[Ads-l] "Go ahead--make my day"

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

A 2002 obituary in the New York Times mentioned the name of another
writer, Dean Riesner, who has claimed credit for the line. Below is an
excerpt discussing two famous lines uttered by the Harry Callahan
character.

Date: September 2, 2002
Newspaper: New York Times
Article: Dean Riesner, 83, Who Knew How Tough Guys Talk, Dies
Author: Douglas Martin

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/02/arts/dean-riesner-83-who-knew-how-tough-guys-talk-dies.html

[Begin excerpt]
Mr. Riesner often contributed to Eastwood films, but the Hollywood
penchant for putting a script through multiple rewrites sometimes made
it difficult to prove who wrote what. Mr. Riesner contended that he
had thought up Mr. Eastwood's famous line, ''Go ahead, make my day,''
for the 1976 movie ''The Enforcer,'' in which it was not used. Mr.
Eastwood uttered it onscreen seven years later in ''Sudden Impact,'' a
movie on which Mr. Riesner did not work.

Another famous line came in ''Dirty Harry,'' a 1971 film for which Mr.
Riesner rewrote the script. Later, another writer, John Milius, came
in to again rework the script. Both men have publicly claimed credit
for the line.

It occurs when ''Dirty'' Harry Callahan, the character played by Mr.
Eastwood, appears at the scene of a foiled bank robbery. Casually
eating a hot dog, he takes out his gun and picks off the scattering
felons until one remains.

Grunting out his words, Callahan says: ''Uh-huh. I know what you're
thinking. Did he fire six shots or five? Well, to tell you the truth,
I forgot myself in all this excitement.

''But being as this is the .44 magnum, the most powerful handgun in
the world, and could blow your head clean off, you have to ask
yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do you, punk?''
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Tue, Apr 11, 2017 at 9:29 AM, Yagoda, Ben <byagoda at udel.edu> wrote:
> On the subject of attributing quotations: in The Yale Book of Quotations, the above quote from the 1983 film “Sudden Impact” is attributed to Joseph Stinson, who has screenplay credit on the film. However, Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_ahead,_make_my_day#cite_note-1) asserts:
>
> The phrase "go ahead, make my day" was written by Charles B. Pierce, an independent filmmaker who is credited with "story by" in the film Sudden Impact. The actual origins of the phrase came from Pierce's father Mack, who used to tell him as a child, "Just let me come home one more day, without you mowing that lawn, son just go ahead.....make my day".[citation needed<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed>]
>
> And apparently Clint Eastwood has asserted that John Milius, who was an uncredited script doctor on the film, came up with the line. http://www.startribune.com/go-ahead-make-his-day-watch-milius/240635431/
>
> I wonder if Garson O’Toole or Fred Shapiro have any insights or info as to the truth of the matter.
>
> Ben
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org