HARRY CALLAHAN (CHARACTER)

'"Dirty Harry - Harold Francis Callahan"' is a fictional San Francisco Police Department inspector in the films ''Dirty Harry'' (1971), ''Magnum Force'' (1973), ''The Enforcer'' (1976), ''Sudden Impact'' (1983), and ''The Dead Pool'' (1988). Clint Eastwood plays Callahan in all five films.
From his debut in ''Dirty Harry'', Callahan became the template for a new kind of movie cop: a borderline vigilante who doesn't hesitate when crossing professional and ethical boundaries in pursuit of his own vision of justice. The "Dirty Harry" archetype does not shy away from killing, either; all of the ''Dirty Harry'' films feature Callahan killing criminals. He justifies such conduct by saying that it "gets results" in cutting down crime. This rationale rarely impresses his superiors, who have threatened Callahan with suspension and firing many times.

Contents

Character

Criminals Killed

Partners

Trivia

Parodies

See also

Character

In ''Dirty Harry'', Callahan also explains the origins of his nickname: he gets stuck with "every dirty job that comes along."
Callahan's signature weapon is a Smith & Wesson Model 29 .44 Magnum revolver, which he uses in all of the films. The gun's prominence in the films instantly popularized it. Additionally, in ''Sudden Impact'', Callahan used a .44 Auto Mag. Contrary to popular belief, it was not an AMT firearm, but one built specifically for that film. [1]
Other weapons Callahan uses initially in the final climax of other films include a Bomb, a LAW rocket and a harpoon gun.
Callahan has little use for many of the official rules of police conduct, dismissing them as "red tape" and loathes the court system that lets the criminals get away with their crimes. For Callahan, everything is black and white: there are good guys and there are bad guys, and the bad guys must be punished. This creates a conflict between Callahan and the court systems, which frequently causes a vicious cycle: he catches bad guys, the courts release them because he did not comply with procedure, he must catch them again.
Callahan adheres absolutely to his own code of ethics. He is completely incorruptible, is devoted to protecting and avenging the victims of violent crime, and, when pursuing criminals, tries to minimize the danger for innocent bystanders as much as possible. Even so, his fight against criminals is ferocious and merciless, and he shows no hesitation or remorse at killing them.
What is more, he's ready to oppose his own brethren when necessary. For example, in ''Magnum Force'' he resolves to bring to justice a renegade cabal of police officers who act as a self-appointed death squad. It might be noted, however, that at first Callahan does not appear to disapprove of the renegades' methods. When a superior shows him a morgue full of dead bodies, tells him the crimes the victims committed and the fact that someone is "putting the courts out of business", Callahan answers: "So far you've said nothing wrong". He only appears to go against them when his friend Charlie McCoy is killed by one of them who was anxious not to have a witness to his crimes.
There is little revealed about Callahan's personal background except in the first film, in which the detective mentions he was once married but that his wife was killed by a drunk driver, she briefly appears in a sequel only within an old photograph that Harry usually turns it around. With regards to his origin, the doctor tending to him after the first film's bank robbery intimates that "us Potrero Hill boys gotta stick together." Whether that is indicative of a current residence or childhood home is not specified. Though the following sequel afterwards, it's revealed that Harry does live within the city in a small studio apartment, possibly near Chinatown or Nob Hill. It is also revealed in "Magnum Force" that Harry served in the military, when his friend Carlie McCoy said that "they should have put in their 20 in the Marines", meaning that instead of becoming cops, they should have stayed in the Marine Corps and retired at 20 years, indicating that they served together.
Harry Callahan was voted the 17th greatest movie hero ever in AFI's AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains list. [2]
Callahan is considered a film icon, so much so that his nickname, "Dirty Harry," has entered the lexicon as slang for ruthless police officers. In particular, he is well-known for one of the most quoted (and parodied) speeches in film history, from ''Dirty Harry'':
This monologue has been referenced countless times in pop culture.
Another iconic Dirty Harry line came from ''Sudden Impact'', when Callahan stood down a robber holding an innocent woman hostage: as if to suggest that killing a bad guy was exactly what he needed to feel better. This quote ranked #6 on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes. The "Do I feel lucky?" quote came in at #51.

Criminals Killed

#Bank Robber Driver
#Bank Robber
#Scorpio
#Airplane Hijacker #1
#Airplane Hijacker #2
#Store Crook with shotgun
#Store Crook
#Palancio hitman
#Palancio hitman (Chuck)
#Palancio's man/driver
#Officer Mike Grimes
#Officer Red Astrachan
#Lt. Neil Briggs
#Liquor Store Punk Leader
#Liquor Store Punk
#Tex
#Karl
#Bobby Maxwell
#Young Guy #1
#Young Guy #2
#Young Guy #3
#Threlkis
#Threlkis hitman #1
#Threlkis hitman #2
#Threlkis hitman #3
#Hawkins
#Hawkins' driver
#Hawkins' crony
#Threlkis hitman #4
#Carl
#Eddie
#Mick
#Janero hitman #1
#Janero hitman #2
#Janero hitman #3
#Janero hitman #4
#Restaurant Robber #1
#Restaurant Robber #2
#Restaurant Robber #3
#Restaurant Robber #4
#Janero hitman #5
#Janero hitman #6
#Harlan Rook
'Note': In ''Magnum Force'', Harry does not kill both Palancio nor Officer John Davis, because both men apparently killed themselves by accident due to Callahan's interference. This may also apply to Threlkis who was indeed intimidated by Callahan before he had a heart attack. Harry later explains to his superiors that he was unaware Threlkis would simply expire. It's also believed that in a movie scene ''The Enforcer'', when Harry foils a robbery he initially didn't kill the last guy who was attempting to flee by running up the stairs, as Harry mainly just shot him in the testicles as seen.

Partners

#Tom Fanducci
#Fred Dietzik
#Frank DiGiorgio
#Chico Gonzalez
#Early Smith
#Kate Moore
#Al Quan
In the first and last films, ''Dirty Harry'' and ''The Dead Pool'', Callahan states that almost all of his partners either end up dead or in the hospital. This is in fact true, as Al Quan and Chico Gonzalez are the only of Harry's partners to end up in the hospital while everyone else is killed. Fred Dietzik is also as mentioned as being in the hospital with a bullet wound. DeGorgio is the only of Harry's partners to not have been killed as a direct nor indirect result of his partnership.
Dietzik and Fanducci are the only of Harry's partners never to appear on screen other than just be mentioned by him in the first film.

Trivia

★ Callahan's SFPD badge number, as briefly seen near the end of the first film, is 2211.

★ In a December 2006 interview Clint Eastwood describes Callahan as living a "retired" life, and often jokes that if he were to reprise the character, Dirty Harry would be flyfishing with the .44 Magnum by now. On ''Late Show with David Letterman'', he also joked that his character would have to chase the crooks with a walker.

★ In ''Magnum Force'', Harry's last name Callahan is misspelled as "Calahan".

Parodies

★ In the movie '', the main character Borat Sagdiev (Sacha Baron Cohen) goes to a gun store to get protection from Jews. He asks the store manager what is the best gun to defend against Jews, and the manager ironically gives him a Desert Eagle pistol, which is an Israeli made handgun. Borat goes on to say, "I feel like movie star Dirty Harold. Come on, make my day, Jew."

★ The television character of "McGarnagle" on ''The Simpsons'' is an obvious parody of Harry Callahan. McGarnagle has little concern for the safety of others, refuses orders from his own chief, and even sounds like Harry. One of the best examples of this is when he is informed of a young boy being killed violently, to which he simply replied "Hey, I'm trying to eat lunch here!"

★ The character "McBain," portrayed by the also fictional "Rainier Wolfcastle," is another "Simpsons" parody of Dirty Harry. After being ordered by his Lieutenant to do things "by the book," McBain shoots a large hole through the book and deadpans, "Bye, book."

★ In ''Recess,'' the character Mr. E had the characteristics and physical appearance of Dirty Harry in the episode "The Subtitute."

★ One of Callahan's memorable quotes from the film ''Dirty Harry'' is parodied in ''The Naked Gun.''

★ Callahan's "Do you feel lucky" quote from the film ''Dirty Harry'' is parodied in ''The Mask.''

★ The entire "most powerful handgun in the world" speech is parodied in ''Guards! Guards!'' by Terry Pratchett, when Captain Samuel Vimes threatens a rioting mob with a swamp dragon. In addition, the motto of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch is dog Latin for "Make my day, punk." In ''The Art of Discworld,'' Pratchett notes that Paul Kidby draws Vimes to resemble Clint Eastwood.

★ In the video game World of Warcraft, one of the NPCs in Shatrath City is named Dirty Larry.

★ The Warhammer novel ''Beasts In Velvet'' by Jack Yeovil (Kim Newman) stars "Filthy" Harald Kleindeinst, a former captain in the Altdorf Dock Watch who is forced into retirement for killing the "wrong" man (i.e., the Prince's murderous son).

★ Callahan is aknowledged by comics writer John Wagner as the inspiration for the character of Judge Dredd.

★ In the film ''Raw Justice,'' made in 1994, David Keith plays Mace, another maverick, hard-nosed cop who is always at odds with his colleagues and the system; however, he is made to look a bit ridiculous, such as in scenes where he is dressed in drag. A man he is supposed to protect and who has spent most of the film as a fearful coward (Robert Hays) turns out to be a skilled martial artist; and it is he and not Mace who gets the girl Pamela Anderson.

★ In 2005, World Wrestling Entertainment produced a series of parody film trailers for the event Wrestlemania 21 whose theme was "WrestleMania goes Hollywood". In the one based on Dirty Harry, pro wrestler The Undertaker portrayed Callahan, doing a recreation of his famous "Do I Feel Lucky" speech.

See also

★ Dirty Harry (film series)

★ The Rookie (1990 film)