Dirty Harry (1971)
89%RT Audience Score: 90%
Awards & Nominations: 2 wins & 4 nominations
As tough and taciturn as its no-nonsense hero, Dirty Harry delivers a deceptively layered message without sacrificing an ounce of its solid action impact.
Dirty Harry is the ultimate cop movie for those who love a good dose of vigilante justice. Clint Eastwood’s portrayal of Harry Callahan is both tough and hilarious, with one-liners that will have you laughing out loud. Director Don Siegel’s use of cutting and framing is masterful, making this film a true classic. Sure, it may be controversial and some may call it propaganda for police brutality, but if you’re looking for a thrilling ride with a badass cop, Dirty Harry is the movie for you.
Production Company(ies)
Charles K. Feldman Group Warner Bros.,
Distributor
Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Holiday Inn Select Downtown Hotel – 750 Kearny Street, San Francisco, California, USA
MPAA / Certificate
R
Year of Release
1971
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Mono
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Aspect ratio:2.39 : 1
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Runtime:1h 43m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Jan 1, 1971 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 3, 2008
Genre(s)
Action
Keyword(s)
starring Clint Eastwood, Harry Guardino, Reni Santoni, John Larch, Andrew Robinson, John Vernon, directed by Don Siegel, written by Harry Julian Fink, Rita M Fink, Dean Riesner, produced by Don Siegel, action, R rating, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Derek Malcolm, Alexander Walker, John Russell Taylor, Dave Kehr, J Hoberman, Roger Ebert, Madeleine Harmsworth, Matt Brunson, David Nusair, Josh Larsen, Mike Massie, Eve Tushnet, cop, psychopathic killer, civil rights, school bus, violence, loner, police brutality, Clint Eastwood’s breakthrough role, Warner Bros Pictures, mono sound mix, scope aspect ratio
Worldwide gross: $35,988,495
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $295,310,435
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 510
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 32,203,973
US/Canada gross: NA
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend:
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $4,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $32,822,760
Production budget ranking: 1,106
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $17,675,056
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $244,812,618
ROI to date (est.): 485%
ROI ranking: 263
Harry Guardino – Bressler
Reni Santoni – Chico
John Larch – Police Chief
Andrew Robinson – Scorpio Killer
John Vernon – The Mayor
Director(s)
Don Siegel
Writer(s)
Harry Julian Fink, Harry Julian Fink, Rita M. Fink, Rita M. Fink, Dean Riesner
Producer(s)
Don Siegel
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
2 wins & 4 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (53) | Top Critics (9) | Fresh (47) | Rotten (6)
Siegel shouldn’t have had to shout so much to make himself heard, nor should Eastwood, otherwise excellent, be quite so determined to maintain a star’s steely dignity. But a lot still manages to get through about violence and the loner’s path.
May 31, 2022
Derek Malcolm
Guardian
TOP CRITIC
Dirty Harry is a film meant to wring the already well wrung and mangled conscience of the liberal. Which it succeeds in doing with engrossing efficiency.
May 31, 2022
Alexander Walker
London Evening Standard
TOP CRITIC
The message, finally, is the least important part of the film; the medium, and the artist’s command of it, is the real message. And Siegel has never been more in command of it than here.
May 26, 2022
John Russell Taylor
Times (UK)
TOP CRITIC
A crisp, beautifully paced film, full of Siegel’s wonderful coups of cutting and framing.
March 1, 2007
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
No less than Siegel’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers, it offers a fabulous, multifarious political metaphor. (And, as with Body Snatchers, Siegel’s own liberal interpretation was trumped by a more forceful hard-right reading.
April 4, 2006
J. Hoberman
Village Voice
TOP CRITIC
If there aren’t mentalities like Dirty Harry’s at loose in the land, then the movie is irrelevant. If there are, we should not blame the bearer of the bad news.
October 23, 2004 | Rating: 3/4
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
TOP CRITIC
Excellent thriller of the tough cop variety.
May 31, 2022
Madeleine Harmsworth
Sunday Mirror (UK)
Director Don Siegel’s classic sci-fi flick Invasion of the Body Snatchers was alternately read as both right-wing (anti-Commie) and left-wing (anti-McCarthyism), and he found his controversial police thriller experiencing the same sort of dichotomy.
December 16, 2021 | Rating: 3.5/4
Matt Brunson
Film Frenzy
…essentially the template for play-by-his-own-rules cop pictures…
December 9, 2021 | Rating: 3.5/4
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews
…a straw-man movie.
September 2, 2021 | Rating: 1.5/4
Josh Larsen
LarsenOnFilm
He’s one of the coolest unethical cops around, sporting a mean hand-cannon, an attitude of proportional size, and witty dialogue that consistently sizzles.
August 29, 2020 | Rating: 10/10
Mike Massie
Gone With The Twins
Beautifully-made propaganda for police brutality. Clint Eastwood is not as great as I expected, he does weirdly stilted line readings…
March 26, 2020
Eve Tushnet
Patheos…
Plot
In 1971, San Francisco faces the terror of a maniac known as the “Scorpio Killer” (Andrew Robinson), who snipes at innocent victims and demands ransom through notes left at the scene of the crime. Inspector “Dirty” Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood) is assigned to the case along with his newest partner Inspector Chico Gonzalez (Reni Santoni) to track down Scorpio and stop him. Using humiliation and cat-and-mouse type of games against Callahan, Scorpio is put to the test with the cop with a dirty attitude.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Clint Eastwood’s portrayal of Harry Callahan has become a cultural icon and has been parodied and referenced in numerous films and TV shows.
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