Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • 209

MOVIES 5- 'Harry' thrills with message Mii I lil Mill II II I WMInililMllllMIII IlllMBllMIIHii llllwll ill III it- i i I -I a a I 'la J- I rj. lv I gt i 'I i v. i I THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST is a "Comic Insanity" Oscar Wilde's "most diverting play This amiable piece of nonsense, which contains some of Wilde's most trenchant aphorisms aa well a comic insanity crisply and stylishly performed by the Goodman Sydney J. Harris, Daily News "Audience Pleaser" "Certainly it will be an audience pleaser Brenda Forbes is in magnificent fettle Russell Nype matches his poise and polish displayed in last season's hit, 'Lady Audley's Glenna Syse, Sun-Times free hand in their interrogations. Harry Callahan and the film argue that the effect of the Supreme Court rulings in the Escobedo and Miranda cases is to handcuff the police instead of the criminals.

It's almost like you're making the police the guilty ones, the argument goe3. The cops are out in the street risking their necks to protect society from gun-toting lunatics, and you expect them to remember some spiel about a person having the right to remain silent. At no point in "Dirty Harry" is the opposing view aired. The Escobedo and Miranda rules were not pro-mdgated because the War-ran Court wanted to trip up policemen. The court was attempting to protect the Fifth and Sixth Amendment free Clint Eastwood as Dirty Harry.

ble," and Warner Bros, went fishing for a replacement. Fortunately, they landed Eastwood, who said he would "First Rate" a first-rate production which will brighten the holiday season." Peter WMAQ-TV "Gorgeous" "Designer Alicia Flnkel's gowns for the ladles were gorgeous her settings Invited admiration TRIBUNE MINIREVIEW Compelling and dangerous "DIRTY HARRY" Produced jnd directed by Don Siefel; Kreenpliir by Harry JuliM Fink, R. M. Fink, and 0m Riener; aMtoiraoked kr Bruca Svrteet, music by Lalo Sdiitrin, art by Oala Hennesr, a Vamr Br. reieatt at tna Loop Thaattr.

Rated R. THE CAST Harry Callaliaa Clint Eastwoad Lt. Breiiier Harry Gmm.ne CHico Ri Santani Scorpia Andy Robmsop Ponce Ch'Sf Lardi Tna Mayor i Vtmm By GENE SISKEL A YOUNG woman swims lazily in the pool atop her San Francisco apartment building. On another rooftop, a long-haired young man places the crosshairs of his high-powered rifle on the woman's image. A bullet tears into the woman's shoulder and she dies floating face down in a pool now colored with her blood.

The next day the Saa Francisco Police Department receives a note from the sniper who says he will kill one person each day until he is paid $100,000 in cash. The letter is signed "Scorpio." The police department and the mayor's office turn to Detective Harry Callahan Clint Eastwood! to catc.1 the sniper. Thus "Dirty Harry" begins as a straight, albeit compelling, police thriller. However, after one hour of perhaps a dozen gripping action scenes, Dirty Harry" takes a right-wing turn after a false ending and becomes the most controversial motion picture of the year. There's some dispute as to why Callahan is known a3 "Dirty Harry." Some say it's because he's the meanest cop on the force he has a perverse habit of trying to goad the people he arrests into drawing against him.

Others say it's because he always gets the dirtiest assignments like catching Scorpio. Harry and Scorpio are well-matched: Both are clever and savage killers. They play out their duel mostly at night in the parks, alleys, football stands, strip joints, and rooftops' of San Francisco. Comparisons with "The French Connection" will be made. "Dirty Harry" ha3 Roger Dettmer, Chicago Today "Farcical" "Douglas Seale, who directed the comical 'Lady Audley's Secret' has applied the same fat, fair, farcical touch to this classic William Leonard, Tribune perbly made ones like "Dirty Harry" can formulate and lead public opinion.

On that Performances resume Dee. 28 thru Jan. 1 6 basis, the message of "Dirty my opinion, is Harry," in dangerous. GOODMAN THEATRE 200 S. Columbus, Chicago 60603 236-2337 TICKETS AT BOX OFFICE OR BY MAIL make the picture only witn his close friend, famed action director Donald Siegel "Riot in Cell Block 11," "The Line Up," "Baby Face Siegel brought in his favorite screenwriter, Dean Riesner "Coogan's Bluff," "Play Misty For who rewrote the Finks' script.

The result is "Dirty Harry," one of the great police thrillers of motion picture history. "Dirty Harry" "is the fourth film in as many years to star Clint Eastwood and to be directed by Donald Siegel. Their other projects were 'Coogan's Bluff," "Two Mules for Sister Sara," and "The Beguilled." Together they are producing some of the best American movies. Someone has been left out. Andy Robinson as Scorpio delivers a performance of award winning calibre.

"Dirty Harry-" is Robinson's first film he has appeared in a number of off-Broadway plays and he is one frightening fellow. He seems comfortable on the screen only when he is going berserk. doms of both the guilty and the innocent. "Dirty Harry" could have told both sides without dam-aging its impact. After watching Callahan's superhuman effort to catch Scorpio go for naught, even the most doctrinaire civil libertarian would mutter under his breath.

And while we are on the subject, "Dirty Harry" has more than just one right-wing touch. The character of Scorpio Andy Robinson, modeled after the still at-large San Francisco killer who calls himself "Zodiac," bears more than a passing resemblance to the stereotypical well-heeled, young leftist. Scorpio's hair is fashionably long; his belt buckle looks like a peace sign, and he's obviously into astrology. Goddamn kids. Well, you silent majority are thinking, It's only a movie.

But movies especially su- "win 'if 'f "DIRTY HARRY" has a checkered film history. You may recall that this was the film project Frank Sinatra quit before announcing his retirement. Originally, Universal was interested in the Harry Julian Fink script and asked Clint Eastwood if he would do it. Eastwood said yes, but Universal was outbid for the property by Warner Bros, who paid Fink and his wife $200,000. The project was set to go with Sinatra it would have been a very different film-but he developed "wrist trou arlingtonark theatre JAN.

13 THRU FEB. 6 SB less gritty realism than "The French Connection" the A trend reversed RESERVATIONS. PHONE 392-6800 Tlcke Prices: Tues. thru 6:00 P.M., $4.50, 3.95. 8:30 P.M., $5.50, 4.95.

Wed. Matinee: 2:00 P.M., $4.25, 3.75. 7 P.M. $5.50, 4.95 nd 10:30 P.M., $5.95, 5.50. 7 P.M., $5.50, 4.95.

ii i a i J. )l iXVi i i I rn lfiWv I ot krrno I cp dfity night photography looks too stage but it has more thrills, fewer plot holes, a more consistent point-of-view, and something very important to say. Midway thru the film, Harry catches Scorpio. However, in his maniacal anger to destroy Scorpio, Harry does not inform him of his right to counsel and silence. Scorpio is set free, and Harry curses the Supreme Court decisions Escobedo and Miranda) that require an interrogating officer to inform a suspect of his rights.

Because Scorpio has been presented to us only as a demented murderer we never get a clue as to the source of his homocidal tendencies his freedom, presumably to kill again, is totally abhorrent. A movie has never made a more persuasive argument for letting the police have a KlrTddlGPohihcPboj IjOA I PERFECT FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT FROM kl I temporary movie is to show a police officer getting the short end of his night stick. Crashes involving police cars are another laugh-getter. In the '30s and '40s, the private detective more than the man on the beat was a screen hero. But the police were rarely criticized.

The Production Code wouldn't allow it. The '50s brought realism to the American film, and in "Private Hell 36" 1954 Howard Duff and Steve Cochran play two detectives who recover stolen money and try to keep it. "Private Hell 36" was directed by Donald Siegel. Bigoted southern sheriffs "In the Heat of the Night," "The Liberation of L. B.

Jones," "Brother John" and hippie head-hunting patrolmen "The Strawberry Statement," "Getting Straight" populated the films of the late '60s. "Dirty Harry" is a swing back In the other direction, and partly because of that it is going to make a great deal of money. Gene Siskel DONALD SIEGEL says he isn't a right winger, but he knows his film "Dirty Harry" is going to be embraced by conservatives. "Actually, I'm a registered Democrat," he said in a telephone interview. "Look, every day I get script ideas which portray the police as sadists, pigs, and perverts.

Well, only a few police are like that. "I tried to shoot this film as realistically as I could. In fact, I modeled the Callahan character after George Dyer, a friend of mine who is the lieutenant in charge of the burglary unit of the San Francisco Police Department. "I don't believe 'Dirty Harry says the ponce should have complete leeway in their Interrogations. I just think their job has been made extremely difficult." Siegel knows that with "Dirty Harry" he Is riding a rising wave of public sentiment.

It is true, too, that the police have been, held up to enormous scorn in recent motion pictures. The easiest way to get a laugh in a con SPECIAL MONDAY SHOW DEC. 27 90fJ(J Jl GALA NEW YEARS EVE SHOWS nrutT ADiiLitc nv PlliiNt iSA.7171 NIGHTLY BUT MOM TWO SHOWS SAT. LUS SUM MAT BEST GROUP-RATE VALUE TOWM DISCOUNT ON CMARTERE 0 BUSES FREE PARKING Wr ww.t. r-.

muitir mn ITtmtPNFRF Dr. Van Dellen tlk plain talk about your good health -dally In the Tribun. Arts Fun 5 Sunday, December 26, 1971.