Countdown to 5K! – #2 – Coogan’s Bluff (1968)

This is my 4927th Review

Original Rating prediction – 8/10

“[while holding a broken bottle in Wonderful Digby’s face] All right now, I don’t like violence, Mr. Wonderful whatever your name is. You better drop that blade, or you won’t believe what happens next, even while it’s happening.” – Coogan

Number of Times Seen – 1 (1 Feb 2019)

Brief Synopsis – A policeman from Arizona is sent to new York City to bring back a fugitive.

My Take on it – This is another film that I’ve heard about yet never had the opportunity to see what it was all about.

This is Clint Eastwood pre-Dirty Harry and we get to see how he plays this rural detective role quite well.

His no-gruff attitude helps make his character quite fascinating to watch as he gathers clues as to the whereabouts of his fugitive.

Th story is a bit choppy along the way but it still allows for us to see how a cop from the west could use his skills and wits to find his fugitive while attempting to bypass the city cop bureaucracy the whole time.

The contrasts between the rural and city cops works quite well here and we get to see how each uses different perspectives while looking at a crime.

This actually helps make the story even more thrilling and interesting since we never quite know what the character will do next since that leads to some intriguing surprises along the way.

Bottom Line – Eastwood is great in this role and his no gruff attitude helps move the story along. The story is a bit choppy but we get to see how his character uses his rural detective mind and wits to try and solve this case while attempting to bypass the city cop bureaucracy along the way. They do a nice job showing how cops from different areas look at crimes from varying perspectives and that helps keep the story even more thrilling because we aren’t always sure what this character will do next in order to track down his man. Recommended!

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – This movie was the inspiration for the TV series McCloud (1970) starring Dennis Weaver. Herman Miller had written the story for Coogan’s Bluff and then later changed a few details to create McCloud. (From IMDB)

Rating – Globe Worthy (7/10)