History Film / DirtyHarry

-->"''I was telling the story of a hard-nosed cop and a dangerous killer. What my liberal friends did not grasp was that the cop is [[NotSoDifferent almost as evil]], in his way, as the sniper.''"

* FamousLastWords: "Drop the gun, creep! I'll blow his brains out! Hehehehe.... Drop the fucking gun!" Scorpio

* HaveAGayOldTime: Harry wants to go after the Scorpio killer after he hijacks a bus full of children. The mayor reminds Harry that he gave his word that the killer wouldn't be "molested" in any way. Now of course, in this context he means "molest" in the context of "to bother", but...

* ExaltedTorturer: Possibly the TropeMaker for film depictions in the U.S., and something of an UnbuiltTrope, at that. He gets an admission of guilt out of Scorpio by pressing a foot on his injured leg, but RealityEnsues and Harry is informed by his superiors that [[DeconstructedTrope the confession can't be used in court because he obtained it through illegal interrogation means]].

* RealityEnsues: Harry is a CowboyCop who happens to be a total arsehole with almost no friends; he's legendary but pretty much a BrokenAce. One of the film's most famous scenes involves him tracking down Scorpio and belting the shit out of him. Not only is Harry promptly the subject of justifiable rage by his captain, but Scorpio expresses a desire to sue.

* WouldHitAGirl: Scorpio rapes [[spoiler:and kills]] a teenage girl and assaults children -- boys and girls alike -- on the school bus. He also holds a gun to the female bus driver's head and throws her out of the driver's seat (after Callahan tracks down the bus and jumps on its roof from a railroad bridge).

* ISurrenderSuckers: Subverted. The bank robber Harry confronts at the start pretends to surrender, but the reason he doesn't follow through with it is because he was curious to know if Harry's gun really did have one bullet left. Much to his bemusement, it didn't.

* {{BFG}}: This film sees Harry using a Winchester Model 70, chambered in the massive .458 Winchester Magnum cartridge to try and kill Scorpio in a rooftop shootout. Because of its parabolic trajectory, it's a very poor choice for countersniper duties, but fits his personality perfectly.

''Dirty Harry'', the first film, is credited with inspiring the tone and themes of modern cop films. Creator/ClintEastwood portrays the iconic blunt, cynical, "the buck stops here" kind of law enforcer constantly at odds with his incompetent, [[ByTheBookCop strictly-by-the-book]] bosses. The hero's relentless pursuit of justice kicks, stomps on, and blasts gaping holes through constitutionally protected rights.

* HonorBeforeReason: The bank robber in the beginning of the film asking Callahan to confirm whether or not he fired 6 or only five shots because "He gots to know."

-->'''Scorpio:''' [crying with reason] ''You tried to kill me.''\\

* InsigniaRipOffRitual: At the end of the movie, after finally stopping the Scorpio killer and finding that the only way it was possible was in direct opposition of the system he worked for, Harry throws his badge into a body of water in disgust.
* InternalAffairs: The D.A takes this role, complete with indignant "what about the rights of that little girl?" demand from Harry. In point of fact, Harry's is probably the trend-setter here.
* InterruptedSuicide: Harry Callahan disgusts a jumper by saying how much blood and guts are going to be on the floor and how he doesn't want to go down with him, eventually Harry tricks him onto a fire truck.

* KnightInSourArmor: Harry is very gruff and aloof, despite being a good guy.
* MeaningfulEcho: Early in the film Harry gives his "Do you feel lucky, punk?" speech in a jokey manner to an inept bank robber. In the film's climax, Harry gives the exact same speech to Scorpio, this time his delivery is full of venom and dead serious.

** To anyone who knows anything about astrology, Scorpio is this. Scorpios tend to be on the dark and ruthless side, making a serial killer named Scorpio very appropriate.(Charles Manson was a Scorpio)

-->'''De Giorgio:''' Ah that's one thing about our Harry. Doesn't play any favorites! [[HatesEveryoneEqually Harry hates everybody.]] Limeys, Micks, Hebes, Fat Dagos, Niggers, [[BoomerangBigot Honkies]], Chinks, you name it.\\

* NoNameGiven: We never learn Scorpio's real name (though Website/{{IMDb}} lists it as "Charles Davis").
* NoWarrantNoProblem: Under pressure to rescue a girl BuriedAlive, Harry breaks into the home of serial killer Scorpio on a tip and tortures a confession and the hostage's location out of him. The confession and the murder weapon he collects are [[OffOnATechnicality inadmissible]], see below, Scorpio walks, and on top of it all, [[spoiler: he is too late to save her]].

* OneSteveLimit: Broken, with Lt. Briggs (''Magnum Force'') and Captain Briggs (''Sudden Impact'') being entirely different characters played by very different actors.

* PragmaticHero: Harry is perfectly willing to defy his superiors to keep the people of San Francisco safe. In the end, he [[spoiler:abandons the department and hunts down Scorpio on his own time, then tosses his badge away and walks off.]]

* DeadPartner: Pretty much all of Callahan's partners end up dead or in the hospital, as he notes.
* DeathOfAChild: Two youngsters die throughout the film - a boy of unconfirmed age, and a fourteen-year-old girl. A bus full of children even younger are put in danger by Scorpio [[spoiler: but they survive]].

* DoubleEntendre: When Scorpio meets Dirty Harry for the first time, he comments on how big Harry's gun was.

-->'''De Georgio:''' Ah, that's one thing about our Harry, doesn't play any favorites! Harry hates everybody: Limeys, Micks, Hebes, Fat Dagos, Niggers, Honkies, Chinks, you name it.\\

'''Harry Callahan:''' Especially Spics.

* ExaltedTorturer: Possibly the TropeMaker for film depictions in the US, and something of an UnbuiltTrope, at that. He gets an admission of guilt out of the Scorpio Killer by stomping on his injured leg, but RealityEnsues and Harry is informed by his superiors that [[DeconstructedTrope the confession can't be used in court because he obtained it through illegal interrogation means]].

* FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon: Andrew Robinson was chosen because he had a "face like a choir boy." Scorpio is a murdering psychopath.

* GoryDiscretionShot: The [[spoiler:10-year-old's injuries are not shown,]] though Harry is noticeably [[{{Squick}} Squicked]] about it, and Harry's partner Chico turns away disgusted.

* GrievousBottleyHarm: Scorpio hits a liquor store owner across the head with a bottle and takes his gun.

* HollywoodHealing: Averted. After being stabbed and later shot in the leg by Harry, Scorpio has a limp for the rest of the movie.

* PoliceAreUseless: The San Francisco Police are seen as being extremely bureaucratic to a point where it interferes with justice and causes murderers like Scorpio to get away with their actions. Even the title character has to break the rules in order to get anything done, to the point where at the end he throws away his badge as a symbol of his disgust with the system.
** The novelisation raises the point that kidnapping is a federal crime and the Mayor could have asked for FBI assistance, but he panicked and passed that panic right down the police bureaucracy.

* BallisticDiscount: Variant. At a liquor store, Scorpio gets the clerk to show him the gun he keeps for protection. He is then able to surprise the clerk and take the weapon.

* {{BFG}}: This film sees Harry using a Winchester Model 70, chambered in the massive .458 Winchester Magnum cartridge to try and kill Scorpio in a rooftop shootout. Because of its parabolic trajectory, it's a very poor choice for countersniper duties, but fits his personality perfectly.

* FreudianExcuse: Invoked: the chief of police asserts that it is likely Scorpio will return to the scene of the crime because of the compulsive behaviour criminals tend to exhibit, muttering that it must be to "feed their superego or something". Averted insofar as no clues are given as to Scorpio's backstory, motivations or even his name.

* HollywoodSilencer: Scorpio attaches a Hiram Maxim 1900's style suppressor to his rifle, but it both doesn't make a "fwip" noise, and is attached with screws Scorpio is seen screwing in at the beginning, thus making this an aversion, though a suppressor that size might burst from the pressures of a .30-'06.

* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Scorpio says he would consider it a pleasure to "kill a Catholic priest or a nigger." [[spoiler:He follows through on the latter (then the former later on)]]. Needless to say, [[spoiler:the black guy Scorpio pays to beat him up so he can frame Callahan for it]] sure seems to enjoy the job. He kicks Scorpio again after throwing him out the door, saying "[[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments this one's on the house!]]"

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure:

** The Judge brought in to analyze Harry's actions teaches at the University of California at Berkeley, the surest way in that era of painting someone as an over-permissive liberal. Pauline Kael, a former native of San Francisco, noted how unlikely this would be in real-life and suspected the filmmakers included this specifically to tweak conservative viewers.

* TheDogShotFirst: Harry only fired five shots in the theatrical version, but a sixth shot was added in the DVD. Originally, he fires five shots in single action, cocks the hammer to confront the surviving bank robber, lowers the hammer when the robber backs down, then cocks the hammer (rotating the cylinder to a previously fired chamber) and pulls the trigger - clicking the hammer on a spent case - when the robber says "I gots to know". By adding another shot, the confrontation was turned into a bluff.

** Later, he kidnaps, brutally rapes and [[BuriedAlive buries alive]] a young teen-aged girl. In the later case, he demands a huge ransom for her safe return ... but then, just for the fun of it, he refuses to reveal his whereabouts until Callahan tortures him during questioning. (Even at that, [[spoiler:the girl is found dead inside her grave]].)

%% * BondOneLiner

%% * ClintSquint

%% * CoolShades: Harry's.

%% * CriminalMindGames: Scorpio.
%% * DaChief: Lt. Bressler

%%* KnightInSourArmor

%%* PragmaticHero

* SissyVillain: The Scorpio Killer. The contrast is made more blatant by the fact that Harry Callahan is played by quintessential "man's man" Creator/ClintEastwood.

* WouldHurtAChild: A major part of the criminal activities of one Charles Davis, aka the "Scorpio Killer," who freely and remorselessly romps about San Francisco.

%%* PyrrhicVictory
* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Harry responds to the mayor's policies on police brutality with the fact that he "shoots the bastard" when it comes to intent to rape.

* InfantImmortality: Averted. "He was only ten years old."

* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Scorpio says he would consider it a pleasure to "kill a Catholic priest or a nigger." [[spoiler:He follows through on the latter (then the former later on)]]. Needless to say, [[spoiler:the black guy Scorpio pays to beat him up so he can frame Callahan for it]] sure seems to enjoy the job. He kicks Scorpio again after throwing him out the door, saying "[[CrowningMomentOfFunny this one's on the house!]]"

** Additionally, Scorpio is stated to be living in Kezar Stadium under the consent of the grounds-keeper. However, the grounds-keeper, in all likelihood, does not have the legal standing to grant that kind of permission, making Scorpio a squatter and thus not protected by the Fourth Amendment.

* IKEAWeaponry: Scorpio's rifle, which he keeps dissembled in a briefcase until he's about to make a shot.

** To anyone who knows anything about astrology, Scorpio is this. Scorpio's tend to be on the dark and ruthless side, making a serial killer named Scorpio very appropriate.(Charles Manson was a Scorpio)

* OutsideRide: Harry jumps from an overpass onto the roof of a schoolbus taken hostage by the Scorpio Killer.

* DramaticAmmoDepletion: The famous "do you feel lucky?" scene has Callahan telling the punk in front of him that, at that moment, the main thought going through his head was "did he fire six shots or only five" from his [[HandCannon.44 Magnum]] [[RevolversAreJustBetter revolver]], and sarcastically telling him that he'd lost track himself in all the excitement. [[spoiler:He had, in fact, fired all six.]] At the end of the film, he repeats the speech to the Scorpio Killer, [[spoiler: who isn't so lucky]].