I decided that this week I would watch all the Dirty Harry movies from the box set – a maternal birthday present.  Yesterday it was the original Dirty Harry and tonight it was Magnum Force and The Enforcer. Later in the week it will be Sudden Impact and The Dead Pool and then I’ll round it all off with as many of the extras as I can manage.

Should be interesting because I think I have only seen the last two once, wheras I have seen the first three so many times all the set pieces are so familiar I can join in. I wonder if it will be a case of diminishing returns for the rest; are the first three so memorable just because I have seen them many times or because they do actually contain all the most memorable Dirty Harry Moments?

The first film is still a favourite for me. I don’t so much see it as the start of the Dirty Harry movies but as the culmination of the Don Siegel/Clint Eastwood partnership (Escape From Alcatraz doesn’t really count for me) which has to be one of the great creative partnerships. All the best Siegel films have Clint in them and all the best Clint Eastwood films were directed by Don Siegel.

One thing modern films could learn from these films is to stick to two or three pages of credits at the end. All the important non-acting credits pop up during the opening sequence and the end credits are mostly the cast and pop up while people are actually still watching. Modern films have an endless sequence of credits for catering, accountants, assistants to the producers’ accountants’ caterers, wig-makers and all sorts. It isn’t necessary is it?

I am still tickled by Harry’s line in The Enforcer when he is told that he is being transferred to Personnel: “Personnel? That’s for assholes.” Just the warm memory of that line always gets me through meetings with HR at work.