Criminals have learnt to show a special respect to Inspector Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood), a detective who gets results by bending the rule book. Ordered to track down serial killer Scorpio (Andrew Robinson) with his partner Chico (Reni Santoni), his unconventional policing methods result in the killer being released on a technicality. Harry is taken off the case by Lt Bressler (Harry Guardino), but he refuses to give up.
Released in 1971, Dirty Harry confirmed Eastwood's tough-guy credentials, and the film's style, theme and techniques were widely imitated by later directors. The idea of a rogue cop throwing the rule book out of the window was a relatively new one and appealed to many cinemagoers whose own lives had been blighted by crime and thought they had been let down by lazy police work. The film gave Eastwood his first taste of directing when he took over from Don Siegel when he became ill.
Dirty Harry is a Film programme that first aired in 1971 and has been classified a 18 certificate.
