The Enforcer (1976 film)
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| The Enforcer | |
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| Directed by | James Fargo |
| Produced by | Robert Daley |
| Written by | Story: Gail Morgan Hickman S.W. Schurr Screenplay: Stirling Silliphant Dean Riesner |
| Starring | Clint Eastwood Harry Guardino Bradford Dillman Tyne Daly |
| Music by | Jerry Fielding |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
| Release date(s) | December 22, 1976 |
| Running time | 96 min. |
| Language | English |
| Preceded by | Magnum Force |
| Followed by | Sudden Impact |
| IMDb profile | |
The Enforcer (1976) is the third film in the Dirty Harry series. Directed by James Fargo, it stars Clint Eastwood as Inspector Harry Callahan and Tyne Daly as Inspector Kate Moore.
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[edit] Plot
The film centers around a group of terrorists calling themselves the People's Revolutionary Strikeforce (in this case, former Vietnam veterans as part of an extremist organization) who are blackmailing the city of San Francisco for 2 million dollars. In the film, the extremists burglarize a warehouse which has military weapons (one of the terrorists is a former employee) for overseas shipping. Meanwhile Harry is partnered up with Kate Moore who has worked in personnel for 9 years with no experience in homicide, making arrests or handling violent situations. Harry disapproves of his new partner being a woman, although he eventually comes to respect her hard work and diligence. In their final act the Strikeforce kidnap the mayor of San Francisco and eventually Harry tracks them down to their holdout at Alcatraz. In the end the mayor is saved, the extremists are all killed but Moore is killed in the process. Although Tyne Daly is killed in the film, she would be resurrected on television as Detective Lacey on Cagney and Lacey.
[edit] Trivia
In 1980 a writer sued Eastwood for plagiarism accusing him of taking the title of the film from one of his works. Eastwood maintained that he was inspired by the 1951 Humphrey Bogart film, The Enforcer, which was also owned by Warner Bros. The case was dismissed.
The two militant organizations depicted in the film - the People's Revolutionary Strike Force (who are the former Vietnam veterans) and Uhuru - were modeled after two real-life militant groups, the Symbionese Liberation Army (which kidnapped Patricia Hearst) and the Black Panther Party.
During the film's climax - the militants were hiding on Alcatraz Island - this was based on the real-life occupation of the island by Native Americans back in 1969.
Throughout the film - several characters are referring to the LAW Rocket - the LAW Rocket is the real-life M72 anti-tank weapon. The one depicted in the film is the M72A1, which was used during the Vietnam War.
Recurring characters Lt. Bressler (Harry Guardino) and Frank DiGeorgio (John Mitchum) reprise their roles for the last time (Bressler was Harry's boss in the first film, while DiGeorgio appeared in the first three films). (A new character, Capt. Jerome McKay (Bradford Dillman) was introduced as Harry's superior officer; it is unknown whether a character Dillman portrays in Sudden Impact is a distant relative (Dillman portrayed Captain Briggs in the next film).
A brief scene inside San Francisco's City Hall was filmed outside Suite 200 (then-Mayor George Moscone's office). The first film was filmed inside Suite 200 when Mayor Joseph Alioto was the previous mayor.
Originally, this was supposed to be the last Dirty Harry film where it was considered an official trilogy. A poll conducted by Warner Bros. in 1983 where Sean Connery reprised his role as James Bond led to the development of a fourth film, which came to become Sudden Impact.
[edit] Quotes
- In a scene where the police captain has suspended Callahan and is demanding he hand over his badge:
- Callahan: Here, a seven-pointed suppository, Captain.
- Captain: What did you say?
- Callahan: I said stick it in your ass!
- Upon learning from Captain McKay that he's been transferred to the personnel department:
- Callahan: To personnel? Thats for assholes!!.
- Captain: (rather upset)I was in personnel for ten years!
- Callahan: Yah.
- After being asked to return to duty by Captain McKay and Lieutenant Bressler:
- Callahan: May I make a statement, Captain?
- Captain: Go ahead!
- Callahan: Your mouthwash ain't makin' it!"
[edit] External links
| The Dirty Harry films |
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| Official films Dirty Harry | Magnum Force | The Enforcer | Sudden Impact | The Dead Pool |
| Unofficial films The Rookie | Sin City |
