Dirty Harry (1971)

When a mad man calling himself 'the Scorpio Killer' menaces the city, tough as nails San Francisco Police Inspector Harry Callahan is assigned to track down and ferret out the crazed psychopath.

Director:

Don Siegel

Writers:

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

Stars:

Clint Eastwood, Andrew Robinson, John Vernon

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Clint Eastwood	...	Police Inspector Harry Callahan
Andrew Robinson	...	Charles 'Scorpio Killer' Davis (as Andy Robinson)
John Vernon	...	The Mayor
Reni Santoni	...	Police Inspector Chico Gonzalez
Harry Guardino	...	Police Lt. Al Bressler
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)

Storyline

In the year 1971, San Francisco faces the terror of a maniac known as Scorpio- who snipes at innocent victims and demands ransom through notes left at the scene of the crime. Inspector Harry Callahan (known as Dirty Harry by his peers through his reputation handling of homicidal cases) is assigned to the case along with his newest partner Inspector Chico Gonzalez to track down Scorpio and stop him. Using humiliation and cat and mouse type of games against Callahan, Scorpio is put to the test with the cop with a dirty attitude.

---

Plot Keywords:

dirty harry | partner | sniper | mayor | ransom | 

---

Taglines:

Clint Eastwood is "Dirty Harry." And boy, does he get all the dirty jobs.

---

Genres:

Action | Crime | Thriller

---

Certificate:

R

Details

Official Sites:

Official DVD Site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 December 1971 (USA)

Also Known As:

Harry, el sucio

Filming Locations:

Alamo Square, Hayes Valley, San Francisco, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$4,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

SEK 1,540,127 (Sweden)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Malpaso Company, The, Warner Bros

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min 99 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The opening sniper scenes were shot from atop San Francisco's Bank of America Building located at 555 California Street. The sniper's target is a girl swimming in the pool on the roof of the then Holiday Inn Chinatown, located at 750 Kearny Street, and since about 1995, renamed Hilton San Francisco Financial District. 750 Kearny Street is located on a straight line five blocks north (about 1600-1700 feet) of BoA Tower. Since the BoA Tower is considerably taller than the hotel, the vantage point is looking down at the rooftop pool at the hotel, and would be a relatively easy shot for a trained marksman. Since the Hilton takeover of the hotel, the pool is no longer open/operable.

---

Goofs

At the cross on Mount Davidson, Scorpio makes Harry toss his gun a good distance away onto concrete, which would cause noticeable damage to the revolver's blued finish. However, in the final scene (when Harry again delivers his famous speech,) there is no visible damage to the weapon.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Harry Callahan: Jesus.

---

Connections

Spoofed in Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot (1992)

User Reviews

The best of the Dirtiest

DIRTY HARRY (1971) **** Clint Eastwood, Harry Guardino, Andy Robinson, John Vernon. Eastwood made cinematic lore out of laconic San Francisco renegade cop Harry Callahan known more for his intolerence of the bureaucratic legal system and his firm belief in justice through violent means necessitated by righting wrongs. In the first of the series he's faced with a psycho serial killer named Scorpio (grinning looney toon Robinson) just begging to be noticed. Directed by Eastwood's long-time mentor Don Siegal the film acts as a parable of the system strangle-holding society and still remains an indictment of how bad things still are. Classic Clint.