”You’ve got to ask yourself a question: ’do I feel lucky?’ Well- do ya- punk?” Dirty Harry provoked a critical uproar in 1971 for its ”fascist” message about the power of one- as it also elevated Clint Eastwood to superstar status through his most enduring screen persona. Harry Callahan (Eastwood- in a role meant for Frank Sinatra) is a sardonic- hard-working San Francisco cop who can’t finish his lunch without having to foil a bank robbery with his 44 Magnum- ”the most powerful handgun in the world.” When hippie-esque psycho Scorpio (Andy Robinson) goes on a killing spree- Harry and new partner Chico (Reni Santoni) are assigned to hunt him down- but not before the Mayor (John Vernon) and Lt. Bressler (Harry Guardino) admonish Callahan about his heavy-handed tactics. Racing against a deadline to save a kidnap victim from suffocating to death and unbothered by the niceties of Miranda rights and search warrants- Callahan brings in Scorpio- only to see him released on technicalities. ”The law’s crazy-” opines Harry in disgust- before taking it upon himself to ensure that Scorpio doesn’t kill again. Directed in violent and efficient fashion by Don Siegel- with a propulsive score by Lalo Schifrin- Dirty Harry was the fourth Siegel-Eastwood collaboration after Coogan’s Bluff (1968)- Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970)- and The Beguiled (1970). Critics at the time strongly objected to the heroic image of a cop’s violations of a suspect’s Miranda rights- forcing Siegel and Eastwood to deny that they were right-wing reactionaries. All the same- Dirty Harry proved to be highly popular and spawned four sequels: Magnum Force (1973)- The Enforcer (1976)- Sudden Impact (1983)- and The Dead Pool (1988). ~ Lucia Bozzola- Rovi

1971

R

085391148272

Movie

Dirty Harry

1

2.35:1

102

United States

1971-12-23

MPEG-4 AVC

480p

1.85:1

4.7 GB (DVD)

1

1

Slip Sleeve

~$6.17

2024-07-08

2018-02-07 18:20:22