Character continuity question

[Smith&Wesson44]

New guy to the forum here.

I have a question that's been burning a hole in my head for ages now.  Here goes:

In Magnum Force, Hal Holbrook plays Lt. Briggs.  In The Enforcer, Brad Dillman plays Capt. McKay.  In Sudden Impact, Brad Dillman plays Capt. Briggs.  Coincidence? Mistake?  Purposeful?  The guy who plays Lt. Bressler stays the same, as does the guy who plays Lt./Capt. Donnelly.  Just a little confusing to me.  And don't even get me started on Al Popwell consistently coming back from the dead to play a different character every time.

[KC]

Hi, S&W and welcome. We discussed the "Briggs issue" a couple of years back. There doesn't seem to be any good explanation. Maybe the second Briggs is a cousin of the first ... and a twin brother, adopted by the Briggs family, of Capt. McKay.

As to Popwell ... well, Mario Brega, in the Leone Westerns, was even better at that kind of reappearing act, and his character was actually dead every time.

[Smith&Wesson44]

Hey thanks for the welcome.  I'll just chalk it up to one of those mysteries of the universe that will forever be unsolved.