The Phone Booth Game from “Dirty Harry”

Phone booths and payphone enclosures form a key episode in Don Siegel’s 1971 film “Dirty Harry,” starring Clint Eastwood.

In the film Detective Harry Callahan (played by Clint Eastwood) is sent on a phone booth goosechase by a sociopathic sniper known only as Scorpio (played by Andrew Robinson). Holding a young girl hostage Scorpio demands $200,000 ransom money, and further demands that Callahan play a phone booth “game” before the girl can be released.

The rules of the phone booth game are simple. As explained by Scorpio: “I give you a certain amount of time to go from phone booth to phone booth. They ring 4 times. You don’t answer by the 4th ring I hang up and that’s the end of the game. The girl dies.”

“Dirty Harry” was filmed in San Francisco. We can assume that most if not all of the payphone enclosure and phone booth locations depicted actually existed as real world functioning payphones in 1971, when the movie was filmed.

The Phone Booth Game Begins

The phone booth game begins at about 48 minutes into the film.

Callahan, expecting to meet Scorpio, stands on a dark marina pier with $200,000 in cash ransom money. After a few moments the sound of a ringing payphone is heard.

At first Callahan is nonplussed by and even oblivious to the distant sound of the ringing telephone. Apparently Callahan expected Scorpio to show up in person, not via dockside payphone.

We get a sudden closeup of the payphone. It is a rotary dial affair, dimly lit within an egg-shaped payphone enclosure, a style commonly seen in movies and television shows of the era (“Rockford Files, Season 1, Episode 7 and Episode 8). Today this style of payphone enclosure can still be found in Nebraska, and (the last time I looked) there was an egg-shaped enclosure at Pierrepont and Montague, near the Brooklyn Promenade.

After several rings the call connects — to Callahan’s attention, that is. Realizing that the call is for him Callahan grabs the bag of ransom money and sprints the distance between himself and the ringing payphone. He yanks the payphone handset off the receiver, juggling the device before hurriedly thrusting it to his face to talk to Scorpio. (This moment in the film contains a great sound effect of the payphone handset hitting the inside of the payphone enclosure.)

A bit of dialogue ensues. Identities are clarified and Callahan asks “Is the girl OK?” Scorpio ignores that question and proceeds to explain the rules of the phone booth game:

“I give you a certain amount of time to go from phone booth to phone booth. They ring 4 times. You don’t answer by the 4th ring I hang up and that’s the end of the game. The girl dies.
“Get to Forest Hills Station as fast as you can. Understand?”

Dirty Harry: Phone Booth Game[/caption]
Callahan reaches Forest Hills Station, hears ringing payphone, runs!

Callahan answers the phone, one of 2 Janusian-style payphones conjoined at the spine and backlit with overhead lamps. The payphones are decorated Christmas-tree style with ornamental telephone directories.
“Callahan here.”

OOF! Callahan answered the wrong payphone! That’s tight, since the rules of the game say the girl dies if Callahan doesn’t answer by the 4th ring. He races around to the other payphone, getting there just in time.

Got the right one this time.

“Callahan.”

More instructions are delivered, and the chase continues.

Callahan races to the next ringing payphone, arriving just in time at a well-lit booth on a street corner. This scene contains another great sound effect of the payphone handset being lifted frantically from the receiver. The sound editors on this film (William Randall, Sergio Reyes, Dan Wallin [or whoever worked for them]) definitely knew the subtle nuances of the payphone sound world. This moment in the film also includes a museum-worthy snapshot of the traditional street corner phone booth once commonly found in most American cities.

Scorpio instructs Callahan to go to the next phone booth:

“Public phone: Hamburger stand, Aquatic Park.”


En route to the Aquatic Park phone booth Callahan dodges (and pummels) some stoner muggers, then races toward what looks like a “light at the end of the tunnel.” He hears a ringing payphone, but the distraction of the wanna-be muggers delayed his trek, making him too late to answer by the 4th ring. An elderly man answers the phone, ignoring Callahan’s order: “DON’T ANSWER THAT!” Perhaps Callahan realized later that the old guy actually saved the day.

Callahan grabs the phone away from the codger. Scorpio asks who that was. Callahan says it was “Some old guy. Never saw him before.” Scorpio hangs up, momentarily causing Callahan to fear the game is over.

Moments later Scorpio calls back with more instructions:

“Do you know Mt. Davidson Park? Go to the cross.”

Callahan goes to the cross, injecting a strange religiousity into the affair. There is no phone booth at the cross. This is the end of the phone booth game. If you want to know what happens next, rent or buy a copy of “Dirty Harry.” I find that the Phone Booth Game part of “Dirty Harry” runs a little long in the tooth, but the film overall holds up well for its age.
The motif of the ringing telephone occurs throughout “Dirty Harry.” Listen for it.

Other Payphones seen in “Dirty Harry”

A couple of other payphone and phone booth moments occur in the film. The film’s denouement is initiated with a payphone call from Scorpio:

Dirty Harry: Phone Booth Game[/caption]
“I got 7 kids from the Park Street School. I’ve got the bus driver. Here she is.”
A curbside phone booth makes a few appearances in the opening scenes of the film (beginning at about 10:30). The phone booth stands outside an Adult Book Shop and the Burger Den:

This has nothing to do with payphones, but is too amusing not to share. As Callahan enters the Burger Den we see an unexpected, almost Hitchcockian cameo of sorts: The movie theater marquee around the corner advertises “Play Misty For Me,” the 1971 film which was Clint Eastwood’s directorial début.

See my complete set of screengrabs of Payphones from “Dirty Harry” at PayphonePictures.com. Screen shots and all images from the film “Dirty Harry” are copyrighted property of Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.