Why does Clint Eastwood's Model 29 cylinder rotate when he pulls the trigger on an empty chamber at the end of this clip?


I have watched this a lot of times but never noticed it before....... maybe discussed before on the forum?

cheers, John

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Aussie in Norway

Different takes. They show him cock it but then cut to a front view. There was a break in between those two angles. They lost track of that and on the next take he just fired it DA.

Its a normal function for a S&W. Empty or not the cylinder will rotate to the next position/chamber.

Simple, it was a DA pull. Now, if he cocked the hammer on the last live round you know the next one would have fallen on a spent case...

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

Bad film editing by people that don't know how DA revolvers function.

Yes, I saw him cock it and then from another angle/cut it rotates like pulling the trigger D/A..... like you said, bad editing.

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Aussie in Norway

If you watch the entire clip and count the number of rounds Harry fires it comes to six, so the chamber was empty when he dropped the hammer on the downed bank robber. As an aside, Harry's sergeant will be doing paperwork for the next year b/c of all that damage.

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Old Cop
LEO (Ret.)

Yep...I agree...a double action pull on the last cylinder. Good catch!

Sent from my SM-T377P using Tapatalk

Both were done for dramatic effect.Like a star racking the slide several times on a 1911 during a fight scene.

Other questions --
Why doesn't Harry simply reload before approaching the wounded man?
Why does Harry turn his back on the man without ensuring that he doesn't have another weapon concealed somewhere?

And probably most important, why does Harry walk through spraying water without making any attempt to protect the revolver from getting wet?

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You're shy a few manners.

On a movie set there's one person whose job is "continuity". That's the person who prevents, say, a character wearing a hat in one shot, then a split-second later shown with no hat on. What you're seeing is slack work by the person in charge of continuity. In Shot #1 he cocks the hammer; in Shot #2 he starts with an uncocked hammer and fires DA.

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Pisgah

1) He knows the cavalry is arriving within seconds, may have left his speedloaders in the car.

2) The cavalry is there, but most of all.......he is "Dirty Harry"......utterly fearless if not a bit reckless.

As for the sweet M29 getting wet......Harry shielding it from the water would have likely drawn laughter from a typical audience in light of all that just transpired......especially in those days. Also too.....Harry's gun back then was not the "sweet m29" we so love today......it was just a tool in his line of work and he probably did oil it up real good after......we just didn't see him do it.


Russ

I agree with the above, but would add that the two scenes may not have been shot on the same day for various reasons. They may have decided to change the ending of that scene, set it up again, then re-shot it on a later day.

I'd also venture to say that not all studio employees are gun nuts like us here. That employee may not even know what single and double action is.

Bill

Normal function would be for the cylinder to rotate when the hammer is moved back, NOT FORWARD. Can't believe I missed it in all the times I've seen it either. Movie magic.

An even bigger mistake, in my view, is the location of the shotgun laying on the sidewalk and the distance from Andrew Popwell's character as Harry approached and the next shot when he looks at the shotgun. BIG difference. Again, someone wasn't paying attention between takes. Hey, at least they got the number of shots right! I know, I know, for most folks it's just entertainment, but to us gun guys it's serious stuff. Actually, I enjoy looking for mistakes in movies. Part of the "entertainment"!

Just watch Stripes sometime and the wrestling match between Harold Ramus & Bill Murray in the motor pool before the girl MP's arrived. Count how many different positions the duffle bag, in relationship to Murray's head, is in. Amazing!

What about the hot dog? It appears he is one bite in when he steps outside. We know Harry wouldn't toss a perfectly good dog over a mere bank robbery/shootout. Where did the rest of it go? He must have handed it to someone & said hold my weiner while I TCB.

It's not real

Cus it's a movie!!!!!!!!!!

Ditto.......when looking Harry from the front of the 'shot" it he'd just pulled the trigger..... nothing to see on film as the hammer is hidden!

Hahahaa!! Classic!

One thing's for sure, you know there wasn't any ketchup on it!

The truth needs to be told, that is not a Model 29, it is not a 44 Mag. It is a Model 25 in 45 Colt. Oh, sure, they had 2 model 29s on the set but all the action shots were with a Model 25. The reason, no 44 mag or 44 special blanks were avaliable a that time. All the hollywood movie makes had access to piles of 45 Colt blanks, all those cowboy movies required them.

Except I believe the movie pre-dated the 25-5? That's what my frequently inaccurate memory tells me.

I doubt they could obtain one of the rare .45 Colts that pre-dated the 25-5.

I'd think it would be easy enough to load whatever blanks were needed. I've read somewhere that they actually had a hard time finding a Model 29, and used a Model 57.

I don't think anybody really knows.

Talkirty Harry - Internet Movie Firearms Database - Guns in Movies, TV and Video Games

Counting shots was drilled into me during my rookie range training in 1968 and I've done it ever since. The only time I lose count is during LEOSA qualification w/my Glock 17 stuffed w/17 rounds of 9MM.

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Old Cop
LEO (Ret.)

"I gots to know !"

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Halfway and one more step

The person in charge of making sure that things don't change from one scene to another is the Script Supervisor. My daughter went to California to be in the movies and to work at that position. After a while she found that it was not a very popular role as you were constantly correcting folks and telling them this and that and most people don't like being told what to do. One must be very anal and observant to make sure that the cigarette in one scene is the same length as the next or that the glass of liquid is not half empty in one scene and then full in the next. If you watch enough movies, you will see these little boo boos from time to time.

In the clip shown, the shotgun ends up 3-4 feet away from the robber after going down and as seen as Harry walks across the street. In the dramatic scene where he is deciding whether to go for the gun it is now mysteriously 6 inches away.

One must also remember that when a scene is shot (no pun intended) from one direction it could be hours or days until the shot is filmed from the other direction. Once looking from Harry's eyes and then looking up from the robbers.

As far as the hot dog, he does not exit the diner with it so he must have left it on the plate.

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James Redfield
LM #497

It's a movie , things in movies happen differently than real life. Time warps abound in the film world and things get messed up.
That's my story and I'm sticking with it....just movie magic is all.

Unlikely because 5 in 1 blanks would have been used. They fit 38-40, 44-40 and 45 Colt so would fit in 44 chambers too, I think...

Maybe not.

I heard at the time of the movie smith & wesson sales on the 44 was way down, but after the movie they couldn't keep up with the demand.

Olskool , that is an out right lie, just because I went out the next day after seeing the movie and buying a model 29 doesn't make your statement true, or does it? well maybe it's a little true. OK I give up I went out right after the movie and bought a 29, my friend Mike bought a 29, my friend Rich brought a 29, so did Bret and so did John. I guess we proved your point, well played.

The HC I know would never leave his weiner unprotected & would have given it to some smoking hot dame/broad then got it back while she gazed at him in awe, with lots of cleavage showing. It musta been a low pg rated shoot.

From the same people who dub in the sound of someone cocking the hammer on a Glock.

Wait... What?

Model 29s were indeed scarce as hens teeth after the first Dirty Harry move came out. I saw one in a gun store shortly after and it was priced at $600. I was offered triple what I paid for mine that I had bought before the movie appeared. It was several years before there were enough 29s out to satisfy demand. When those used ones began to show up, they were reported to come with a box of ammo with 44 live rounds and 6 empties!

And yes, they actually used Model 29s in .44 Magnum. One of the guns is in the NRA Museum.

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Richard Gillespie
FBINA 102

Inspector Callahan knew exactly what he was doing. He knew he had fired 5. So he cocked the hammer, bringing up the last live round, then surreptitiously lowered it. Then freaked out the bad guy by pulling the trigger DA, which then brought up a spent round.

...the question is...did he get any of that shot in his other weiner...

..."I dont gots to know"..."I don't wants to know"...

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A Country Boy Can Survive

Looks like he was a bit afraid of shooting that big ole 29 on the set too. Closes his eyes right as he pulls the trigger! HA! It's all good though, love all his flicks and still a hero too me too, I'm 61.

Attached Images

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"The truth needs to be told, that is not a Model 29, it is not a 44 Mag. It is a Model 25 in 45 Colt. Oh, sure, they had 2 model 29s on the set but all the action shots were with a Model 25. The reason, no 44 mag or 44 special blanks were avaliable a that time. All the hollywood movie makes had access to piles of 45 Colt blanks, all those cowboy movies required them."

"I've read somewhere that they actually had a hard time finding a Model 29, and used a Model 57."



Please see the links below:

44 Magnum and the "Southwest Bunch"

5-in-1 Brass Blank Ammunition

The original blanks for .38-40, .44-40 and .45 Colt had the same rim diameter as a .44 Magnum so they would have worked fine (without a great case seal, but they're blanks so I doubt anyone cared ).

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

I read somewhere once prior to the movie 'Dirty Harry' there were something like only 2000 mod 29s sold world wide - and post Dirty Harry the number was 200,000 +/-

The answer would be a HARD NO.

In 1973, I bought one too. I paid the rediculously high price at the time of $400. I really could not, should not afford it. especially on my student finances. But I was young and foolish. I still am amazed that I showed such good judgment!
I still shoot it, it's still in great shape.
Scott

I wanted one so bad, but was young, married, new baby boy and the rotten dealers had jacked the price all the way up to a ridiculous $500 on the rare one that did show up. Can you imagine paying $500 for a early 44 mag with cokes. Crazy I tell you. I had to live with a single Ruger Blackhawk in 357 for a long time.

And life goes on

Three comments.

First, it's not fair to say the director didn't know how a DA revolver works - it's pretty simple and Don Siegel wasn't stupid. He was however a director, and directors make movies for entertainment purposes, not gun training films.

It's a simple discontinuity error in the movie and the odds are the directors and editors were well aware of it, but just didn't care as they had other priorities.

It's a composite of two camera positions and you need to do it in separate takes so that a) you're not getting another camera in the frame and b) so you've got room to get the shot of Dirty Harry from the front. (Think about where the cameras have to be positioned for each point of view in the scene).

It's probable that they shot several takes from each camera position and then assembled the final scene with the best take from each point of view. It's also likely that Don Siegel noticed the discontinuity of Clint Eastwood doing a DA trigger pull after already cocking the hammer, but he obviously wanted the drama and effect of cocking the hammer, and/or the preferred Albert Popwell's performance in the hammer cocking take, while preferring Eastwood's performance in the DA trigger pull take.

The reality is that most people are not going to notice, and I watched the film at least half dozen times before I noticed that particular discontinuity, and then I was more interested in the revolver than the movie.

There are after all much bigger discontinuities in that scene. For example Harry walks through the spray of the broken fire hydrant and as he approaches the curb, the shoulder of his tweed jacket clearly has water droplets on it, yet at the end of the scene the jacket is dry. And of course despite also being supposedly sprayed with water, his Model 29 is also bone dry with no water drops visible on either side in the close up scenes. It either got wiped down and dried off between scenes, or he had a rubber gun when he walked through the spray. Rubber replica revolvers were used in the scenes in the Dirty Harry movies when a revolver was dropped, etc, as the Model 29s were needed in good condition for the close ups, so no Model 29s were harmed in the making of these movies.

Per the NRA, the producers and script writer planned on using a Model 29 with a 4" barrel but the Model 29 was obscure and while still cataloged by S&W at the time, was actually out of production as demand for it was almost non existent. The producers ended up using two revolvers, one with a 6 1/2" barrel and another with an 8 3/8" barrel that were assembled by S&W specifically for the movie. Demand went through the roof after the movie.

The 6 1/2" Model 29 used in "Dirty Harry" and "Magnum Force" was given to script writer John Milius - the man responsible for the .44 Magnum being used - by Clint Eastwood, and Milius has it on loan to the NRA Museum where it can be seen in the Hollywood Guns collection. They also have the Walther P-38 used in Dirty Harry.

For S&W fans the NRA Museum also has the Model 66 used in "Tightrope", the 639 and 659 used in "Reservoir Dogs", the Model 30 used in "Pulp Fiction", and Clark Gable's personal Registered Magnum on display.


Second, the "5 in 1" blanks originally used in the old westerns could be fired in a .38-40, a .44-40 or .45 Colt revolver or in a .38-40 or .44-40 rifles and carbines, thus the name "5 in 1". ( .45 Colt rifles and carbines were not available then, as the .45 Colt was not an original caliber in the Winchester rifles and Carbines.)

Sometime after WWII these brass blanks changed to preclude firing in a .38-40 chamber so they became "3 in 1" blanks but the "5 in 1" name still stuck. Once the .45 Colt started being produced in replica Winchester rifles and carbines, it became a "4 in 1" blank, but still retained the "5 in 1" name.

Modern "5 in 1" blanks are slightly re-profiled to allow use jin the .44 Special and .44 Magnum making them a "6 in 1" blank (7 in 1 if you count the .410 shotgun).

However, when Dirty Harry was filmed in 1971, these newer 5 in 1 blanks were not available. Fortunately, it's never been hard to make a blank for a pistol cartridge, and doing so poses no great expense or time factor for a major movie production (compared to a weekly television series) and as this was the approach taken, with "Dirty Harry". There was never a need to use a Model 25 revolver to stand in for a Model 29 to accommodate the 5 in 1 blank because 5 in 1 blanks were not used in the movie.

I think the association with movies and the 5 in 1 blank, that did not at the time accommodate the .44 Special or .44 Magnum, is what has led to this idea that a Model 25 was used. That at least makes more sense than the rumors that it was a Model 57 in .41 Magnum.

If you watch the "do you feel lucky" scene near the end of the movie with Andy Robinson you can see the ".44 Magnum" marking on the barrel clearly showing that the revolver is indeed a Model 29.



Finally, if you want to start arguments about Dirty Harry movies, bring up the scene in "Magnum Force" in the indoor target range where Harry states "I use a light special. With a gun this size and weight it has no more recoil than .38 out of a .357."

Some folks will say that was just his load for fast shooting in the upcoming match while others claim it meant he carried .44 Special, not .44 Magnum.

I was a teen working at an LGS in the 70's when the movie Dirty Harry came out. Wasn't long before all M29's were allocated and in order for a dealer to get one, they had to order a certain number of M10's, 12's, 15's, etc. IIRC, this was also the era of S&W branded ammo and leather, and that was also part of the conditions of allocation.

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Ret'd LEO
SWCA #2275

What?!?

You heard right !
The movie came out in 1971 , I had been looking to buy a handgun as I turned 21 late that year and could buy one.
It was late 71 or early 1972 , I was asking about a Ruger Blackhawk that was in local dealers display. It had been there over a year .
The dealer said since Dirty Harry came out no one was interested in a Single Action or a 357 magnum. " I can sell every S&W Model 29 I can get my hands on, but I can't give away that Ruger....I had $75.00 cash in my jeans, pulled it out and he took it ! The price tag was marked $125.00 . That's how much that movie affected sales for handguns for a few years .
All of my friends just had to have 44 magnums , a few bought Super Blackhawks, but it had to be a 44. That movie was something of a game changer.
I still have my 357 Blackhawk , alas , most of my friends do not have the 44's anymore.
Gary

Not this again, this has been beaten to death. John Milius, the screenwriter and quite the gun guy, has put this internet rumor to bed, just do a search of this forum for more info. Ouch.

Got my own 29-2 6.5" in 1978 due to the movie-guy I bought it from didn't know much about handguns by his own admission. He bought it because of the "Dirty Harry" movies lol. After 3 rounds of full bore ammo he was fed up with it. I offered him $350, he followed me to the bank and the gun with both cardboard and woodend boxes was all mine lol. Stupid me, I sold it when I left Arizona in 1984 to a friend of mine that still has it.

The "director" said to do it that way!!!!

In an interview, Mr. Eastwood stated the script read "a special light load", but he flubbed the line and it stayed in the movie anyhow.

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

After all these years by you, some of the most knowledgeable movie goers in the universe, I can't believe your prevailing thoughts are that "Dirty" refers to the nice black man as "punk" ??

Clearly he says: "Well do ya BUNK" ? I expect Harry knew "Bunk" from some other fracas or two that had taken place in the past.

You will have to turn up both hearing aids, like I did, to hear plainly what he says, cause he still had some un-masticated weiner in his mouth.

Other thing I noticed, if the D-man was using a 27,29,34,54, or a Governor, it makes no difference. There would have been no need to worry about "blanks", cause Mr Dirty Harry Callahan was making the "kar-sheeg" sound by mouth. You can easily see the hot dog crumbs spout from his mouth on each shot.

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wanna do right-- not right now