JAMES FARGO

Bil’s rating (out of 5):  BBBB. 

USA, 1976.  Warner Bros., The Malpaso Company.  Story by Gail Morgan Hickman, S.W. Schurr, Screenplay by Stirling Silliphant, Dean Riesner, based on characters created by Harry Julian Fink, Rita M. Fink.  Cinematography by Charles W. Short.  Produced by Robert Daley.  Music by Jerry Fielding.  Production Design by Allen E. Smith.  Costume Design by Glenn Wright.  Film Editing by Joel Cox, Ferris Webster.

Clint Eastwood is back as Dirty Harry and he’s still a force of nature that the movies can barely contain. The streets of San Francisco are once again dirtied up by the presence of killers, this time a group of disillusioned Vietnam vets who cause mayhem on the streets, kidnap the mayor and demand ransom money or they’ll blow the whole city up. We know that the only solution is the grizzled cop with the giant gun, but first Harry has to get the boss off his case (his methods are still constantly being questioned), plus deal with the department’s latest attempt to get in good with the public: a female partner! Tyne Daly is terrific as the rookie desk jockey who decides to take advantage of the disingenuous offer of affirmative action and patrol the streets, but she’s green and Harry is pissed that he has to fight crime while always watching her back. Great personalities, more gorgeous shots of the city in the seventies and Eastwood’s brand of stardom combine for a great chapter in this wonderful series, plus the violence is still exciting after all these years and Daly, who runs through the streets of San Francisco while clutching her purse, gets a lot of great moments of action before the conclusion.