Coogan's just got into New York from Arizona- not Texas, mind you, as it's the running gag of sorts- and is out to get a prisoner to transfer. He captured him once before, and it took him eight days to do so. He doesn't have time for bureaucratic resistance, and goes right to Bellevue to hoist him out via a clever bluff. But he gets double-crossed by the prisoner's fellow hippie-cronies, who knock him out right at the heliport. Now he's on a one-track mind: catch him at any cost. This is the premise of Don Siegel's first directed film featuring his five-time star Clint Eastwood, and it's a film of the moment and one that speaks to what's to come: Eastwood as a tough-as-nails vigilante who won't take crap from the local brass and wont be nice in trying to round up his subject via questioning or getting in fights with nefarious Manhattanites. But it's a little odder still to see Eastwood as Coogan play a ladies man, who is charming if only in the 'hey baby, my look will melt you like butter' way. There's even a sub-plot, definitely the least interesting and only necessary as a bit of means to get to the rest of the story, where Coogan gets emotionally (though not at all physically) involved with Julie Roth (Susan Clark), a probation officer with a good conscience and slightly skewed views on relationships.
The story itself is strongest not when Coogan is straying from the central goal, to get his man at any cost. Unlike future Siegel/Eastwood endeavors, this one doesn't have much by way of Eastwood in personality terms. He's sort of two-note, either lean and gritty, either dealing with cops or criminals, or a smooth-talking guy who spends his time off the case trying to get some tail. So when he does stick to the main goal, Siegel is able to get some strong and fun scenes out of the script. I liked when he went to visit the criminals mother, to get any leads, and is careful not to step over the lines and still had to deal with this hard-bitten woman who will stand up for her wicked son no matter what. Or, as cheesy as it is- though not in the careful and deductive Siegel style- the scene where Coogan has to maneuver his way through a hippie club, with strobe lights et all, hardly the thing one would ever think of seeing Eastwood (in a cowboy hat and boots no less) walking through.
And as it is meant to be a cool action thriller, there's a tight fight scene in a billiards, and a very excitingly executed motorcycle chase through the polo-grounds. It's not anything I'd rank as being great, as it's repetitive as a means to cover up some more inventive ideas at the screenwriters' disposal (yes, he's from Arizona, not Texas, the exception being Coogan's ability to be sneaky when apprehending a suspect as it pops up late in the film after an intriguing beginning), plus with the dull romantic side-bar. But there's enough scenes where it's quintessential Eastwood, of him being simple and direct and to-the-point as a cop on a mission can be, and even Lee J Cobb turning in a good turn as an even hard-ass NY cop who plays totally by the books (with the exception of the end, which is a little unclear). A good Eastwood vehicle with some impressive locations and very good Schifrin score, though don't expect it to be a ground-breaker like a Dirty Harry or as unconventional as the Beguiled.
The story itself is strongest not when Coogan is straying from the central goal, to get his man at any cost. Unlike future Siegel/Eastwood endeavors, this one doesn't have much by way of Eastwood in personality terms. He's sort of two-note, either lean and gritty, either dealing with cops or criminals, or a smooth-talking guy who spends his time off the case trying to get some tail. So when he does stick to the main goal, Siegel is able to get some strong and fun scenes out of the script. I liked when he went to visit the criminals mother, to get any leads, and is careful not to step over the lines and still had to deal with this hard-bitten woman who will stand up for her wicked son no matter what. Or, as cheesy as it is- though not in the careful and deductive Siegel style- the scene where Coogan has to maneuver his way through a hippie club, with strobe lights et all, hardly the thing one would ever think of seeing Eastwood (in a cowboy hat and boots no less) walking through.
And as it is meant to be a cool action thriller, there's a tight fight scene in a billiards, and a very excitingly executed motorcycle chase through the polo-grounds. It's not anything I'd rank as being great, as it's repetitive as a means to cover up some more inventive ideas at the screenwriters' disposal (yes, he's from Arizona, not Texas, the exception being Coogan's ability to be sneaky when apprehending a suspect as it pops up late in the film after an intriguing beginning), plus with the dull romantic side-bar. But there's enough scenes where it's quintessential Eastwood, of him being simple and direct and to-the-point as a cop on a mission can be, and even Lee J Cobb turning in a good turn as an even hard-ass NY cop who plays totally by the books (with the exception of the end, which is a little unclear). A good Eastwood vehicle with some impressive locations and very good Schifrin score, though don't expect it to be a ground-breaker like a Dirty Harry or as unconventional as the Beguiled.