Year of Eastwood #27

The Enforcer (1976)

Starring: Eastwood
Directed by James Fargo

Listen up jive-ass turkeys, a few years have gone by and Clint is back again for the Dirtiest Harry of them all. Or at least that’s what some marketing genius came up with to promote Clint’s third take on Inspector Harry Callahan. Actually, this time out Harry doesn’t seem to be quite as edgy or violent, he’s still just as curmudgeonly and difficult to get along with as ever.

The Dirty Harry films were not only successful as exciting action films, but also served as social commentaries to the frustration building in the 70’s. The original film tackled the topic of an ineffective judicial system and Magnum Force examines the effects of out-of-control vigilante tactics. This time around Clint takes on radical political groups that are terrorizing the nation with their hippy, Charles Manson-loving, dope smoking attempts to overthrow the establishment that’s always trying to keep the Man down.

Well, lookee here, it’s the fuzz … Clint’s not too concerned what your political affiliation is - you break the law, and he’s gonna chase you around on rooftops until he brings you down. The People’s Revolutionary Strike Force has taken the mayor of San Fran captive and demanding that their message be heard … actually, they’re demanding $5 million dollars. So instead of some deep, insightful social commentary on the state of our nation, they just really want to get paid.

Clint kills off another one of his partners, so this time they pair him up with a female sidekick. Now, I’m not saying that Clint is sexist or anything, but most of the women in Dirty Harry don’t even have names - so for him to now get paired up with a chick - well, that don’t sit too well with Clint. Tyne Daly follows Clint around for most of the movie, but in the end she gets to shoot a couple of bad guys - but in the end, she can’t escape the curse that is being Clint’s partner. Dead.

Apparently, Clint was a little jealous of all the attention his co-star, his .44 magnum, was getting, because The Enforcer has to introduce an even larger weapon to show that pansy gun just who’s in charge. A single-shot, over the shoulder, missile launcher blows up a few things and Clint even uses it in the big finale to blow up the bad guy. Plus, it’s disposable so you don’t have to worry about it wanting more screen time. Last I heard, Clyde the monkey and the .44 were in talks to do a buddy picture together.

The Enforcer abandons the second film’s attempt to humanize Dirty Harry. There’s no scenes of personal life or struggling to balance his checkbook. Nope, this time the movie just goes from scenes of Clint busting his car thru a bank to get the bad guys to scenes of the radical hippies plotting their big schemes until we get the big finale out on Alcatraz island … where I hear you can get a really good deal on a studio apartment.

The early Dirty Harry movies were great popcorn action flicks with a message behind all the shocking violence. With the trilogy, Clint had created a classic Hollywood icon. Originally, Clint planned to put this character to rest after three films, but audiences wanted more (and I’m sure the paycheck was pretty good too) so there’s still two more sequels to go … perhaps he should of quit after three …