Coogan's Bluff brought us a glimpse of what Clint Eastwood's iconic Dirty Harry Callahan before Dirty Harry was even made. Coogan's Bluff is the story of a Deputy Sheriff from Arizona who is assigned to bring a prisoner back from New York for trial.
Coogan is a bend the rules, my way or the highway, authority bucking, loner. This is firmly established from the start when Coogan ignores a dispatcher's direction to get in touch with the Sheriff. Coogan has a job to do and by george no one, not even the Sheriff is going to stop him. His punishment for ignoring the directive is tp go to New York and bring a murder suspect back for trial.
Of course, small town Deputy Sheriff Coogan is a fish out of water. His old-world outlook on life is a far cry from city folk in the late 60's. Bureaucratic red tape to get the prisoner in his custody is not going to slow him down. He will a find a way around that to bring the prisoner back with him as quickly as possible. It's not like the guy's friends will hit him over the head with a blackjack so the guy can escape. Now a perturbed Coogan hunts down his fugitive in New York forgoing any assistance from the NYPD.
When it was released, it was controversial due to its graphic depiction of violence. By today's standards, we wouldn't even blink at it. What would be controversial today is Coogan's handling of a Native American prisoner in the opening of the movie and his views on women and how to woo them. If you aren't able to keep in mind sensibilities over half a century ago are different than today, I wouldn't recommend you watching it. If you are a fan a good ole Clint Eastwood picture though, stream it on Amazon Prime.
