Review of Coogan's Bluff (1968) by Blake P — 02 Dec 2014

WOW.....WOW.....WOW.....WOW....BRILLIANT....FANTASTIC.....GENIUS.....AMAZING.....man I have just seen this movie 4 the 1st time n think that this is such a fantastic movie 2 watch.....its got a good cast of actors/actresses throughout this movie......I think that clint eastwood, susan clark, tisha sterling, betty field (.R.I.P.), tom tully (.R.I.P.), Lee j cobb (.R.I.P.), play good roles/parts throughout this movie......I think that the director of this drama/action/adventure/classics movie had done a great job of directing this movie because you never know what 2 expect throughout this movie......I think that this is such a classics movie 2 watch, I think that this is such a really well written/acted/directed movie 2 watch.....

Production.

Before Hang 'Em High had been released, Eastwood had set to work on Coogan's Bluff, a project which saw him reunite with Universal Studios after an offer of $1 million, more than doubling his previous salary. Jennings Lang was responsible for the deal. Lang was a former agent of Don Siegel, a Universal contract director who was invited to direct Eastwood's second major American film. Eastwood was not familiar with Siegel's work but Lang arranged for them to meet at Clint's residence in Carmel. Eastwood had seen three of Siegel's earlier films, was impressed with his directing and the two became friends, forming a close partnership in the years that followed.

The idea for Coogan's Bluff originated in early 1967 as a TV series and the first draft was drawn up by Herman Miller and Jack Laird, screenwriters for Rawhide. It is about a character named Sheriff Walt Coogan, a lonely deputy sheriff working in New York City.

After Siegel and Eastwood had agreed to work together, Howard Rodman and three other writers were hired to devise a new script as the new team scouted for locations including New York and the Mojave desert. However, Eastwood surprised the team one day by calling an abrupt meeting and professed to strongly dislike the script, which by now had gone through seven drafts, preferring Herman Miller's original concept. This experience would also shape Eastwood's distaste for redrafting scripts in his later career.

Eastwood and Siegel hired a new writer, Dean Riesner, who had written for Siegel in the Henry Fonda TV film Stranger on the Run. Eastwood did not communicate with the screenwriter until one day Riesner criticized a scene Eastwood had liked which involved Coogan having sex with Linny Raven in the hope that she would take him to her "boyfriend." According to Riesner, Eastwood's "face went white and gave me one of those Clint looks".

The two soon reconciled their differences and worked on a script in which Eastwood had considerable input. Don Stroud was cast as the psychopathic criminal Coogan is chasing, Lee J. Cobb as the disagreeable New York City Police Department lieutenant, Susan Clark as a probation officer who falls for Coogan and Tisha Sterling as the drug-using lover of Stroud's character. Filming began in November 1967 even before the full script had been finalized.

Coogan's Bluff was released in the United States in October 1968, where it grossed over $3.1 million. The film was controversial for its portrayal of violence, but it had launched a collaboration between Eastwood and Siegel that lasted more than ten years, and set the prototype for the macho hero that Eastwood would play in the Dirty Harry films. The script of the film foreshadows the McCloud television series that starred Dennis Weaver.

The DVD version of Coogan's Bluff is edited by approximately three minutes in all regions for unknown reasons. The missing scenes include Coogan receiving his assignment to return Ringerman from New York, a short scene in a hospital, and a scene in which Julie talks about Coogan's Bluff, a lookout point over the ocean near New York (the real Coogan's Bluff is a site on Manhattan Island between Washington Heights and Harlem), tying the location into the film's title. The earlier video release did not have these edits, and was released uncut.

Man this is such a cult classics movie 2 watch, I think that this is such a brilliant movie 2 watch........I think that this is such a really well written/acted/directed movie 2 watch, its got great car chases throughout this movie.......I think that the bar scenes was really good throughout this movie, when clint eastwood gets into a fight with the men at the bar......man this is such a cult classics movie 2 watch, its got good fight scenes throughout this movie....man this is such a fantastic movie 2 watch, its got a great cast throughout this movie....man this is such a really gritty tough cop movie 2 watch, it is such a thrilling movie 2 watch, its got a great cast throughout this movie it is such a brilliant movie 2 watch, with a great cast throughout this movie......