Clint Eastwood and the ‘Dirty Harry’ remix that never happened
Many actors harbour dreams of making it as filmmakers, but Clint Eastwood is one of the few who not only managed to make the transition but did it with great success. Having established himself as an industry icon through his unforgettable collaborations with pioneers such as Sergio Leone, the American actor also earned critical acclaim for directorial efforts like Million Dollar Baby.
Even though many fans treat Eastwood the actor and Eastwood the director with the same amount of respect, it’s hard to deny that his appearances in front of the camera have had a much greater impact on the world of cinema. His portrayal of ‘The Man with No Name’ remains indelibly etched on the hearts of cinephiles everywhere.
A major part of his legacy is also the Dirty Harry series, where Eastwood’s interpretation of the antihero created a definitive framework within which his successors could operate. Ranging from uncountable imitators to parodies in shows like BoJack Horseman, the trope of the jaded detective who cannot play by the rules even if his life depended on it has become a meme now due to its ubiquity.
Interestingly, despite the extension of the movie series, Eastwood was also interested in a new take on the character and even spoke to American novelist Elmore Leonard about the possibility. During a conversation with Anthony May, the writer revealed that he had pitched an alternative, but it never saw the light of day.
Leonard revealed: “I took Mr. Majestyk from The Big Bounce and named the character, it’s a different guy completely, y’know. But I figured, I need a title, and I know Mr. Majestyk is a good title, and I figured, well, nobody’s read The Big Bounce. I’ll just use that name. Originally, this story was meant for Clint Eastwood. He had called up and said he wanted something new. I had written Joe Kidd, an original, for him. It was shot but not yet released. And he called up and said, Dirty Harry is making a lot of money everywhere, but he only had a few points in it, I gathered.”
The novelist added: “Now, he wanted to own his next property. What he wanted really was another Dirty Harry but different. And so I thought of Mr. Majestyk and I called him the next day and told him about a melon grower, just basically the situation, I’d just thought of it that minute. And he called back that night or rather just a little later that night and said he wasn’t seeing him as a melon grower, rather an artichoke farmer because artichokes were grown not far from where he lived.”
Eastwood was clearly interested in getting the rights to his own profitable IP, but unfortunately, that collaboration never materialised. Leonard’s screenplay of Mr. Majestyk was ultimately brought to the screen by Richard Fleischer. He cast Charles Bronson as the titular melon farmer who battles against several conflicts to keep his way of life afloat.
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