Coogan's Bluff
Tags: cult, violence

Plot synopsis:
Arizona deputy sheriff Walt Coogan is sent to New York City to extradite escaped killer James Ringerman. Detective Lieutenant McElroy informs him that Ringerman is recovering from an overdose of LSD, cannot be moved until the doctors release him, and that Coogan needs to get extradition papers from the New York State Supreme Court.
Coogan flirts with probation officer Julie Roth, then bluffs his way to Ringerman, tricks the attendants into turning him over, and sets out to catch a plane for Arizona. Before he can get to the airport, Ringerman's girlfriend Linny and a tavern owner named Pushie ambush Coogan and enable Ringerman to escape. Detective McElroy is furious.
Coogan learns Linny's name and obtains her address from Roth's home files. He tracks Linny to a nightclub, where she offers to lead him to Ringerman. Instead she takes Coogan to a pool hall where he is attacked by Pushie and a dozen men in a bloody battle. Coogan holds his own for a while but is eventually overpowered. After hearing sirens the men take off, but not before the beaten Coogan kills Pushie and two others. Detective McElroy finds the bar in pieces and a cowboy hat on the floor.
Coogan finds Linny and threatens to kill her if she does not lead him to Ringerman. She takes him to Ringerman, who is armed with a gun stolen from Coogan. Ringerman gets away on his motorcycle and Coogan commandeers a motorcycle of his own. Coogan gives chase through Fort Tryon Park and eventually captures Ringerman.
He hands the fugitive over to McElroy, who once again tells him to go to the DA's office and to let "the system handle this." Some time later Coogan, with Ringerman in cuffs, prepares to leave for the airport via helicopter. His last view is Julie Roth waving goodbye from the helipad.

Review: It isn't long before he's in New York City, chasing down an escaped extradited criminal (Don Stroud), romancing a beautiful parole officer (Susan Clark) and butting heads with a strong-willed police captain (Lee J.Cobb, a terrific, yet sadly forgotten character actor of the day).
Therefore, in a matter of fifteen minutes, Siegel cleverly introduces Eastwood as a contemporary figure, a transition that will be complete when he returns to modern times three years later in his most famous role, "Dirty Harry" Callahan.But "Coogan's Bluff" is an enjoyable film on its own terms.
Coogan's Bluff marked the first of six films that Clint Eastwood was to do with director Don Siegel, the most famous of them being of course Dirty Harry.
Walt Coogan (Clint Eastwood) an Arizona deputy sheriff is sent to New York to collect a prisoner (Don Stroud).
So now it's personal and he uses his western methods to recapture his man, but the city cops don't share his ways.Before they teamed up for the classic cop film "Dirty Harry" (1971) - Don Siegel directed Clint Eastwood in an earlier and under-appreciated cop drama "Coogen's Bluff".
This kind of set of the stage, I think, for his Dirty Harry series which began a couple of years after this.The story moves well and has some good action scenes, but, man, you can tell it is the late '60s and no longer the "classic era" in Hollywood with the nudity and no one with any moral standards..
While Dirty Harry watches over the streets of San Francisco, Coogan watches over Texas...I mean Arizona.Clint Eastwood plays Coogan, a man who is sent to New York to bring back prisoner James Ringerman (Don Stroud) to Arizona, his jurisdiction (although many assume at first he is from Texas due to the fact he nearly dresses like a cowboy).
Along the way he must get through Linny (James' girl; played by Susan Clark), Julie (Linny's probation officer; played by Tisha Sterling), Pushie (Ringerman's buddy; played by David Doyle), McElroy, and even Ringerman's mom (played by Betty Field).There were numerous chase/fight/confrontation scenes, however even with all that and Clint Eastwood and the expert directing of Don Siegel, the movie still falls slightly short.
Widely seen as the foundation for the titular character of the Dirty Harry series created three years later by star Eastwood and director Siegel, Coogan's Bluff is the first collaboration between the pair.Arizona deputy sheriff Coogan is well used to hunting down criminals and bringing them to justice, his wild west style of law enforcement reinforced by his cowboy hat and boots.
***SPOILERS*** After running down escaped from the reservation, for murdering his wife, convict Running Bear, Rudy Diaz, and then having a romp in the bathtub with his girlfriend the buxom Millie, Melodie Johnson, Shefiff's Detuty Coogen, Clint Eastwood, gets the bad news from his boss Sheriff McCrea, Tom Tully, that he's to travel to the Big Apple-New York City-to pick up and bring back to Arizona fugitive drug dealer Jim "Jimbo" Ringerman, Don Stroud,to stand trial in Phoenix for jumping bail and dealing drugs.
Realizing that he's been set up by Raven Coogen, after dispatching Ringermen's hoods, takes off for her in the village and persuades Raven, by threatening to punch her pretty face in, to lead him to her boyfriend Jimbo who's hiding out somewhere in upper Manhattan.***SPOILERS*** It's when Ringerman sees that the jig is up and he's about to be arrested by a hot and angry Coogen is when the long awaited action starts in the movie: A series of exciting chase scenes, on foot and on motorcycles, Ringerman getting caught and punched out by Coogen and finally, in him having no authority as a law enforcer in NYC, Coogen performing his civic duty by turning over to the NYPD a battered and barley conscious Ringerman via a citizens arrest!
"Coogan's Bluff" came out in 1968 and was overshadowed by "Bullitt" with it's spectacular chase scene and Clint Eastwood's much bigger action hit of that year, "Where Eagles Dare," but this film is essential for Clint fans if they haven't seen it.
I had high hopes for this flick, seeing how Don Siegel directed three of my all-time faves (...Body Snatchers, Charley Varrick, and Dirty Harry.) Coogan's Bluff turned out to be a real disapointment, with a mediocre, lazy script (the "fish out of water" jokes grew lame very quickly), a washed-out, ugly look,  and a really unconvincing romance (Clint mixes it up with "Webster" mom Susan Clark.) The awesome motorcycle chase at the end of the flick around the Cloisters did little to redeem the film.
You can tell that Coogan's Bluff is setting the ground work for that film.Eastwood plays Coogan, a misogynistic sheriff from Arizona who has to travel to New York City to extradite a prisoner named Ringerman (John Stroud) back to Arizona for trial.
The action scenes are few and far between and most of the movie seems to be about Coogan trying to get women in bed.Coogan's Bluff is interesting in that the character is pretty obviously the basis for the Dirty Harry role and that they went on to make a TV show based on the movie called McCloud.
The fish out of water routine will forever be done to death it would seem, but back here in 1968 it still held its salt and delivers an admirably tight fusion of the big city colliding with the Western genre.In the more than capable hands of director Don Siegel, and starring Clint Eastwood in the lead, Coogan's Bluff is fully aware of the time frame and the changes occurring in late 1960s America.
Serving as a bridge between his spaghetti western roles in Leone's films that turned him into a star overnight and the subsequent Dirty Harry series, Coogan's Bluff is not only entertaining, I'd say it's a minor triumph in Eastwood's career as an actor.Clint Eastwood is Dpt. Sheriff Coogan, dispatched to NYC to escort a prisoner he helped bring to justice, back to Arizona for trial.
Here Eastwood breaks out into a cop role but he still isn't shedding the cowboy image entirely as he plays an Arizona cop complete with western stetson and boots who comes to New York City to return a criminal wanted in Arizona.
Don Stroud as the escaped murderer on the run, and Lee J Cobb as the lead New York investigator added depth to their characters and helped round out a strong castThis movie contains a good musical score, lot's of action, and lots of Clint Eastwood at his bad ass best.
in this film Clint Eastwood plays the title character,an Arizona cop who plays by his own rules.sounds familiar,doesn't it?it's basically Dirty Harry before Dirty Harry,although not quite as aggressive or violent.the Dirty Harry template is definitely there though.anyway,Coogan disobeys his superiors once to often ,and gets assigned a job he doesn't want.from there things go from bad to worse,as the job turns out to be more than just boring and routine.i liked the movie for the most part.there were a few slow parts,but not enough kill the movie.the acting was aces by all.i especially like Susan Clark (TV's Webster)and Lee J.
Clint Eastwood is ready to ease off the spurs and try crunching some pavement.Playing the same general role under the same director just a few years apart, comparisons between Coogan's Bluff and the subsequent masterpiece Dirty Harry are unavoidable.
"Coogan's Bluff" was the first time Clint Eastwood worked with Don Siegel and the film certainly delivers.
Stroud unfortunately doesn't get a lot to do, the way that the story is written, but the supporting cast, led by the always solid Cobb, includes familiar faces such as Betty Field, James Edwards, David Doyle, Louis Zorich, Seymour Cassel, Albert Popwell (who would go on to appear in four of the "Dirty Harry" movies), and Conrad Bain.A well paced and consistently entertaining movie, "Coogan's Bluff" later evolved into the 'McCloud' TV series with Dennis Weaver.Seven out of 10..
Clint Eastwood plays an Arizona(not Texas!) police officer named Coogan who goes to New York to collect a wanted prisoner for extradition.
Or, as cheesy as it is- though not in the careful and deductive Siegel style- the scene where Coogan has to maneuver his way through a hippie club, with strobe lights et all, hardly the thing one would ever think of seeing Eastwood (in a cowboy hat and boots no less) walking through.And as it is meant to be a cool action thriller, there's a tight fight scene in a billiards, and a very excitingly executed motorcycle chase through the polo-grounds.
A young Seymour Cassel and future "Dirty Harry" co-star, Albert Popwell pops up in tiny roles.In short, every Clint Eastwood film is a watchable one, especially directed by Don Siegel, but this one lacks a tight plot & assertive direction, it feels a bit redundant sometimes.
Coogans Bluff (1968)Plot In A Paragraph: Coogan (Eastwood) an Arizona deputy, goes to New York City to escort a fugitive back into custody.Before Hang Em High had been released, Eastwood had set to work on this movie, a project which saw him reunite with Universal Studios after an offer of $1 million, more than doubling his previous salary.The thing I like most about this movie was it's tag line "Clint Eastwood gives New York 24 hours to get out of town"Outside of saying it's the first time Clint worked with Don Siegel, there is not much to say here, it's a pretty generic fish out of water cop movie.
Add to that his showing the rogue Indian who's boss by making him change into white man's garments, and you've got one of the few anti-counterculture movies to come out of rebellious 1968.The film itself is entertaining enough, the premise being a pregnant one of a western sheriff tangling with big city police bureaucracy (Cobb) over remanding a fugitive (Stroud) back to Arizona.
Cobb has a thankless role as the obligatory New York cop who keeps trying to resist Coogan's invasion of the Big Apple, to no avail.By the end of a truly wretched 90 plus minutes, you'll have sat through a miasmic and oh-so-topical stew of breast jokes and gropings, naked Indians, crooked cabbies, drunks, whores, heartless NYPD patrolmen, perverted parolees, druggies, simpering homosexuals and nasty lesbians, bare breasts and bottoms covered with hippie slogans, a criminal waste of the talents of the entire supporting cast, and possibly the worst performance Eastwood has ever given.After being slobbered over and taken advantage of by Clint, Clark calls him a "bastard," then shows up, all smiles and mini-skirt, to wave him off as he flies back to Arizona.Irresistible this ain't..
Eastwood is portraying a very similar character - tough, cynical old school cop trying to maintain law and order in a world that doesn't seem to want it.While "Dirty Harry" still holds up well today (2016) due to an engaging story line, tight script, and a tremendous supporting cast topped off by a mesmerizing Andy Robinson as the deranged Scorpio killer, "Coogan's Bluff" looks like a pair of bell bottom jeans we find in an old foot locker.
I am a big fan of Clint Eastwood and have really enjoyed watching some of his films like the Dirty Harry series, Joe Kidd and of course Where Eagles Dare.
The first in a series of films that starred Clint Eastwood and directed by Don Siegel, they both worked together again for the films Two Mules for Sister Sara, The Beguiled, Dirty Harry and Escape from Alcatraz (might count Play Misty for Me as Clint gave Don a cameo role).Coogan's Bluff stars Clint as Sheriff Coogan who gets sent to New York City from Arizona to pick up a fugitive who is wanted for murder.The character Coogan is definitely a lot like the more iconic character Harry Callahan which came along a few years later in Dirty Harry.
A fish-out-of-water comic action film in which Eastwood's cop cowboy is sent to New York to track down an escaped criminal.
For director Don Siegal, it was, like the same year's "Madigan," another early examination of the maverick police officer that would reach its zenith with 1971's "Dirty Harry." For Eastwood, it's an interesting blend of the genre for which he was best known at the time--the western--and of the urban crime thrillers with which he would achieve superstardom.
For director Don Siegal, it was, like the same year's "Madigan," another early examination of the maverick police officer that would reach its zenith with 1971's "Dirty Harry." For Eastwood, it's an interesting blend of the genre for which he was best known at the time--the western--and of the urban crime thrillers with which he would achieve superstardom.
COOGAN'S BLUFF was the first major US film to star Clint Eastwood after his famous trio of Spaghetti westerns with Sergio Leone.Here Eastwood began another productive actor/director partnership with Don Siegel,one of Hollywood's best action directors.The film is predictably at it's strongest when it concentrates on that said action rather than dialogue or plot,which both seem undernourished and slightly mundane.Eastwood's acting style at this stage of his career was often described by some critics as wooden;an unfair description as his portrayal here (and in other vehicles around this period) of a taciturn,monosyllabic tough guy had considerable style and believability,and was usually nothing less than convincing.The best performance though comes from the splendid Lee J.Cobb as a wry,world weary New York Police Lieutentant reluctantly obeying the rules in contrast to the rebellious,no-nonsense style of the Arizona-based Coogan (Eastwood),who wants to return to the open plains without delay with a fugitive prisoner (Don Stroud).This is basically the main crux of the plot,a rather routine and over-familiar story which is not helped by a romantic sub-plot involving probation officer Susan Clark which lacks credibility.Her changes of mood with Coogan are far too sudden (hating him one moment,then virtually adoring him the next) to be plausible,and our belief is further strained in having the cuddly David Doyle (Bosley in CHARLIE'S ANGELS) miscast as a vicious gangster.
But Siegel's location and studio work in New York is well observed,all seedy-looking offices and apartments,a contrast to the desert vistas of the opening scenes.There is a dated but edifying look at hippie culture which began to take over the world at this time,with a gloriously kitsch sequence in an outrageously named nightspot (The Pigeon-Toed Orange Peel) with a rather catchy song being played with the same moniker;a stetson-topped Clint walks his way through the revellers decidedly unimpressed!The film's highlights are two very well-staged action sequences; one a ferocious brawl in the most run-down of pool rooms,and a motorcycle chase through a Park where Eastwood eventually captures Stroud.There is a spectacular final shot of a helicopter taking off from the PANAM building,with Miss Clark again rather curiously bidding a loving farewell to Eastwood,now firmly in control of his desired prey Stroud.COOGAN'S BLUFF somewhat lacks in the depth of later Siegel-Eastwood collaborations,particularly DIRTY HARRY.It later inspired the TV series MCCLOUD,starring Dennis Weaver,though the reworking was only superficial as Weaver's character was rather more affable and mature than Eastwood's depiction here;in this sense,COOGAN'S BLUFF does not suffer in comparison and works as a very watchable and well made action drama.RATING:6 and a half out of 10..
James Ringerman committed some kind of crime in Arizona where Coogan (Clint Eastwood) was a deputy sheriff, James gets caught in New York City and Coogan's boss after a good chewing out sends Coogan to bring him back.
Coogans Bluff, though widely forgotten when compared to the 'dollars' trilogy or the Dirty Harry movies, is one of Clint Eastwoods best projects and boasts what I feel is his best on-screen performance.Arizona Deputy Sheriff Coogan is dispatched to New York to extradite a New York Junkie to face trial for his Crimes in the West.
He arrives at the district Police Station to pick up his fugitive and take him home, but His task is not as cut and dried as he had hoped when he meets bad tempered but good natured veteran Cop McElroy (Lee J Cobb) who tells Coogan that his prisoner James Ringerman (played menacingly by Don Stroud), has already taken a 'trip' of a different nature and is in the Prison Ward at Belview Hospital.Coogan's set back means that he has to stay in New York longer than he had planned (or hoped).
Coogan's Bluff (1968) (Universal Pictures) Dir:- Donald Siegel Theatrical Rating R/15Clint Eastwood (Coogan) is a Deputy Sheriff from Arizona who arrives in New York City to extradite a Prisoner back home, but things don't go according to plan when the criminal goes on the run.Great movie that's wonderfully dated- great 1960's feeling with Hippies and Junkies and ridiculous hairstyles and bars complete with go-go dancers and fantastic names like 'The Pigeon footed orange peel' I like Clint Eastwood and here he plays a cross between the man with no name and Dirty Harry to great effect wonderful actor J.lee Cobb has a really pleasing role as the New York lieutenant trying to curb Eastwood's Anticsco-starring Don Stroud,Susan Clark and Tisha SterlingFinal Verdict:- Just as good as 'Dirty Harry' and Highly RecommendedRating:- 8/10 or **** out of *****.
The film with which "Coogan's Bluff" is most often compared, however, is Clint Eastwood's second police movie, "Dirty Harry".
In this movie, Eastwood is Deputy Sheriff Coogan, an Arizona cop tasked with bringing home a fugitive from New York City.
Clint Eastwood plays a tough cop from Arizona who's been sent to New York City to bring a prisoner (Don Stroud) back to face charges.
Having incurred the wrath of his boss, "Deputy Sheriff Coogan" (Clint Eastwood) is sent from Arizona to New York to bring back a fugitive by the name of "James Ringerman" (Don Stroud).
The precursor to "Dirty Harry", "Coogan's Bluff" sees actor Clint Eastwood playing Walt Coogan, a deputy sheriff from Arizona sent to New York City to extradite a small time criminal.