As DirtyHarry turns 50, Variety looks back on how iconic action film influenced generations of complicated cop movies.
film’s rocky critical reception back in 1971 only temporarily obscured the pic’s primal pull and lasting impact.
Fears of lawlessness were stoked by the newly victorious GOP during the 1968 election and the Nixon/Agnew presidential leadership team’s almost daily exploitation of those fears kept crime on page one for several years.Woodstock’s peaceful vibes were drowned in the blood of the Manson killings and the Altamont debacle.
By 1971, so many genies had escaped from so many bottles, that movie theaters already bursting with violent actioners thanks to newly liberal rules for violent content, became even bloodier as the filmmakers focused their cameras on socially relevant subjects that just happened to be relentlessly, often terrifyingly violent, and depraved.
And the idea that cops needed to be as twisted and bloodthirsty as the villains they’re chasing won’t be foreign to anyone who’s seen any of the Batman films, whether directed by Tim Burton, Joel Schumacher or Christopher Nolan. But back in simpler times, such as the pre comic book and fantasy film franchise dominated era of the ‘70s, superheroes were no match for real life crimefighting heroes who excelled at and/or reveled in stomping lawbreaking creeps wherever they’re found.
There are at least a dozen such moments or set pieces in “Harry,” all expertly edited and paced so shrewdly that the cat and mouse simplicity of the story never slows down long enough for the viewer to analyze it. “Harry” bursts with almost too many unforgettable moments, too much transgressive behavior such as the sequence where Scorpio almost romantically engages with the guy he’s paying to beat him to a pulp.
But following “Harry” in the next few years of the ‘70s, cops like “Harry,” i.e. with vigilante justice on the brain and/or vigilantes who think they’re cops, start showing up everywhere.
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