People: Jul. 21, 1986

Go ahead, make his day. In the roles of mayor of Carmel, Calif., Marine Sergeant Tom Highway and just plain Clint Eastwood, he is far too busy acting, directing, producing and running a town to take any flak. Not even from the U.S. Army. Seems that in his latest film, Heartbreak Ridge, he plays a lifer who won a medal in a bloody Korean War battle but who is now going through some rough times both in and out of the service. The Army refused to cooperate with the production because of script problems, so Eastwood sold it to the Marines. When Army veterans complained, the star remained above the battle."I've had complaints before on other things," he says. "I don't think about it too much." Despite the military trappings, Eastwood contends, this is "not just a shoot-'em-up. It has to do with relations with people." Not that Dirty Harry has necessarily retired; these days, "one must branch out."