Coogan's Bluff (film)
Encyclopedia
Coogan's Bluff is a 1968 American Universal
film directed by Don Siegel
and starring Clint Eastwood
, Lee J. Cobb
, Don Stroud
, and Susan Clark
. The film marks the first of five collaborations between Siegel and Eastwood, which continued with Two Mules for Sister Sara
(1970), The Beguiled
and Dirty Harry
(both 1971), and finally Escape from Alcatraz
(1979).
Eastwood plays the part of a young veteran deputy sheriff from a rural county in Arizona
who travels to New York City
to extradite an apprehended fugitive named Jimmy Ringerman, played by Stroud, who is wanted for murder
.
The name of the film itself is a reference to a New York City
natural landmark, Coogan's Bluff
, a promontory
in upper Manhattan
overlooking the site of the former long-time home of the New York Giants
baseball club, the Polo Grounds
. The television series McCloud starring Dennis Weaver
was loosely based on this story.
Coogan has a flirtation with probation officer Julie Roth. Then he bluffs his way into Bellevue, tricks the attendants into turning Ringerman over to him, and sets out to catch a plane for Arizona.
Before he can get to the airport, Ringerman’s hippie girlfriend Linny Raven and a tavern owner called Pushie slip up behind Coogan, beat him unconscious and enable Ringerman to escape. Lt. McElroy is furious with Coogan for acting on his own and letting a prisoner go free.
Coogan tries to find Ringerman's hideout from his mother, Ellen Ringerman. He learns Linny's name, then obtains her address from Julie's home files while getting to know the probation officer better, sneaking out while Julie is making dinner.
He tracks Linny to a psychedelic-themed nightclub
called The Pigeon-Toed Orange Peel. There he has a fight with someone known as Wonderful Digby, then ends up making love to Linny at her apartment.
Linny offers to lead him to Ringerman, but instead takes him to a pool hall where Coogan is attacked by Pushie and a dozen men in a bloody battle with billiard balls and cues. Coogan holds his own for awhile but is eventually overpowered. The men take off after hearing sirens, but not before the beaten Coogan exacts justice on Pushie. McElroy finds the bar in pieces, three men dead, and a cowboy hat.
Coogan goes back to Linny's and threatens to kill her if she does not lead him to Ringerman. She takes him to the Cloisters
in Fort Tryon Park
where Ringerman, armed with a gun stolen from Coogan, gets away on his motorcycle. After commandeering the bike of a passing motor cyclist, who was run into by Ringerman, Coogan gives chase through the park's Heather Gardens and captures him by making a "citizen's arrest."
Coogan hands over the fugitive to McElroy, who once again tells him to go to the DA's office, then to the State Supreme Court, then let "the system" handle this. A contrite Coogan, now with Ringerman in cuffs, takes the helicopter from atop of the Pan Am Building to the airport while Julie is waving goodbye.
had been released, Eastwood had set to work on Coogan's Bluff, a project which saw him reunite with Universal Studios after an offer of $1 million, more than doubling his previous salary. Jennings Lang
was responsible for the deal. Lang was a former agent of Don Siegel
, a Universal contract director who was invited to direct Eastwood's second major American film. Eastwood was not familiar with Siegel's work but Lang arranged for them to meet at Clint's residence in Carmel. Eastwood saw three of Siegel's earlier films, was impressed with his directing and the two became friends, forming a close partnership in the years that followed.
The idea for Coogan's Bluff originated in early 1967 as a TV series and the first draft was drawn up by Herman Miller
and Jack Laird
, screenwriters for Rawhide. It is about a character called Sheriff Walt Coogan, a lonely deputy sheriff working in New York City
.
After Siegel and Eastwood had agreed to work together, Howard Rodman and three other writers were hired to devise a new script as the new team scouted for locations including New York
and the Mojave
desert. However, Eastwood surprised the team one day by calling an abrupt meeting and professing to strongly disliking the script, which by now had gone through seven drafts, preferring Herman Miller's original concept. This experience would also shape Eastwood's distaste for redrafting scripts in his later career.
Eastwood and Siegel hired a new writer, Dean Riesner
, who had written for Siegel in the Henry Fonda
TV film Stranger on the Run. Eastwood did not communicate with the screenwriter until one day Riesner criticized a scene Eastwood had liked which involved Coogan having sex with Linny Raven in the hope that she would take him to her "boyfriend." According to Riesner, Eastwood's "face went white and gave me one of those Clint looks".
The two soon reconciled their differences and worked on a script in which Eastwood had considerable input. Don Stroud
was cast as the psychopathic criminal Coogan is chasing, Lee J. Cobb
as the disagreeable New York City Police Department
lieutenant, Susan Clark
as a probation officer who falls for Coogan and Tisha Sterling
as the drug-using lover of Stroud's character. Filming began in November 1967 even before the full script had been finalized.
hero that Eastwood would play in the Dirty Harry
films. The script of the film foreshadows the McCloud television series that starred Dennis Weaver
.
is a site on Manhattan Island between Washington Heights and Harlem), tying the location into the film's title. The earlier video release did not have these edits, and was released uncut.
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
film directed by Don Siegel
Don Siegel
Donald Siegel was an influential American film director and producer. His name variously appeared in the credits of his films as both Don Siegel and Donald Siegel.-Early life:...
and starring Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
, Lee J. Cobb
Lee J. Cobb
Lee J. Cobb was an American actor. He is best known for his performance in 12 Angry Men his Academy Award-nominated performance in On the Waterfront and one of his last films, The Exorcist...
, Don Stroud
Don Stroud
Donald Lee Stroud is an American actor and surfer who appeared in many films in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, and has starred in over 100 films and 175 television shows to date.-Early life:...
, and Susan Clark
Susan Clark
Susan Clark is a Canadian actress, possibly best-known for her role as Katherine on the American television sitcom Webster, on which she appeared with her husband, Alex Karras.-Personal life:...
. The film marks the first of five collaborations between Siegel and Eastwood, which continued with Two Mules for Sister Sara
Two Mules for Sister Sara
Two Mules for Sister Sara is an American-Mexican western film starring Clint Eastwood and Shirley MacLaine set during the French intervention in Mexico. The film was released in 1970 and directed by Don Siegel. It was to have been the first in a five-year exclusive association between Universal...
(1970), The Beguiled
The Beguiled
The Beguiled is a 1971 drama film directed by Don Siegel, starring Clint Eastwood and Geraldine Page. The script was written by Albert Maltz and is based on the 1966 Southern Gothic novel written by Thomas P. Cullinan, originally titled A Painted Devil...
and Dirty Harry
Dirty Harry
Dirty Harry is a 1971 American crime thriller produced and directed by Don Siegel, the first in the Dirty Harry series. Clint Eastwood plays the title role, in his first outing as San Francisco Police Department Inspector "Dirty" Harry Callahan....
(both 1971), and finally Escape from Alcatraz
Escape from Alcatraz (film)
Escape from Alcatraz is a 1979 American thriller film, directed by Don Siegel and starring Clint Eastwood. It dramatizes possibly the only successful escape attempt from the maximum security prison on Alcatraz Island. The film co-stars Fred Ward, and also features Patrick McGoohan as the...
(1979).
Eastwood plays the part of a young veteran deputy sheriff from a rural county in Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
who travels to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to extradite an apprehended fugitive named Jimmy Ringerman, played by Stroud, who is wanted for murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
.
The name of the film itself is a reference to a New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
natural landmark, Coogan's Bluff
Coogan's Bluff
Coogan's Bluff is the name of a promontory located in upper Manhattan in New York City, starting at 155th Street. Rising abruptly from the Harlem River, it is colloquially regarded as the boundary between the neighborhoods of Harlem and Washington Heights....
, a promontory
Promontory
Promontory may refer to:*Promontory, a prominent mass of land which overlooks lower lying land or a body of water*Promontory, Utah, the location where the United States first Transcontinental Railroad was completed...
in upper Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
overlooking the site of the former long-time home of the New York Giants
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....
baseball club, the Polo Grounds
Polo Grounds
The Polo Grounds was the name given to four different stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used by many professional teams in both baseball and American football from 1880 until 1963...
. The television series McCloud starring Dennis Weaver
Dennis Weaver
William Dennis Weaver was an American actor, best known for his work in television, including roles on Gunsmoke, as Marshal Sam McCloud on the NBC police drama McCloud, and the 1971 TV movie Duel....
was loosely based on this story.
Plot
Arizona deputy sheriff Walt Coogan, wearing boots and a cowboy hat, is sent to New York City to extradite escaped killer James Ringerman. He is up against the slow legal meanderings of New York when grumpy NYPD Detective Lieutenant McElroy informs him Ringerman is at Bellevue Hospital recovering from an overdose of LSD and cannot be moved until the doctors release him. Coogan is also told he needs to get extradition papers from the New York State Supreme Court.Coogan has a flirtation with probation officer Julie Roth. Then he bluffs his way into Bellevue, tricks the attendants into turning Ringerman over to him, and sets out to catch a plane for Arizona.
Before he can get to the airport, Ringerman’s hippie girlfriend Linny Raven and a tavern owner called Pushie slip up behind Coogan, beat him unconscious and enable Ringerman to escape. Lt. McElroy is furious with Coogan for acting on his own and letting a prisoner go free.
Coogan tries to find Ringerman's hideout from his mother, Ellen Ringerman. He learns Linny's name, then obtains her address from Julie's home files while getting to know the probation officer better, sneaking out while Julie is making dinner.
He tracks Linny to a psychedelic-themed nightclub
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
called The Pigeon-Toed Orange Peel. There he has a fight with someone known as Wonderful Digby, then ends up making love to Linny at her apartment.
Linny offers to lead him to Ringerman, but instead takes him to a pool hall where Coogan is attacked by Pushie and a dozen men in a bloody battle with billiard balls and cues. Coogan holds his own for awhile but is eventually overpowered. The men take off after hearing sirens, but not before the beaten Coogan exacts justice on Pushie. McElroy finds the bar in pieces, three men dead, and a cowboy hat.
Coogan goes back to Linny's and threatens to kill her if she does not lead him to Ringerman. She takes him to the Cloisters
The Cloisters
The Cloisters is a museum located in Fort Tryon Park, New York City. The building, which is a branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, was reconstructed in the 1930s from the architectural elements of several European medieval abbeys...
in Fort Tryon Park
Fort Tryon Park
Fort Tryon Park is a public park located in the Washington Heights section of the borough of Manhattan in New York City, USA. It is situated on a 67 acre ridge in Upper Manhattan, with a commanding view of the Hudson River, the George Washington Bridge, the New Jersey Palisades and the Harlem River...
where Ringerman, armed with a gun stolen from Coogan, gets away on his motorcycle. After commandeering the bike of a passing motor cyclist, who was run into by Ringerman, Coogan gives chase through the park's Heather Gardens and captures him by making a "citizen's arrest."
Coogan hands over the fugitive to McElroy, who once again tells him to go to the DA's office, then to the State Supreme Court, then let "the system" handle this. A contrite Coogan, now with Ringerman in cuffs, takes the helicopter from atop of the Pan Am Building to the airport while Julie is waving goodbye.
Cast
- Clint EastwoodClint EastwoodClinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
as Deputy Sheriff Walt Coogan - Lee J. CobbLee J. CobbLee J. Cobb was an American actor. He is best known for his performance in 12 Angry Men his Academy Award-nominated performance in On the Waterfront and one of his last films, The Exorcist...
as Det. Lt. McElroy, NYPD - Susan ClarkSusan ClarkSusan Clark is a Canadian actress, possibly best-known for her role as Katherine on the American television sitcom Webster, on which she appeared with her husband, Alex Karras.-Personal life:...
as Julie Roth, Probation Officer - Tisha SterlingTisha SterlingTisha Sterling is an American television and film actress. She is the daughter of actor Robert Sterling and actress/singer Ann Sothern.-Life and career:...
as Linny Raven, Ringerman's Girlfriend - Don StroudDon StroudDonald Lee Stroud is an American actor and surfer who appeared in many films in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, and has starred in over 100 films and 175 television shows to date.-Early life:...
as James Ringerman - Betty FieldBetty FieldBetty Field was an American film and stage actress. Through her father, she was a direct descendant of the Pilgrims John Alden and Priscilla Mullins....
as Ellen Ringerman - Tom TullyTom TullyTom Tully was an American actor.-Biography:Born in Durango, Colorado, Thomas Kane Tulley served in the United States Navy, was a private pilot and worked as junior reporter for the Denver Post before going into acting because he felt the pay was better. Tully started out on stage before eventually...
as Sheriff McCrea, Piute County - Melodie Johnson as Millie, Coogan's Girlfriend
- James EdwardsJames Edwards (actor)James Edwards was an African American actor in films and television. His most famous role was as Private Peter Moss in the 1949 film Home of the Brave, in which he portrayed a soldier experiencing racial prejudice while serving in the South Pacific during World War II...
as Sgt. Wallace, Stakeout Cop - Rudy Diaz as Running Bear
- David Doyle as Pushie, Tavern Owner
- Louis ZorichLouis ZorichLouis Zorich is an American actor. He is well-known for his portrayal of Paul Reiser's father "Burt Buchman" in the NBC series Mad About You. He played the role from 1993 to 1999.-Life and career:...
as Taxi Driver - Meg Myles as Big Red
- Marjorie BennettMarjorie BennettMarjorie Bennett was an Australian television and film actress who began her career during the silent film era.-Career:Bennett was born in York, Western Australia; her sister Enid was also an actress...
as Mrs. Fowler, Little Old Lady - Seymour CasselSeymour CasselSeymour Joseph Cassel is an American actor.He first came to prominence in the 1960s in the pioneering independent films of writer/directorJohn Cassavetes...
as Joe, Young Hood - Albert PopwellAlbert PopwellAlbert Popwell, , was an African American actor in television and films from the late 1960s. Born in New York City, Popwell started as a professional dancer before taking up a career in acting...
as Wonderful Digby
Production
Before Hang 'Em HighHang 'Em High
Hang 'Em High is a 1968 American Western film directed by Ted Post and produced and co-written by Leonard Freeman. It stars Clint Eastwood as Jed Cooper, an innocent man who survives a lynching, Inger Stevens as a widow who helps him, Ed Begley as the leader of the gang that lynched him, and Pat...
had been released, Eastwood had set to work on Coogan's Bluff, a project which saw him reunite with Universal Studios after an offer of $1 million, more than doubling his previous salary. Jennings Lang
Jennings Lang
Jennings Lang was an American film producer, as well as a screenwriter and actor.- Biography :...
was responsible for the deal. Lang was a former agent of Don Siegel
Don Siegel
Donald Siegel was an influential American film director and producer. His name variously appeared in the credits of his films as both Don Siegel and Donald Siegel.-Early life:...
, a Universal contract director who was invited to direct Eastwood's second major American film. Eastwood was not familiar with Siegel's work but Lang arranged for them to meet at Clint's residence in Carmel. Eastwood saw three of Siegel's earlier films, was impressed with his directing and the two became friends, forming a close partnership in the years that followed.
The idea for Coogan's Bluff originated in early 1967 as a TV series and the first draft was drawn up by Herman Miller
Herman Miller (writer)
Herman Miller was a Hollywood writer and producer. He pursued both undergraduate and graduate studies at the University of Southern California, where he received his B.A. in 1950 and M.F.A. in 1952....
and Jack Laird
Jack Laird
Jack Laird was an American television producer, writer, director and actor who received three Emmy nominations for writing and/or producing the TV series Ben Casey, Night Gallery and Kojak....
, screenwriters for Rawhide. It is about a character called Sheriff Walt Coogan, a lonely deputy sheriff working in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
After Siegel and Eastwood had agreed to work together, Howard Rodman and three other writers were hired to devise a new script as the new team scouted for locations including New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and the Mojave
Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert occupies a significant portion of southeastern California and smaller parts of central California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona, in the United States...
desert. However, Eastwood surprised the team one day by calling an abrupt meeting and professing to strongly disliking the script, which by now had gone through seven drafts, preferring Herman Miller's original concept. This experience would also shape Eastwood's distaste for redrafting scripts in his later career.
Eastwood and Siegel hired a new writer, Dean Riesner
Dean Riesner
Dean Riesner was a prolific American film and television writer.Riesner's father was a silent film director, and Dean began acting in films at the age of five. His career at this young age ended because his mother wanted her son to have a real childhood...
, who had written for Siegel in the Henry Fonda
Henry Fonda
Henry Jaynes Fonda was an American film and stage actor.Fonda made his mark early as a Broadway actor. He also appeared in 1938 in plays performed in White Plains, New York, with Joan Tompkins...
TV film Stranger on the Run. Eastwood did not communicate with the screenwriter until one day Riesner criticized a scene Eastwood had liked which involved Coogan having sex with Linny Raven in the hope that she would take him to her "boyfriend." According to Riesner, Eastwood's "face went white and gave me one of those Clint looks".
The two soon reconciled their differences and worked on a script in which Eastwood had considerable input. Don Stroud
Don Stroud
Donald Lee Stroud is an American actor and surfer who appeared in many films in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, and has starred in over 100 films and 175 television shows to date.-Early life:...
was cast as the psychopathic criminal Coogan is chasing, Lee J. Cobb
Lee J. Cobb
Lee J. Cobb was an American actor. He is best known for his performance in 12 Angry Men his Academy Award-nominated performance in On the Waterfront and one of his last films, The Exorcist...
as the disagreeable New York City Police Department
New York City Police Department
The New York City Police Department , established in 1845, is currently the largest municipal police force in the United States, with primary responsibilities in law enforcement and investigation within the five boroughs of New York City...
lieutenant, Susan Clark
Susan Clark
Susan Clark is a Canadian actress, possibly best-known for her role as Katherine on the American television sitcom Webster, on which she appeared with her husband, Alex Karras.-Personal life:...
as a probation officer who falls for Coogan and Tisha Sterling
Tisha Sterling
Tisha Sterling is an American television and film actress. She is the daughter of actor Robert Sterling and actress/singer Ann Sothern.-Life and career:...
as the drug-using lover of Stroud's character. Filming began in November 1967 even before the full script had been finalized.
Reception
Coogan's Bluff was released in the United States in October 1968, where it grossed $3 million. Its earnings place Coogan's Bluff as the fifth highest grossing film of the year. The film was controversial for its portrayal of violence, but it had launched a collaboration between Eastwood and Siegel that lasted more than ten years, and set the prototype for the machoMachismo
Machismo, or machoism, is a word of Spanish and Portuguese origin that describes prominently exhibited or excessive masculinity. As an attitude, machismo ranges from a personal sense of virility to a more extreme male chauvinism...
hero that Eastwood would play in the Dirty Harry
Dirty Harry
Dirty Harry is a 1971 American crime thriller produced and directed by Don Siegel, the first in the Dirty Harry series. Clint Eastwood plays the title role, in his first outing as San Francisco Police Department Inspector "Dirty" Harry Callahan....
films. The script of the film foreshadows the McCloud television series that starred Dennis Weaver
Dennis Weaver
William Dennis Weaver was an American actor, best known for his work in television, including roles on Gunsmoke, as Marshal Sam McCloud on the NBC police drama McCloud, and the 1971 TV movie Duel....
.
Home media releases
The DVD version of Coogan's Bluff is edited by approximately three minutes in all regions for unknown reasons. The missing scenes include Coogan receiving his assignment to return Ringerman from New York, a short scene in a hospital, and a scene in which Julie talks about Coogan's Bluff, a lookout point over the ocean near New York (the real Coogan's BluffCoogan's Bluff
Coogan's Bluff is the name of a promontory located in upper Manhattan in New York City, starting at 155th Street. Rising abruptly from the Harlem River, it is colloquially regarded as the boundary between the neighborhoods of Harlem and Washington Heights....
is a site on Manhattan Island between Washington Heights and Harlem), tying the location into the film's title. The earlier video release did not have these edits, and was released uncut.