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Harry Callahan's statements can be described as sober and exemplary in clarity.
After a hunt through San Francisco, the inspector aims a revolver at the head of a child murderer lying on the ground in front of him, the man has his own weapon within reach.
In all the excitement of the pursuit, Callahan said to the guy at his feet that he had forgotten whether he still had a bullet available: “But this is a .44 Magnum, the strongest shooting stick in the world - and it blows your head straight down.
Maybe you should ask the one question, 'Am I lucky today?'
Well, what do you think, punk? ”The murderer reaches for his cannon, Callahan pulls the trigger, the perpetrator's head is gone.
So he was unlucky.
Clint Eastwood aka "Dirty Harry" (1971) has a quiz show of a special kind ready
Source: picture-alliance / Mary Evans Pi
Hardly any other film reflects the relationship between Americans and their handguns as well as Don Siegel's "Dirty Harry" from 1971 with Clint Eastwood in the lead role.
The degree of obsession can only be explained if you consider that an entire continent was conquered with the help of the killing machines.
And that, in turn, was largely due to someone who started production of the world's first drum revolver on March 5, 1836: Samuel Colt.
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The reputation of the man from Hartford, Connecticut, is such that his surname became the proverbial name for firearms - the TV series "Smoking Guns" is just one example of this.
The advantage of the revolver, in which the cartridges are stored in a drum that rotates, is that the construction is very simple and therefore always works.
Colt, who was born in 1814, was so enthusiastic about this design at the age of 16 that he carved a six-section model out of wood on a sailing voyage from Boston to Calcutta.
The prototypes that his father financed did not work, however.
Despite this, Colt received US patent number 9.430X on February 25, 1836 and produced the first prototypes in the same year.
In the east of the USA he had hardly any economic success, but even more so in the south.
In 1845, shortly before the start of the war with Mexico, the Texas Rangers were able to convince the Washington government to commission many of Colt's revolvers.
His company escaped bankruptcy as a result.
But Colt was not only saved by the reliability of his technology, but also by the efficiency of his production methods.
He relied on machine tools for manufacturing and quickly introduced the interchangeable parts system.
It stipulates that parts “A” that are manufactured at different times in different locations must fit together with parts “B” manufactured in the same way without reworking.
An idea that was to form the basis of Henry Ford's assembly line from 1914 onwards.
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In the 1870s, Colt's “Peacemaker” could be found on many hips in the Wild West - a name that lets you look deep into the American psyche.
This model made the name "Colt" synonymous with "Revolver", but that is wrong.
The company produces the M1911 pistol model and military assault rifles such as the M16.
Samuel Colt died in 1862. How would he have confessed to Dirty Harry's monologue?
One can only speculate about that.
In no way should he have been pleased that Callahan is walking a .44 Magnum.
This revolver is from the competition from Smith & Wesson.
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