A Night on the Set

The crew of Dirty Harry, plus half a dozen big trucks, a couple of trailers and two huge cranes, is set up at an intersection of downtown San Francisco.  The night is clear and cool, and the small groups of curious onlookers who have gathered at the shadowy edges of the harsh, arc-lighted glare are buttoned up against the wind.  Two girls who will be extras for a crowd scene, their heads towering monuments to extra-hold spray net, are listening to instructions from the assistant director, but their eyes are turned to the opposite corner.

Clint Eastwood moves easily across the street toward the crew, coatless, his hair egg-beaten and eyes sparkling with exhilaration.  He is tall (six feet four inches), with chiseled features and long, fine bones.  At 43, he still looks draft-age, but deep lines and creases have begun to strengthen his once almost pretty face.

He is directing this sequence of the film in which, as detective "Dirty Harry" Callahan, he rescues a would-be suicide from a sixth-story window, and he is having a good time.

Director Don Siegel has been off the set for a day with the flu, but Eastwood would have directed this particular sequence anyway, because it is a "Clintus", as opposed to a "Siegelini".  "Clintus" is what Siegel and Eastwood call a particular shot or bit of business that is Eastwood's idea.  There is a sprinkling of "Clintus" shots in the four films that Siegel has directed.

Eastwood stands with the camera operator, discussing the angle he wants, pointing, explaining, questioning.  He has long, expressive hands that are constantly in motion as he talks.  As always when he appears in public, fans come up in twos and threes, paper and pencils extended.  He stops for every one, good-naturedly asking names and chatting briefly.  One young Japanese boy comes up to him shyly with a copy of Mad magazine, and Clint breaks into a grin as he sees himself in comic-book caricatures entitled "Fistful of Lasagna" and "For A Few Ravioli More".

The crew takes a break at three in the morning, and Clint joins a couple of guys for a beer in a narrow bar across the street.  There is a lot of talking and some genial horseplay, and Eastwood winds up sitting at the bar throwing dice with a persistent lady who won't take evasion for an answer.

"The studio allowed six nights for this one shot," he says, continuing another conversation as he takes his turn.  "I told them I could shoot it in two.  So I'll finish it in one- really stick it in and give it a twist."

Original text appeared in Life, July 23, 1971