Sudden Impact
Encyclopedia
Sudden Impact is a 1983 American crime thriller and the fourth film in the Dirty Harry series
, directed by and starring Clint Eastwood
(making it the only Dirty Harry film to be directed by Eastwood himself). The film is probably best remembered for Harry's catchphrase, "Go ahead, make my day
", often incorrectly attributed to the original film
in the series.
, one in the groin. She leaves San Francisco for the town of San Paulo because of the police investigation, and begins restoring its boardwalk
's historic carousel
near the beach where the rapes occurred. Meanwhile, San Francisco Police Department
Homicide Inspector Harry Callahan is frustrated when a judge yet again dismisses a case due to his use of unreasonable search and seizure. At his favorite diner, the inspector interrupts a robbery and kills most of the criminals. When the surviving robber takes a hostage, Callahan challenges him with "Go ahead, make my day
"; the criminal surrenders.
Callahan accuses the powerful crime lord Threlkis at his granddaughter's wedding party of killing a hooker; Threlkis suffers a heart attack. Callahan's angry superior officers Lieutenant Donnelly and others cannot fire or suspend the notorious inspector because, as the police commissioner admits, his "unconventional methods...get results", albeit with tremendous physical destruction and bad publicity for the department. They order him to take a vacation, which Callahan spends by target shooting with his .44 AutoMag
. Four of Threlkis's hitmen attack the inspector; only one escapes alive. The suspect from the dismissed case and his friends also attack, throwing two Molotov cocktail
s into Callahan's car. He uses one of the bombs to cause them to drive into the bay, killing them. Donnelly sends the inspector to San Paulo to investigate the murder of the man Spencer killed. While the victim is from there, it is also to protect both Callahan and civilians; as Donnelly notes, "people have a nasty habit of getting dead around you."
In San Paulo, Callahan stops a robbery in progress and saves the life of young Officer Bennett. The inspector receives a bulldog as a gift from a police friend, Horace King, whom he nicknames Meathead. While jogging with the dog, he meets Spencer. Callahan is hunted by the surviving Threlkis hitman, but kills him after being warned by Meathead. Meanwhile, Spencer kills a second rapist, Kruger, at the beach; although Callahan recognizes the modus operandi
, police chief Lester Jannings refuses to work with the famous "big city hotshot" inspector. Callahan realizes that the victims and Parkins are friends of Jannings' son, Alby. He asks Bennett for information on them, while Parkins realizes that the rapists are being targeted and warns two others, Tyrone and Mick. After fighting Kruger's uncooperative brothers-in-law Eddie and Carl, Callahan meets Spencer again at a restaurant and learns that she shares his emphasis on results over methods when seeking justice, although the inspector adds the caveat "'til it breaks the law."
Callahan visits Tyrone's home and finds him dead, another victim of Spencer. Parkins and Mick are staying at her home to protect themselves. When the inspector visits them for questioning, Mick attacks him. As soon as Callahan leaves to take Mick to the police station, Spencer comes in and kills Parkins. Callahan and Spencer meet again and sleep together, but he realizes that she had also visited Parkins' home and finds the body there.
Eddie and Carl bail Mick out and kill the visiting King, then beat Callahan and throw his body into the sea. Spencer visits Alby Jannings— now also comatose after his guilty conscience caused a serious car accident— but Chief Jannings interrupts her. He admits that to protect his reputation and his only child he "fixed" the crimes, but promises that Mick— whom he does not know is free— will now be punished. Mick and the others, however, capture Spencer and kill the chief with her .38.
Callahan survives, finds King's body and then retrieves his AutoMag. Mick's group brings Spencer to the beach
for another rape, but she escapes to the carousel. They recapture her, but are startled by the inspector's apparent return from death. After killing the others, Callahan chases Mick, who has taken Spencer hostage atop a roller coaster
. The inspector again challenges Mick to "make my day", subsequently when Spencer escapes, Callahan shoots him. Mick falls and is impaled on one of the carousel's horses. The police find Spencer's .38 with Mick; ballistics
, Callahan states, will find that "his gun… was used in all the killings." He and Spencer walk away from the crime scene.
and Earl E. Smith for a separate film for Sondra Locke, but was later adapted into a Dirty Harry film by Joesph Stinson. Filming occurred in spring 1983. Many of the film's scenes were filmed in San Francisco and Santa Cruz, California
. The scene where Harry chases a bank robber in the downtown business district offers a rare glimpse of the area before it was devastated by the Loma Prieta earthquake
of October 17, 1989. Footage for the robbery in "Acorn Cafe" was actually shot at Burger Island (now a McDonald's) at the corner of 3rd Street and Townsend in San Francisco. At this point in his career, Eastwood was receiving a salary that included 60% of all film profits, leaving the other 40% for the studio. Estimates had Eastwood earning $30 million for Sudden Impact.
", often incorrectly attributed to the original film
in the series. In 2005, it was voted in a poll by the American Film Institute
as the sixth most memorable line in cinema history
. United States President Ronald Reagan
used the "make my day" line in a March 1985 speech threatening to veto legislation raising taxes. When campaigning for office as mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California
in 1986, Eastwood used bumper stickers entitled "Go Ahead — Make Me Mayor".
. It was a box-office success. In its opening weekend the film took $9,688,561 in 1,530 theaters in the US. In total in the US, the film made $67,642,693, making it the highest grossing of the five films in the Dirty Harry franchise.
Dirty Harry (film series)
Dirty Harry is the name of a series of films and novels starring fictional San Francisco Police Department Homicide Division Inspector "Dirty" Harry Callahan, portrayed by Clint Eastwood...
, directed by 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...
(making it the only Dirty Harry film to be directed by Eastwood himself). The film is probably best remembered for Harry's catchphrase, "Go ahead, make my day
Go ahead, make my day
"Go ahead, make my day" is a catchphrase written by Joseph C. Stinson and spoken by the character Harry Callahan from the 1983 film Sudden Impact. In 2005, it was chosen as #6 on the American Film Institute list, AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes. The "Make My Day Law" passed in most U.S...
", often incorrectly attributed to the original film
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....
in the series.
Plot
Artist Jennifer Spencer and her sister were raped by a group of young men 10 years ago, after being betrayed by a female friend, Ray Parkins. The brutal rape left the sister permanently catatonic. Spencer seeks revenge, and begins by killing George Wilburn with two bullets from a .38 snubnosed revolverSnubnosed revolver
A snubnosed revolver has a barrel length of less than three inches. It was a popular type of firearm with undercover police officers due to its compact size and ease of handling...
, one in the groin. She leaves San Francisco for the town of San Paulo because of the police investigation, and begins restoring its boardwalk
Boardwalk
A boardwalk, in the conventional sense, is a wooden walkway for pedestrians and sometimes vehicles, often found along beaches, but they are also common as paths through wetlands, coastal dunes, and other sensitive environments....
's historic carousel
Carousel
A carousel , or merry-go-round, is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating circular platform with seats for riders...
near the beach where the rapes occurred. Meanwhile, San Francisco Police Department
San Francisco Police Department
The San Francisco Police Department, also known as the SFPD and San Francisco Department Of Police, is the police department of the City and County of San Francisco, California...
Homicide Inspector Harry Callahan is frustrated when a judge yet again dismisses a case due to his use of unreasonable search and seizure. At his favorite diner, the inspector interrupts a robbery and kills most of the criminals. When the surviving robber takes a hostage, Callahan challenges him with "Go ahead, make my day
Go ahead, make my day
"Go ahead, make my day" is a catchphrase written by Joseph C. Stinson and spoken by the character Harry Callahan from the 1983 film Sudden Impact. In 2005, it was chosen as #6 on the American Film Institute list, AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes. The "Make My Day Law" passed in most U.S...
"; the criminal surrenders.
Callahan accuses the powerful crime lord Threlkis at his granddaughter's wedding party of killing a hooker; Threlkis suffers a heart attack. Callahan's angry superior officers Lieutenant Donnelly and others cannot fire or suspend the notorious inspector because, as the police commissioner admits, his "unconventional methods...get results", albeit with tremendous physical destruction and bad publicity for the department. They order him to take a vacation, which Callahan spends by target shooting with his .44 AutoMag
AutoMag (pistol)
The .44 Auto Mag pistol is a large caliber semi-automatic pistol. It was designed between 1966 and 1971 by the Auto Mag Corporation to bring .44 magnum power to a semi-automatic pistol....
. Four of Threlkis's hitmen attack the inspector; only one escapes alive. The suspect from the dismissed case and his friends also attack, throwing two Molotov cocktail
Molotov cocktail
The Molotov cocktail, also known as the petrol bomb, gasoline bomb, Molotov bomb, fire bottle, fire bomb, or simply Molotov, is a generic name used for a variety of improvised incendiary weapons...
s into Callahan's car. He uses one of the bombs to cause them to drive into the bay, killing them. Donnelly sends the inspector to San Paulo to investigate the murder of the man Spencer killed. While the victim is from there, it is also to protect both Callahan and civilians; as Donnelly notes, "people have a nasty habit of getting dead around you."
In San Paulo, Callahan stops a robbery in progress and saves the life of young Officer Bennett. The inspector receives a bulldog as a gift from a police friend, Horace King, whom he nicknames Meathead. While jogging with the dog, he meets Spencer. Callahan is hunted by the surviving Threlkis hitman, but kills him after being warned by Meathead. Meanwhile, Spencer kills a second rapist, Kruger, at the beach; although Callahan recognizes the modus operandi
Modus operandi
Modus operandi is a Latin phrase, approximately translated as "mode of operation". The term is used to describe someone's habits or manner of working, their method of operating or functioning...
, police chief Lester Jannings refuses to work with the famous "big city hotshot" inspector. Callahan realizes that the victims and Parkins are friends of Jannings' son, Alby. He asks Bennett for information on them, while Parkins realizes that the rapists are being targeted and warns two others, Tyrone and Mick. After fighting Kruger's uncooperative brothers-in-law Eddie and Carl, Callahan meets Spencer again at a restaurant and learns that she shares his emphasis on results over methods when seeking justice, although the inspector adds the caveat "'til it breaks the law."
Callahan visits Tyrone's home and finds him dead, another victim of Spencer. Parkins and Mick are staying at her home to protect themselves. When the inspector visits them for questioning, Mick attacks him. As soon as Callahan leaves to take Mick to the police station, Spencer comes in and kills Parkins. Callahan and Spencer meet again and sleep together, but he realizes that she had also visited Parkins' home and finds the body there.
Eddie and Carl bail Mick out and kill the visiting King, then beat Callahan and throw his body into the sea. Spencer visits Alby Jannings— now also comatose after his guilty conscience caused a serious car accident— but Chief Jannings interrupts her. He admits that to protect his reputation and his only child he "fixed" the crimes, but promises that Mick— whom he does not know is free— will now be punished. Mick and the others, however, capture Spencer and kill the chief with her .38.
Callahan survives, finds King's body and then retrieves his AutoMag. Mick's group brings Spencer to the beach
Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk
The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk is an oceanfront amusement park in Santa Cruz, California. Founded in 1907, it is California's oldest surviving amusement park and one of the few seaside parks on the West Coast of the United States.- Overview :...
for another rape, but she escapes to the carousel. They recapture her, but are startled by the inspector's apparent return from death. After killing the others, Callahan chases Mick, who has taken Spencer hostage atop a roller coaster
Giant Dipper
The Giant Dipper is a historic wooden roller coaster located at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, an amusement park in Santa Cruz, California. It opened on May 17, 1924. It is the fifth-oldest roller coaster in the United States; over 55 million riders have ridden it since its opening...
. The inspector again challenges Mick to "make my day", subsequently when Spencer escapes, Callahan shoots him. Mick falls and is impaled on one of the carousel's horses. The police find Spencer's .38 with Mick; ballistics
Ballistics
Ballistics is the science of mechanics that deals with the flight, behavior, and effects of projectiles, especially bullets, gravity bombs, rockets, or the like; the science or art of designing and accelerating projectiles so as to achieve a desired performance.A ballistic body is a body which is...
, Callahan states, will find that "his gun… was used in all the killings." He and Spencer walk away from the crime scene.
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 Insp. Harry Callahan - Sondra LockeSondra LockeSondra Locke is an American actress, singer and film director.She made her film debut in The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter , for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress...
as Jennifer Spencer - Pat HinglePat HingleMartin Patterson "Pat" Hingle was an American actor.-Early life:Hingle was born Martin Patterson Hingle in Miami, Florida, the son of Marvin Louise , a schoolteacher and musician, and Clarence Martin Hingle, a building contractor. Hingle enlisted in the U.S. Navy in December 1941, dropping out of...
as Chief Lester Jannings - Bradford DillmanBradford Dillman-Early life:Bradford Dillman was born on April 14, 1930 in San Francisco, California, the son of Josephine and Dean Dillman, a stockbroker. He studied at Town School for Boys and St. Ignatius High School. Later he attended the Hotchkiss boarding school in Connecticut, where he became involved in...
as Captain Briggs - Paul DrakePaul DrakePaul Drake was the private detective in the Perry Mason series of murder mystery novels by Erle Stanley Gardner. Drake was described as tall and slouching, frequently wearing an expression of droll humor...
as Mick the Rapist - Audrie J. NeenanAudrie J. NeenanAudrie J. Neenan is an American actress. She is best known on screen for her role as the raucous, abrasive madam Ray Parkins in the 1983 action film Sudden Impact and for playing judges in the TV series Law & Order and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Lois Preston...
as Ray Parkins - Jack Thibeau as Kruger
- Michael Currie as Lt. Donnelly
- 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 Horace King - Mark Keyloun as Officer Bennett
- Kevyn Major HowardKevyn Major HowardKevyn Major Howard is a Canadian actor best known for his role in Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket.After acting in high school, Howard moved to Los Angeles and Hollywood in the late 1970s....
as Hawkins - Bette FordBette FordBette Ford, , is an actress and former model and professional bullfighter...
as Leah - Nancy ParsonsNancy ParsonsNancy Anne Parsons was an American actress. She was best-known for her role as Beulah Balbricker in the 1982 cult film Porky's and its sequels...
as Mrs. Kruger
Production
The screenplay was initially written by Charles B. PierceCharles B. Pierce
Charles B. Pierce was an American film director, screenwriter, producer, set decorator, cinematographer and actor, and is considered one of the first independent filmmakers...
and Earl E. Smith for a separate film for Sondra Locke, but was later adapted into a Dirty Harry film by Joesph Stinson. Filming occurred in spring 1983. Many of the film's scenes were filmed in San Francisco and Santa Cruz, California
Santa Cruz, California
Santa Cruz is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, California in the US. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, Santa Cruz had a total population of 59,946...
. The scene where Harry chases a bank robber in the downtown business district offers a rare glimpse of the area before it was devastated by the Loma Prieta earthquake
Loma Prieta earthquake
The Loma Prieta earthquake, also known as the Quake of '89 and the World Series Earthquake, was a major earthquake that struck the San Francisco Bay Area of California on October 17, 1989, at 5:04 p.m. local time...
of October 17, 1989. Footage for the robbery in "Acorn Cafe" was actually shot at Burger Island (now a McDonald's) at the corner of 3rd Street and Townsend in San Francisco. At this point in his career, Eastwood was receiving a salary that included 60% of all film profits, leaving the other 40% for the studio. Estimates had Eastwood earning $30 million for Sudden Impact.
Quote
Sudden Impact is probably best remembered for Harry's catchphrase, "Go ahead, make my dayGo ahead, make my day
"Go ahead, make my day" is a catchphrase written by Joseph C. Stinson and spoken by the character Harry Callahan from the 1983 film Sudden Impact. In 2005, it was chosen as #6 on the American Film Institute list, AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes. The "Make My Day Law" passed in most U.S...
", often incorrectly attributed to the original film
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....
in the series. In 2005, it was voted in a poll by the American Film Institute
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
as the sixth most memorable line in cinema history
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes
Part of the AFI 100 Years... series, AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes is a list of the top 100 movie quotations in American cinema. The American Film Institute revealed the list on June 21, 2005, in a three-hour television program on CBS...
. United States President Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
used the "make my day" line in a March 1985 speech threatening to veto legislation raising taxes. When campaigning for office as mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California
Carmel-by-the-Sea, California
Carmel-by-the-Sea, often called simply Carmel, is a small city in Monterey County, California, United States, founded in 1902 and incorporated in 1916. Situated on the Monterey Peninsula, the town is known for its natural scenery and rich artistic history...
in 1986, Eastwood used bumper stickers entitled "Go Ahead — Make Me Mayor".
Reception
Sudden Impact received mixed reviews from critics, scoring 59% on Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
. It was a box-office success. In its opening weekend the film took $9,688,561 in 1,530 theaters in the US. In total in the US, the film made $67,642,693, making it the highest grossing of the five films in the Dirty Harry franchise.