Runtime: 94 minutes
Directed by: Don Siegel
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Lee J. Cobb, Susan Clark, Tisha Sterling, Don Stroud
From: Universal
RIP Lalo Schifrin
Even if it wasn’t for him comprising an all-timer of a theme for Mission: Impossible that is just as famous now as ever due to a beloved movie franchise, I’d be a big fan of his work. Praise hasn’t always been given to film composers and scores I dig, even from others I rate highly, like Jerry Goldsmith. In terms of the late Argentinian, I did happen to praise the unforgettable work he did on everything from the legendary pictures like Dirty Harry and Enter the Dragon to relative obscurities such as The Hellstrom Chronicle, The Big Brawl and St. Ives.
I’ll say more about Schifrin (including two of his musical albums) at the end; a reason why Coogan’s Bluff was selected: it was a famous film that hasn’t been seen and will be gone from the Criterion Channel after Monday. Star Clint Eastwood and director Don Siegel further intrigued; without a doubt, the star, director and composer all did better—that doesn’t mean I did not think Bluff wasn’t a good time.
The titular Coogan was a loose cannon sheriff’s deputy in rural Arizona; he’s not Dirty Harry, as I’ll elaborate upon in a moment. He flies to New York City to extradite a prisoner back to his home state; Coogan refuses to wait for prisoner Don Stroud to be released from the prison hospital due to after-effects of a bad LSD trip. He defies Lee J. Cobb (portraying exactly the sort of police Lieutenant you’d expect), Coogan’s plan is bungled and now he needs to find Ringerman the prisoner in a totally alien city where everyone assumes he’s from Texas due to his clothing & hat and hippies are totally confounding to a country boy.
The movie has a measured pace and I know not everyone will appreciate the main women roles (from Susan Clark and Tisha Sterling) are merely conduits that our lead uses to find his quarry. This was the biggest difference between Coogan and Dirty Harry Callahan, although there are others. It has both casual and blatant misogyny emblematic of the late 60’s.
Be that as it may, I was amused by the 10 or so minutes spent w/ the wacky hippies, various NYC locales are used-not just Times Square or Queens-there is nice action when it is present and Schifrin’s score was a highlight. There’s some strumming guitar for the Arizona opening but the sonic palate expands and the varied score includes sitar-for the “counterculture” moments-flute, piano, organ, bongos… it was a treat for me.
Coogan’s Bluff was one I liked more than loved; that is no slight when the movie was still watchable, featured memorable moments, had a nice score. As for Schifrin, his dad saddened me more than my enjoyment of numerous soundtracks—he also released various albums. This is a subject that deserves a deeper dive; only some of his 70’s jazz fusion albums were heard. What I’ve heard was awesome, at least to my aural sensibilities. The 1977 Free Ride album, where he collaborated w/ the legendary jazz trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, is full of bangers; so is his 1976 album Black Widow. His cover of the Theme from Jaws is an all-timer of a funk bomb. I recommend those for the (presumably) limited audience of those who will read this review.
Again, Rest in Peace Lalo Schifrin.
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