“How could I let it slip through my fingers?” John Wayne regretted turning down one of Clint Eastwood’s iconic roles for the rest of his life

In 1971, Clint Eastwood released Detective Harry, directed by Don Siegel, who immediately established himself as the new hero of modern American cinema after becoming a cowboy of questionable morals in Sergio Leone’s westerns. The success of the first Dirty Harry led to several sequels, including Magnum Force, released in 1973.

Wayne, who did not really hold Eastwood in his heart, still admits that he really enjoyed playing this role, which he turned down:

How do I let it slip through my fingers?

The actor clearly justifies his refusal John Wayne: The Man Behind the Myth from Michael Mooney :

“I refused for what seemed to me to be three good reasons. First, Frank Sinatra was offered, but he hurt his hand and couldn’t make it. I don’t like it when they come to me after refusing Sinatra. Put it on pride.”

“The second reason, I thought Harry was a bogus cop. I put that down to my closed mind, because when I saw the movie, I realized he fit the bill. “I’ve often played a guy who works within the law. But breaks the rules when he has to save others.

Would Wayne be relevant in Dirty Harry?

For director Don SiegelWayne would make a bad Dirty Harry, and for good reason:

He was very old and would object to a lot of things from Clint because Clint never cared about his image. Wayne, yes.

Because he deeply regretted turning down the role and its success, Wayne filmed a kind of Deputy Harry, Brannigan, in which he plays a police inspector with somewhat radical methods who finds himself chasing a criminal who is kidnapped for ransom.

It’s far from bad, but Brannigan still doesn’t quite match his model and Wayne’s age at the time – making his character a de facto cop with values ​​that are a little out of fashion in the world and which would better suit Wayne in a Western setting. At that time, he was not very comfortable with thrillers, as evidenced by the lesser-known thriller A Silencer at the End of the Cannon, which was released a year before Brannigan.