Dirty Harry (1971)

Director:

Don Siegel

Writers:

Harry Julian Fink (screenplay) &
Rita M. Fink (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

23 December 1971 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

You don't assign him to murder cases, You just turn him loose.

Plot:

A San Francisco cop with little regard for rules (but who always gets results) tries to track down a serial killer who snipes at random victims.

Plot Keywords:

Dirty Harry | Ransom | Sniper | Police | City

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Clint Eastwood	...	Police Inspector Harry Callahan
Harry Guardino	...	Police Lt. Al Bressler
Reni Santoni	...	Police Inspector Chico Gonzalez
John Vernon	...	The Mayor
Andrew Robinson	...	Scorpio Killer (as Andy Robinson)
John Larch	...	The Chief
John Mitchum	...	Police Inspector Frank DiGiorgio
Mae Mercer	...	Mrs. Russell
Lyn Edgington	...	Norma
Ruth Kobart	...	Bus Driver
Woodrow Parfrey	...	Mr. Jaffe
Josef Sommer	...	Dist. Atty. William T. Rothko
William Paterson	...	Judge Bannerman
James Nolan	...	Liquor Store Owner
Maurice Argent	...	Sid Kleinman (as Maurice S. Argent)

Also Known As:

Dead Right (USA) (original script title)

Runtime:

102 min | Portugal:99 min (cut version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:13+ (Québec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) | Canada:R (Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Iceland:16 | UK:X (original rating) | Finland:K-16 (1972) (cut) (re-rating after appeal) | Netherlands:12 (TV rating) | Netherlands:16 | France:-12 | UK:15 (2008) | Ireland:15 (re-rating) (2008) | Ireland:18 | Finland:K-15 (DVD rating) | Peru:18 | Argentina:18 | Norway:15 (DVD rating) | Brazil:14 | Australia:MA | Australia:R (original rating) | Finland:(Banned) (1972) | Italy:VM14 | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:16 (cut) | Norway:18 | Singapore:M18 | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Bank of America Building - 555 California Street, San Francisco, California, USA

Company:

Malpaso Company, The

Trivia:

Body count: 7 (Four kills by Scorpio, three by Harry)

Goofs:

Continuity: When Harry is following Scorpio's instructions to run from phone booth to phone booth, he boards the subway. When he arrives at his destination, it is the exact same station as the one where he boarded.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Harry Callahan: Jesus.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Robot Holocaust (#2.9)" (1990)

No Nonsense, No Baloney

This was the first of the always-entertaining "Dirty Harry" cop series and it was a good one - maybe the best of the series.

One of Harry's famous lines was in this opener: "Do ya feel lucky, punk?" Speaking of punks, Andy Robinson, who played the villain, never got famous as Clint Eastwood ("Harry") certainly became but he was tremendous in this film. He didn't even have to utter a line: he just looked deranged! Great casting.

Looking back, the one thing I really appreciate about this film as opposed to the rest of them in this series was the absence of Harry's annoying superiors constantly on his case. He actually got support from his bosses in this movie.

The film as a big hit because people were already tired of all the liberal preaching of the 1960s in which we were supposed to feel sympathy for the criminal instead of the victim. This series was the side of the cops, not the crooks, which is probably why the sick film critics never liked Dirty Harry.

This is one solid crime story with no boring spots and no sappy sub-plots with romances, either. And it's always nice to enjoy the interesting San Francisco skyline.