Dirty Harry (film series) Dirty Harry (film series) Dirty Harry is an American film series featuring San Francisco Police Department Homicide Division Inspector "Dirty" Harry Callahan who is notorious for being extremely violent and ruthless in his methods, and a danger for any partner assigned to him. Actor Clint Eastwood portrayed Callahan in all five of the series' films. "Dirty Harry" (1971) was directed by Don Siegel and starred Clint Eastwood as Harry Callahan. Harry tracks serial killer Scorpio (loosely based on the Zodiac killer). Eastwood's iconic portrayal of the blunt-speaking, unorthodox detective set the style for a number of his subsequent roles, and
Clint Eastwood in the 1970s crime. Filming for Dirty Harry began in April 1971 and involved some risky stunts, with much footage shot at night and filming the city of San Francisco aerially which the film series is renowned for. Dirty Harry is arguably Eastwood's most memorable character and the lines that Callahan utters when addressing a wounded bank robber are often cited amongst the most memorable in cinematic history (see box). The film has been cited with inventing the "loose-cannon cop genre" that is imitated to this day. Eastwood's tough, no-nonsense portrayal of Dirty Harry touched a cultural nerve with many who were fed