Coogans großer Bluff

In this breakout year when films could dump most of their restrictions, this inspiration for the hit television series McCloud, dumped a couple and went the low road on a few things.

The language still was pretty tame but it had a big-time sleazy atmosphere with a bunch of unlikeable characters. Susan Clark played a lot of these kind of roles in the late '60s to about 1980. Clint Eastwood and Don Stroud are the male leads and Eastwood fits the mold as a tough Arizona lawman going to New York City to bring back an escaped convict. This kind of set of the stage, I think, for his Dirty Harry series which began a couple of years after this.

The story moves well and has some good action scenes, but, man, you can tell it is the late '60s and no longer the "classic era" in Hollywood with the nudity and no one with any moral standards.

Exciting Don Siegel cop thriller plenty of thrills, action , fights and emotion . Brave , tough cop , Clint Eastwood , goes to N.Y in order to transport a killer fugitive , Don Stroud , but the murderer escapes. Then , the killer on the loose through the N.Y.City streets . The deputy sets out in pursuit and to track him down by suffering a dangerous , risked pursuit.

First Siegel-Eastwood teaming and subsequently following : ¨Two mules for Sister Sara¨, ¨The beguiled¨ , ¨Dirty Harry¨ in which Clint also played a cop , and ¨Escape from Alcatraz¨. This one results to be a tense actioner containing some extremely thrilling chase sequences at its final , while Eastwood and Stroud riding motorcycles . The famous and successful TV series MacCloud with Dennis Weaver was based on this movie ; in fact , Herman Miller had written the story for Coogan's Bluff and then later changed a few details to create McCloud . Support cast is frankly well. Don Stroud shines as a violent murderous . Lee J Cobb as chief inspector gives an strong and outstanding performance, as usual . And enjoyable and attractive Susan Clark as a lovely parole officer who falls in love for him . Furthermore , brief but agreeable acting from Tisha Sterling , last film role for veteran Betty Field , James Edwards , Seymour Cassel and David Doyle , previous to Charlie's Angels .

It features a moving and adequate musical score by Lalo Schifrin in his ordinary style of the seventies . It packs an evocative and atmospheric cinematography by Bud Thackery and uncredited Robert Surtees . This tumble and rough motion picture was professionally directed by Donald Siegel (Telephon , The shooter , The Black Windmill , Madigan , The Killers) though has a few gaps and flaws . However , original filmmaker was Alex Segal , who withdrew shortly before production began . Rating : acceptable and passable . The yarn will appeal to Clint fans . Well worth seeing.

It would be easy to dismiss this movie as lightweight entertainment however this is a much more interesting film if for no other reason than it is the first pairing of Siegel and Eastwood one of the most interesting partnerships in cinema that between 1968 and 1971 produced four good movies and at least one classic, "Dirty Harry". In this film Clint forged a bridge between his cowboy persona and the contemporary characters that he went on to play. While it was released to theatres the frame compositions look better in 4;3 TV ratio suggesting that like another Siegel film, "The Killers" this was produced with TV in mind and released to cinemas when the quality of the piece became apparent. I think this might explain why it has taken so long for a 1.85 transfer to be released and why the quality of the DVD is so poor, full frame prints look fine. Also the use of what looks like pre-standing sets gives it a low budget TV feel. With "Play Misty for me" Clint became a director and Siegel appeared as an actor thus the partnership was ended, the pupil became the master. Clints style as a director owes much to Siegel and he still has the economy which was a hallmark of Siegels work. Another partnership that began in this film was with actor Albert Popwell who went on to appear with Clint in the first four Dirty Harry movies,portraying a different role in each film. So as an Eastwood or a Siegel fan this is a must see pivotal movie and contains much of their trade mark craft even on a low budget. Don Stroud is as ever a bonus as is Susan Clark.

The film borrows from the older city crime dramas adding a new twist, Eastwood's character, a police lieutenant from Arizona who will use any means to apprehend his prey. This film, shot on a relativley tight budget in New York City, captures the dark side of New York City in the late 60's, amidst the "free love" atmosphere. Particularly notable are the sharp fight sequences, the amazing sequence at the "Pidgeon Toed Orange Peel" dance club, and the chase sequence at the Cloisters. This film inspired the "Dirty Harry" series, and also paved the way for cowboy in the big city flicks such as "Midnight Cowboy" (and there are a few interesting resemblances). An overall exciting picture that should keep your interest.

Clint Eastwood has always been one of the most career-savvy superstars of all time. Looking over his filmography, since his career breakthrough it is obvious he has never done a film strictly for the money and has solid reasons behind every film he has made. Even his worst films have a purpose: "The Rookie," for instance, which most people would agree is a career low, was obviously made to satisfy the brass at Warner Bros. by delivering a modern-day Dirty Harry clone so he would be left alone to work on his Academy Award-winning classic "Unforgiven," which came out two years later. So it is with "Coogan's Bluff," which most viewers would probably dismiss as second-rate Eastwood, but in reality served as a savvy bridge from Westerns (the type of genre he was primarily known for at the time) into more modern day roles.

As directed by his mentor Don Siegel, "Coogan's Bluff" actually opens in the Arizona desert, which strongly resembles the background of his spaghetti westerns. Indeed, the first character we see is a loincloth-attired man, who appears to be Indian, so the audience is tricked into thinking they're watching a western. Then, we see a jeep driving down a dirt road, with a stetson-wearing Clint at the wheel. He is Dept. Sheriff Coogan, and there we see our first view of Clint as a modern lawman. It isn't long before he's in New York City, chasing down an escaped extradited criminal (Don Stroud), romancing a beautiful parole officer (Susan Clark) and butting heads with a strong-willed police captain (Lee J.Cobb, a terrific, yet sadly forgotten character actor of the day). Therefore, in a matter of fifteen minutes, Siegel cleverly introduces Eastwood as a contemporary figure, a transition that will be complete when he returns to modern times three years later in his most famous role, "Dirty Harry" Callahan.

But "Coogan's Bluff" is an enjoyable film on its own terms. Eastwood at times is very funny here--his retort to an unethical cab driver is priceless--and the film moves along at a brisk pace. Just don't expect action galore or a high body count. Clint doesn't kill anybody here; there's no broad conspiracy or mystery to solve; his job is simply to find the prisoner and take him home. In fact, the film is at its best when its dealing with Coogan as a fish-out-of-water, dealing with various New York thieves, crooks, drug dealers, hippies, and the aforementioned cab driver. There is, however, a well-choreographed fight scene in a bar and an exciting motorcycle chase for a climax, but that's as much action as there is. It's also pretty short for an Eastwood film: where most of his films run over two hours, this one clocks in at a brisk 94 minutes, next to "Joe Kidd" and "The Dead Pool," one of his shortest adventures.

So there you have it, a "minor" effort that served a "major" purpose in what has become an important Hollywood career. *** (out of *****)