The Enforcer (1976 film)

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The Enforcer

The Enforcer theatrical poster
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
DeVeren Bookwalter
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 Flag of the United States United States
Language Engish
Preceded by Magnum Force (1973)
Followed by Sudden Impact (1983)
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

The Enforcer (1976) is the third film in the Dirty Harry series. Directed by James Fargo, it stars Clint Eastwood as Inspector 'Dirty' Harry Callahan, Tyne Daly as Inspector Kate Moore and DeVeren Bookwalter as Bobby Maxwell.


Contents

[edit] Plot

The film starts as two gas men are killed by a male (Bobby Maxwell) who had been lured by a scantily-clad lady to a remote spot and killed. The gang of Maxwell, The People's Revolutionary Strike Force, use the gas men's vehicle for a scene later in the film.

Meanwhile, Inspector Harry Callahan and his partner, Frank DiGeorgio are dispatched to a liquor store where a few men have taken hostages. The standoff ends when Harry drives his squad car into the store and shoots up the gang. Back at the station, Harry is reprimanded for the expenses on injured hostages and damage to the store, and is transferred from the Homicide unit to Personnel. Harry is part of judging the interview process for new inspectors the next day, being told that 3 of 8 new positions are going to be female, including Inspector Kate Moore who has worked in Personnel for nine years with no experience in homicide, making arrests or in violent situations. Harry disapproves of her promotion to Inspector, though he eventually comes to respect her diligence.

That night, the PRSF uses the gas vehicle to a U.S. Army weapons storage facility to rob weapons and to keep up with their political statement. Meanwhile, DiGeorgio and another police officer find a dead guard at the facility, and DiGeorgio looks around the facility to look for any suspicious activity. He eventually finds the terrorists and holds them at gunpoint, but Maxwell stabs him in his back. In the process, DiGeorgio shoots a member of the gang but Maxwell finishes her off.

The next morning, DiGeorgio dies of his stab wound in hospital. With his last breath, DiGeorgio tells Callahan that the men were involved in a case several years before. Inspector Moore is assigned as Harry's partner. Later in the day, a bomb explodes in the Hall of Justice and Callahan and Moore chase after the PRSF bomber through the streets. Callahan obtains the help of the black militant group, the Uhuru.

In their final desperate act, the Strike Force kidnaps the Mayor of San Francisco and Harry goes undercover to root out Maxwell, tracking them down to their hideout at Alcatraz Island. Soon enough, a shootout breaks out between the two parties. Inspector Moore receives a brief distraction when she sees Harry about to get shot by Maxwell, she yells for him to move. This saved Harry's life, but sadly caused the end of hers, due to a gunshots she received whilst yelling. After the gun-battle, the mayor is saved when Maxwell is incinerated by Harry with a M72 LAW rocket launcher. All the terrorists are killed but once again, another partner of Harry is killed.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Trivia

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • The working title was "Moving Target", while another was "Dirty Harry III".
  • 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 distributed by Warner Bros. The case was dismissed.[citation needed]
  • 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, who was mentioned in Dirty Harry, and Early Smith in Magnum Force. Another of Harry's partners, Chico Gonzalez, was injured during the events of the first film and left the police force to become a teacher.
  • Recurring characters Lieutenant 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, Captain Jerome McKay (Bradford Dillman), was introduced as Harry's superior officer; Dillman played a similar role, Captain Briggs, in Sudden Impact.
  • 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.
  • The 80's Speed/Thrash Metal band Laaz Rockit takes there name from the finale scene of this movie.
  • Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry films were the inspiration for at least two US handgun patents, 5333531 and 5513550, issued to Roger Field.

[edit] External links

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American films of the 1970s
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v • d • e
Dirty Harry series
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