Sudden Impact

{{Infobox film

| name = Sudden Impact

| image = Sudden Impact.jpg

| alt = A picture of Detective Harry Callahan against a city skyline: In front of him is glass with a bullet hole.

| caption = Theatrical release poster by Bill Gold

| director = Clint Eastwood

| producer = Clint Eastwood

| screenplay = Joseph Stinson

| story = {{plainlist|

Earl E. Smith
Charles B. Pierce

}}

| based_on = {{based on|Characters|{{quad}}Harry Julian Fink|{{quad}}R.M. Fink}}

| starring = {{plainlist|

Clint Eastwood
Sondra Locke

}}

| music = Lalo Schifrin

| cinematography = Bruce Surtees

| editing = Joel Cox

| studio = The Malpaso Company

| distributor = Warner Bros.

| released = {{Film date|1983|12|9}}

| runtime = 117 minutes

| country = United States

| language = English

| budget = $22 million[http://powergrid.thewrap.com/project/sudden-impact Box Office Information for Sudden Impact.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141018105334/http://powergrid.thewrap.com/project/sudden-impact |date=October 18, 2014 }} The Wrap. Retrieved April 4, 2013.

| gross = $150 million{{Cite book|last=Thompson|first=Douglas|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2zitDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT140|title=Clint Eastwood - The Biography of Cinema's Greatest Ever Star|date=August 15, 2007|publisher=Kings Road Publishing|isbn=978-1-78418-574-9|pages=140|language=en|chapter=Nine – White Hat, Grey Heart|quote=Sudden Impact, made five years earlier, had by then earned more than $150 million.}}

}}

Sudden Impact is a 1983 American action-thriller film, the fourth in the Dirty Harry series, directed, produced by, and starring Clint Eastwood (making it the only Dirty Harry film to be directed by Eastwood himself) and co-starring Sondra Locke.{{cite web|work=The New York Times|title=Sudden Impact (1983) FILM: 'IMPACT,' WITH CLINT EASTWOOD|author-link=Vincent Canby|first=Vincent|last=Canby|date=December 9, 1983|url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9404EFD61F39F93AA35751C1A965948260}} The film tells the story of a gang-rape victim (Locke) who decides to seek revenge on her rapists 10 years after the attack by killing them one by one. Inspector Callahan (Eastwood), famous for his unconventional and often brutal crime-fighting tactics, is tasked with tracking down the serial killer.

The film is notable for the catchphrase "Go ahead, make my day", written by John Milius and uttered by Clint Eastwood's gun-wielding character in the beginning of the film as he stares down an armed robber who is holding a hostage. This is the last Dirty Harry film to feature Albert Popwell.

Plot

In 1973, artist Jennifer Spencer and her sister, Beth, are gang raped; the attack leaves Beth in a catatonic state. Ten years later, Spencer kills George Wilburn, one of the rapists, in San Francisco and returns to her hometown of San Paulo,{{efn|This town is fictional.}} looking for the remaining criminals. Meanwhile, Inspector Harry Callahan is frustrated when another judge dismisses a case due to his direct methods. At his favorite diner, Callahan foils a robbery, killing three criminals in the process. He later causes local crime lord Threlkis to suffer a fatal heart attack after threatening him with prosecution.

Unable to fire him because his methods "get results", Callahan's superiors instead order him to take a vacation. Four of Threlkis's hitmen eventually attack him. Callahan takes down three, while the fourth escapes. Later, the suspect from the dismissed case and his friends throw Molotov cocktails into Callahan's car. Acting in self-defense, he kills his attackers. To get Harry out of sight until the furor dies down, Callahan is sent to San Paulo.

Upon arrival, Callahan chases down a robber. The reckless but successful pursuit angers the San Paulo police. While jogging with his bulldog, Meathead, Callahan accidentally runs into Spencer. On returning to his room at a motel, he is targeted by the surviving Threlkis hitman, who is killed by Callahan. Meanwhile, Spencer kills Kruger, a second rapist. Callahan recognizes the modus operandi, but Lester Jannings, San Paulo's police chief, refuses to work with him.

Callahan learns both victims are friends of Jannings' son, Alby. Ray Parkins, the female member of the gang of rapists, figures out they are being targeted, and warns the two remaining men, Tyrone and Mick. At an outdoor cafe, Callahan meets Spencer again. Over drinks, he learns that she shares his emphasis on results over methods when seeking justice, but he adds the caveat "'til it breaks the law." Callahan reveals that he is investigating Wilburn's murder, which rattles Spencer. Later, he finds Tyrone dead.

To be more protected, Mick stays with Parkins at her place. While visiting them for questioning, Mick attacks Callahan. After Callahan subdues Mick and takes him to the police station, Spencer guns down Parkins.

Callahan and Spencer meet again and sleep together. On his way back to the motel, Callahan notices her car, which he had seen earlier at Parkins' place. Returning there, he finds Parkins' body. Two of Mick's friends bail him out of jail. Meanwhile, Callahan's partner Horace arrives at the motel to celebrate the easing of tensions in San Francisco. He meets Mick and his henchmen, instead, who have been waiting to spring an ambush. Mick's gang kills Horace and neuters Meathead with a switchblade. They then beat up Callahan before throwing him off a pier, presuming he will drown.

Spencer arrives at the Jannings home with the intention of killing Alby, another one of the rapists. To her surprise, Alby, like her sister, is catatonic; a guilty conscience caused him to attempt suicide, which left him with permanent brain damage. To protect his own reputation and his only child, Jannings refused to jail the guilty parties. He convinces Spencer to spare Alby's life and promises Mick will be punished. Mick and his henchmen, however, arrive and capture Spencer, using her gun to kill Jannings.

Enraged at what happened to Horace and Meathead, Callahan goes after Mick's gang with his .44 Automag. The gang brings Spencer to the boardwalk for another rape but are startled by Callahan's apparent return from the dead. Callahan chases Mick after killing his henchmen. Mick drags Spencer to the top of a roller coaster, where she breaks free. Callahan shoots Mick, who falls from the top of the coaster, crashes through the glass roof of the carousel below, and is impaled on the horn of its unicorn.

Before the local cops arrive, Harry considers arresting Spencer. She, however, convinces him that her actions against the rapists were justified. The police arrive and find Spencer's .38 on Mick. Ballistics, Callahan states, will prove that "his gun … was used in all the killings." Callahan and a vindicated Spencer leave the crime scene together.

Cast

{{castlist|

Clint Eastwood as Inspector Harry Callahan
Sondra Locke as Jennifer Spencer
Pat Hingle as Chief Lester Jannings
Bradford Dillman as Captain Briggs
Paul Drake as Mick
Michael Maurer as George Wilburn
Albert Popwell as Horace King
Audrie J. Neenan as Ray Parkins
Jack Thibeau as Kruger
Michael Currie as Lieutenant Donnelly
Michael V. Gazzo as Threlkis
Kevyn Major Howard as Hawkins
Bette Ford as Leah
Nancy Parsons as Mrs. Kruger
Mara Corday as Coffee Shop Waitress
Mark Keyloun as Officer Bennett
Lisa Britt as Elizabeth Spencer
Camryn Manheim as Girl in elevator }}

Production

The script was initially written by Charles B. Pierce and Earl E. Smith for a separate film for Locke, but was later adapted into a Dirty Harry film by Joseph Stinson.Hughes, p.66 Filming occurred in spring 1983.Hughes, p.69 Many of the film's scenes were filmed in San Francisco and Santa Cruz, California.Hughes, p.65 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 shot at Burger Island, later a McDonald's and now the site of a hotel, at the corner of 3rd and Townsend in San Francisco.{{cite news|title=3rd & Townsend McDonald's goes dark In preparation for demolition|url=http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/3rd-Townsend-McDonald-s-Goes-Dark-In-9957408.php|access-date=October 24, 2017|work=SFGate|publisher=Hoodline.com|date=October 8, 2016|archive-url=https://archive.today/20241005024843/https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/3rd-Townsend-McDonald-s-Goes-Dark-In-9957408.php|archive-date=5 October 2024}} Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk was the amusement park where the climactic scene was filmed.{{Cite web|last=Baine|first=Wallace|date=March 22, 2019|title=A Brief History of Movies Filmed at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk|url=https://projects.sfchronicle.com/2019/santa-cruz-movie-history/|work=San Francisco Chronicle|access-date=April 11, 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240110041449/https://projects.sfchronicle.com/2019/santa-cruz-movie-history/|archive-date=January 10, 2024}} 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.

It was Locke's last film to be widely released.[https://www.the-numbers.com/person/86870401-Sondra-Locke#tab=acting "Sondra Locke - Box Office"]. The Numbers. Perpetuating a career-long pattern that saw her playing protagonists much younger than herself,{{efn|It was 1967 when Locke erected a smokescreen over her age. She was 23 in 1967, but told the press she was only 17. Locke later admitted to lying about her age, but still lied about how many years she had shaved off.[https://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/021590 "Starring Sondra Locke"]. Turner Classic Movies. March 18, 2022.[https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/sondra-locke-clint-eastwood-b2550936.html "Sondra Locke, Clint Eastwood and the tragic disappearance of a Hollywood trailblazer"]. The Independent. May 26, 2024.}} at 39, Locke was older than the group of actors cast as the rapists and 21 years older than the youth catcalling her near the start of the movie. She was six years older than Audrie Neenan, though the character of Parkins is clearly meant to be older than Spencer. Moreover, the actress who played Locke's sister was 11½ years her junior.

Reception

=Box office=

In its opening weekend, the film took $9,688,561 in 1,530 theaters in the US.{{cite web|url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=suddenimpact.htm |title=Sudden Impact |access-date=March 1, 2009 |publisher= IMDB |work= Box Office Mojo}} In total in the US and Canada, the film made $67,642,693, making it the highest grossing of the five films in the Dirty Harry franchise.{{cite web|url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/franchises/chart/?id=dirtyharry.htm |title=Dirty Harry Movies|access-date=March 1, 2009 |publisher=Box Office Mojo}} The film also surpassed the $63.6 million gross of Thunderball (1965) to become the highest-grossing fourth installment of a film in the United States and Canada.{{cite magazine|magazine=Variety|date=June 30, 1997|page=19|title=Top Five Fourth Chapters}} Worldwide, it grossed more than $150 million.

=Critical response=

Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes retrospectively gave the film a score of 53% based on 40 reviews. The consensus reads: "Sudden Impact delivers all the firepower – and the most enduring catchphrase – fans associate with the Dirty Harry franchise, but it's far from the best film in the series."{{cite web|url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/sudden_impact/|title=Sudden Impact|publisher=Rotten Tomatoes|access-date=February 12, 2024}}

Vincent Canby criticized the film, stating: "The screenplay is ridiculous, and Mr. Eastwood's direction of it primitive, which is surprising because he has shown himself capable in such films as The Outlaw Josey Wales and The Gauntlet. Among other things, the movie never gets a firm hold on its own continuity. Sometimes scenes of simultaneous action appear to take place weeks or maybe months apart."{{cite news |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1983/12/09/movies/film-impact-with-clint-eastwood.html |title=FILM: 'IMPACT,' WITH CLINT EASTWOOD |first=Vincent |last=Canby |newspaper= The New York Times |date=December 9, 1983 |access-date=December 18, 2019 }} Roger Ebert was more positive, awarding three stars out of four; while noting that the film was "implausible" with "a cardboard villain", he also praised it as "a Dirty Harry movie with only the good parts left in" and "a great audience picture."{{cite web |url= http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/sudden-impact-1983 |title= Sudden Impact |website= RogerEbert.com |date= December 12, 1983 |access-date= October 12, 2014 }} Variety noted that "everything is pitched for maximum action impact, so audiences should feel they got their money's worth," but also thought that the action scenes put "too much reliance on characters, particularly Harry, being in the right place at the right time.""Film Reviews: Sudden Impact". Variety. December 7, 1983. 14. Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film two stars out of four and wrote that nothing in the Dirty Harry sequels "has ever come close to the evil Scorpio in its portrayal of a bad guy. Because of that they are lesser films. We never feel that Harry is in any real danger."Siskel, Gene (December 12, 1983). "Dirty Harry's bumbling bad guys lack 'impact'". Chicago Tribune. Section 5, p. 3. Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times slammed the film as "the exploitation picture at its most nakedly manipulative," which "doesn't just exploit sex and violence but also audience prejudices toward minorities. (True, Callahan's partner, played by Albert Popwell, is black, but he's around only briefly.) That it exploits with sleek cinematic skill—not to mention a great deal of righteousness—makes it all the more reprehensible."Thomas, Kevin (December 9, 1983). "Orgy of Violence in 'Sudden Impact'". Los Angeles Times. Part VI, p. 19. A negative review from Pauline Kael in The New Yorker remarked that the film "might be mistaken for parody if the sledgehammer-slow pacing didn't tell you that the director (Eastwood) wasn't in on the joke."Kael, Pauline (January 23, 1984). The Current Cinema. The New Yorker. 93.

Legacy

Sudden Impact is best remembered for Harry's catchphrase, "Go ahead, make my day". United States President Ronald Reagan used the "make my day" line in a March 1985 speech threatening to veto legislation raising taxes.{{Cite web |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,964091,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080220093634/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,964091,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 20, 2008 |title=Go Ahead - Make My Day |author=George J. Church |date=March 25, 1985 |publisher=Time Inc. |access-date=November 3, 2010}} When campaigning for office as mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, in 1986, Eastwood used bumper stickers entitled "Go Ahead — Make Me Mayor".

The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:

2005: AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes:
Harry Callahan: "Go ahead, make my day." – #6{{cite web|title=AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes |url=http://www.afi.com/Docs/100Years/quotes100.pdf |publisher=American Film Institute |access-date=July 30, 2016}}

"Make My Day" is a novelty song recorded by American country music artist T. G. Sheppard featuring Clint Eastwood.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSaWLMcFiiQ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/XSaWLMcFiiQ |archive-date=2021-12-22 |url-status=live|title=T.G. Sheppard & Clint Eastwood - Make My Day|publisher=youtube|access-date=March 25, 2020}}{{cbignore}} It was released in February 1984 as the second single from the album Slow Burn. The song reached #12 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.{{cite book |title= Hot Country Songs: 1944-2012, Eighth edition|last=Whitburn |first=Joel |author-link=Joel Whitburn |publisher=Record Research |year=2013 |page=304}} The song was written by Dewayne Blackwell.

Notes

References

Bibliography

{{cite book|last=Hughes|first=Howard|title=Aim for the Heart|publisher=I.B. Tauris|year=2009|isbn=978-1-84511-902-7|location=London}}
{{cite book|last=Munn|first=Michael|title=Clint Eastwood: Hollywood's Loner|publisher=Robson Books|location=London|year=1992|isbn=0-86051-790-X}}
{{cite book|last=Street|first=Joe|title=Dirty Harry's America: Clint Eastwood, Harry Callahan, and the Conservative Backlash|publisher=University Press of Florida|year=2016|isbn=978-0-8130-6167-2}}