Another feature on this blog is I will select a franchise and break down every installment. Since it's the 40th anniversary of one of the greatest film heroes of all time, "Dirty Harry" seems like an appropriate place to start. Let's look back at the character that made Clint Eastwood a superstar.
"Dirty Harry"(1971)
Ice-cool San Francisco police detective "Dirty Harry" Callahan is the original tough movie cop and the best representation of Clint Eastwood's powerful presence and unique appeal as a movie star. A Hollywood legend was born the moment Clint pulls out his .44 Magnum for the first time to foil a bank robbery. The idea of a cop that shoots first and asks questions later is cliched and commonplace now, but was radical and controversial in 1971, and Harry spends just as much time fighting his inept superiors as he does violent criminals. The story involves his pursuit of a deranged rooftop sniper named Zodiac, played by a genuinely creepy Andy Robinson. Stylishly directed by Eastwood's close friend and mentor Don Seigel, this is unquestionably the best of the series.
"Magnum Force"(1973)
Although Harry threw his badge away at the end of the first film, audiences demanded more and they sure got it. Perhaps more than they bargained for. Sequels weren't a foregone conclusion in the early '70s, but this character was just too potent to ride off into the sunset after just one outing. This first of four sequels was even more violent and action packed than it's predecessor. This time, Harry is up against a band of rogue colleagues who do most of the killing as self-appointed executioners of the criminal underworld.
"The Enforcer"(1976)
Harry reluctantly takes on a female partner(Tyne Daly) and must stop a political terrorist group in this slick, fast paced third entry. Eastwood gives another forceful performance and has a nice chemistry with Daly that allowed the character to lighten up a bit. But not too much. The film clocks in at a lean 96 minutes and the explosive climax does not disappoint.
Eastwood directs Harry's fourth big screen adventure as the dauntless detective tracks a female vigilante, played by Clint's real life girlfriend and six-time co-star Sondra Locke. She's out for revenge on the rapists who brutally attacked her and her sister. Locke is an interesting and overlooked Hollywood figure. Oscar nominated for 1968's "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter", she worked almost exclusively with Clint from the mid-'70s until their messy 1989 break-up. She then vanished from the industry after failing to secure meaningful roles(with claims that she was blacklisted). For what it's worth, this is the Tennessee beauty's most significant work. Harry sympathizes with her and a romance blossoms. The usual mayhem and comic quips ensue, and "Impact" is where Clint utters the immortal line, "Go ahead, make my day"(there's a tendency to think this is from the first film). It seems everywhere Harry goes, there's a crime in progress or a gang of thugs that need to be dispatched, and the nighttime finale set in an empty amusement park is exciting and effective. As for Locke? A vigilante at heart, Harry lets her go.
The fifth and final "Dirty Harry" was part of a deal that Eastwood made with WB- one last case for Inspector Callahan in exchange for a greenlight on the film he really wanted to make(as director), the Charlie Parker jazz biopic "Bird", starring Forest Whitaker. That's a better movie, and it's worth noting that Clint saw Harry as a "closed chapter" by this point. There's a celebrity serial killer terrorizing San Francisco, and what a missed opportunity it was to have future superstar Liam Neeson as a pompous director instead of an evil Bryan Mills(the little-known David Hunt disappoints in the role). Speaking of rising stars, Jim Carrey memorably appears as the first victim, a drugged-out rock star. Can you believe the soon-to-be Mrs. Callahan, Patricia Clarkson was only 28 years old? The 91-minute "Pool" is competently directed by Eastwood buddy Buddy Van Horn, and it's toy-car bomb set-piece and shootouts are meant for a mellow Sunday morning when you've got no big plans. This is a subdued conclusion in the saga of the SFPD's finest, and Harry was old-hat in the era of action classics "Lethal Weapon" and "Die Hard"(released just one week later. Wow). Harry influenced more heroes than you think. Fun fact- this film's flawed "dead pool" plot inspired writer Rob Liefeld and the 1991 creation of the Marvel superhero brought to life by Ryan Reynolds.
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