The Enforcer (1976/I)

Director:

James Fargo

Writers:

Harry Julian Fink (characters) and
Rita M. Fink (characters) ...

Release Date:

22 December 1976 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

The "dirtiest" Harry of them all!

Plot:

Dirty Harry must foil a terrorist organization made up of disgruntled Vietnam veterans. But this time, he's teamed with a rookie female partner that he's not too excited to be working with.

Plot Keywords:

Terrorist | Police | Alcatraz | Vietnam Veteran | Policewoman

Cast

Clint Eastwood	...	Insp. 'Dirty' Harry Callahan
Tyne Daly	...	Insp. Kate Moore
Harry Guardino	...	Lt. Al Bressler
Bradford Dillman	...	Capt. McKay
John Mitchum	...	Insp. Frank DiGiorgio
DeVeren Bookwalter	...	Bobby Maxwell
John Crawford	...	The Mayor
Samantha Doane	...	Wanda
Robert F. Hoy	...	Buchinski (as Robert Hoy)
Jocelyn Jones	...	Miki Waleska
M.G. Kelly	...	Father John
Nick Pellegrino	...	Martin
Albert Popwell	...	'Big' Ed Mustapha
Rudy Ramos	...	Mendez
Bill Ackridge	...	Andy

Also Known As:

Moving Target (USA) (original script title)

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M (TV rating) | Spain:18 | Iceland:16 | Singapore:PG (cut) | Finland:K-18 (1977) (cut) | Netherlands:12 | Singapore:M18 (re-rating) | USA:R (certificate #24716) | France:Unrated | Germany:16 (re-rating) (2008) | West Germany:18 (original rating) | Australia:MA (Cable TV rating) | Brazil:14 | Canada:18A | Australia:R | Norway:18 | Sweden:15 (cut) | UK:18 | South Korea:18 | Norway:16 (1977) (cut) | Norway:15 (DVD rating) | New Zealand:PG (DVD rating)

Filming Locations:

23rd & Capp Streets, Mission District, San Francisco, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

This is the only Dirty Harry film without the music of film composer Lalo Schifrin.

Goofs:

Continuity: At the beginning of the film, before Harry goes into the restaurant, he drives by a lone red car parked at the corner. In the next shot, there is a white car, behind the red car, that wasn't in the first shot.

Quotes:

Mustapha: You really *are* a dirty bastard, ain't you, Harry?
Harry Callahan: The dirtiest.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Jigureul jikyeora! (2003)

Another Gritty 'N' Bad-Ass Dirty Harry Flick

Dirty Harry Callahan is back with bad-assery and no sense for nonsense. After Don Siegel's masterpiece "Dirty Harry" of 1971 which outraged critics but defined 70s cinema and Cop flicks thereafter and the somewhat tamer sequel "Magnum Force" of 1973, Clint Eastwood comes back as the toughest & coolest Cop in cinema-history, Inspector Dirty Harry Callahan. This third film in the series, "The Enforcer" of 1976, is arguably the most action-packed Callahan flick (along with the fifth and last one, "The Dead Pool" of 1988). Harry doesn't only stop trouble with his 44. Magnum, he also uses higher calibers and even cars as weapons in this one. "The Enforcer" is not the best film in the series (the best is doubtlessly Don Siegel's masterpiece original, my personal second-favorite is the fourth film, Clint Eastwood's own "Sudden Impact" of 1983). Yet this is another violent, gritty, outrageously entertaining and purely bad-ass Dirty Harry film that should not be missed, especially by action fans. Director James Fargo, who had worked as an assistant director to Clint Eastwood for "High Plains Drifter" (1973) and "The Outlaw Josey Wales" (1976) was not as experienced as masters Don Siegel and Ted Post, of course, but he definitely managed to keep the adrenaline-dose up.

When "Magnum Force" tried to becalm critics (who bashed the original for its political incorrectness) a bit by having Harry fight vigilantes, this third film in the series is as politically incorrect as ever. Harry beats the living crap out of punks, rants about everybody, and does all the super-tough things that we love him for. Harry Callahan is not exactly delighted when his superiors assign him a new partner who happens to be female. Inspector Kate Moore (Tyne Daly) has chance to impress her legendary new partner when an extremist organization begins to terrorize San Francisco... Storywise, this is not the most interesting film in the series. However, the action is great and Clint Eastwood is great as always as Dirty Harry. Tyne Daly as his female partner is somewhat cute and somewhat annoying at the same time. This is the second of three times Edward Popwell appears in a Callahan flick, this time as a the leader of a black militant group. Popwell had also appeared as a robber in the famous 'Do You Fell Lucky' scene in "Dirty Harry" and would appear again as Harry's colleague and buddy in "Sudden Impact". Overall, this is yet another violent, tough-minded and vastly entertaining "Dirty Harry" flick that is a must-see to Callahan-fans and highly recommendable to all action-lovers.