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	...	Charles 'Scorpio Killer' Davis (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)
Harry, el sucio (Argentina) (Peru) (Spain) [es]
Dirty Harry (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
L'inspecteur Harry (Canada: French title) (France) [fr]
A Fúria da Razão (Portugal) [pt]
Brudny Harry (Poland) [pl]
Dirty Harry (Denmark) [da]
Dirty Harry (Finland: Swedish title) [sv]
Harry el brut (Spain: Catalan title) [ca]
Ispettore Callaghan: il caso Scorpio è tuo (Italy) [it]
Kirli adam (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Likainen Harry (Finland) [fi]
O epitheoritis Callahan (Greece) [el]
Perseguidor Implacável (Brazil) [pt]
Piszkos Harry (Hungary) [hu]
Prljavi hari (Serbia) [sr]
Smerige klabak (Belgium: Flemish title) [un]

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 | Portugal:M/18 | 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:

When Harry finally meets Scorpio in Mount Davidson Park, Scorpio orders him to show his gun with his left hand. Harry pulls it from his holster and Scorpio ad-libs the line, "My, that's a big one!" This line caused the crew to crack up and the scene had to be re-shot, but the line stayed

Goofs:

Factual errors: After finding the empty bullet shell after Scorpio shoots the swimmer, Harry says "we think it's a .30-06 or something like that". The .30-06 cartridge casing has been used for dozens of "wildcat" loadings over the last hundred years. The actual calibers, the diameter of the bullets, have ranged from .17 to .44, with the neck of the brass casing either being slimmed down or opened up. Handloads or custom cartridges using the .30-06 case would still have the original markings so there is no way that anyone could mistake the cartridge for a .30-06, lest of all an experienced police officer.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Harry Callahan: Jesus.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in FAQs (2005)

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.