by Tim Webb

Created on: February 20, 2010   Last Updated: February 21, 2010

Classic is a strange word to me, it can be used in a number of contexts from sporting events to cars, for me the word classic is aptly used to describe Clint Eastwood's first outing from 1971 as the maverick cop Dirty Harry.

There is something about seeing Clint Eastwood on screen that sends a shiver down my spine, I think its because in the early scenes of the film he wears a pair of sunglasses that completely changes the character in how he looks, mainly because it's the fact that his eyes are hidden and you cannot see into his soul and therefore there is a barrier placed between him and the audience. Soul searching is also a phrase that can be used to describe parts of the film as the plot is somewhat controversial yet also original in what the emphasis is about.

This film launched a completely new genre in cinema, that of the lone cop. The plot of the film is quite disturbing as it deals with a city being held to ransom by a character called Scorpio, issuing various demands to the local government and performing a number of quite sick and mind bending murders that seriously rattle the Police and the Mayors Office. In the opening credits you see Scorpio perform a murder in cold blood and this sets the darker than normal tone for the film. It's an interesting premise as this is no "by the book" film; it's the character of Harry Callaghan that decides enough is enough and after being run ragged through San Francisco by Scorpio decides that this issue has to be sorted out once and for all.

The character of Callaghan is introduced in the first 20 minutes of the film as a patriotic and also misunderstood Police Officer who finds it's easy to upset his superiors. The discussion about policy between Callaghan and the Mayor is something that is shown with great tension on Callaghan's part and with a subtle rebuke from the Mayor when Callaghan has left the room showing his agreement. This gives a good idea to what lengths that Callaghan will go to to get the job done and is shown at various times throughout the film.

Eastwood looks so young in the film and mainly because of the early seventies hairstyles and fashion that the film is naturally littered with from the start. Hairstyles look like grown out styles from the Sixties and shows that the era was starting to be defined in what was happening around them, this in turn makes the film look like a period piece and ages the film in a not to positive manner. This was the film that made Eastwood leap from known actor

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