While cop shows had been a part of popular culture for decades, it wasn’t until Clint Eastwood’s immortal Inspector Harry Callahan came along that American cinema had its quintessential “tough guy” cop flick. While Joe Friday and other cops of yesteryear may have had their tough exteriors, they still played strictly by the rules. Eastwood’s Callahan broke them all. While Steve McQueen’s Frank Bullitt was the model for cool and Gene Hackman’s Popeye Doyle was the measure of chaos, it was “Dirty” Harry Callahan who outlived them all in the minds of the public.

Like most Hollywood production stories, this one has an alternate beginning, a beginning in which the role had been intended for several others. Frank Sinatra was the first to turn the role down with the aging Duke refusing it next (reportedly saying that he wasn’t interested in “Sinatra’s leftovers”). Paul Newman also turned down the role but suggested to the producers that it was perfect for Eastwood. The rest is history.

Eastwood also shared some of the director’s duties, both in filming (he subbed for Don Siegel on a few sequences while the latter was out sick) and casting. Andrew Robinson got the role of the villain Scorpio after Eastwood saw the unknown actor in a stage production of Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s “The Idiot.” Robinson’s unnerving choices combined with his “choir boy” looks made him an ideal departure from grizzled villains of eras past. Robinson’s portrayal was so effective that he received death threats (the film was loosely based on the Zodiac killings taking place in San Francisco at that time.) The irony, of course, was that Robinson was a devout pacifist who was absolutely terrified of firearms.

The film follows Inspector Callahan as he and his rookie partner, Chico Gonzalez (Reni Santoni) attempt to foil the plot of the serial killer known as Scorpio. Having successfully killed a young woman, Scorpio threatens to kill one person every day until the city pays him a ransom. Callahan and Gonzalez sort through the scant clues and end up foiling Scorpio’s later attempt to kill, an act that infuriates Scorpio into kidnapping, raping, and eventually killing another woman and doubling his ransom. Callahan finally tracks him down to his home inside a stadium where he illegally searches his premises and tortures him for a confession. With his brutal tactics in question, Callahan is reprimanded and worse yet, Scorpio is set free because of the technicality. With Callahan in hot pursuit, Scorpio hijacks a bus full of school children and demands not only another ransom, but also a jet to whisk him away from the U.S. Callahan responds with signature violence, saving the kids and wounding Scorpio in one final showdown. With Scorpio contemplating picking up his gun in order to shoot Callahan, “Dirty” Harry utters the immortal words, “‘Do I [you] feel lucky?’ Well, do ya, punk?” Scorpio guesses wrong and proves unlucky as Callahan has one bullet left to blast him. The film ends with the famous scene of Callahan throwing his badge into the drink, an homage to Gary Cooper in High Noon.

“Dirty” Harry Callahan would not only go on to appear in four sequels, but his lines and mannerisms would become immortalized throughout other films. The .44 Magnum pistol (or any gigantic revolver, for that matter) became synonymous with the name of “Dirty” Harry. Tough guy characters in future movies inevitably displayed “Dirty” Harry posters on their bedroom walls. Protagonists perpetrating violent acts to achieve results have often been jokingly labeled as a “Dirty” Harry. Songs have been written about the famous anti-hero, and a 2007 video game (voiced by Eastwood himself) promises to put the power of justice in the hands of a whole generation familiar with the legend but not the film.