365+ movies in 365 Days: Day 83 - The Enforcer

I continued the Dirty Harry festival with the third film in the series "The Enforcer". This was meant to be the final entry in the series, but based on popular demand Warner Bros. made a fourth film, Sudden Impact, eight years later. Harry Guardino is back as Lt. Bressler, with no explanation to where he was during the second film. And Harry's partner at the beginning of the movie is Frank DeGorgio (John Mitchum) who was also in the first film. The audience is reminded of this by a line referencing linguine.

The first film featured a serial killer loosely based on the Zodiac killer who was active in San Francisco during that period. This film copies the militant activist groups of the day with the People's Republic Strike Force, loosely based on the Symbionese Liberation Army. The militant group steals weapons and then threatens to plant bombs around the city. Their plans escalate to kidnapping the mayor and holding him for ransom.

By this time Eastwood is Dirt Harry and it's hard to separate the two. Harry has no tolerance for idiots and speaks his mind enough that he gets suspended. To add a dramatic twist harry is assigned a new partner, a woman, played by Tyne Daly. The film also deals with women's liberation and affirmative action.

Harry barely tolerates his new partner, not because she's a woman, but because she is inexperienced and did not get the job on merit. But he slowly gains respect for her as she develops the street smarts and saves his life twice. The dynamic between Daly and Eastwood is what makes this film work so well.

The first film had the dark, gritty feel of urban movies of the 1970's and featured a vibrant score by Lalo Schiffrin. This film is looks very similar to TV movies and one hour television crimes dramas of the day. Aside from the wide screen picture it is not very interesting visually. The film features a lively jazz score by Jerry Fielding that is similar to the work of Bill Conti and does not really work with the film. The movie does make great use of San Francisco locations including Alcatraz, which was the sight of militant protests back in the 70's.

Except for Harry using the word "marvelous" the film has no catch phrase. Dirt harry offered up "Do You Feel Lucky" and Magnum Force had "a man has got to know his limitations" but harry would not have another signature phrase until the next film, Sudden Impact, when he utters his most famous line "Go ahead, make my day".

At the Movie House rating *** stars.