Was John Wayne seriously almost dirty Harry?
THE URBAN LEGEND OF THE FILM: John Wayne turned down the role of Dirty Harry in the 1971s dirty harry.
The movie world, much like comic books (and really all other media, not that I mention it) is a “monkey see, monkey do” affair, where a blockbuster movie can suddenly spawn a legion of imitators and this was certainly the case in the 1971s dirty harrywhich starred Clint Eastwood as “Dirty” Harry Callahan, a “loose cannon” cop back when “loose cannon” cops weren’t really a full-fledged movie genre.
The film, which is mostly about Callahan chasing down a serial killer, is still extremely well known for a scene early in the film where Callahan interrupts a bank robbery during his lunch break. He shoots one of the robbers, then points his gun at the other robber, bluffing him into surrendering with the iconic lines: “I know what you’re thinking: ‘Did he fire six shots or only five?’ Well, to tell you the truth, in all the excitement, I kind of lost track myself, but considering this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and it would blow your head off, you had to ask yourself: ‘Do I feel lucky?’ And you, punk?
It started a whole new genre of action movies featuring loose-cannon cops (four of the movies in that genre were Dirty Harry sequels alone!) But the movie had a surprisingly complicated pedigree and its complicated pedigree is what which made the question of who was offered the role over the years very complicated, too.
THE EARLY ORIGINS OF DIRTY HARRY
The finished film was directed by Don Siegel, who had directed Eastwood’s first major American role (Eastwood was known for being a TV star on Rawhide, a series about cattle drives, for eight seasons, as well as a few supporting roles and small westerns before becoming a big star in Italy for his westerns “The Man With No Name” with director Sergio Leone. He was one of the only American actors to already be an international movie star before playing a single leading role in an American film production, as the “Man With No Name” films had just been released in the United States before the return of ‘Eastwood. States to pursue his film career in his late thirties), Coogan’s Bluff (which was also a film famous for its violence, much like Dirty Harry). The film was based on a screenplay by the husband/wife writing team, Harry Julian Fink and Rita M. Fink.
Finks’ screenplay was called Dead Right, about a New York City cop named Dirty Harry Callahan who bends the law in an attempt to bring a serial killer to justice. This is basically the plot of dirty harryso, although dead right was much more about where we draw the line in society when it comes to protecting ourselves – how willing are we to give in to fascism if it protects us? It was here that the role of Dirty Harry, then a much older detective at the end of his career as a cop, was offered to John Wayne, who turned it down.
Since producer Jennings Lang couldn’t get dead right produced, he eventually sold the rights to ABC Television with the goal of turning the concept into a television series. ABC Television, however, had too much trouble adapting the film’s level of violence into a regular television series, so it later sold the rights to Warner Bros., who again planned to make it into a movie.
While Dirty Harry was still an older man at the time, Warner Bros. approached Frank Sinatra, who had recently starred as a detective in the hit 1968 film, The detective (as I noted in an old Legends Revealed, this movie was based on a Roderick Thorp novel and Tharp’s sequel to that novel was also later adapted into a surprisingly successful action movie). Sinatra also turned down the role.
He was gifted to a few other older actors before the filmmakers decided to rejuvenate and cast Eastwood and the rest, as they say, is history.
SO WOULD IT BE FAIR TO SAY THAT JOHN WAYNE REFUSED DIRTY HARRY?
However, this casting process has led to a number of confusing reports over the years as to whether or not John Wayne turned down Dirty Harry. It’s true that he turned down the Dirty Harry character, but that was before the character evolved into the character he became in the movie, dirty harryand dirty harry and dead right are two very different films and Wayne was never offered a role in the second film.
Wayne himself has muddied the waters, as he was quoted in Michael Munn’s 2001 book John Wayne: The Man Behind the Myth as said about dirty harry“I declined for what I thought were three very good reasons. The first is that they first offered it to Frank Sinatra, but he had injured his hand and couldn’t do it. I don’t like being offered Sinatra’s rejections. Put this one down to pride. The second reason is that I thought Harry was a rogue cop. Put that down to the narrowness of mind because when I saw the picture I realized that Harry was the kind of role I had played quite often; a guy who abides by the law but breaks the rules when it really is necessary to save others . »
Sinatra was offered the role in the film dirty harryBut no dead right, so Wayne was recalling the timeline incorrectly. At the same time, people who say Wayne was never offered the role in dirty harrywhile correct, are still a bit inaccurate, in that Wayne WAS was offered the role of Dirty Harry… but not in dirty harry.
Once dirty harry was a hit, Wayne made two “loose cannon” cop movies of himself, in 1974 McQ…
then 1975 Brannigan…
The legend is…
STATUS: False for dirty harrybut True for Dirty Harry, which is as hilarious as it sounds.
Be sure to check out my Movie Legends Revealed archive for more urban legends from the movie world. Click here for more captions specifically about James Bond.
Feel free to (hell, please!) write in with your suggestions for future installments! My email address is [email protected]
About the Author