Dirty Harry

Dirty Harry (1971)

Timing: 1:42 (102 min)

7.4/10
2703

7.528/10
16922

7.7/10
165579

All about film

Video 8

Photo 108

Actors and characters

Release date

1971-12-23

Country

United States

Production

Warner Bros. Pictures, Malpaso Productions

Genre

Action, Crime, Thriller

Budget

$4 000 000

Revenue

$35 976 000

Website

http://www.warnerbros.com/dirty-harry/

Director

Don Siegel

Actors

Clint Eastwood, Harry Guardino, Reni Santoni, John Vernon, Andrew Robinson, John Larch, John Mitchum, Mae Mercer, Lyn Edgington, Ruth Kobart
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Don Siegel, Clint Eastwood, Robert Daley

Operator

Bruce Surtees

Composer

Lalo Schifrin

Artist

Audition

Editing

Carl Pingitore
All team (55)

• The film originated during a time of growing public concern in the United States regarding the political situation, specifically the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal. This was eroding public trust in existing laws and the political structure. This is reflected in the film: the protagonist expresses his opinion of the existing laws by calling them insane.
• The film was originally titled “Dead Right.” In 1993, British director Edgar Wright filmed a parody of “Dirty Harry” that was titled “Dead Right.”
• Paul Newman (who declined the role for political reasons) and Frank Sinatra (who declined due to an injured hand) were considered for the role of Harry Callahan.
• In 2012, the film was included in the U.S. National Film Registry.
• The plot was influenced by the story of a real-life American serial killer known as Zodiac (hence the character's nickname, "Scorpio," one of the zodiac signs).
• The final scene in which Clint Eastwood's character throws his police badge into the water is a reference to a similar scene in Fred Zinnemann's western *High Noon* (1952). Eastwood initially resisted, arguing that by throwing away the badge, his character showed he was leaving the police force. Director Don Siegel, in turn, insisted that Callahan was thereby showing his contempt for the bureaucrats entrenched in the police department. Eastwood's point of view initially prevailed, but over time he changed his mind and agreed to film the badge scene as Siegel had envisioned it.