When Dirty Harry's Watching, You Do It Right the First Time

Directing a movie for the first time is a tough assignment for anyone.  James Fargo faced the added problem of directing a star who was also an experienced director- and the executive producer of the film.

Fargo met the challenge with The Enforcer, Clint Eastwood's third and possibly last vehicle as Dirty Harry Callahan- the scourge of the wrongdoers.  Fargo had been Eastwood's assistant on four films directed by the star himself.  How did Fargo feel about taking over as top man?

"On the first day, I was nervous," he admitted, "but I got over it right away.  Obviously, I know Clint pretty well.  He is a decisive person who won't vacillate once he decides on a shot.  He gets nervous and upset if you can't make up your mind."

"I made darn sure I knew what I wanted.  I had the final decision on the set.  But when you get to the cutting room, I could only overrule Clint for so long, after all, he is the executive producer."

"But he is an intelligent man with a brilliant sense of the overall production.  In most cases, our differences were minor.  We solved them in an agreeable manner."

In times past, star-directors have solved disputes with their directors by taking over the helm themselves.  That has happened with Paul Newman and Sidney Poitier.  Observers predicted the same would occur with Clint Eastwood on The Enforcer, but it didn't.

"You might expect Clint to be looking over my shoulder all the time," said Fargo, "in fact, when he wasn't needed in scenes, he got out of town."

Jim Fargo is a handsome, bearded man of 38 who grew up in Wenatchee, Wash., did a stint in the Navy, then graduated from the University of Washington in radio-television production.  Jobs in broadcasting were scarce, so he and his wife moved to her hometown of Pasadena a dozen years ago.

"I didn't realize that jobs were impossible to find in the studios, so I went asking around," he recalled.  "My first interview was at 20th Century Fox, and the person asked me what I wanted to do.  I said, 'I want to direct.'"

It seemed the impossible dream for a raw kid from Washington facing a system tightly controlled by the unions.  But Fargo tried out for the Director's Guild training program for second assistant directors and was chosen in a class of 10, out of 600 applicants.

Fargo graduated from the apprentice program, his salary rising from $125 a week to $175.  He toiled as a second assistant, then graduated to first assistant with the fire-eating Henry Hathaway on Raid On Rommel, with Richard Burton.  "It was a great experience working with Hathaway, but I'd never do it again," said Fargo.

"Working on Airport convinced me I could become a director," he said.  Soon afterward, he did his first film with Clint, Joe Kidd.  When Eastwood turned director on High Plains Drifter, he picked Fargo as his assistant.  The pair continued working together with Breezy, The Eiger Sanction, and The Outlaw Josey Wales- with Fargo also acting as associate producer on the latter.

"Two months before the start of Enforcer, Clint told me 'Why don't you direct it?'  It was such a short preparation time, I was too busy to be scared.  I had to jump in with both feet- sink or swim."

The Warner Brothers film, which is now in national release, required many chases through San Francisco streets, over rooftops, and even through the old cell blocks at Alcatraz.  Fargo acquitted himself with the skill of a veteran.

Another film with Eastwood?

"No, Clint is going to direct the next one himself.  I'm negotiating for another one for myself.  Thank to The Enforcer, negotiations are good."  -Associated Press

Original text appeared in Oakland Tribune, Jan. 9, 1977