Time between Dirty Harry and Magnum Force?

[herofan]

I believe there was two years between the release of Dirty Harry and Magnum Force.  Was there an indication of how much time was supposed to have elapsed in the story?  Was it assumed two years or sooner. 

[KC]

It's been a long time since I watched the two back to back, but I don't recall there is any indication of a difference in "story time" and "actual time." Is there something in the storyline that makes you think it might have taken place immediately after the events of Dirty Harry, or less than two years later?

[herofan]

It's been a long time since I watched the two back to back, but I don't recall there is any indication of a difference in "story time" and "actual time." Is there something in the storyline that makes you think it might have taken place immediately after the events of Dirty Harry, or less than two years later?

It's tough to tell.  i always assumed that two years had passed, but I know that some sequels pick up immediately after the last, such as the early Rocky movies.  Harry answers to a new Lt. and Harry is not working Homicide in the beginning thanks to Briggs.  Perhaps Harry has had time to have an incident that caused Briggs to put him on stakeout, unless he has been on it for two years, which could also be possible. 

The thing that leads me to believe a shorter time period has passed is when the uniform police are taking bets on how long Smith will stay alive being Harry's partner.   It appears Smith is a new partner, which means Harry has been without a partner for two years if it's in real time, which seems unusual. 

[KC]

Well, I suppose he could have been with someone other than Smith. Maybe Chico changed his mind, and came back to the force after all ... and then got reassigned somewhere? Just speculating now!

[The Man With No Aim]

Didn't Harry throw his badge in the sea at the end of Dirty Harry? With my old man trick memory I am not too sure of anything any more. That gesture indicated to me that Harry had some really important issue about continuing to be a cop. An issue of such gravity that it would not be settled in just one day and 98 minutes.

I can easily imagine that it would have taken Harry every bit of two years to resolve the issue and get back into the groove of being a righteously aggressive cop, as he was in Magnum Force.


Man

[KC]

Good point, Man ... though it wasn't the sea, it was a small lake or pond at Hutchinson Co. Quarry, Larkspur Landing. But either way the badge was gone and at that point, Harry seemed determined to quit the force.

[herofan]

Didn't Harry throw his badge in the sea at the end of Dirty Harry? With my old man trick memory I am not too sure of anything any more. That gesture indicated to me that Harry had some really important issue about continuing to be a cop. An issue of such gravity that it would not be settled in just one day and 98 minutes.

I can easily imagine that it would have taken Harry every bit of two years to resolve the issue and get back into the groove of being a righteously aggressive cop, as he was in Magnum Force.


Man

True.  There are so many possibilities, but nothing for certain. 

[exit00]

Good point, Man ... though it wasn't the sea, it was a small lake or pond at Hutchinson Co. Quarry, Larkspur Landing. But either way the badge was gone and at that point, Harry seemed determined to quit the force.

According to the Wikipedia page on the movie, this interesting note is stated about the final scene with Harry throwing his badge into the water.

"The final scene, in which Callahan throws his badge into the water, is an homage to a similar scene from 1952's High Noon.[21] Eastwood initially did not want to toss the badge, believing it indicated that Callahan was quitting the police department. Siegel argued that tossing the badge was instead Callahan's indication of casting away the inefficiency of the police force's rules and bureaucracy.[21] Although Eastwood was able to convince Siegel not to have Callahan toss the badge, when the scene was filmed, Eastwood changed his mind and went with the current ending"

[KC]

If I get a chance, I'll post the passage from Siegel's memoir where he talks about that tonight.

[The Schofield Kid]

It's tough to tell.  i always assumed that two years had passed, but I know that some sequels pick up immediately after the last, such as the early Rocky movies.  Harry answers to a new Lt. and Harry is not working Homicide in the beginning thanks to Briggs.  Perhaps Harry has had time to have an incident that caused Briggs to put him on stakeout, unless he has been on it for two years, which could also be possible. 

The thing that leads me to believe a shorter time period has passed is when the uniform police are taking bets on how long Smith will stay alive being Harry's partner.   It appears Smith is a new partner, which means Harry has been without a partner for two years if it's in real time, which seems unusual. 

Well, I suppose he could have been with someone other than Smith. Maybe Chico changed his mind, and came back to the force after all ... and then got reassigned somewhere? Just speculating now!

Watching Magnum Force today and in the scene where Early asks Harry about how long his last partner lasted. Harry replies, "Two weeks but don't worry, he's still alive, teaching college." So assuming Chico would have been in hospital for weeks or even months after getting shot then all the physiotherapy before getting a job teaching, I reckon 2 years.

[Christopher]

There's a line in The Enforcer where Kate says that she's heard about the partners Harry has lost in the past, and she mentions Smith in '72.