The Enforcer (1976 film)
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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.
| The Enforcer | |
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 The Enforcer theatrical poster |
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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 |
| Cinematography | Charles W. Short |
| Editing by | Joel Cox Ferris Webster |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
| Release date(s) | December 22, 1976 |
| Running time | 96 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Preceded by | Magnum Force |
| Followed by | Sudden Impact |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
[edit] Plot
Picking up a few years after the events in Magnum Force, the film centers on a group of terrorists calling themselves "The People's Revolutionary Strike Force" (former Vietnam veterans as part of an extremist organization) who are blackmailing the city of San Francisco for two million dollars. They rob a warehouse containing military weapons intended for export. (One of the terrorists is a former employee.)
Meanwhile, Harry is partnered with Kate Moore who has worked in personnel for nine years with no experience of homicide, making arrests or violent situations. Harry disapproves of his new partner, though he eventually comes to respect her diligence. In their final desperate act, the Strike Force kidnaps the mayor of San Francisco and Harry tracks them down to their hideout at Alcatraz. The mayor is saved, the extremists are all killed and Moore is killed in the process.
[edit] Trivia
- The working title was "Moving Target".
- 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.[citation needed]
- The two militant organizations depicted in the film - the People's Revolutionary Strike Force and Uhuru - were modeled on two real-life militant groups, the Symbionese Liberation Army (which kidnapped Patricia Hearst) and the Black Panther Party.
- The film's climax - on Alcatraz Island - was based on the real-life occupation of the island by Native Americans in 1969.
- Throughout the film, several characters refer to the LAW Rocket. This is the real-life M72 anti-tank weapon. The one depicted in the film is the M72A1, which was used during the Vietnam War.
- Harry's new partner, Inspector Kate Moore mentions to Harry his previous partners he worked with in the past who have died; Fanducci, only mentioned in Dirty Harry and Early Smith in Magnum Force.
- 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 of the series, while DiGeorgio appeared in the first three.) A new character, Capt. Jerome McKay (Bradford Dillman) was introduced as Harry's superior officer; it is unknown whether the 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 Joseph Alioto was mayor.
- This was originally intended to be the last Dirty Harry film of a trilogy. A poll conducted by Warner Bros in 1983 led to the development of a fourth film, Sudden Impact.
[edit] External links
| The Dirty Harry films |
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| Official films Dirty Harry | Magnum Force | The Enforcer | Sudden Impact | The Dead Pool |
