“Coogan’s Bluff” is the surprisingly entertaining blueprint for what would become “Dirty Harry” as it stars Clint Eastwood, who famously portrayed Harry Callahan in the “Dirty Harry” series, in a similar role and it is directed by Don Siegel, who directed the first “Dirty Harry” outing. Although it has its flaws it features a tough guy action to make it a satisfying picture.

A disobedient Arizona deputy, named Coogan (Eastwood), has to travel to pick up a prisoner named James Ringerman (Don Shroud) and escort him back to Arizona but unfortunately Ringerman escapes with Coogan’s gun and now Coogan has been thrown off the case so if he wants to get this fugitive he is going to have to do without firepower and without a valid badge.

Coogan is one of the manliest of men as women can’t resist them and all men want to be just like him. What’s great about this character is we never see him kill anyone and the only time he has his gun out is at the very beginning of the film. The villain is very unmemorable. The other characters aren’t very good either and they’ll all be forgotten after you walk out of the movie.

There is a scene in this film with a wild party for drug takers and there is a massive projection on the wall of lots of things including nude women and a brief piece of footage from the movie “Tarantula”, which Eastwood had a small role in, which I found an amusing reference.  “Coogan’s Bluff” isn’t great entertainment and it lacks the realistic grit found in “Dirty Harry” (well the first one at least) and it isn’t as moving as some of Eastwood’s later movies but it certainly has a quirky charm to it that cannot be denied.