December 23, 1971: "Dirty Harry" Premieres

December 23, 1971: The film Dirty Harry premieres, directed by Don Siegel. Clint Eastwood, having already created one iconic film character with his Western hero known only as "The Man With No Name," creates another: Inspector Harry Callahan of the San Francisco Police Department.

As with SFPD Lieutenant Frank Bullitt, played by Steve McQueen in the 1968 film Bullitt, Callahan was based on Inspector Dave Toschi (1931-2018), who worked on the case of the serial killer known as the Zodiac, a case that, to this day, has never been solved.

In Dirty Harry, the killer becomes known as The Scorpio Killer. He is played by Andy Robinson. Robinson got so much hate mail from this role that he had to change his Screen Actors Guild name to Andrew J. Robinson. He is now best known for having played Elim Garak -- not a tinker, but a tailor, a soldier, and a spy -- on the TV series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

The film includes Callahan chasing Scorpio through San Francisco's trolley system, and also through Kezar Stadium, which had been the home of the NFL's San Francisco 49ers from 1946 to 1970.

Twice during the film -- once near the beginning after breaking up a robbery, and again near the end, facing Scorpio down -- Callahan delivers these lines, written by the husband-and-wife team of Harry and Rita Fink:

I know what you're thinking, punk: "Did he fire six shots, or only five?" Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement, I've kinda lost track myself.

But being this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question: "Do I feel lucky?"

Well, do ya, punk?

The first time, the robber doesn't feel lucky, and puts his gun down, but says, "Hey, I got to know." Callahan pulls the trigger, but the gun is empty. The second time, Scorpio feels lucky, and goes for his gun. As it turned out, Callahan had one bullet left, and used it. Both outcomes suggest that Callahan was lying, and that he knew exactly how many bullets were left both times.

Eastwood was 41 years old at the time, a little young to be an Inspector in a major city's police department, equivalent to the rank of Captain in the U.S. Navy and Colonel in the other branches of the U.S. armed forces. For comparison's sake: In the last episode of the TV series Barney Miller, in 1982, Barney was 52, and had been a Captain in the NYPD for at least the last 7 years, and, after having been passed over a couple of times, was promoted to Deputy Inspector.

A sequel to Dirty Harry was made in 1973, titled Magnum Force. This was followed by The Enforcer in 1976. In 1983, Sudden Impact was released. It led to Dirty Harry's other well-known quote. Callahan was no longer a 1970s-style "antihero": He was a hero for the Reagan Years. He was no longer interested in whether you felt lucky. He was giving you a direct order, punk: "Go ahead. Make my day."

In 1984, Eastwood starred as a New Orleans detective, Wes Block, in Tightrope. When asked if Block was like Dirty Harry, he said, "I don't think Dirty Harry would even like this guy."

The 5th and last Dirty Harry film came in 1988, The Dead Pool. By this point, Eastwood was 58 years old, and too old to be playing a cop running around chasing killers. But advancing age didn't stop him from playing a very active Secret Service Agent in the 1993 film In the Line of Fire.

Then again, Roger Moore last played James Bond at 58, and was mocked for being too old to do so. Eastwood last played Harry Callahan at 58, and nobody said anything. As 2022 comes to a close, Tom Cruise is 60, and filming movies in his Mission: Impossible franchise; Liam Neeson, who co-starred in The Dead Pool, is playing Raymond Chandler's private eye Philip Marlowe in Marlowe, still taking down bad guys at 70; and Harrison Ford is filming Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny at 80. Only Ford is facing mockery about his age.

Dirty Harry was released 4 days after the film version of A Clockwork Orange. How would Harry Callahan have handled Alex DeLarge?

Today, the .500 Smith & Wesson Magnum, with a bullet .06 inches wider than the .44, is considered the most powerful handgun in the world.

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December 23, 1971 was a Thursday. Baseball was out of season. The NFL was in the middle of its Playoffs. There 3 were 3 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 120-117 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum. Walt Frazier scored 36 points.

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Atlanta Hawks, 115-110 at the Cleveland Arena. 

* And the Chicago Bulls beat the Phoenix Suns, 117-108 in overtime at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

There were 5 games in the American Basketball Association:

* The New York Nets lost to the Pittsburgh Condors, 124-123 in overtime at the Island Garden in West Hempstead, New York. John Brisker scored 44 for the Condors.

* The Kentucky Colonels beat the Virginia Squires, 139-123 at The Scope in Norfolk, Virginia. Dan Issel matched his uniform number by scoring 44 points.

* The Miami Floridians beat the Carolina Cougars, 125-109 at the Greensboro Coliseum.

* The Utah Stars beat the Memphis Pros, 112-104 at the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis. Willie Wise scored 32 for the Stars.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Denver Rockets, 104-101 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum (now the Corteva Coliseum) in Indianapolis. Ralph Simpson (not to be confused with Ralph Sampson) scored 37 points in defeat for the team that became the Denver Nuggets in 1974.

There was 1 game played in the NHL: The Boston Bruins and the Buffalo Sabres played to a tie, 4-4 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

October 31, 1954: The San Francisco 49ers' "Million Dollar Backfield"

Left to right: Hugh McElhenny, Joe Perry,

John Henry Johnson and Y.A. Tittle.

The 49ers were already wearing red and white,

but had not yet adopted gold as a secondary color.

October 31, 1954: The Chicago Bears beat the San Francisco 49ers, 31-27 at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco. 49er running back Hugh McElhenny injures his shoulder. This Halloween scare ruins the season of the 49ers' "Million Dollar Backfield": McElhenny, fellow running backs John Henry Johnson and Joe "the Jet" Perry, and quarterback Y.A. Tittle. All 4 would be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the only entire backfield so honored in NFL history.

Until that injury, the 49ers were 4-0-1. After it, they were 3-4, finishing 7-4-1, 2 games behind the Detroit Lions in the NFL Western Division. Indicative of this: The week before the injury, they beat the Lions 37-31 at Kezar; 2 weeks after it, at Briggs Stadium in Detroit (renamed Tiger Stadium in 1961), they got beat 48-7, a 47-point swing.

Brief sketches of each member of the quartet:

* Yelberton Abraham Tittle, born October 24, 1926 in Marshall, Texas. He played quarterback at Louisiana State University (LSU), and for the Baltimore Colts from 1948 to 1950, the 49ers from 1951 to 1960, and the New York Giants from 1961 to 1964.

He got the Niners to a tie for the NFL Western Division title in 1957, but lost a Playoff to the Los Angeles Rams. Traded to the Giants, he got them to 3 straight NFL Championship Games, but lost them all. He was named the NFL's Most Valuable Player in 1963. The Giants retired his Number 14. At the time of his retirement, he was the NFL's all-time leader in passing yards, passing touchdowns, attempts, completions, and games played. He died on October 8, 2017.

* Fletcher Joseph Perry, born January 22, 1927 in Stephens, Arkansas. He never attended a four-year college, only Compton Junior College outside Los Angeles, before serving in World War II. He played for the 49ers from 1948 to 1960, the Colts in 1961 and 1962, and returned to the 49ers in 1963.

He was pro football's all-time leading rusher, but even before he retired, he was surpassed by Jim Brown. His 9,723 career rushing yards were still 2nd all-time to Brown as late as 1977. The Niners retired his Number 34. He died on April 25, 2011.

* John Henry Johnson, born November 24, 1929 in Waterproof, Louisiana. He played at Arizona State, and, like many black players from the South, feared the NFL as being dominated by white Southerners, so he went to Canada, and played the 1953 season with the Calgary Stampeders. The 49ers signed him, and he played for them from 1954 to 1956. Of the four, he was the last to arrive, and the first to leave.

He went to the Detroit Lions in 1957, and, that year, he became the only one of these men to play on an NFL Championship team. He was traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1960, remained with them until 1965, and played with the Houston Oilers in 1966. The Niners retired his Number 35. He died on June 3, 2011.

* Hugh Edward McElhenny Jr., born December 31, 1928 in Los Angeles. He starred at the University of Washington, and played for the 49ers from 1952 to 1960. He was an original Minnesota Viking in the 1961 and 1962 seasons, rejoined Tittle on the 1963 Giants, and retired with the Detroit Lions in 1964. The 49ers made his Number 39 the 1st number they retired. He was the last survivor of the Million Dollar Backfield, living until June 17, 2022.

$1 million in 1954 would be worth about $10.9 million in 2022 money.

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October 31, 1954 was a Sunday. Actor Ken Wahl was born. And these other NFL games were played that day:

* The New York Giants lost to the Cleveland Browns, 24-14 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The Washington Redskins beat the Baltimore Colts, 24-21 at Griffith Stadium in Washington.

* The Chicago Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 17-14 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. The Cards went 2-10, and their only other win was at home to Washington, 3 weeks later.

* The Detroit Lions beat the Los Angeles Rams, 27-24 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

* And the day before, the Green Bay Packers beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 37-14 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia.

There were 2 games played in the NBA. The Minneapolis Lakers beat the Syracuse Nationals, 97-94 at the Onondaga County War Memorial (now the Upstate Medical University Arena) in Syracuse, New York. And the Fort Wayne Pistons beat the Boston Celtics, 90-86 at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Although the Pistons moved to Detroit in 1957, and the Nationals moved to Philadelphia in 1963, their arenas are still standing, and used by minor-league hockey teams. That is not the case with the Lakers' arena, which was demolished long after their move to Los Angeles in 1960.

There was 1 NHL game played that day: The New York Rangers and the Chicago Black Hawks played to a 1-1 tie at the old Madison Square Garden.

March 23, 1975: The S.N.A.C.K. Concert In San Francisco

Bob Dylan (left) and Neil Young

March 23, 1975: Promoter Bill Graham stages the S.N.A.C.K. (Students Need Athletics, Culture and Kicks) charity concert at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco, California, to benefit the city's educational system.

Almost 60,000 people come to see The Grateful Dead, The Doobie Brothers, Santana, Jefferson Starship, Tower of Power, Eddie Palmieri, Joan Baez, Graham Central Station and Neil Young joined by members of The Band, along with a surprise appearance by Bob Dylan. It's the largest benefit concert in history to date.

The original Kezar Stadium was built in 1926, was home to the San Francisco 49ers from 1946 to 1970, made a cameo appearance in "Dirty Harry" in 1971, and was torn down in 1989 -- before the earthquake during the Bay Bridge World Series, not because of it. A new, smaller stadium was built on the site, and is used for high school sports.

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March 23, 1975 was a Sunday. Baseball was in Spring Training. Football was out of season. There were 6 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Boston Celtics, 96-86 at the Boston Garden.

* The Detroit Pistons beat the New Orleans Jazz, 125-114 at New Orleans Municipal Auditorium.

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Houston Rockets, 101-95 at The Coliseum in the Cleveland suburb of Richfield, Ohio.

* The Kansas City-Omaha Kings beat the Chicago Bulls, 103-101 at the Kemper Arena (now the Hy-Vee Arena) in Kansas City. Nate "Tiny" Archibald scored 35 points for the Kings. Bob Love scored 38 in defeat for the Bulls.

* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 116-97 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California. Gail Goodrich scored 36 points.

* And the Phoenix Suns beat the Seatttle SuperSonics, 102-96 at the Seattle Center Coliseum. 

There were 5 games in the American Basketball Association:

* The New York Nets lost to the Denver Nuggets, 114-111 at the Nassau Coliseum. Julius "Dr. J" Erving scored 40 in defeat.

* The Memphis Sounds beat the Virginia Squires, 104-101 in overtime at the Hampton Coliseum, outside Norfolk in Hampton, Virginia.

* The Kentucky Colonels beat the Spirts of St. Louis, 121-110 at Freedom Hall in Louisville. Marvin Barnes scored 36 in defeat.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Utah Stars, 117-112 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis. George McGinnis led all scorers on the day with 44 points.

* And the San Antonio Spurs beat the San Diego Sails, 122-102 at the HemisFair Arena in San Antonio.

There were 7 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers beat the Boston Bruins, 7-5 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New York Islanders and the Minnesota North Stars played to a tie, 3-3 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Montreal Canadiens, 2-1 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Atlanta Flames beat the Washington Capitals, 5-0 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Buffalo Sabres beat the California Golden Seals, 9-4 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

* The Detroit Red Wings and the Chicago Black Hawks played to a tie, 4-4 at the Chicago Stadium.

* And the St. Louis Blues and the Vancouver Canucks played to a tie, 3-3 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.

And there were 4 games in the World Hockey Association:

* The Minnesota Fighting Saints beat the Edmonton Oilers, 4-2 at the St. Paul Civic Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

* The Winnipeg Jets beat the Chicago Cougars, 4-3 at the Winnipeg Arena.

* The Phoenix Roadrunners beat the Indianapolis Racers, 5-3 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix.

* And the San Diego Mariners beat the Vancouver Blazers, 1-0 in overtime at the San Diego Sports Arena (now the Pechanga Arena).