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Make my day

Posted by ESC on May 02, 2003

In Reply to: Make my day posted by Arjan Smits on May 02, 2003

: : I came across some information and wanted to share:

: : GO HEAD, MAKE MY DAY/ DO I FEEL LUCKY?/ GET MEDIEVAL -"Make my day" is a line from "Sudden Impact" starring Clint Eastwood. The movie was the fourth in the Dirty Harry series. The author of the line was "Dinky" Dean Riesner, screenwriter, 1918-2002. An online obitutary says: "'Dinky' Dean Riesner, who has died aged 83, was a child star of the 1920s and later a successful screenwriter, best known for the Clint Eastwood films 'Dirty Harry' and 'Play Misty for Me' (both 1971). But it was not until the early 1970s that Riesner became more widely known for his screenplays. It was he who wrote such lines as "You have to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya, punk?'* (Dirty Harry) and 'Go ahead, make my day' after being brought in by the director Don Siegel as the fifth screenwriter on Dirty Harry. He also came up with the original 'They'll tie you naked to a chair and get medieval with you' line in 'Charley Varrick' . From online article "Child star wrote, 'Go ahead, make my day'", September 19 2002. Accessed May 1, 2003. Sidney Morning Herald. The medieval line was reprised in "Pulp Fiction : "I'm gonna get medieval on your a**."

: : * "I know what you're thinking. 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 as 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?"

: How refreshing to see credit bestowed on the deserving!
: By the way: It was these wonderfully catchy one-liners used by Clint Eastwood in his poorly known "Dirty Harry" films which gave birth to the whole 1st generation of tough guy one-liners.
: Schwarzenegger readily admits that Clint is his main source of inspiration for better known, more recent one-liners such as: "Hasta la vista baby".
: These catchy, short, image-building remarks went a long way in disguising many a muscular performer's lack of acting talent!

Dinky was a talented writer -- an unsung "hero."

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