Rough Justice: Lone Cops, Vigilantes and Penal Populism

Abstract

Copyright © Julian Petley, 2022. Most of the chapters in this book are concerned with films which, at the time of their making, tackled taboo-busting subjects of one kind or another, and, in doing so, frequently shocked conservative sensibilities. In this chapter, however, I want to examine a number of films which shocked liberal sensibilities in the 1970s because of the manner in whi ch they dealt with the issues of law, order and justice. Foremost amongst such films are Dirty Harry (Don Siegel, 1971) and Death Wish (Michael Winner, 1974) , but as William Gombash has dealt with the latter in his chapter, I will concentrate on analysing the elements in the former that outraged liberal opinion. First, however, it is necessary to sketch in a certain amount of historical context, and in particular to focus on the roots of the right-wing reaction against 1960s liberalism in the States.