Dirty Harry novels of the four first "Dirty Harry" films as tie-ins. Author and screenwriter Phillip Rock wrote the novelization of "Dirty Harry" in 1971, based on an early draft of the script. Mel Valley wrote the sequel, "Magnum Force", in 1973. Wesley Morgan novelized "The Enforcer" in 1976. The "Sudden Impact" novelization was written by Joseph Stinson, one of the screenwriters. Stinson, who had rewritten the originally independent script as a "Dirty Harry" vehicle for Eastwood, adapted the novel in 1983. Following "The Enforcer", Eastwood announced that he would not make any further "Dirty Harry" films (he eventually returned to the role
Clint Eastwood in the 1970s praised his performance as Dirty Harry, describing him as "giving his best performance so far, tense, tough, full of implicit identification with his character", the film was widely criticized because of Eastwood's portrayal of the ruthless cop. Feminists in particular were outraged by the film, and at the 1971 Oscar telecast, protested outside holding up banners which read messages such as "Dirty Harry is a Rotten Pig". Many critics expressed concern with what they saw as bigotry, with "Newsweek" describing the film as "a right-wing fantasy", "Variety" as "a specious, phony glorification of the police and police brutality with a