A sadistic serial killer who calls himself "Scorpio" murders a young woman in a San Francisco swimming pool, using a high-powered .30-06 hunting rifle from the top of a building. Clint Eastwood finds a ransom message promising his next victims will be "a Catholic Priest or a black man." if the city does not pay $100,000. The chief of police and the mayor (John Vernon) assign the inspector to the case.
Callahan is assigned a rookie partner, Chico Gonzalez. The veteran officer notes that his partners always get injured or worse so he needs someone experienced, but has no choice. Scorpio kills a young black boy from another rooftop, and the police believes the killer will next pursue a Catholic priest. Callahan and Gonzalez wait for Scorpio near the Sts. Peter and Paul's church A shootout ensues, but Scorpio escapes, killing an officer.
Scorpio kidnaps, rapes, and buries alive a teenage girl hen demands twice his previous ransom before the girl's air runs out. The mayor decides to pay, and tells Callahan to deliver the money with no tricks, but the inspector wears a wire and brings a knife Scorpio sends Callahan to various payphones throughout the city to separate the inspector from any backup, but his partner follows him. The chase ends at the enormous cross at Mount Davidson. Scorpio brutally beats Callahan; Gonzalez arrives and saves his partner, but is wounded. Callahan stabs Scorpio in the leg, but the killer escapes without the money.
Gonzalez survives his wound, but decides to resign from the force.The doctor who treated Scorpio tells Callahan and his new partner, Frank DiGiorgio, that he has seen Scorpio in Kezar Stadium. Running out of time, the officers search the killer's room without a warrant and Callahan shoots Scorpio in his wounded leg. When Scorpio refuses to reveal the location of the girl and instead asks for a lawyer, Callahan tortures the killer by standing on the leg. Scorpio confesses and the police exhumes the dead girl.
Because Callahan broke into his home illegally and improperly seized his rifle, the DA decides that the killer cannot be charged. An outraged Callahan follows Scorpio on his own time. Scorpio pays a thug to give him a severe, but controlled beating, then claims that the inspector is responsible. Callahan is ordered to stop following Scorpio, despite his protest that he did not beat the killer. Meanwhile, Scorpio assaults a liquor store owner and steals his Walther P38 handgun.
Scorpio kidnaps a school bus load of children. He demands another ransom and a plane to leave the country. The mayor again insists on paying but Callahan instead pursues Scorpio without authorization, jumping onto the top of the bus from a railroad trestle. The killer flees into a nearby rock quarry, where he has a gun battle with Callahan. Scorpio retreats until he takes a young boy as a hostage.
The inspector pretends to be willing to surrender then wounds the killer. The boy runs away and Callahan stands over Scorpio, gun drawn. The inspector reprises his "Do you feel lucky, punk?" speech. Scorpio tries his luck and lunges for his Walther P38 9mm pistol. The inspector shoots him in the chest, propelling Scorpio into the water. As Callahan watches the dead body float on the surface, he takes out his inspector's badge, angrily hurls it into the water, and walks away.
I do like a good Clint Eastwood film and it did not take long to be my one of the films I go to when I really want to feel nostalgic. Dirty Harry is a film really about the anti hero Harry Callahan. Every dirty job he is assigned to. He even mentions it when asked in the film. You really feel for the guy. It's a film, if you are a true film person like me, notice that he goes through so much stuff that you wonder why he does not get any praise for catching the killer. In the rest of the Dirty Harry series you see the same result but with a different protagonist.
It's a film that still after all these years has not lost much of it's luster and is put on the top of everybody's Clint Eastwood films. I grew up realizing that sometimes movies just can be great with the very little acting involved. Over the years Clint made some great ones and this one here is a great place to start. I know you might think his westerns are wonderful, but this is what makes everything fall into place. His films are iconic and stand high in a great filmography. Enjoy a film when a good action film was more important then a good story driven film. I am sure you too will love this like I do. Enjoy!!
