Coogan's Bluff 1968

Coogan's Bluff is a 1968 Universal film starring Clint Eastwood, Lee J. Cobb, Seymour Cassel and Susan Clark and directed by Don Siegel. Eastwood plays the part of a young veteran deputy sheriff from a rural county in Arizona who travels to New York City to extradite an apprehended fugitive named Ringerman, played by Don Stroud, who is wanted for murder.

Below: How Coogan's Bluff may have opened when seen in UK cinemas with its original X Certificate

Below: Coogan's Bluff Original Trailer
            
Below: The UK Quad Poster 30x40, still high on my most wanted list
Coogan’s Bluff 1968 Rare original Colour German lobby stills x 2
Coogan’s Bluff 1968 Clint Eastwood Don Siegel Original South American 1 sheet poster

Coogan’s Bluff 1968 Clint Eastwood Don Siegel Rare Original Belgium film poster

Coogan’s Bluff 1968 Clint Eastwood Don Siegel Original German A1 film poster

Coogan’s Bluff 1968 Clint Eastwood Susan Clark Original Australian Day bill poster
Coogan’s Bluff 1968 Very Rare colour FOH full set x 8 UK (4 shown)

Coogan’s Bluff 1968 FOH set x 8 UK (rare b/w set featuring some diff shots)

Coogan’s Bluff 1968 Rare Original rolled US 60 x 40 poster, stunning artwork
Coogan’s Bluff 1968 Original US Press book

Coogan’s Bluff 1968 10 x 8 Press Stills b/w x 42 + 3 colour (more stills below)

Coogan’s Bluff 1981 RR Clint Eastwood Susan Clark Swedish Insert poster
Coogan’s Bluff DVD Classic thriller Clint Eastwood and Don Stroud Directed by Don Siegel
Coogan’s Bluff LD Classic cop thriller Clint Eastwood with original trailer not featured on the DVD
Coogan’s Bluff Re-release Clint Eastwood Don Siegel Australian Day bill poster
Coogan's Bluff 1968 Clint Eastwood Susan Clark Don Siegel Original Yugoslavian Poster
Coogan's Bluff 1968 Full length U.S. TV version with extra footage 16MM print
Coogan's Bluff 1968 CD from INTRADA

Coogan's Bluff 1968 Original German release film Program
Coogan's Bluff 1968 Original Universal Radio Spots 60, 30, 30, 30 seconds

Coogan's Bluff 1968 Original Swedish release film Program
Coogan's Bluff 1968 Very Rare Bootleg Lalo Schifrin vinyl LP soundtrack with full art Sleeve Temple TLP 2001
Here's some other great examples of Coogan collectables
Below: Another great German poster design
The Complete U.S. Lobby card set Size 14 x 11
Below: Close up example of US Lobby Card

The striking French duo tone design poster
Below: The seldom seen Coogan's Bluff Laserdisc from Japan
Below: Coogan's Bluff rare U.S. 1 Sheet posters

Below: 2 great examples of European posters for Coogan's Bluff, first, two Italian design posters and the Italian Locandina and below that, the Spanish 1 sheet poster

The Very rare Coogan's Bluff U.S. Banner 24" x 81"
Below: Coogan's Bluff U.S. Half Sheet poster
Below: The beautiful Coogan's Bluff Italian Folio poster
Below: Coogan's Bluff new cinema poster, 2010 re-release style

Above: Some Great Japanese Artwork from Coogan's Bluff

Below: Some more great shots from Coogan's Bluff
Below: Some rare shots taken during the final scenes

Below: A rare shot of Clint and Don on the set of Coogan's Bluff, photo courtesy of Davy Triumph

Original Reviews
Coogan's Bluff (1968)
October 3, 1968
Screen: Sheriff Eastwood Tangles With the Big City
By VINCENT CANBY, New York Times
Published: October 3, 1968

IF James Dean had lived to grow a few inches taller and to attain a lean, graceful, movie middle-age (anything from his late 20's to his 60's), and if he had been tranquilized beyond all emotion, the result would have been Clint Eastwood, one of the movie phenomena of today. Like some of the most popular movie stars of the past (Alan Ladd, for example), Eastwood doesn't act in motion pictures; he is framed in them.

I'm one of the few people I know who will publicly admit to having liked the Sergio Leone, Italian-Spanish Westerns ("A Fistful of Dollars," etc.) that made Eastwood an international star. In those spare, bloody, nihilistic nightmares, photographed in the powdery colors of the Almeria desert, Eastwood's fathomless cool was framed with style.

The movies required absolutely nothing of him except that he exist, the perfect physical specter haunting a world in which the evil was as commonplace as it was unrelenting.

In "Coogan's Bluff," the contemporary melodrama that opened yesterday at the DeMille and Loew's Orpheum Theaters, Eastwood plays an Arizona sheriff (Coogan), a sort of "Cactus Jim" Bond, who comes to New York to extradite a local hood for trial back home. In a world of shabby precinct stations, posh apartments, strobe-lighted discothèques and Hollywood-style New York hippies, Eastwood becomes an unconscious parody of himself and, for that matter, of all movie superheroes.

However, I don't think the fault is particularly his. The screenplay (by Herman Miller, Dean Riesner and Howard Rodman) is so predictable in situation and so arch in its supposedly tough, blunt, wise talk that it turns into a joke told by someone with no sense of humour.

There is simply no hint of comedy in Eastwood's dead pan. He moves through it all talking in low monosyllables, getting beaten to a pulp (without lasting effect) and turning women on and off like light switches, according to the conventions of the genre. The mythic hero of Leone's West looks as out of place in Manhattan as Tarzan might, since he is constantly being upstaged by more colourful minor characters and the restless scenery of the big city.

The movie was directed by Donald Siegel ("Madigan," "Riot in Cell Block Eleven," etc.) in a straightforward manner, partly on Manhattan locations (Fort Tryon Park, the Cloisters, Tavern on the Green, among other places).

Among the supporting players are Lee J. Cobb, as a tough detective; Tisha Sterling, as a pretty pot-smoking freak, and Betty Field, as the hood's sleazy Mom. They are the kind of good, stock performances that one day may be filmed in advance and stored in the movie equivalent of a food freezer.

The Cast

COOGAN'S BLUFF screenplay by Herman Miller, Dean Riesner and Howard Rodman, based on a story by Mr. Miller; directed by Donald Siegel; produced by Mr. Siegel with Richard E. Lyons as executive producer; presented by Universal Pictures.

At the DeMille Theater, Broadway and 47th Street, and Loew's Orpheum, 86th Street at Third Avenue.

Coogan . . . . . Clint Eastwood

Sheriff McElroy . . . . . Lee J. Cobb

Julie . . . . . Susan Clark

Linny Raven . . . . . Tisha Sterling

Ringerman . . . . . Don Stroud

Mrs. Ringerman . . . . . Betty Field

Sheriff McCrea . . . . . Tom Tully

Milie . . . . . Melodie Johnson

Below: Clint and Susan Clark in between takes during Coogan's Bluff

Below: A couple of b/w stills from Coogan's Bluff

Above: A signed still by the gorgeous Tisha Sterling

Above: An Original Newspaper Ad

Thanks once again to my fellow Eastwood collector Lea St Laurent who tonight informed me that the fantastic Don Siegel film Coogan's Bluff (1968) is to be released on Blu Ray from Koch Media in Germany. 

It will be available on February 20th  from Amazon.de. Here are the details:

Direction Don Siegel

Actor Clint Eastwood Lee J. Cobb, Susan Clark

Running time 93 min

Languages (German (DTS-HD 2.0), English (DTS-HD 2.0)

Subtitles German, English

Sound   DTS HD Master Audio 2.0

Image format 1.78:1 (16:9)

Rated 12

Extras    Original movie trailer, image gallery with rare promotional material

My Cinema Retro colleague and respected film maker Mike Siegel has already previewed this release in his native Germany and it all sounds very very good! Mike states: 'The DVD is well known from subterranean quality. Just now I was able to KOCH Blu-ray view on my 46'' Samsung, and I'm in spirits by the quality! A class-HD Master! There was not too much doctored, pretty film grain - not too much, not too little. Contrast, color, sharpness, everything! Top

The first collaboration between Siegel & Eastwood has finally to enjoy cinema level. As extras there is a rare Clint interview from 1970 (8 min), a 10-minute pictures and the trailer.'

UNCONDITIONAL BUY RECOMMENDATION.

I was very curious about the rare interview from 1970, and wondered if it is the Universal featurette 'Clint Eastwood at Home'? This was originally produced to tie in with Clint's current release at the time Two Mules for Sister Sara. If it is, it will certainly be a very welcome treat, we actually hear Clint make a reference to Kelly's Heroes as Kelly's Warriors! One of a few titles the film received before its release. 

I have contacted Mike in order to try and get confirmation on this, so stay tuned. It is nice to see that some sort of effort has been made to bring us some additional extras. It would have been nice to add the deleted scene from the Sheriff's office in Arizona... this does exist, as I have it myself on a 16mm film print of Coogan's Bluff. It's an old argument, and I know it must be wearing thin, but I do wish the producers of such Blu Rays would contact Eastwood collectors as I'm sure they would be willing to help. Anyway, overall, it has to be a big thumbs up for this release.

My Friend Mike Siegel has since confirmed that this is the same featurette as mentioned above, but sadly it is in the same quality as seen on youtube (see below). Thanks Mike, appreciate your input. And thanks Davy for loading this on youtube here.

Below: Coogan's Bluff French bw Lobby Stills

 

 

 

 

 

 

Below: Another selection of bw stills

 

 

 

 

 

From my cuttings collection, I came across this from an old Radio Times when the BBC were showing Coogan's Bluff, it dates back some 30 years ago... I thought there was something rather ironic about the image they decided to use, as it is from the cut sequence in the film. 

 

Below: Another selection of stills from Coogan's Bluff

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Below: The super cover design for the German DVD release

 Below: An original advanced Newspaper Ad for the Coogan's Bluff release

Below: I have only just recently discovered that this 10" promotional record was issued by Universal Pictures back at the time of Coogan's Bluff's release. An amazing rare piece, and one which has gone straight to the top of my most wanted list - a gem. 

Below: Here's the UK Double bill Quad poster for Coogan's Bluff & Night of the Following Day circa 1969

Below: Coogan's Bluff Blu Ray from Koch Media in Germany.