The year is 1971. San Francisco is a city living in fear. A deadly killer roams the area, killing random people and scaring innocent people for years to come. The killer sent letters to police, taunting them and boasting that he killed over 30 people, though only five have been confirmed to be his victims. To this day, the Zodiac Killer has never been caught or identified, making his murders some of the most notorious in history.

The Zodiac Killer was the inspiration for the main villain in the movie, “Dirty Harry.” Scorpio, a reference to the constellation of Scorpius, is a crazy sniper who threatens to kill innocent people if the city of San Francisco does not pay him money. This is different from the real Zodiac Killer who never asked for a ransom. Scorpio is played by Andrew Robinson, who is best known for playing Elim Garak on the show Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Robinson does a good job playing the sick and twisted Scorpio, who will not hesitate to kill even children.

At one point of the movie, Scorpio gets his hands on a Walther P38 and takes a bus full of children hostage until SFPD Inspector “Dirty” Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood) comes in and saves the day. The Walther P38 came into service in 1939 in order to replace the Luger P08 and is considered one of the greatest handguns ever made. It saw service throughout World War II and many conflicts afterward, with over a million guns being made. The gun is still in service today in some places and is popular with collectors.

The Walther P38 shoots 9x19mm Parabellum from an eight-round magazine. It weighs about 2 pounds and is less than 9 inches in length, the barrel being about 5 inches. It is easy to load and unload, with the switch sticking out in the bottom called a “hill.” An interesting feature of the gun is the loaded chamber indicator, where, when there is a round in the chamber, a pin will stick out above the firing pin so the operator can manually feel there is a round in the chamber. The safety is on the left side of the gun, just in front of the hammer.

The production of the P38 came to an end after World War II, but started again in the late 1950s. In the 1960s, a new variant of the gun, the P1, went into production. The biggest difference between the old and new variants is the frame of the gun. The old ones had steel frames while the P1s have aluminum frames.

Other guns in the movie include a Colt Detective Special pistol used by Callahan’s partner, Inspector Chico Gonzalez (Reni Santoni), a Winchester Model 12 shotgun used by a bank robber and a Winchester Model 70 rifle used by Callahan during his hunt for Scorpio. Scorpio himself uses a Sporterized Arisaka Type 2 Paratrooper Takedown rifle to shoot random people. He also uses an MP40 submachine gun twice in the movie, once on a rooftop in a shootout with Callahan and again in a shootout in a park with Gonzalez. But the most famous gun in the movie is Callahan’s Smith & Wesson® Model 29, a cannon of a handgun that has become as iconic as Dirty Harry himself.

“Dirty Harry” is an outstanding movie. It was an instant hit at the box office and well received by critics and movie goers alike. Client Eastwood is great as Harry Callahan, and Reni Santoni does a good job as Inspector Gonzalez. The movie helped start a series of films starring Eastwood as Harry Callahan. Eastwood was already a big star with the number of westerns he had done, but he became a legend thanks to “Dirty Harry.” This is a classic for action movie lovers and a great movie for all.

By Kyle Shea

Brannigan’s Diamondback

I doubt there is a single person in the world who does not know who John Wayne was. He starred in over 140 films, including in a number of Westerns. Some of these include: “True Grit,” “Sands of Iwo Jima,” “The Longest Day,” “The Searchers,” “Island in the Sky,” the 1960s version of “The Alamo” and “The Cowboys.” His last performance was in “The Shootist,” although he did voice a character (Garindan) in “Star Wars: A New Hope.” He died in 1979—missed but never forgotten.

In 1975, John Wayne starred in “Brannigan,” a film about Chicago Police Detective Jim Brannigan who goes to London to bring a notorious crime boss back to America. Upon arriving in the English capital, the crime boss is kidnapped, and a ransom is demanded for his release. So Brannigan must join forces with local law enforcement to find the crime boss, rescue him and bring him back to the United States to face justice for his crime.

John Wayne plays the main character Jim Brannigan. Judy Geeson plays a police officer who escorts Brannigan around London. The leading police officer in London is played by Richard Attenborough, and the crime boss is played by John Vernon. One especially good performance in the movie is by Daniel Pilon. He plays a hitman targeting Brannigan, and there were a few scenes where it almost looked like he was going to succeed.

In the movie, Jim Brannigan carries a double-action .38 Colt Diamondback as a side arm. First produced in 1966, it was popular with civilians and law enforcement. It has a four-inch long barrel and carries six .38 special rounds through a cylinder system. Other Colt Diamondback models shoot .22 Long Rifle ammunition.

The opening credit scene of the movie has the camera scanning the .38 Colt diamondback up and down, with some close ups as well. One scene where Brannigan uses the .38 Colt Diamondback is when he is confronted by a bad guy in a car. He dodges the car a few times before he shoots the villain through the windshield with his revolver. Throughout the movie, Richard Attenborough’s character gives Brannigan a hard time for having the gun and the two square off a few times over it.

Other guns in the movie include a Colt Detective Special used by Richard Attenborough’s character, Sir Charles Swann. Daniel Pilon’s character uses a Mauser M712—the select-fire “Schnellfeuer.” Some mobsters are seen using an M1911 (not an “A1”) and a Walther P38K (The shorty P38 pistol). In one scene, a trap set for Jim Brannigan involves a double-barreled shotgun, which is tied to a string attached to a door.

“Brannigan” isn’t a great movie by any means, but it is still enjoyable to watch. John Wayne is great, of course, but the other actors are good as well. The setting in London is nice, and the action scenes are well done, including a fun car chase. John Vernon and Daniel Pilon both play villains very well, and Richard Attenborough does a nice job as a British police chief. In general, “Brannigan” is a gem to add to your John Wayne collection.

By Kyle Shea

There are many great comic book superheroes, including Superman, Wonder Woman, Spiderman, Captain America, Iron Man, the Flash and many, many others. But one of the absolutely best and most beloved is the Caped Crusader, Batman. Whether it is the large rogues’ gallery he is constantly fighting or the many neat gadgets in his arsenal, Batman is an icon loved by millions, if not billons. There are a large number of movies and shows featuring the Caped Crusader, including the comedic Batman TV series (1966-1968), “The Dark Knight” trilogy (2005-2012) and “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” from 2016. But one of the best movies is Tim Burton’s “Batman” from 1989.

“Batman” from 1989 was a dark movie starring Michael Keaton as Batman/Bruce Wayne and Jack Nicholson as the Joker. It was well-received by both critics and audiences and was followed by “Batman Returns.” Michael Keaton returned as Batman, with Danny DeVito playing the Penguin and Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman. While it did well at the box office, the film felt too dark, especially when it came to the villains. In response, the next movie, “Batman Forever,” was made more kid-friendly. This time, Val Kilmer took the role of the Caped Crusader. Tommy Lee Jones played the character of Two-Face, Jim Carrey played the Riddler, and Chris O’Donnell got the role of Robin. It was not well-received by critics, but it did make more money than “Batman Returns.”

What followed was one of the greatest unintentional comedies of all time. “Batman & Robin” from 1997 is a movie so bad it’s funny. Chris O’Donnell returned to his role as Robin, but the role of Batman was given to George Clooney, one of the many bad casting choices involved with this film. Another bad choice was Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze. In the comics and the animated show which help make the character, Mr. Freeze is a man who is trying to cure his terminally ill wife, but a horrible lab accident made it impossible to live without a special suit to keep his body temperature down. He is a tragic character who needed to be played by someone more serious and dramatic. In my opinion, this was not the role for a major action star like Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The casting choices are just one of the many problems with this movie. Mr. Freeze says so many ice puns it drives viewers crazy. Uma Thurman plays Poison Ivy and has some of the most inappropriate lines ever said. Robin is a whine factory whose lines could be replaced by a crying baby. The character of Batgirl, played by Alicia Silverstone, is a pointless addition to the film. Characters constantly flip around on invisible wires, and the physics in the film make no sense at all. And the hero suits actually have nipples on the chests. The most bizarre moment of the film is when Batman and Robin are bidding on Poison Ivy, Batman actually pulls out a Bat Credit Card. (The author wishes he was making this up.)

Throughout the film, Mr. Freeze carries a giant freeze gun that covers people with ice. Originally, he was going to carry a Franchi Model 1962 (LF-57), with a bright nickel finish and a special blue light bar on top of the gun. The light bar was supposed to make it look more like a freeze gun. It was attached to the top with the sight of the gun and a couple of screws. The light has a battery in the bar that can only be charged by a special charger. There were eight of them made for the film and were supposed to be used by his henchmen. However, I did not see any of them in the film; from memory, when we appraised and sold the Stembridge Gun Rental inventory in 1998, we were told the Franchi scenes were left on the cutting room floor.

The Franchi LF-57 was created by Luigi Franchi S.p.A. in 1956. It was not a big seller, and only a few, like the Italian Navy, bought it for military use. It shoots 9mm Parabellum from ether 20-, 30- or 40-round magazines, which in following with Italian SMG tradition, are Beretta 38 series magazines. There is no manual safety; instead it has a grip safety, where you hold the large button below the trigger guard in while you fire. The gun weighs about 7 pounds, is about 27 inches long and has a large removable stock that can easily fold. The nickel-plated guns were also used in “Predator 2,” “Soldier,” and “Ghosts of Mars.”

In any case, to me, “Batman and Robin” is an awful movie. The effects are terrible, the props are clearly fake, and it was clear that all the vehicles were made to sell toys, which would have been fine if they looked good, but they don’t. The only part of the movie that is good is a subplot in which the butler, Alfred Pennyworth, is dying, and we see flashbacks of him watching over Bruce when he was younger. It was no surprise that this movie was a failure. Both the critics and audiences hated the movie, and it bombed in theaters. If you like this movie, you will not be judged harshly. But if you want a movie to make fun of and laugh at, this is the best film for that.

Serial numbers of the nickel-plated guns: 10, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 and 51.

I’d like to thank Mike Papac of Cinema Weaponry for all his help in the history in this article. The rampant hatred of this movie is all my own.