I have always wondered about this since by 1971, the zodiac killer had already made his mark in the Bay Area and because he hadn't been caught, I wondered if he had anything to do with the scorpio killer from this film.
shareYes, unquestionably. The Zodiac Killer actually threatened to blow up a school bus which was clearly echoed in the film.
shareThis was referenced in David Fincher's Zodiac too.
shareIn Zodiac, two of the lead characters go see "Dirty Harry" at a premiere -- Mark Ruffalo's cop and Jake Gyllenhaal's newspaper cartoonist turned Zodiac buff.
The cop watches some of the scene in which the SF Mayor reads from "Scorpio's" first note and then the cop leaves the theater in disgust, hanging around the lobby waiting for his wife, with "Dirty Harry" posters all around him.
But there is a catch:
Though the posters say "Dirty Harry," none of them say "Clint Eastwood," and there is no photo of Eastwood on any of the posters. One poster shows Eastwood's BODY only and is cut off at the head.
I think it is pretty clear that while Clint Eastwood allowed(HAD to allow?) the title Dirty Harry to be used, and the clip without him(the mayor reading from the note before Eastwood enters the scene) he wouldn't allow his name or likeness to be used.
My guess: in this scene, the "real" cop (Mark Ruffalo) is disgusted by the movie "Dirty Harry" and its fantasy take on the Zodiac case. Ruffalo also notes that Harry has no interest in due process.
So: no Clint.
And its pretty weird. Especially the use of the clip without him.
Oh yes it definitely was.
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