The O.S.S, an organisation made up of ex-Legionaries and French army officers, feel de Gaulle has betrayed them and France by giving Algeria back. They want him dead and having tried and failed themselves their only option is to hire an outsider, an Englishman who calls himself The Jackal.
Based on the excellent novel by Frederick Forsyth this film by director Fred Zinnemann is something of a slow burner. Like High Noon, one of the director's earlier and better known films, it's a matter of a long build up to quick, bloody action. Edward Fox, an actor not that well known internationally at the time, was chosen ahead of the likes of Michael Cain and Rodger Moore to play the Jackal and does so to great affect. Cain would have been far too rough and Moore would have hammed it up. This is a believable thriller, not Bond. Anglo-French actor Michael Lonsdale gives a measured and thoughtful performance as the cop chasing the Jackal through Italy and across France. An underused actor in English language film that most people will recognise from his roles as the old CIA man in Ronin or Drax, the Bond villain in Moonraker. Derek Jacobi who had already co-stared in The Odessa File, another Forsyth story, makes an appearance as Lonsdales' second in command.
Forsyths' research is always outstanding and his publishing and the subsequent filming of the techniques used by real forgers to obtain passports led to the British authorities tightening their routines. There are several untrue stories in popular culture about the book and film being used by people as manuals on assassination. It is true however that the international terrorist Ilich Ramírez Sánchez was given the nickname Carlos the Jackal after it was falsely reported that he kept a copy of the book.
Though a little slow and long I have a real soft spot for this film. The performances are good and the realism is a refreshing counter to the more outlandish spy thrillers of the time.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069947/?ref_=nv_sr_1
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