December 26, 1976 BIG SUR, CA — The Dirty Harry style, Clint Eastwood was explaining, is simplicity itself: “You start with this ultimate fantasy character, this guy who’s always fighting the establishment, who isn’t interested in the intricacies of society, who tells his boss to go to hell. You equip him with a .44 magnum, pointing out that it’s the most powerful handgun in the world. You make him a cop and send him out into the streets. And you whittle down his dialog.” Eastwood, as unlike this description as possible, was sipping herb tea on a veranda overlooking the Pacific. The dry December sunlight spilled down and the hills of Big Sur rose behind him, and his dialog wasn’t whittled down at all. Among other things, Eastwood talks a lot more than the characters he plays, perhaps because he has more to say.

“The movies all begin in the same way,” he said.

“There’s a dramatic scene, violent and sometimes humorous, that establishes his modus operandi. Then you get on with the story. It’s a format that appeals to audiences. I guess it appeals to me, too, or I wouldn’t do them. But ‘The Enforcer’ will probably be the last time around for Harry. After the first one, after ‘Dirty Harry,’ I said the same thing. But you get a good script, and you have to consider it.”