The Enforcer (1976) Warner Bros./Action RT: 96 minutes Rated R (language, strong violence, nudity, sexual content) Director: James Fargo Screenplay: Stirling Silliphant and Dean Riesner Music: Jerry Fielding Cinematography: Charles W. Short Release date: December 22, 1976 (US) Cast: Clint Eastwood, Tyne Daly, Harry Guardino, Bradford Dillman, John Mitchum, DeVeren Bookwalter, John Crawford, Samantha Doane, Robert Hoy, Jocelyn Jones, M.G. Kelly, Nick Pellegrino, Albert Popwell, Rudy Ramos, Bill Ackridge, Bill Jelliffe, Tim Burrus. Box Office: $46.2 million (US)
Rating: ***
By now, the Dirty Harry movies have become just pure entertainment, cop movies that focus more on action than moral issues regarding law enforcement and police brutality. The Enforcer, the third movie in the Dirty Harry series, is interesting partly because it’s so hopelessly dated and partly because it forces Harry (Eastwood) to confront his own misogynistic attitudes when he gets a female partner, newly promoted Kate Moore played by Tyne Daly (Cagney & Lacey). Together, they’re out to stop a militant group from doing something bad.
The group in question is the People’s Revolutionary Strike Force led by a psycho named Bobby Maxwell (Bookwalter). Their only objective is to get rich. They plan to do this by stealing a cache of weapons from a warehouse and setting off bombs around San Francisco unless the mayor (Crawford, The Boogens) agrees to pay them millions of dollars. During the course of the robbery, Harry’s friend and former partner Frank DiGiorgio (Mitchum, High Plains Drifter) is killed by Maxwell.
After handling a liquor store robbery in his usual inimitable way, Harry is transferred to Personnel by Capt. McKay (Dillman, Piranha), the latest CO that strongly disapproves of the Inspector’s methods. In his short tenure in his new position, he helps administer final interviews to uniformed cops bucking for a promotion. One of them is Moore, a file clerk with absolutely no field experience. Harry tries to intimidate, but she proves to be his match by not getting rattled. From this brief encounter, it’s safe to assume she will be partnered with him when he’s transferred back to Homicide to track down the terrorists.
Harry’s subsequent investigation is constantly hampered by McKay and the mayor who want to use it as a platform for their affirmative action program. In doing so, they order a raid on a black militant group whose leader “Big Ed” Mustapha (series regular Popwell) was going to help Harry. An argument at a press conference leads to Harry’s suspension after he drops one of his classic lines. While handing over his badge, he says “Here’s a seven-point suppository, Captain.” When McKay asks for clarification, he replies, “I said STICK IT IN YOUR ASS!” This is the Dirty Harry we all know and love. ANYWAY, Harry is compelled to disobey orders and jump back into action after the terrorists kidnap the mayor and demand $5 million for his release.
Here’s the bottom line. The Enforcer is a damn good action flick. It’s always fun to see Dirty Harry do his thing. It’s interesting to watch as he gradually overcomes his misogyny and come to respect his partner. In the role, Daly does fine work. I love how she shows her non-dependence on her male partner by saying “don’t concern yourself” every time he suggests she stay out of the action. She’s a tough little lady, this one. On the downside, the main villain is a generic mental case under the influence of somebody with a vague agenda, one perverted by greed and the love of money. Okay, whatever. I look at it this way; they’re violent bad guys (and girls) about to face retribution from an avenger with a badge and a bad temper. That’s what we came to see.
There’s a lot of action in The Enforcer. The chase through San Francisco is pretty exciting, especially with Moore unknowingly carrying a bomb with her in a briefcase. It’s augmented by Jerry Fielding’s jazzy score. The scene where Harry stops the liquor store by driving a car through the front window and shooting the crooks is classic Dirty Harry. The finale on Alcatraz Island with our two heroes shooting it out with the militants is great. It also brings up something interesting that has to do with what I said earlier about The Enforcer being dated. Will younger viewers understand the idea of a People’s Army, the idea of radicals that use violent methods to push their own political agenda? Unless they studied it in one of their history classes, it’s doubtful.
There’s a degree of predictability to The Enforcer, but movies like this tend to be formulaic anyway. It’s a given. It contains the usual scenes like a demonstration of a weapon (an M72 LAW rocket) that you know will make an appearance in the climax. We also get the obligatory scene of the CO screaming at Harry about his costly methods. Every time he makes an arrest, it costs the city a lot of money in addition to all the negative publicity surrounding his methods which typically involve violating suspects’ rights. That one man can cause so much property damage is incredible. That’s our Harry though; we wouldn’t have it any other way.
The most important thing about The Enforcer, I suppose, it that it’s entertaining. It may not be the best of the bunch, but it moves fast thanks to tight direction by James Fargo (Every Which Way but Loose). I’m partial to it because it’s the first Dirty Harry I saw (on network TV in ’80). It does exactly what a Dirty Harry movie is supposed to do and I’m not going to fault it for that.
