Written on spec by two film school students, Gail Hickman and S.W. Schurr, who handed it in at Clint's restaurant in the hope it would get to him. It was written for the screen by Stirling Silliphant and Dean Reisner.
It's 1976 San Francisco, and life is cheap to the murderous People's Liberation Army, who even kill a harmless old night watchman - the women are as bad as the men. Worse than that, Dirty Harry's been partnered with an inexperienced woman (Tyne Daly, in anticipation of Cagney and Lacey), though by the time she saves his life for the first time, he's already begun to respect her.
"What do they want?"
"A car."
"What are you going to do?"
"Give them one."
- is perhaps the most fun scene.
Ends up on Alcatraz, funnily enough, where Clint was to Escape From a couple of year later.
With John Mitchum, Bradford Dillman, Harry Guardino, DeVeren Brookwalter, John Crawford, Albert Popwell.
It's not the best thing ever, feels like it missed a few tricks, Clint's repetition of 'Marvellous' becomes tiresome, but is well put together by Fargo, cameraman Charles W Short and editors Ferris Webster and Joel Cox, who became Clint's regular. Fun jazzy score too from Jerry Fielding.
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| "I don't suppose it would do any good to suggest you wait in the car?" |
As to the threat to the black movement leader that he could be arrested for having a couple of nick-nacks stolen from hotels, that seems absurd (even if it's an in-joke of some kind)... but isn't that a Rothko hanging on the wall? - a more promising line of enquiry, surely?
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