The Day of the Jackal Page #4

Synopsis: It is the early 60s in France. The remaining survivors of the aborted French Foreign Legion have made repeated attempts to kill DeGaulle. The result is that he is the most closely guarded man in the world. As a desperate act, they hire The Jackal, the code name for a hired killer who agrees to kill French President De Gaulle for half a million dollars. We watch his preparations which are so thorough we wonder how he could possibly fail even as we watch the French police attempt to pick up his trail. The situation is historically accurate. There were many such attempts and the film closely follows the plot of the book.
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Director(s): Fred Zinnemann
Production: Universal Pictures
  Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 10 nominations.
 
IMDB:
7.8
Metacritic:
80
Rotten Tomatoes:
90%
PG
Year:
1973
143 min
2,883 Views


until further notice.

You will be my secretary

and assistant rolled into one.

I want a bed in here

with linen and all the usual...

...including something to wash in

and shaving things.

Also, get a percolator and lots of coffee.

Right, sir.

- Get onto the switchboard.

I want a good telephonist,

the best they've got.

I need ten outside lines

open around-the-clock.

If there's any nonsense,

refer them to Berthier.

This job gets top priority at all times.

Do you want anything

from them immediately?

A person-to-person link to the heads...

...of the homicide divisions

of the following countries:

Holland, Belgium, Italy...

West Germany and South Africa.

The FBI in the United States...

...and Scotland Yard's

Special Branch in Britain.

How many is that?

- Seven.

Get the head man at home or in the office.

Ask them to take a call from me

tomorrow morning...

...and see that there's no one listening in.

In the meantime, I'm going

down to general records...

...to check if this Jackal

has ever operated inside France.

Sir, how do you know the Jackal

comes from any of these countries?

I don't. But he must be on file somewhere.

Sorry I'm late, darling.

- What kept you so long?

There was a long meeting.

- I've been waiting for hours.

Yes, I'm sorry about the hour, but--

Yes, Washington, I know it's

What?

Could you call him at the club, please?

I didn't go out.

I just sat waiting for you to call.

It was impossible.

There was a crisis on.

Crisis? What crisis?

Never mind.

What crisis?

- It was nothing.

What crisis?

Mr. Mallinson.

I'm sorry to disturb you, sir.

It's Paris. Inspector Caron.

I don't wish to sound rude,

but wouldn't it be better...

...if routine inquiries could be

conducted through proper channels?

Preferably when we're all awake.

- I'm sorry, Mr. Mallinson.

It is very urgent.

Commissioner Lebel didn't wish

to make a formal request.

He was rather hoping that you'd

cooperate with us unofficially.

All right. I'll take the

commissioner's call at 8:30.

Fine. Good night.

What's left of it.

Who was that?

- The old boy network.

Yes?

Denise.

- Valmy here.

They found out about the Jackal.

All I found in central records...

...was that in the ten last years

there've only been...

...four contract killers in France.

We've got three. The fourth is

serving time in Africa somewhere.

So our man must be from abroad.

Surely, he's come to someone's

attention somewhere.

Who do I speak to first?

- Scotland Yard...

Special Branch.

Assistant Commissioner Mallinson.

There's no name.

Nothing to go on, I'm afraid.

All this unofficial secrecy

is pretty irregular, isn't it?

Makes my task difficult.

- Yes, I know.

I've never heard of a political

killer in this country.

It's not our style, is it?

- It's more your department...

...so I'll leave it in your hands.

- Yes, but--

Try to get it out of the way by tomorrow.

I'm understaffed as it is.

Yes, sir.

What's the cost?

Give me the foreign office,

would you, please, luv?

Extension 905.

Hello, Barrie?

Brian Thomas.

Could you meet me in an hour

at the usual place?

We've been plowing through

the files till we're cross-eyed.

None of them fits the description.

But before we drop it,

I had a thought.

If this contract killer

did all his work abroad...

...he'd be quite respectable

in England, wouldn't he?

So?

- Your people operate abroad.

I thought you might have tabs

on a bloke like that.

I'll have a look.

Brian, call for you.

Thomas.

Yes, that's right.

Is this some sort of bloody joke?

What? Now?

Personally?

Yes, I'll--...

The Prime Minister?

- The Prime Minister, sir.

He said if there's the remotest possibility...

...of General de Gaulle's life

being threatened...

...by a person of these islands,

then it is to be stopped.

He's given me full powers and top priority.

Is this some kind of joke?

- Of course not, sir.

I've got to drop whatever I'm doing.

I shall need six

of your best men straightaway.

Where's the notification for this?

Where's the proper authority?

Yes.

Yes, sir.

Of course, sir.

Nothing more than taproom

gossip, I'm afraid.

Do you remember Trujillo?

You mean the dictator of some

republic in South America?

Yes, Dominica.

He was killed in 1961.

We got word that an Englishman

may have been mixed up in it.

Just an unconfirmed report,

mind you.

Did he have a name?

- Charles Harold Calthrop.

He was the Caribbean rep

for a small armaments firm.

According to the rumor,

he was a fantastic shot.

He disappeared after the assassination.

Nobody knows where he went.

Is that all there is to go on?

- Afraid so.

Just a name?

What makes you think it might be him?

Your friend's code name is Jackal, right?

Jackal in French is chacal.

See? Now it might just be a coincidence...

...but the first three letters

of his Christian name, Charles...

...and the first three letters

of Calthrop make up--

That's all the Charles H. Calthrops

way back to 1 958.

How many does that make?

- Twenty-three.

Will you please tell Commissioner Lebel...

...there is a faint possibility,

very faint...

...the name is Charles Harold Calthrop.

That's right. We've checked

with the passport office.

Twenty-three passports were issued

to Charles H. Calthrops...

...during the past five years.

We've interviewed 1 2 of them so far.

Nothing at all,

but I'll keep you posted.

Do you have a garage for rent?

Excuse me.

Would you happen to know

where Mr. Charles Calthrop is?

Mr. Calthrop?

- Yes.

I think he's abroad.

He often is, you know.

Thank you.

We better get a search warrant.

What's happening?

Come in.

We've been through the lot, sir.

He's away, all right.

Let's see what you've got.

What's this?

- His passport.

We checked it.

It's him.

Look.

The Dominican visa.

There's no exit stamp though.

He must have got out on the sly.

You haven't grasped it yet,

have you?

Yes, this is our man, all right.

Definitely.

But hasn't it occurred to you

that we're holding his passport?

If he is out of the country,

what's he traveling on?

He might be somewhere in the U.K.

- Yes, he might.

Then again, he might not.

He's Charles Harold Calthrop.

Here's his passport photo.

I'll circulate photos

to each of you after the meeting.

Excellent.

Thank you, Commissioner.

It may be this Calthrop

has already entered the country.

He may be staying at a hotel.

Phillison.

Minister?

- I want every hotel card...

...for the past 72 hours

checked by the police.

The same goes for you, Pascal,

with those cards that are filed...

...for the greater Paris area.

- Yes, Minister.

Circulate to your staffs

this man's name and photograph.

He must be arrested on sight,

and my office notified at once.

I want every border post...

...airport, seaport,

fishing village alerted.

General Colbert.

- Minister?

Calthrop is probably still abroad.

Get your agents working on that.

- Yes, sir.

In the meantime, complete

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Kenneth Ross

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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