The Enforcer

"The dirtiest Harry of them all."

1976 1h 36m EN

👍

6.7

SOLID

★6.7TMDB · 1,043

CrimeActionThrillerDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Dirty Harry Callahan returns again, this time saddled with a rookie female partner. Together, they must stop a terrorist group consisting of angry Vietnam veterans.

“The dirtiest Harry of them all.”

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Cast

Clint Eastwood
Insp. Harry Callahan
Tyne Daly
Insp. Kate Moore
Harry Guardino
Lt. Al Bressler
Bradford Dillman
Captain McKay
John Mitchum
Frank DiGiorgio
DeVeren Bookwalter
Bobby Maxwell
John Crawford
The Mayor
Samantha Doane
Wanda

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: James Fargo
Writers: Stirling Silliphant, Dean Riesner, Gail Morgan Hickman
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 5.1× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

50 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Dirty Harry Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Directed by James Fargo, shot by Charles W. Short. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Jerry Fielding. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Joel Cox shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Clint Eastwood and Tyne Daly and Harry Guardino carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "The dirtiest Harry of them all.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

James Fargo directs. Charles W. Short behind the camera. Jerry Fielding scores. Joel Cox cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Made its money back 5.1× over at the box office.
250 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Part of the "Dirty Harry Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
4Directed by James Fargo, shot by Charles W. Short. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Jerry Fielding. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Joel Cox shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Clint Eastwood and Tyne Daly and Harry Guardino carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "The dirtiest Harry of them all.".
9IMDB entry: tt0074483 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Released under 16 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Charles W. Short
Original score: Jerry Fielding
Editing: Joel Cox
Costume design: Glenn Wright
Makeup / hair: Joe McKinney
Sound: Les Fresholtz
Stunt coordinator: Buddy Van Horn
Runtime: 96 min · 1h 36m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $9,000,000
Box office: $46,236,000
Return: 514% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: The Enforcer (1976)

Part of

Dirty Harry Collection

Dirty Harry is the name of a series of films and novels featuring fictional San Francisco Police Department Homicide Division Inspector "Dirty" Harry Callahan, portrayed by Clint Eastwood. Eastwood's character also helped popularize the .44 Magnum, as Harry Callahan is famously shown wielding his Smith & Wesson Model 29 revolver.

Also by

James Fargo

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Andres Gomez2016-03-21
★ 6/10
Probably the worst of all the Dirty Harry movies. The only interesting and innovative point in this one is that we have a woman as Harry's partner. Eastwood keeps nailing his role but that's about it. A foreseeable plot with quite a mediocre development. Probably, the best in this one is the music.
John Chard2019-06-07
★ 7/10
Here's a seven-point suppository! The Enforcer is directed by James Fargo and collectively written by Harry Julian Fink, Rita M. Fink, Stirling Silliphant, Dean Riesner, Gail Morgan Hickman and S.W. Schurr. It stars Clint Eastwood, Tyne Daly, Harry Guardino, Bradford Dillman, DeVeren Bookwalter and John Mitchum. Music is by Jerry Fielding and cinematography by Charles W. Short. Dirty Harry Callahan is tasked with foiling a terrorist organization made up of supposed revolutionaries. However, when he's partnered by a rookie female cop he's far from best pleased and feels sure she's out of her depth. This is the third entry of what would eventually become five Clint Eastwood starring Dirty Harry films. Sensing the need to inject a bit of freshness to what was obviously going to be a safe "no nonsense cop" formula, the makers introduce a nifty complexity to Callahan's world by pairing him up with a female cop - one that's fresh out of school. So with Callahan's propensity for being irked about partners in general, and his suspected misogyny dangled by his superiors, this is a forward thinking turn of events by the writers. From a narrative stand point director Fargo (for his feature film debut) doesn't deviate from what made the previous two films a success. Pacing is steady so that this allows dramatic character interplays to breathe, and forceful action sequences bounce into the fray at various junctures. This is not however detrimental to the story, which zips along and is punctured by customary Dirty Harry humour. The relationship between Harry and Kate (passable but not quite a great casting choice) builds through various stages, from begrudging mentor and pupil beginnings, to something that actually ends up rather touching. Sadly this "Dirty Harry" film lacks great villainy, the People's Revolutionary Strike Force come off as a mixed bunch of psychos and confused hippies, with not enough screen time for their leader (Bookwalter) to impact greatly on proceedings. Be that as it may, there's enough for Callahan to chew on, with the gruff straight talking cop surrounded by the usual moronic bureaucrats and handy allies (the always great Albert Popwell in a customary appearance). Where it stands with fans of the Dirty Harry series as a whole is unclear? for The Enforcer appears to now be fondly remembered more the decades have passed. But it certainly is no dead loss and a strong 7/10 rating I feel is fully justified.
r96sk2022-01-18
★ 7/10
Not as enjoyable as the first two, but <em>'The Enforcer'</em> still entertains. Clint Eastwood is again excellent in reprising the role of Harry Callahan, while the support cast is spearheaded by the likes of Tyne Daly and Harry Guardino. I don't really have much to say that's different from the 1971 and 1973 films, in that it's a fun flick that is paced well; even if, again, it is a drop from its two predecessors.