Coogan's Bluff

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.

Coogan's Bluff marked the first of six films that Clint Eastwood was to do with director Don Siegel, the most famous of them being of course Dirty Harry. The film will also contain no shots of the former location of the legendary Polo Grounds which were at that spot on Manhattan island.

Clint Eastwood's charisma is what carries this film through because he's playing one of the most dislikeable characters he ever essayed on the right side of the law. He's a deputy sheriff from Piute County, Arizona who has his own way of doing things. When we first meet him instead of following sheriff Tom Tully's orders and staying at a roadblock, Eastwood follows a hunch and captures fugitive Indian Rudy Diaz in the inimitable Clint fashion.

That he got the man doesn't cut it with Tully. He sends Clint on assignment to New York to extradite Don Stroud wanted in Arizona. When he gets to New York, Stroud is in Bellevue Psych Ward. There are procedures to get him out says Police Lieutenant Lee J. Cobb, but Clint cuts through them and while Stroud's in custody, he effects an escape.

Seduce them for clues is Eastwood's investigative technique as he works on parole officer Susan Clark and Stroud's girlfriend Tisha Sterling. Tisha proves to be a formidable adversary and bed partner, yes she's both. Tisha's pretty unforgettable as the amoral hippie chick from the era.

Also unforgettable is Betty Field in what proved to be her final big screen role as Stroud's tramp of a mother. Clint doesn't quite have to get down and dirty with her, but I think he would have been up to it if needed.

A lot of attitudes that were later exhibited in Dirty Harry are in Coogan's Bluff. Walt Coogan has the same attitude towards criminals and the rules that prevent him from dealing with them as he'd like.

Some nice location shots of New York, including an unforgettable chase scene through Fort Tryon Park in the upper reaches of Manhattan. Not as good as some of Clint Eastwood's other films, still Coogan's Bluff is a must for his fans.

Here Clint Eastwood gets to bring a little of the Western into an urban jungle, playing the title character, an Arizona deputy with his own way of doing things. His sheriff (Tom Tully) is tired of him, but assigns him the task of extraditing a criminal named Ringerman (Don Stroud), who's being held in NYC. Disgusted with the amount of red tape that he's obliged to wade through, Coogan obtains Ringerman through false pretenses - and then the young mans' associates get the drop on him, and Ringerman escapes. However, Coogan isn't about to let a little wounded pride get to him, as he continues to frustrate police lieutenant McElroy (Lee J. Cobb) with his methods of tracking a wanted man.

Clint is a lot of fun to watch, showing off that natural screen presence that made him a star. He makes the most out of what many people agree to be a predecessor to his iconic screen role of Dirty Harry. The movie itself, produced & directed by Clints' frequent collaborator Don Siegel, works as a "fish out of water" type of story in which different approaches to law enforcement clash, and where the environment has a pivotal part to play. Use of various NYC locations is great, and Lalo Schifrins' music score is excellent. The climactic motorcycle chase is reasonably exciting, but the most striking scene of all has to be when Coogan tails Ringermans' lady friend Linny Raven (Tisha Sterling) to a nightclub. Among the images on the big screen there is a shot from "Tarantula", in which Clint had a small uncredited role.

There's a great sexual chemistry between Clint and well-meaning probation officer Julie Roth (sexy Susan Clark); he also works well with Sterling, who's a delight as a cheery hippie chick. Stroud unfortunately doesn't get a lot to do, the way that the story is written, but the supporting cast, led by the always solid Cobb, includes familiar faces such as Betty Field, James Edwards, David Doyle, Louis Zorich, Seymour Cassel, Albert Popwell (who would go on to appear in four of the "Dirty Harry" movies), and Conrad Bain.

A well paced and consistently entertaining movie, "Coogan's Bluff" later evolved into the 'McCloud' TV series with Dennis Weaver.

Seven out of 10.

Coogan's Bluff ranks as one of my favorite Eastwood films. Partly because of the time period & location which the story takes place. It's an excellent period piece. Late 1960's New York city in all it's Glory. I live in NYC and it's was nice to see the Pan Am Building in the backdrop. It's now the Met Life building. The Pan Am building was also the location of the final scene where the helicopter takes off. The other reason I like this movie is that Eastwood is essentially playing Dirty Harry before Dirty Harry. Coogan is just like Harry Calahan without the 44. magnum. The story is solid but it's the locales and the situations that Coogan finds himself in that sell the movie. Who cares of it's dated? Of course it's dated but that's part of the experience. Actually most movies made more than 20 years ago (or less) are dated. If you look at it in the context of the time it was made then you'll enjoy it. Ignore the negative reviews and check it out.

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.