Coogan’s Bluff **** (1968, Clint Eastwood, Lee J Cobb, Susan Clark, Tisha Sterling, Don Stroud) – Classic Movie Review 2,572

Don Siegel’s exciting 1968 cop thriller film Coogan’s Bluff stars Clint Eastwood as an Arizona deputy sheriff who travels to New York City to extradite a prisoner (Don Stroud), who escapes and is wanted for murder.

Producer-director Don Siegel’s exciting 1968 cop thriller film Coogan’s Bluff stars Clint Eastwood, who plays the beady-eyed Western deputy sheriff Coogan sent from Arizona to New York City to collect a prisoner named Jimmy Ringerman (Don Stroud), who escapes and is wanted for murder. Coogan is ordered home, but sets out to recapture his prisoner and teach the parochial locals a few things – like he’s not actually from Texas!

Herman Miller’s story may now be very familiar, especially since the movie later became the model or inspiration for Dennis Weaver’s TV series McCloud (1970–1977). But Eastwood gives an iconic performance in his first collaboration with his movie mentor, director Don Siegel, before they made Dirty Harry together.

And the film is still fresh and exciting, thanks to the quintessential Eastwood performance, strong support turns, fast-paced direction and atmospheric locations. Lee J Cobb steals the show as Lieutenant McElroy, the city cop Clint clashes with, and there is good work from Susan Clark as romantic probation officer Julie Roth and Tisha Sterling as young hippie Linny Raven.

Also in the cast are Betty Field, Tom Tully, Melodie Johnson, James Edwards, Rudy Diaz, David F Doyle, Louis Zorich (as taxi driver), Meg Myles, Marjorie Bennett, John Coe and Seymour Cassel (as a young hood, and still busy working in 2015). Siegel gives himself a cameo as the man in an elevator.

Coogan’s Bluff in New York City is a large cliff extending northward from 155th Street in Manhattan.

The New York nightclub Coogan is searching is screening a scene from Eastwood’s early film Tarantula (1955).

It is the first of Siegel’s five collaborations with Eastwood, which also include Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970), The Beguiled (1971), Dirty Harry (1971) and Escape from Alcatraz (1979).

Executive Jennings Lang, a former agent of Don Siegel, made the deal, bringing together the Universal contract director with rising star Eastwood. Lang arranged for them to meet at Eastwood’s home in Carmel, California. Eastwood had seen and was impressed by three of Siegel’s movies. The two became friends, forming a close partnership.

Seymour Cassel died of Alzheimer’s disease on 7 April 2019, aged 84. He appeared in more than 200 films and TV shows in a career spanning more than 50 years. He made his film debut in John Cassavetes’s first film Shadows (1959).

Don Stroud (who also played in Siegel’s Madigan and Eastwood’s Joe Kidd) appeared as Sheriff Bill Sharp in Django Unchained (2012). He was paid $10,000 to appear nude as a centrefold in Playgirl Magazine in 1973. He came to the aid of a man being mugged on the street in Greenwich Village in the 1990s, got stabbed ten times and was blinded in his right eye.

Don Stroud in the trailer for Coogan’s Bluff (1968).

Don Stroud was born on 1 September 1943.

Clint and Susan Clark in the trailer for Coogan’s Bluff (1968).

Coogan’s Bluff is directed by Don Siegel, runs 94 minutes, is made by The Malpaso Company, is released by Universal Pictures, is written by Herman Miller, Dean Riesner and Howard Rodman, based on a story by Herman Miller, is shot by Bud Thackery, is produced by Don Siegel, and is scored by Lalo Schifrin.

Release date: October 2, 1968.

It was released in the US on 2 October 1968, where it grossed $3.11 million on a budget of $1.5 million,

The cast are Clint Eastwood as Walt Coogan, Lee J Cobb as Lieutenant McElroy, Susan Clark as Julie Roth, Tisha Sterling as Linny Raven, Don Stroud as James Ringerman, Betty Field as Ellen Ringerman, Tom Tully as Sheriff McCrea, Melodie Johnson as Millie, James Edwards as Sergeant Jackson, Rudy Diaz as Running Bear, David F Doyle as Pushie, Louis Zorich as Taxi Driver, Meg Myles as Big Red, Marjorie Bennett as Mrs Fowler, Seymour Cassel as John, Young Hood, John Coe as Bellboy, Skip Battyn as Omega, Albert Popwell as Wonderful Digby, Conrad Bain as Madison Avenue Man, James Gavin as Ferguson, Albert Henderson as Desk Sergeant, James McCallion as Room Clerk, Syl Lamont as Manager, Jess Osuna as Prison Hospital Guard, Jerry Summers as Good Eyes, Antonia Rey as Mrs Amador, Marya Henriques as Go-Go Dancer, James Dukas as Prison Hospital Doctor, Eve Brent as Hooker, Robert Osterloh as Deputy, Linda Clifford as Hippie Girl, Don Siegel as Elevator Passenger, and Kristoffer Tabori as Elevator Passenger.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 2,572

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