Dirty Harry as an Action Figure with Ten Points of Articulation

I find it interesting how Stable Diffusion not only captures Clint Eastwood's likeness as it might be rendered in plastic, but also its choice of setting and costume. Pretty amazing, really. And the poses! 
 

McQuestionable

John Sturges made some great movies, including The Great Escape, The Magnificent Seven, Bad Day at Black Rock, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, The Eagle Has Landed, and The Satan Bug, among others. But 1974's McQ, starring John Wayne as a Dirty Harry-esque rogue cop seeking revenge for the death of his partner, is as limp and by-the-numbers an affair as I've seen in quite some time. As police detective and then private eye McQ, Wayne does his best to embody the spirit of the times, which rightly or wrongly seemed to assume the United States was slipping into a maelstrom of urban crime and corruption that couldn't be stopped. In the end it turns out that practically everyone has betrayed McQ, a twist that could have been interesting but instead just seems tired and overly cynical.

Still, if you want to see how Dirty Harry might have turned out had John Wayne accepted the role instead of passing it on to Clint Eastwood, this is worth a watch for curiosity's sake. 

Cinema Crossover

Gaze of the Gun

I just watched Don Siegel's 1971 cop drama Dirty Harry for probably the sixth of seventh time. People have written a lot about this film's politics, its violence, the wave of vigilante films that were made in its bombastic, blood-streaked wake. I won't retread old ground, but I did notice something interesting for the first time today: Siegel doesn't use a lot of close-ups, but when he does, they're calculated to evoke rage and fear.

An early close-up comes through the cross-hairs of a sniper rifle as Scorpio claims his first victim, an innocent woman swimming in a rooftop pool. Later closeups focus on Dirty Harry's sneering, barely suppressed rage or the sweaty cowering of the criminals he captures. But by far the most powerful closeups are those zeroing in on Harry's .44 magnum. The gun looms like a spectre, filling the frame, the black bore a yawning mouth eager to spit death. It takes on the aspect of some technological monster, barely restrained by the hand of its master. The visual impact is shocking and scary, bringing the violence of the film right into your lap.

The film's right-wing politics may make liberals like me a little uncomfortable, but as art, choices like this made the film an enduring classic. I'm in awe of Don Siegel and his cinematographer Bruce Surtees. Their mastery of the art of film was on full display here.