Editing Sudden Impact (section)

==Production==
The script was initially written by [[Charles B. Pierce]] and Earl E. Smith for a separate film for Locke, but was later adapted into a ''Dirty Harry'' film by [[Joseph Stinson]].<ref name="Hughes66">Hughes, p.66</ref> Filming occurred in spring 1983.<ref name="Hughes69">Hughes, p.69</ref> Many of the film's scenes were filmed in San Francisco and [[Santa Cruz, California]].<ref name="Hughes65">Hughes, p.65</ref> The scene where Harry chases a bank robber in the downtown business district offers a rare glimpse of the area before it was devastated by the [[Loma Prieta earthquake]] of October 17, 1989. Footage for the robbery in "Acorn Cafe" was shot at Burger Island, later a McDonald's and now the site of a hotel, at the corner of 3rd and Townsend in San Francisco.<ref>{{cite news|title=3rd & Townsend McDonald's goes dark In preparation for demolition|url=http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/3rd-Townsend-McDonald-s-Goes-Dark-In-9957408.php|access-date=October 24, 2017|work=SFGate|publisher=Hoodline.com|date=October 8, 2016|archive-url=https://archive.today/20241005024843/https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/3rd-Townsend-McDonald-s-Goes-Dark-In-9957408.php|archive-date=5 October 2024}}</ref> [[Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk]] was the amusement park where the climactic scene was filmed.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Baine|first=Wallace|date=March 22, 2019|title=A Brief History of Movies Filmed at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk|url=https://projects.sfchronicle.com/2019/santa-cruz-movie-history/|work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]]|access-date=April 11, 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240110041449/https://projects.sfchronicle.com/2019/santa-cruz-movie-history/|archive-date=January 10, 2024}}</ref> At this point in his career, Eastwood was receiving a salary that included 60% of all film profits, leaving the other 40% for the studio. Estimates had Eastwood earning $30 million for ''Sudden Impact''.

It was Locke's last film to be widely released.<ref>[https://www.the-numbers.com/person/86870401-Sondra-Locke#tab=acting "Sondra Locke - Box Office"]. The Numbers.</ref> Perpetuating a career-long pattern that saw her playing protagonists much younger than herself,{{efn|It was 1967 when Locke erected a smokescreen over her age. She was 23 in 1967, but told the press she was only 17. Locke later admitted to lying about her age, but still lied about how many years she had shaved off.<ref>[https://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/021590 "Starring Sondra Locke"]. Turner Classic Movies. March 18, 2022.</ref><ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/sondra-locke-clint-eastwood-b2550936.html "Sondra Locke, Clint Eastwood and the tragic disappearance of a Hollywood trailblazer"]. ''The Independent''. May 26, 2024.</ref>}} at 39, Locke was older than the group of actors cast as the rapists and 21 years older than the youth [[catcalling]] her near the start of the movie. She was six years older than Audrie Neenan,  though the character of Parkins is clearly meant to be older than Spencer. Moreover, the actress who played Locke's sister was 11½ years her junior.