Dirty Harry is a 1971 crime film produced and directed by Don Siegel. It is the first film in the Dirty Harry series. Clint Eastwood plays the title role, in his first casting as San Francisco Police Department Inspector "Dirty" Harry Callahan.

Dirty Harry was followed by four sequels: Magnum Force in 1973, The Enforcer in 1976, Sudden Impact in 1983, and The Dead Pool in 1988.

Plot

A serial killer who nicknames himself "Scorpio" (Andy Robinson) murders a young woman in a San Francisco high rise rooftop swimming pool using a high-powered sniper rifle. The spent shell casing is found on a high rise rooftop across the way by Inspector Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood). The Scorpio Killer left a message which is discovered by Callahan and later read aloud by the mayor:

The department cautiously decides to assign Callahan to the case (as he has recently been in trouble for pre-emptively shooting a rapist in the city's Fillmore district) while they provide extra helicopter surveillance around the churches and the city's black community.

In a later scene, Callahan goes to a cafe for lunch. As he waits for his food, he notices a car, motor running, parked in front of a nearby bank. Callahan correctly surmises that a bank robbery is taking place and instructs the owner of the cafe to relay a message to the police department that a "2-11" (armed robbery) is in progress. While he waits for reinforcements to arrive, the bank robbers emerge from the bank, forcing Callahan to take matters into his own hands. He shouts a warning at the robbers, one of whom responds by firing a shotgun at Callahan. Callahan returns fire with his revolver and sends the offending robber sprawling to the ground. The other robber manages to get into the getaway car, after which the driver aims the car right at Callahan. Callahan fires his handgun several times at the car, causing the driver to lose control of the vehicle, which subsequently crashes and comes to a halt. Callahan then turns his attention back to the robber he shot earlier. As Callahan approaches him, the robber (Albert Popwell), who is still lying on the ground, tentatively reaches for his weapon that is mere inches from his hand. Callahan comprehends what the robber is considering and, with his handgun pointed directly at the wounded man, utters his famous line:

The robber evidently does not feel lucky and allows Callahan to take possession of the shotgun. As Callahan starts to walk away, the robber blurts out: "I gots to know." Callahan obliges the perpetrator's curiosity by aiming his handgun at the man's head and pulling the trigger. The sound of a harmless click reveals that Callahan's gun had no remaining live rounds. Much to his annoyance the next day, Callahan is assigned a rookie partner named Chico Gonzalez (Reni Santoni). Callahan claims that his partners always suffer injuries or worse while working with him and that he needs someone experienced.