Coogan's Bluff (1968)

The first of five collaborations between star Clint Eastwood and director Don Siegel (six, if you consider "Play Misty For Me" which was directed and starred by Clint, but featuring a cameo from Don), "Coogan's Bluff", besides being a witty action vehicle with Clint playing the macho cop who follows his own rules, a kind of 'warm-up' for their future "Dirty Harry", it was the weakest of their movies together.This movie was conceived as a vanity project for the now established heartthrob & action star, after his success playing "The Man With No Name" for Sergio Leone in the "Dollars Trilogy" which slowly became a major hit in America and "Hang 'Em High", his first high profile American film."Coogan's Bluff" proved that the camera loves Clint and that he had the presence and charisma to carry on a film as the "name above the title" lead star, but as much as this is considered a cult-classic now, it lacks the edge, the social commentary, the 'grittiness' and the effectiveness of their later masterpieces such as "Dirty Harry", "The Beguiled" or "Escape from Alcatraz".The movie is competent directed, Don knew how to do it, but that late 60's hippie subculture and psychedelic vibes were completely dated even by 10 years after the movie was made and fully obsolete now by today's standards. The screenplay is full of flamboyant characters and weird situations with a comedic tone in it, and every woman that appears on- screen is either throwing herself at Clint's arms or having sex with him 5 minutes later.The supporting cast gave life to their colorful written characters, but besides the great veteran Lee J. Cobb, who delivered the goods in a scene-stealer performance, they were merely pawns in Clint's Chess game: Tisha Sterling, Susan Clark & Melodie Johnson were attractive to look at and Don Stroud was over-the-top 'cartoonish' as the junkie addicted to LSD. A young Seymour Cassel and future "Dirty Harry" co-star, Albert Popwell pops up in tiny roles.In short, every Clint Eastwood film is a watchable one, especially directed by Don Siegel, but this one lacks a tight plot & assertive direction, it feels a bit redundant sometimes. Despite its flaws, it still works as a hour and a half of pure cinematographic escapism for a lazy Sunday afternoon at the movies.

I am a big fan of Clint Eastwood and have really enjoyed watching some of his films like the Dirty Harry series, Joe Kidd and of course Where Eagles Dare. Anyway, I was thoroughly entertained while watching Coogan's Bluff. The films starts off with a typically defiant Eastwood who as result is sent to New York City as a result. The film offers a fairly unique story that involves some good actions scenes and a very well written story. It also gives the audience a chance to see New York in the 1960's which is a great setting for this film.Overall, I would recommend anyone to watch this film as it's only an hour and a half long, it doesn't drag on at all. It's not one of the greatest by a long way, however as like film with Clint Eastwood it is certainly worth the watch.

The raw violence in this film wasn't anything spectacular, but it was a foreshadowing of what was to come in the future.This film started a 10 year relationship between Eastwood and director Don Siegel. They would go on to do four more films, including Dirty Harry.You can contrast Eastwood's cool Coogan with the hokey McCloud that followed with Dennis Weaver.It's Harry Callhan with out a gun, so it is interesting from a historical perspective in the Eastwood acting career.It is also interesting to see the culture of the time being the Woodstock era.

What struck me about "Coogan's Bluff" is Clint Eastwood's performance. Here, he plays a cocky Arizona deputy who has little regard for his prisoner, as well as for acting on the directive of his superior in his home area.As a result, he gets sent to New York to retrieve a prisoner.And the "fish out of water" gets an education and then some.This film may have been a prototype of the "McCloud" television series, for sure. While there are elements I see from the "Dirty Harry" series of films, his character here is more the Arizona cowboy who has a sense of propriety than the San Francisco detective he portrays later on. For example, he reacts badly toward a parolee who is fondling Susan Clark's breast, early in the movie.The film is an education both for Coogan, and for his New York counterparts: By the end of the movie, he treats his prisoner (Don Stroud) with respect, offering him a cigarette (obviously something WAYYY dated), Lee J. Cobb learns to respect the Arizona deputy and Susan Clark clearly cares for the Arizona deputy.Its flaws notwithstanding (not all of the New York scenes were filmed there; some were done on a back lot in Hollywood), I consider this one of Clint Eastwood's best performances, playing an Arizona deputy, warts and all. And you gotta love the vintage footage of New York in late 1967, when this was filmed!!