty Harry was a box office success and set the style for a whole genre of police films. The film was followed by four sequels: Magnum Force in 1973, The Enforcer in 1976, Sudden Impact in 1983 (directed by Eastwood himself), and The Dead Pool in 1988.
In 2008, Dirty Harry was selected by Empire Magazine as one of The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time.
Contents
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Plot
A sadistic serial killer who calls himself “Scorpio” (Andy Robinson) murders a young woman in a San Francisco high-rise rooftop swimming pool using a high-powered 30-06 hunting rifle from the top of the 555 California Street skyscraper. When SFPD Inspector Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood) investigates, he finds a spent shell casing and a ransom message from the killer, promising his next victims will be “a Catholic priest or a nigger” if the city does not pay him $100,000. The chief of police, with the agreement of the Mayor (John Vernon), assigns Harry to the case and arranges for extra support.
Later, Harry waits for his lunch in a local café, but notices a robbery taking place at a nearby bank and tells the café owner to call the police and report an armed robbery in progress. While he waits for reinforcements, the robbers emerge from the bank, forcing Harry to confront them alone. During the confrontation, Harry utters to one of the robbers:
| “ | I know what you’re thinking — “Did he fire six shots or only five?” Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement, I’ve kinda lost track myself. But, being as this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world and would blow your head clean off, you’ve got to ask yourself one question: “Do I feel lucky?” Well, do ya, punk? | ” |
Inspector Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood) in the “Do I feel lucky?” scene.
The robber surrenders, and it is revealed that Harry’s gun was, in fact, empty. The next day, Harry is assigned a rookie partner, Chico Gonzalez (Reni Santoni). Harry notes that his partners always get injured (or worse), and that he needs someone experienced, but the Chief gives him no choice.
A police helicopter foils Scorpio’s second attempt at murder while he is targeting a black man in a park, but Scorpio escapes. The next night, he manages to kill a young black boy from another rooftop. Since Scorpio’s victim was black, the police believe Scorpio will pursue a Catholic priest as his next victim, feeling “owed” one for the disruption of his earlier attempt. The police set up a sting, with teams on rooftops throughout the city, but leaving the rooftop Scorpio used in his disrupted murder attempt clear, and providing a target of opportunity, a priest at the Sts. Peter and Paul Church. Harry and Chico wait for Scorpio on an adjacent rooftop, Harry with a high-powered rifle and Chico with a spotlight. When Scorpio appears, a shootout ensues but he eventually escapes, killing a police officer.
Infuriated that his plans have twice been foiled, Scorpio kidnaps a teenage girl, rapes her and buries her alive. He contacts the city and demands twice his previous ransom, giving the city until 3 a.m. the following day, when he says the girl’s air will run out. The mayor decides to pay, and tells Harry to deliver the money to a location at the docks with no back-up. Without permission, Harry wears a wire, has Chico follow him and tapes a knife to his shin. When Harry reaches the drop point, Scorpio contacts him through a public payphone, sending Callahan on a journey between various pay phones in the city, in order to separate the inspector from any back-up that he may have. However, Harry’s wire allows Chico to follow him.
The chase ends when Harry reaches an enormous cross at Mount Davidson, one of the city’s parks. Scorpio instructs Harry to drop his gun and the money, then to face the cross and stand up against it. Scorpio then proceeds to beat Harry before revealing that he has “changed his mind” and is going to let the girl die anyway, and kill Harry as well. Chico arrives at the scene and shoots at Scorpio, saving Harry. Chico is shot in the ensuing shootout. While Scorpio is distracted, Harry stabs him in the leg with his concealed knife. Scorpio screams hysterically and escapes without the money. Chico survives his wound, but tells Harry he will be resigning from the force.
Scorpio being tortured by Callahan on the field of Kezar Stadium
Harry and his new partner, Frank DiGiorgio, question several doctors in the area. They find the doctor who treated Scorpio. The doctor tells them that he has seen Scorpio living and working in nearby Kezar Stadium. Running out of time, Harry and Frank break into the stadium and search Scorpio’s room without a warrant. Harry hears Scorpio fleeing and chases him, shooting Scorpio in his previously stabbed leg. When Scorpio is unwilling to reveal the location of the girl, instead asking for a lawyer, Harry tortures Scorpio by standing on his wounded leg. Scorpio finally tells where he has been keeping the girl. A brief scene shows police exhuming the dead girl’s naked body (Debralee Scott) the following morning from a pit on a hill overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge.
Because Harry broke into his home illegally and tortured him to obtain a confession, Scorpio is released without charge. As Scorpio’s rifle was seized improperly, it cannot be used as evidence and the District Attorney decides that he cannot be charged with any of the other murders. After Scorpio’s release, Harry follows Scorpio on his own time. Scorpio sees Harry following him, and pays a thug to give him (Scorpio) a severe but controlled beating. He then tells the press that the police are harassing him, personally naming Harry as the one responsible for his injuries to the press. The police chief orders Harry to stop following Scorpio, despite Harry’s protest that he didn’t beat the man. However, he follows his orders, knowing he cannot stop Scorpio if he is suspended or fired. On the next evening, Scorpio attacks a liquor store owner, takes the store owner’s pistol and leaves.
Scorpio (Andrew Robinson) holds a boy hostage before being shot by Harry in the arm.
Using the pistol, Scorpio kidnaps a school bus load of children. He demands another ransom and a jet to take him out of the country. The mayor again insists on paying, but Harry refuses to deliver the money this time, instead pursuing Scorpio without authorization. Scorpio spots Callahan standing on the top of a railroad trestle over the road to the airport. When the bus passes underneath him, Callahan jumps onto the top of the vehicle. A panicked Scorpio starts shooting through the roof and drives the bus erratically, trying to shake Harry off. Scorpio stops the bus after crashing through some gates while swerving to avoid a truck. Scorpio runs into a nearby rock quarry and Harry pursues him, resulting in a gun battle. Scorpio retreats until he takes as hostage a boy who happens to be fishing at a nearby slough. Harry pretends to be willing to surrender, then shoots Scorpio in the shoulder, knocking him to the ground. The boy escapes, and Scorpio looks up to see Harry standing over him, gun drawn. Scorpio’s pistol is inches from his hand. Harry then reprises his “Do you feel lucky, punk?” speech. Unlike the bank robber in the earlier scene, Scorpio tries his luck and, laughing maniacally, goes for his gun. Before he can fire, Harry blasts Scorpio point blank in the chest, propelling him into the water. Harry watches as Scorpio’s dead body floats on the surface. He takes out his inspector’s badge, and hurls it into the water, walking away.
Cast
- Clint Eastwood as Insp. Harry Callahan
- Harry Guardino as Lt. Al Bressler
- Reni Santoni as Insp. Chico Gonzalez
- Andrew Robinson (credited as Andy Robinson) as Scorpio Killer
- John Larch as Police Chief
- John Mitchum as Insp. Frank DiGeorgio
- John Vernon as The Mayor
- Ruth Kobart as Bus Driver
- Woodrow Parfrey as Jaffe
- Lois Foraker as Hot Mary
- Jim Smither as Rothko
- William Patterson as Bannerman
- Craig Kelly as Reineke
- Albert Popwell as Bank Robber
Production
Development
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This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2009) |
According to Mark Whitman’s book, The Films of Clint Eastwood, the original draft for the script was titled “Dead Right” by Julian and Rita Fink. It was set in New York City, not San Francisco, California, and ended with a police sniper instead of Callahan taking out Scorpio. Another earlier version of the story was set in Seattle, Washington. Four more drafts of the script were written. John Milius wrote a draft of the film inspired by Akira Kurosawa’s studies in lone-gun detectives. Quite a bit of Milius script remains in the finished film, including Harry’s mystique and Harry’s ‘Do I feel lucky?’ monologue. Terrence Malick wrote a draft of the film where he altered Scorpio from being a mindless psychopath killing only because he likes it, to being a vigilante who killed wealthy criminals who had escaped justice. Malick’s ideas formed the basis for the sequel, Magnum Force.
Initially, Warner Bros. wanted either Sydney Pollack or Irvin Kershner to direct. Kershner was eventually hired when Frank Sinatra was attached to the title role. But when Sinatra eventually left the film, so did Kershner. After which, Don Siegel was hired.
The character Dirty Harry is allegedly based on real life San Francisco police inspector Dave Toschi, one of the investigators of the Zodiac murders. Writer John Milius has also mentioned being influenced by a friend of his, a Long Beach police officer who dealt with criminals in a rather summary fashion. According to Milius, his friend “rarely brought people back” but was, contrastingly, extremely gentle with animals.
Scorpio, the film’s antagonist, was based on the real-life Zodiac Killer, who was on the loose in the San Francisco Bay Area at the time. In a later novelization of the film, Scorpio was referred to as “Charles Davis,” an escaped Canadian mental patient who murdered his grandparents while still a teenager.
Casting
Although Dirty Harry is arguably Clint Eastwood’s signature role, he was not a top contender for the part. Originally the character of Harry Calahan was written as a man in his mid to late 50’s. Robert Mitchum, John Wayne, Burt Lancaster and Frank Sinatra were all offered the role. Sinatra actually accepted the role, however he had broken his wrist during the filming of The Manchurian Candidate eight years previously, and during contract negotiations, he found the large handgun too unwieldy. Additionally, his father had recently passed away, and Sinatra decided he wanted to do some lighter material. After Sinatra left the project, and Don Siegel was hired as the new director, the producers started to consider younger actors for the role. Marlon Brando was considered for the role, but was never formally approached. Both Steve McQueen and Paul Newman turned down the role, but it was Newman who suggested to Siegel that the film would be a good vehicle for Eastwood. One of Eastwood’s stipulations for accepting the role was the change of locale to San Francisco. Eastwood has claimed that he took the role of Harry Callahan because of the character’s obsessive concern with the victims of violent crime. Eastwood felt that the issue of victims’ rights was being overshadowed by the political atmosphere of the time.
Audie Murphy was first approached to play the Scorpio Killer, but he died in a plane crash before his decision on the offer could be made. The part eventually went to a relatively unknown actor, Andy Robinson. Siegel told Robinson that he cast him in the role of the Scorpio killer because he wanted someone “with a face like a choirboy.” Robinson’s portrayal was so memorable that after the film was released he reportedly received several death threats and was forced to get an unlisted telephone number. In real life, Robinson is a pacifist who despises guns. In the early days of principal photography, Robinson would flinch violently every time he fired. Director Don Siegel was forced to shut down production for a time and sent Robinson to a school to learn to fire a gun convincingly. Nonetheless, he still blinks when he shoots. Robinson also reportedly was squeamish about filming the scene where he verbally and physically abuses several schoolchildren. When Kershner and Sinatra were still attached to the project, James Caan was under consideration for the role of Scorpio.
Principal photography
Eastwood performed the stunt in which he jumps on to the roof of the hijacked school bus from a bridge, without a stunt double. His face is clearly visible throughout the shot. Eastwood also directed the suicide-jumper scene.
The line, “My, that’s a big one,” spoken by Scorpio when Callahan removes his gun, was an ad-lib by Andrew Robinson. The crew broke down in laughter as a result of the double entendre and the scene had to be re-shot, but the line stayed.
The final scene, in which Callahan throws his badge into the water, is an homage to a similar scene from 1952’s High Noon.
Filming locations
The first scene of the film includes a memorial, located in the Hall of Justice in San Francisco
In San Francisco, California:
- 555 California Street
- California Hall, 625 Polk Street (until recently, the California Culinary Academy)
- San Francisco City Hall
- Hall of Justice - 850 Bryant Street
- Forest Hill Station
- Hilton San Francisco Financial District, 750 Kearny Street - rooftop swimming pool in opening scenes
- Kezar Stadium - Frederick Street, Golden Gate Park
- Dolores Park, Mission District
- Mount Davidson
- Sts. Peter and Paul Church, Washington Square, 666 Filbert Street
- Washington Square, North Beach
- Big Al’s, 556 Broadway St.
- Roaring 20’s strip club, 552 Broadway
Other locations:
- Larkspur Landing — scene of Callahan and Scorpio’s showdown, known as the Hutchinson’s Rock Quarry when filmed
- Greenbrae, California
- Mill Valley, California
- Universal Studios Hollywood — New York Street (Hot dog café / Bank robbery sequence)
Music
The soundtrack for Dirty Harry was created by composer Lalo Schifrin, who had previously collaborated with director Don Siegel in the production of Coogan’s Bluff and The Beguiled, both also starring Clint Eastwood. Schifrin fused a wide variety of influences, including classical music, jazz, psychedelic rock, along with Edda Dell’Orso-style vocals, into a score that “could best be described as acid jazz some 25 years before that genre began.” According to one reviewer, the Dirty Harry soundtrack’s influence “is paramount, heard daily in movies, on television, and in modern jazz and rock music.”
Reception
Critical Reception
Dirty Harry was well received by critics and is regarded as one of the best films of 1971. The film holds a 95% approval rating on the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes. The film was nominated at the Edgar Allan Poe Awards for Best Motion Picture. In 2008, Dirty Harry was selected by Empire Magazine as one of The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time. It was placed similarly on The Best 1000 Movies Ever Made list by The New York Times.
Box office performance
The benefit world premiere of Dirty Harry was held at Loews Theater on Market Street (San Francisco), on 22 December 1971. The film made a total of $35,976,000 in the U.S. theatrical release, making it a major financial success in comparison with its modest $4 million budget.
Legacy
Dirty Harry received recognition from the American Film Institute. The film was ranked #41 on 100 Years…100 Thrills, a list of America’s most heart-pounding movies. Harry Callahan was selected as the 17th greatest movie hero on 100 Years…100 Heroes and Villains. The movie’s infamous quote “You’ve got to ask yourself one question: ‘Do I feel lucky?’ Well, do ya, punk?” was ranked 51st on 100 Years…100 Movie Quotes.
Real life copycat crime
The movie inspired a real life crime. In October 1972, soon after the release of the movie in Australia, two armed men kidnapped a teacher and 6 school children in Victoria, Australia. They demanded a $1 million ransom. The state government agreed to pay but the children managed to escape and the kidnappers were subsequently jailed. Ironically, one of the men’s last name was Eastwood.
Influence
Clint Eastwood’s iconic portrayal of the blunt, cynical, unorthodox detective who is seemingly in perpetual trouble with his incompetent bosses, set the style for a number of his later roles and, indeed, a whole genre of cop films. The film resonated with an American public that had become weary and frustrated with the increasing violent urban crime that was characteristic of the time. The box-office success of Dirty Harry led to the production of four sequels.
The film caused controversy when it was released, sparking debate over issues ranging from police brutality to victims’ rights and the nature of law enforcement. Film critic Roger Ebert, while praising the film’s technical merits, denounced the film for its “fascist moral position.” A section of the Philippine police force ordered a print of the film for use as a training film. The motif of a cop who cares more for justice than rules was one subsequently imitated by a number of other films. The film can also be counted as the seminal influence on the Italian tough-cop films, Poliziotteschi, which dominated the 1970s and that were critically praised in Europe and the U.S. as well.
Dirty Harry helped popularize the Smith & Wesson Model 29 revolver, chambered for the powerful .44 Magnum cartridge. The film initiated a modest increase in sales of the powerful handgun, which continues to be popular some thirty-five years after the film’s release. The .44 Magnum ranked second in a 2008 20th Century Fox poll of the most popular film weapons, after only the lightsaber of Star Wars fame. The poll surveyed approximately two thousand film fans.
In popular culture
- Gorillaz songs Dirty Harry and Clint Eastwood are both cultural references to this movie.
- One “detective” character in the Warhammer Fantasy novel Beasts in Velvet written by Kim Newman is called Harald Kleindienst, nickname Filthy Harald, an obvious pun on Dirty Harry. A contemporary drawing of this character in White Dwarf (UK) 140 also closely resembles Eastwood.
- In the film Borat, Sacha Baron Cohen picks up a handgun in a weapon shop in Texas, and states “I am like movie star Dirty Harold, Make a’my day, Jew”, making an obvious reference to Eastwood’s character the popular catchphrase of Sudden Impact, the fourth film in the Dirty Harry series.
DVDs
Warner Home Video owns rights to the Dirty Harry series. Dirty Harry (1971) has been remastered for DVD three times — in 1998, 2001 and 2008. It has been repurposed for several DVD box sets. Dirty Harry made its high-definition debut with the 2008 Blu-ray disc. The commentator on the 2008 DVD is Clint Eastwood biographer Richard Schickel.
In the 2007 film Zodiac Dirty Harry can be seen being played at a movie theatre in the midst of the Zodiac murders.
References
- ^ Anecdotage.Com
- ^ Review by J.T. Lindroos (allmusic.com)
- ^ Review by Andrew Keech (musicfromthemovies.com)
- ^ http://www.filmsite.org/1971.html
- ^ http://www.films101.com/y1971r.htm
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/year/1971
- ^ http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/dirty_harry/
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066999/awards
- ^ http://www.empireonline.com/500/62.asp
- ^ http://www.nytimes.com/ref/movies/1000best.html
- ^ View scenes from the world premiere of Dirty Harry: http://diva.sfsu.edu/collections/sfbatv/bundles/185987
- ^ “Dirty Harry”. Box Office Mojo. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=dirtyharry.htm. Retrieved 2009-02-19.
- ^ “Dirty Harry Movies”. Box Office Mojo. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/franchises/chart/?id=dirtyharry.htm. Retrieved 2009-02-19.
- ^ http://www.afi.com/Docs/tvevents/pdf/thrills100.pdf
- ^ http://connect.afi.com/site/DocServer/handv100.pdf?docID=246
- ^ http://connect.afi.com/site/DocServer/quotes100.pdf?docID=242
- ^ http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/AUSTRALIA-OBITS/2008-07/1217090324
- ^ http://books.google.com.au/books?id=i8hzLTiUsnIC&pg=PA37&lpg=PA37&dq=edwin+john+eastwood+dirty+harry&source=bl&ots=44Xul3mCc6&sig=6C6xaIVXUgvUs-0o3I6P6bZ7uYE&hl=en&ei=xud1S8yeKZOOswPlg6HLCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=edwin%20john%20eastwood%20dirty%20harry&f=false
- ^ Roger Ebert (1971-01-01). “Dirty Harry (review)”. Chicago Sun-Times. http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19710101/REVIEWS/101010307/1023. Retrieved 2009-03-03.
- ^ Sophie Borland (2008-01-21). “Lightsabre wins the battle of movie weapons”. The Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/01/21/nweapon121.xml. Retrieved 2008-01-26.
External links
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Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Dirty Harry |
- Official DVD Site
- Dirty Harry at the Internet Movie Database
- Dirty Harry at Allmovie
- Dirty Harry at Rotten Tomatoes
- Research guide to filming locations seen in Dirty Harry
- Dirty Harry wallpaper
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Retrieved from “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirty_Harry”
Categories: English-language films | 1971 films | American action thriller films | 1970s crime films | Police detective films | Dirty Harry | Films directed by Don Siegel | Films shot anamorphically | Serial killer films | Mystery films | Warner Bros. films | Films set in San Francisco, California | Films shot in San Francisco, California | Crime thriller films | Chase films | 1970s action films | 1970s thriller filmsHidden categories: Articles needing additional references from September 2009 | All articles needing additional references | All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements from September 2009
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