Synopsis
"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).
What Critics Say
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Movie News
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Dirty Harry Takes the Stand
HOLLYWOOD, Sept. 22, 2000 -- Dirty Harry tried for two hours, but it's still up in the air whether a jury will make his day in court. Clint Eastwood testified in court, fending off a lawsuit brought against him by a woman with muscular dystrophy. Diane zum Brunnen, 51, says the actor's Mission Ranch near Carmel, Calif., doesn't comply with state laws that require facilities to be accessible to those in wheelchairs.
Zum Brunnen says she couldn't get around in her wheelchair when she was a guest at the hotel in 1996. Eastwood fired back saying he tried to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act while preserving the 150-year-old hotel's heritage and antique value, The Associated Press reports.
The 70-year-old actor acknowledged that access problems at his hotel exist, but renovations to comply with state laws are a continual process.
Stay tuned.
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Dirty Harry: Sued!
HOLLYWOOD, Sept. 19, 2000 -- Clint Eastwood’s got a date in court to decide if he’s the good, the bad or the ugly. The San Jose Mercury News reports that the Dirty Harry icon will begin his trial today at the San Jose, Calif., federal courthouse in a lawsuit against his Mission Ranch hotel and restaurant in Carmel, Calif.
The lawsuit was filed by Diane zum Brunnen three years ago over the lack of handicap access at the resort. The wheel-chair bound zum Brunnen charges that the Eastwood-owned establishment violates both the Americans with Disabilities Act and California laws.
Eastwood was approached earlier this year with a settlement offer of close to $500,000, which the actor rejected.
Zum Brunnen is now suing for unspecified damages and an injunction that would force Mission Ranch to make improvements for the disabled.