SHORT TAKES : Locke Battling ‘Clint’s Shadow’

Sondra Locke says her cop thriller “Impulse” owes nothing to her longtime companion Clint Eastwood, but “it’s a battle to get out from under Clint’s shadow.”

The film, which Locke directed, stars Theresa Russell as a tough cop on the edge of burnout, a theme not unknown in Eastwood’s work. But “this is not like any movie he ever did,” Locke said in a recent interview.

The shadow cast by the tough guy of the Dirty Harry movies darkens her legal as well as her artistic life, Locke said.

Locke, 42, is waging a court battle for a share of Eastwood’s wealth and two of the homes the two shared during 11 years together. Eastwood filed his own lawsuit claiming that Locke was married to another man and thus is not entitled to a settlement.