Underrated scene in The Enforcer

[don strouds combover]

While not my favourite Dirty Harry film , The Enforcer contains one of my fave scenes which I never seem to hear anyone mention.
Maybe I'm the only person affected by it , but to me, the scene between Harry and Big Ed Mustafa is particularly poignant and reveals a side of Harry rarely seen or discussed .
the dialogue i enjoy is:

Big Ed: Hey Callahan, you on the wrong side

Harry: How do you figure?

BE: You go out there everyday and put your ass on the line for a buncha dudes who wouldn't even let you in the front door, ANYMORE.........than they would me!

H : Oh , i don't do it for them...

BE : Who then?

H: you wouldn't believe me if i told ya....

to me this reveals Harry and defines part of him at the same time, and as a piece of cinema its wonderfully underplayed and delightfully understated.

It never fails to get a grin from me and is possibly the only real fraction of character development in the last 3 films of the series.

British cinema writers   Alan Frank and Iain Johnstone suggested Harry was a protector of the oppressed, the section of society most harmed by crime, I tend to agree and this succinct and fine scene seems to suggest this.

Thoughts, anyone?

[The Man With No Aim]

Well, I saw a steady progression of character development all the way through the first four (I have not yet watched five all the way through properly). I was genuinely impressed by the development in Sudden Impact, in which Harry displayed a rich, jaded, maturity that would be perfectly natural and expected for a good cop that has seen years of antisocial criminal behavior that seems to be unstoppable.

In fact, to be truthful, I thought The Enforcer portrayed Harry to be a little bit less stressed than I think a real life good cop with high ideals would have been at that stage of his career and personal maturity. 

[The Man With No Aim]

I apologize. I went off on a tangent and failed to specifically reply to your comment.

I completely agree that the scene you mentioned is a strong revelation of the Harry character development. It covers a lot of ground in just a few sentences to show us what Harry's motive is.

[don strouds combover]

I think you nailed the essence of Don Seigel's work with Clint right there,  " Covers alot a ground in a few sentences"  thats something these two collaborators excell at and i've always enjoyed their subtlety.