Frank Horrigan (In the Line of Fire)

{| class="infobox" style="width: 21em; font-size: 90%; text-align: left" +
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! colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | ''[[In the Line of Fire]]'' character
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| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | <!-- Image with inadequate rationale removed: [[Image:Scorpio.JPG|275px]] -->
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| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | <small>Clint Eastwood as Frank Horrigan</small>
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|! colspan="2" style="text-align:center; font-size: larger; background-color: #001; color: #ffa;" | Frank Horrigan
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! Occupation/Title:
| Formerly [[Secret Service]]/[[Retired]]
|-
! Status:
| Alive
|-
! Portrayed by:
| [[Clint Eastwood]]
|}

'''Frank Horrigan''' is a fictional character in the 1993 film, [[In the Line of Fire]] portrayed by [[Clint Eastwood]].

Prior to the events of the film, Frank was [[John F. Kennedy|John F. Kennedy's]] favorite secret service agent. He often took the blame for acts that would bring shame to Kennedy. The night of [[November 21st]], [[1963]], he and his group of secret service agents were out drinking, and the head of security was uneasy AbOUT them guarding Kennedy the next day. Horrigan and his squad assumed duty anyway, and failed to protect Kennedy. He became so committed to his job, he put his family second, and his wife left him. These mistakes eat away at Frank all throughout the course of the film.

At the beginning of the film, Frank's partner, Al D'Andrea is late to pick Frank up for their assignment. Frank and Al drive to a dock where they meet the couunterfeiter, Mendoza. Mendoza knows that Al is an agent, but is unaware that Frank is one. Frank surrenders his gun and follows Mendoza into the boat, to find Al tied up. Frank joins Mendoza on his boat where they have bound Al to a chair. Frank is forced to show his loyalty by putting a gun to Al’s head and pulling the trigger. The gun is empty (a fact that Frank was able to determine while hefting the weapon) and one of Mendoza’s thugs slips a plastic bag over Al’s head. Frank shoots the plastic bag guy and another of Mendoza's thugs, frees Al, and shows his badge, telling Mendoza he’s under arrest.

Later in the film, Frank investigates a complaint from an elderly landlady about one of her tenants. Frank finds a shrine of sorts to famous assassinations. When Frank and Al get a search warrant, they enter the man’s apartment and discover that the pictures in the shrine have vanished and only one remains: a much younger Frank standing behind John F. Kennedy in Dallas in 1963.

Frank gets a phone call the next evening from a man who insists Frank call him “Booth” after [[John Wilkes Booth]]. He tells Frank that he plans to kill the president. The man also knows a lot of Frank’s history as a Secret Service agent. Frank reports the call to his superiors and an investigation is opened.

When a group of agents come together about the call, Frank becomes interested in another agent, Lilly Raines. She helps him get on protection detail for the President, a duty Frank hasn’t had for years and for which, because of his age, he is out of shape.

After much investigating, Frank finds out that Booth is actually a man named [[Mitch Leary]], a former CIA operative who went had a [[mental breakdown]] and became a killer.

Leary taunts Frank with more phone calls throughout the film, saying that Frank could have stopped [[Lee Harvey Oswald|Lee Harvey Oswald's]] bullet, but wouldn't for his own sake.

At one point the tracing of his call leads Frank and his fellow agents to a payphone at nearby Lafayette Park, one block from the White House. As Leary runs away, he is nearly run over by a passing car.

Leary also shows up at several public events the president attends, knowing that Frank will be there on protection detail. During one of the events, Leary pops several balloons and Frank causes an humiliating scene, thinking it's a gun.

Another call from Leary leads Frank and Al to a Washington apartment building where they see Leary sneaking away. They chase Leary across the roofs of several buildings. Frank tries to jump a roof, but misses, and Leary holds out his hand. Frank grabs hold, but pulls his gun on Leary. Al catches up to Frank and Leary, and aims his gun at Leary. Leary swings Frank to the fire escape and shoots Al in the head. Frank scans around for Leary, but finds no trace of him. This motivates Frank even more in his effort to capture Leary.

Frank thinks that Leary will attempt the assassination in Los Angeles, at a huge fundraising event to be held at the [[Westin Bonaventure Hotel]]. Frank unnecessarily subdues a bellhop who has lost his ID. The incident is filmed by a local news channel and Frank is thrown off protection duty and ordered to return home.

While he travels to the airport, another clue, a coded phone number, is discovered by Frank. He finds out that Leary had opened a bank account under a false name and had sent a large donation check to the local office of the President’s party, thereby securing an invitation to the fundraiser.

Frank returns to the hotel with the phony name and demands to see the guest seating list at the banquet taking place. He recognizes Leary in disguise at a table near the stage and rushes to stop him. Leary pulls out his gun and fires just as Frank jumps into the path of the bullet as he is wearing his bulletproof vest, proving he did have the guts to take a bullet for the President. The President is rushed immediately from the scene into his motorcade, which races away.

Leary takes Frank [[hostage]] into an elevator and knocks out the lights. Without Leary knowing, Frank holds hides his communicator in his fist and answers Leary while at the same time giving orders to Lilly and the snipers. The snipers ready their weapons, and Leary realizes what Frank is doing. The snipers fire and break the glass in the elevator. Frank and Leary get into a fistfight, and Leary falls out the elevator. He grabs on to the base of the elevator, and Frank reaches his hand out to help Leary, in an ironic twist to the rooftop scene. Instead of taking Frank’s hand, Leary lets go of the elevator and falls to his death below.

Frank decides to retire and he and Lilly return to Washington. At his apartment, he finds a final [[voicemail]] message from Leary, bidding him farewell in case he had succeeded in the assassination attempt and taken his own life afterwards. The two of them leave before the message is finished. The film ends with Lily and Frank sitting by the [[Lincoln Memorial]] looking at pigeons while Frank makes the wry comment "I know things about pigeons, Lilly."

==See also==
*[[In the Line of Fire]]
*[[Mitch Leary]]
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