{"id":5347,"date":"2008-03-10T11:42:59","date_gmt":"2008-03-10T18:42:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=5347"},"modified":"2021-01-27T11:10:34","modified_gmt":"2021-01-27T18:10:34","slug":"dirty-harry-1971","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=5347","title":{"rendered":"Dirty Harry (1971)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;Now you know why they call me Dirty Harry: every dirty job that comes along&#8230;&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/03\/Dirty-Harry-Poster-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/03\/Dirty-Harry-Poster-1-207x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"207\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-66361\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/03\/Dirty-Harry-Poster-1-207x300.jpg 207w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/03\/Dirty-Harry-Poster-1-88x128.jpg 88w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/03\/Dirty-Harry-Poster-1-186x270.jpg 186w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/03\/Dirty-Harry-Poster-1.jpg 521w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 207px) 100vw, 207px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA rugged police detective (Clint Eastwood) in San Francisco tries to capture a deranged serial killer (Andrew Robinson), but finds his efforts thwarted by bureaucratic heavies, including the city&#8217;s mayor (John Vernon) and D.A. (Josef Sommer).\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Cat-and-Mouse<\/li>\n<li>Clint Eastwood Films<\/li>\n<li>Detectives and Private Eyes<\/li>\n<li>Don Siegel Films<\/li>\n<li>Serial Killers<\/li>\n<li>Vigilantes<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nTouted by many reviewers upon its release as simply a fascist&#8217;s fantasy (its original title was <em>Dead Right<\/em>), <em>Dirty Harry<\/em> has largely transcended its initial political pigeonholing to become a certified cult favorite, with several sequels in its wake (all listed in Peary&#8217;s book as &#8220;must see&#8221;). Eastwood basically reprises the persona he crafted in so many other films (most specifically Sheriff Walt Coogan in <em>Coogan&#8217;s Bluff<\/em>) as yet another laconic, no-nonsense &#8220;Male&#8221; who refuses to compromise his philosophy of &#8220;getting the job done&#8221; at any price; many of his sneering lines &#8212; &#8220;You&#8217;ve got to ask yourself one question: &#8216;Do I feel lucky?&#8217; Well, do ya, punk?&#8221; &#8212; have gone down in cinematic history. <\/p>\n<p>While it&#8217;s unfortunate, as many reviewers have pointed out, that Harry&#8217;s superiors are painted as such one-dimensional nincompoops, and that his nemesis, &#8220;Scorpio&#8221;, is basically a distillation of every right-winger&#8217;s nightmare (longish hair, indeterminate sexuality, an ironic peace symbol on his buckle), ultimately <em>Dirty Harry<\/em> should be seen and enjoyed as simply a well-crafted cat-and-mouse police procedural. To this end, director Don Siegel makes excellent use of diverse San Francisco locales, and infuses his action scenes with a nice blend of tension and humor. My favorite early vignette has Harry pulled off the street to help talk a suicidal man down from a rooftop; his ability to do so within the space of five minutes, then walk away without being shown much gratitude, goes a long way towards establishing Harry as the independent, under-valued &#8220;doer&#8221; he remains throughout the rest of the film. &#8220;Dirty Harry&#8221;, indeed: &#8220;every dirty job that comes along&#8221; does seem to be his for the taking.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Effective use of San Francisco locales<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/03\/dirty-harry-sf2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/03\/dirty-harry-sf2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1680\" height=\"1050\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5361\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Harry &#8220;talking&#8221; a suicidal man off a roof<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/03\/dirty-harry-talking-down2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/03\/dirty-harry-talking-down2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1680\" height=\"1050\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5360\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Countless now-classic lines and scenarios:<br \/>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;You&#8217;ve got to ask yourself a question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?&#8221; <\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/03\/dirty-harry-do-you-feel-lucky.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/03\/dirty-harry-do-you-feel-lucky.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1680\" height=\"1050\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5362\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, for its status as a cult favorite. Listed as a film with Historical Importance, a Cult Movie, and a Personal Recommendation in the back of Peary&#8217;s book. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Cult Movie<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> (<span style=\"color:red;font-weight:bold;\">Listed in <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-static\/1001Movies.htm\"><em>1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die<\/em><\/a><\/span>) <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/imdb.com\/title\/tt0066999\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1971\/12\/23\/archives\/screen-dirty-harry-and-his-devotion-to-duty.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rogerebert.com\/reviews\/dirty-harry-1971\">Roger Ebert&#8217;s Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s360dirty.html\">DVD Savant Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Now you know why they call me Dirty Harry: every dirty job that comes along&#8230;&#8221; Synopsis: A rugged police detective (Clint Eastwood) in San Francisco tries to capture a deranged serial killer (Andrew Robinson), but finds his efforts thwarted by bureaucratic heavies, including the city&#8217;s mayor (John Vernon) and D.A. (Josef Sommer). Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Cat-and-Mouse Clint Eastwood Films Detectives and Private Eyes Don Siegel Films Serial Killers Vigilantes Review: Touted by many reviewers upon its release as&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=5347\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5347"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5347\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66362,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5347\/revisions\/66362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}