What if I were to tell you that Mark from North Hollywood, the fine fellow who showed off his vintage Gran Torino to some guy from Village Roadshow Pictures, might not exist, and that Dirty Harry in Not My Grandson!!! might be as close to production as The Day After the Clown Cried?
Though the wild speculation was fun, Edward Havens of FilmJerk.com is bringing us all back to reality today with word that Clint Eastwood’s mysterious Gran Torino is really just “a simple, quiet and compelling drama about Walt (Eastwood), a rural bigot who finds his outlook on life changed after a family of Hmong immigrants move in to the home next to his own, striking up a friendship with the family’s teenaged son Tao over the older man’s now-classic car.” Ah, the palliative power of an automobile made famous by a pair of 70s television cops.
I doubt Havens would hit us with a load of counter-hooey so soon after the highly improbable Dirty Harry news, so I’m inclined to believe this is the real story. It certainly sounds like the kind of quiet, reflective tale that would appeal to Eastwood after two war films (Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima) and a period kidnapping drama (Changeling). While I’d love to see Eastwood go the revisionist route with Harry Callahan (provided he had a solid screenplay), it just doesn’t seem that that’s where his head is at nowadays (the other project he’s been developing is about Nelson Mandela bringing the 1995 Rugby World Cup to South Africa). Dirty Harry movies don’t win Oscars (though they fuckin’ well should!).
Speaking of which, I suppose we should pencil in Gran Torino for a Best Picture nomination. It hasn’t begun shooting yet, but Eastwood’s confident he’ll deliver the film by December. Given his legendary efficacy, he could probably start principal photography in October and hit that date.
10 comments
well we could all dream about another dirty harry
Aw shucks.
Well, Clint could be trying to throw fake stories out there… but probably not. Anyway, another Dirty Harry movie would have to follow Stallone's lead and be called "Harry Callahan".
*sob* the dream is over.
Good. I hope this story is true. It might have worked for Stallone but I'd lose an awful amount of the respect I have for Eastwood if he trotted out a new Dirty Harry movie this late.
I like the idea–really. More than the previous one, too
I'm certainly more inclined to believe this plotline, which begs the question…why didn't Warner just release a few details in the first place? The whole thing started when the trades launched a red flag over the project's secrecy.
It's understandable, since Eastwood had previously said he had more or less retired from acting. When Paul Haggis offered him In The Valley Of Elah, Eastwood flatly told him he didn't think he could top Million Dollar Baby. So naturally, it tends to make everyone curious to find out exactly what has lured him back.
Adding to the confusion: Movieweb has also claimed that the Dirty Harry rumor is true: http://www.movieweb.com/news/81/27481.php
Anyway, a friend just emailed me a story from the UK's Scotsman, which essentially treats the Dirty Harry idea as if it's true. I really don't understand why someone hasn't been able to confirm or deny it by now- or why Warner doesn't just step in to end the deception? Eastwood has encountered this rumor a few times over the years, but it's one that has always been quickly denied.
The Grandson element of the original rumour was a dead giveaway surely. Last time we saw Harry Callaghan he was still a childless widower. Not even cinema's toughest cop can generate grandchildren without first having children. And it's only been twenty years since we last saw him.
Bullshit or not?
Don't believe the mis-information. There's a very good reason why neither Warners, nor Eastwood himself, chose not to debunk the original story. A story that was reported all over the world no less, on everything from entertainment roundup columns to morning tv. All will be revealed. Soon.
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