Movies

This is Clint Eastwood’s most legendary line: it has even been used by a U.S. president in a speech

Words that have remained engraved as a classic of cinema.

Update: Jan 20th, 2025 19:48 CET

Clint Eastwood is one of the most legendary figures of the film industry and popular culture of our time. A person who is pure cinema and who at 94 years of age continues to do what he loves most and leaves us films like ‘Juror #2′, released last 2024, but although his role as a director has been the most prolific in recent decades, his work as an actor is enormously remembered with some roles for history. One of his most memorable characters is Inspector Harry Callahan, popularly known as Dirty Harry, and the fourth installment of the saga, known as ‘Sudden Impact’, which he directed himself, left a phrase for history.

What is the phrase in question? “Go ahead, make my day,” used by Harry Callahan in a moment of action and suspense in which he once again shows all his toughness and character. This phrase was even used by an American president who is also closely linked to the world of cinema, Ronald Reagan himself. He did so in 1985, two years after the film’s release, when he spoke against taxes at the American Business Conference: “I have my veto pen drawn and ready for any tax increase that Congress might even think of sending up. And I have only one thing to say to the tax increasers. Go ahead-make my day.”

A phrase for the history of cinema

“Go ahead, make my day” was written by screenwriter John Milius, known for his work on films such as ‘Conan the Barbarian’ or ‘Apocalypse Now,’ as well as the ‘Roma’ series. A piece of film history that is considered one of the 100 most emblematic phrases, occupying sixth place in the list created by the American Film Institute in 2005.