The Day of the Jackal (film)
Encyclopedia
The Day of the Jackal is a 1973 Anglo
-French
film, set in August 1963 and based on the novel of the same name
by Frederick Forsyth
. Directed by Fred Zinnemann
, it stars Edward Fox
as the assassin known only as "the Jackal"
who is hired to assassinate Charles de Gaulle
.
, on 22 August 1962, by the militant French underground organisation OAS in anger over the French government's decision to give independence to Algeria
. The group, led by Jean Bastien-Thiry, raked de Gaulle's car, an unarmored Citroën DS
, with machine gun fire in the Paris suburb of Petit-Clamart
, but the entire entourage escaped without injury. Within six months, Bastien-Thiry and several other members of the plot were caught and executed.
The remaining OAS leadership decides to make another attempt, and hires a professional assassin who chooses the code name
The Jackal (Edward Fox
). He demands half a million US dollars for his services, so to raise the Jackal's fee, OAS members rob several banks. Meanwhile, the Jackal commissions a rifle disguised as a crutch and fake identity papers. In Paris, he sneaks an impression of the key to a flat that overlooks a large square (where de Gaulle will make an appearance on Liberation Day).
The French Service d'Action Civique
(referred to throughout as the Action Service) identify and kidnap the OAS chief clerk, Adjutant
Viktor Wolenski (Jean Martin
) in Italy
. They use torture to extract some elements of the plot, including the word "Jackal", before Wolenski dies. Meanwhile, the Jackal picks up the rifle and forged identity papers but kills the forger when the forger tries to extort more money from him.
Interior Minister
(Alan Badel
) convenes a secret cabinet. The police commissioner recommends the brilliant detective deputy commissioner Claude Lebel (Michael Lonsdale
). He will have any resources he needs but must avoid publicity. One of the cabinet members, named St. Clair, unsuspectingly discloses the government's knowledge of the plot to his new mistress (Olga Georges-Picot
), an OAS plant
who immediately passes this information on to her contact.
Lebel uses an old boy network
of police agencies in other countries to determine that suspect "Charles Calthrop" may be traveling under the name "Paul Oliver Duggan" and that Duggan has entered France.
The Jackal decides to carry on with his plan despite the fact that his code name is known. He meets and seduces Colette de Montpellier (Delphine Seyrig
) in a Grasse
hotel. Slipping away before Lebel arrives, he steals a Peugeot 404
that collided with his Alfa Romeo Giulietta
and drives it to Madame de Montpellier's estate. After sleeping with her again and discovering that the police had talked to her, he strangles her. The Jackal then assumes a new identity as a bespectacled Dane, using a stolen passport. He drives Madame de Montpellier's Renault Caravelle
to a station and catches a train for Paris.
Once the lady's servants discover her corpse and her car is recovered at the train station, Lebel is able to make an open manhunt for a murderer. But the Jackal makes it to Paris, slips into a cab and, avoiding hotels now, goes to a bathhouse
, where he allows himself to be picked up by a man and taken to the man's flat.
At a meeting with the assembled cabinet, Lebel plays the tape of a phone call made from the house of one of the cabinet members. The cabinet hears St. Clair's mistress passing along information about the manhunt to her OAS contact. St. Clair acknowledges that the call was made from his house and leaves in disgrace. Another cabinet member asks Lebel how he knew which phone to tap
, to which he replies that he didn't, so he tapped them all.
Lebel further reveals that the Jackal will most likely attempt to shoot de Gaulle in three days, when the president will make several appearances for Liberation Day
.
Meanwhile, the Jackal kills the man who picked him up at the bathhouse after a television news flash reveals him to be wanted for murder.
On Liberation Day, the Jackal, disguised as an elderly veteran amputee, shows his forged papers and is allowed through to enter the apartment building he had cased earlier. He takes up a position at the window of the upper apartment. De Gaulle enters the square to present medals to veterans of the Resistance
.
Lebel meets the policeman who met the disguised Jackal and becomes alarmed. As de Gaulle presents the first medal, the Jackal shoots but the bullet misses him because at that moment the president leans over to kiss the recipient on the cheek. Lebel and the policeman burst in to the room, the Jackal turns and shoots the policeman, Lebel uses the policeman's MAT-49
submachine gun to kill the Jackal as he tries to re-load his rifle.
Back in Britain, the real — and completely unrelated to the case — Charles Calthrop (Edward Hardwicke
) walks in on the police in his flat. As the Jackal's coffin is lowered into a grave, the authorities wonder, "But if the Jackal wasn't Calthrop, then who the hell was he?"
a well-known actor (if not an A-list star), though many speculated the film's lack of an established star was the reason for its lack of financial success. Michael Caine
, Jack Nicholson
, and Roger Moore
were considered for the title role. However, Zinnemann wanted the part to be played by an unknown to emphasize that the Jackal was a faceless outsider.
The French government was extremely helpful in the filming of the movie, providing soldiers and use of exclusive locations for the filming of the final Liberation Day
sequence. Fred Zinnemann wrote that Adrian Cayla-Legrand, the actor who played de Gaulle, was mistaken by several Parisians for the real thing during filming — though de Gaulle had been dead for two years prior to the film's release. The sequence was filmed during a real parade, leading to confusion; the crowd (many of whom were unaware that a film was being shot) mistook the actors portraying police officers for real officers, and many tried to help them arrest the "suspects" they were apprehending in the crowd.
Some critics have seen visual and thematic similarities between the film and the John F. Kennedy assassination
. These include the shot of the exploding watermelon during the Jackal's target practice, the man being carted away by an ambulance during the parade (recalling a similar incident in Dealey Plaza
), and the presence of a magazine with JFK's picture on the cover in the hotel scene. Also, the setting is in August 1963, three months before Kennedy's death. Save the last, these were not evident in the original novel.
Although the story takes place in 1962 and 1963, the filmmakers made no efforts to avoid showing car models whose production began later, for example Peugeot 504
(built from 1968), Renault 12
(built from 1969), and a Fiat 128
(1969).
and featuring Richard Gere
, Bruce Willis
, Sidney Poitier
and Jack Black
. Except for being a story about an assassin nicknamed The Jackal, it has nothing in common with the original story. Frederick Forsyth
refused to allow his name to be used in connection with it, and director Fred Zinnemann
fought with the studio to ensure that the new film did not share the first film's title.
Cinema of the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom has had a major influence on modern cinema. The first moving pictures developed on celluloid film were made in Hyde Park, London in 1889 by William Friese Greene, a British inventor, who patented the process in 1890. It is generally regarded that the British film industry...
-French
Cinema of France
The Cinema of France comprises the art of film and creative movies made within the nation of France or by French filmmakers abroad.France is the birthplace of cinema and was responsible for many of its early significant contributions. Several important cinematic movements, including the Nouvelle...
film, set in August 1963 and based on the novel of the same name
The Day of the Jackal
The Day of the Jackal is a thriller novel by English writer Frederick Forsyth, about a professional assassin who is contracted by the OAS, a French terrorist group of the early 1960s, to kill Charles de Gaulle, the President of France....
by Frederick Forsyth
Frederick Forsyth
Frederick Forsyth, CBE is an English author and occasional political commentator. He is best known for thrillers such as The Day of the Jackal, The Odessa File, The Fourth Protocol, The Dogs of War, The Devil's Alternative, The Fist of God, Icon, The Veteran, Avenger, The Afghan and The Cobra.-...
. Directed by Fred Zinnemann
Fred Zinnemann
Fred Zinnemann was an Austrian-American film director. He won four Academy Awards and directed films like High Noon, From Here to Eternity and A Man for All Seasons.-Life and career:...
, it stars Edward Fox
Edward Fox (actor)
Edward Charles Morice Fox, OBE is an English stage, film and television actor.He is generally associated with portraying the role of the upper-class Englishman, such as the title character in the film The Day of the Jackal and King Edward VIII in the serial Edward & Mrs...
as the assassin known only as "the Jackal"
Jackal (The Day Of The Jackal)
The Jackal is the main character and protagonist in the novel The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth, which features a storyline centred on an assassin who is contracted by the OAS French terrorist group of the early 1960s, to kill Charles de Gaulle, the President of France...
who is hired to assassinate Charles de Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
.
Synopsis
The film opens with the recreation of an actual event, the assassination attempt on the President of France, Charles de GaulleCharles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
, on 22 August 1962, by the militant French underground organisation OAS in anger over the French government's decision to give independence to Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
. The group, led by Jean Bastien-Thiry, raked de Gaulle's car, an unarmored Citroën DS
Citroën DS
The Citroën DS is an executive car produced by the French manufacturer Citroën between 1955 and 1975. Styled by Italian sculptor and industrial designer Flaminio Bertoni and the French aeronautical engineer André Lefèbvre, the DS was known for its aerodynamic futuristic body design and innovative...
, with machine gun fire in the Paris suburb of Petit-Clamart
Clamart
Clamart is a commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.The town is divided into two parts, separated by a forest: bas Clamart, the historical centre, and petit Clamart with urbanization developed in the 1960s replacing pea fields. The canton of...
, but the entire entourage escaped without injury. Within six months, Bastien-Thiry and several other members of the plot were caught and executed.
The remaining OAS leadership decides to make another attempt, and hires a professional assassin who chooses the code name
Code name
A code name or cryptonym is a word or name used clandestinely to refer to another name or word. Code names are often used for military purposes, or in espionage...
The Jackal (Edward Fox
Edward Fox (actor)
Edward Charles Morice Fox, OBE is an English stage, film and television actor.He is generally associated with portraying the role of the upper-class Englishman, such as the title character in the film The Day of the Jackal and King Edward VIII in the serial Edward & Mrs...
). He demands half a million US dollars for his services, so to raise the Jackal's fee, OAS members rob several banks. Meanwhile, the Jackal commissions a rifle disguised as a crutch and fake identity papers. In Paris, he sneaks an impression of the key to a flat that overlooks a large square (where de Gaulle will make an appearance on Liberation Day).
The French Service d'Action Civique
Service d'Action Civique
The SAC , officially created in January 1960, was a Gaullist militia founded by Jacques Foccart, Charles de Gaulle's chief adviser for African matters, and Pierre Debizet, a former Resistant and official director of the group...
(referred to throughout as the Action Service) identify and kidnap the OAS chief clerk, Adjutant
Adjutant
Adjutant is a military rank or appointment. In some armies, including most English-speaking ones, it is an officer who assists a more senior officer, while in other armies, especially Francophone ones, it is an NCO , normally corresponding roughly to a Staff Sergeant or Warrant Officer.An Adjutant...
Viktor Wolenski (Jean Martin
Jean Martin
Jean Martin was a French actor of stage and screen. Martin served in the French Resistance during World War II and later fought with the French paratroopers in Indochina. Theatrically, he is perhaps best-known for originating two roles in Samuel Beckett's most famous plays: Lucky in Waiting for...
) in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. They use torture to extract some elements of the plot, including the word "Jackal", before Wolenski dies. Meanwhile, the Jackal picks up the rifle and forged identity papers but kills the forger when the forger tries to extort more money from him.
Interior Minister
Interior minister
An interior ministry is a government ministry typically responsible for policing, national security, and immigration matters. The ministry is often headed by a minister of the interior or minister of home affairs...
(Alan Badel
Alan Badel
Alan Fernand Badel was a distinguished English stage actor who also appeared frequently in the cinema, radio and television and was noted for his richly textured voice which was once described as "the sound of tears".-Early life:...
) convenes a secret cabinet. The police commissioner recommends the brilliant detective deputy commissioner Claude Lebel (Michael Lonsdale
Michael Lonsdale
Michael Lonsdale , sometimes billed as Michel Lonsdale, is a French actor who has appeared in over 180 films and television shows....
). He will have any resources he needs but must avoid publicity. One of the cabinet members, named St. Clair, unsuspectingly discloses the government's knowledge of the plot to his new mistress (Olga Georges-Picot
Olga Georges-Picot
Olga Georges-Picot was a French actress.Born in Shanghai, China, she was the daughter of Guillaume Georges-Picot, the French Ambassador to China, and a Russian mother. Olga studied acting at the Actor’s Studio in Paris. Her acting career covered many diverse French and English films and...
), an OAS plant
Shill
A shill, plant or stooge is a person who helps a person or organization without disclosing that he or she has a close relationship with that person or organization...
who immediately passes this information on to her contact.
Lebel uses an old boy network
Old boy network
An old boy network, or society, can refer to social and business connections among former pupils of male-only private schools. British public school students were traditionally called "boys", thus graduated students are "old boys"....
of police agencies in other countries to determine that suspect "Charles Calthrop" may be traveling under the name "Paul Oliver Duggan" and that Duggan has entered France.
The Jackal decides to carry on with his plan despite the fact that his code name is known. He meets and seduces Colette de Montpellier (Delphine Seyrig
Delphine Seyrig
Delphine Claire Beltiane Seyrig was a stage and film actress and a film director.-Early life:...
) in a Grasse
Grasse
-See also:*Route Napoléon*Ancient Diocese of Grasse*Communes of the Alpes-Maritimes department-External links:*...
hotel. Slipping away before Lebel arrives, he steals a Peugeot 404
Peugeot 404
The Peugeot 404 is a large family car produced by French automobile manufacturer Peugeot from 1960 to 1975, with the exception of the truck which was sold until 1988. It was also made under licence in various African countries until 1991 . It was also built in Argentina by Sevel.Designed by...
that collided with his Alfa Romeo Giulietta
Alfa Romeo Giulietta
The Alfa Romeo Giulietta was a subcompact automobile manufactured by the Italian car maker Alfa Romeo from 1954 to 1965. The Giulietta was introduced at the Turin Motor Show in 1954 and almost 132,000 were built in the Portello factory in Milan.The first Giulietta model was a coupé, the Giulietta...
and drives it to Madame de Montpellier's estate. After sleeping with her again and discovering that the police had talked to her, he strangles her. The Jackal then assumes a new identity as a bespectacled Dane, using a stolen passport. He drives Madame de Montpellier's Renault Caravelle
Renault Caravelle
The Renault Caravelle is an automobile which was produced by the French manufacturer Renault between 1958 and 1968. Outside of North America and Britain it was, until 1962, marketed under the nameplate Renault Floride.-The Name:...
to a station and catches a train for Paris.
Once the lady's servants discover her corpse and her car is recovered at the train station, Lebel is able to make an open manhunt for a murderer. But the Jackal makes it to Paris, slips into a cab and, avoiding hotels now, goes to a bathhouse
Gay bathhouse
Gay bathhouses, also known as gay saunas or steam baths, are commercial bathhouses for men to have sex with other men. In gay slang in some regions these venues are also known colloquially as "the baths" or "the tubs," and should not be confused with public bathing.Not all men who visit gay...
, where he allows himself to be picked up by a man and taken to the man's flat.
At a meeting with the assembled cabinet, Lebel plays the tape of a phone call made from the house of one of the cabinet members. The cabinet hears St. Clair's mistress passing along information about the manhunt to her OAS contact. St. Clair acknowledges that the call was made from his house and leaves in disgrace. Another cabinet member asks Lebel how he knew which phone to tap
Telephone tapping
Telephone tapping is the monitoring of telephone and Internet conversations by a third party, often by covert means. The wire tap received its name because, historically, the monitoring connection was an actual electrical tap on the telephone line...
, to which he replies that he didn't, so he tapped them all.
Lebel further reveals that the Jackal will most likely attempt to shoot de Gaulle in three days, when the president will make several appearances for Liberation Day
Liberation Day
Liberation Day is a day, often a public holiday, that marks the liberation of a place, similar to an independence day. Liberation marks the date of either a revolution, as in Cuba, or the end of an occupation by another state, thereby differing from independence in the meaning of secession from...
.
Meanwhile, the Jackal kills the man who picked him up at the bathhouse after a television news flash reveals him to be wanted for murder.
On Liberation Day, the Jackal, disguised as an elderly veteran amputee, shows his forged papers and is allowed through to enter the apartment building he had cased earlier. He takes up a position at the window of the upper apartment. De Gaulle enters the square to present medals to veterans of the Resistance
French Resistance
The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
.
Lebel meets the policeman who met the disguised Jackal and becomes alarmed. As de Gaulle presents the first medal, the Jackal shoots but the bullet misses him because at that moment the president leans over to kiss the recipient on the cheek. Lebel and the policeman burst in to the room, the Jackal turns and shoots the policeman, Lebel uses the policeman's MAT-49
MAT-49
The MAT-49 was a submachine gun developed by French arms factory Manufacture Nationale d'Armes de Tulle for use by the French Army.-Development:...
submachine gun to kill the Jackal as he tries to re-load his rifle.
Back in Britain, the real — and completely unrelated to the case — Charles Calthrop (Edward Hardwicke
Edward Hardwicke
Edward Hardwicke , sometimes credited as Edward Hardwick, was an English actor.-Early life and career:...
) walks in on the police in his flat. As the Jackal's coffin is lowered into a grave, the authorities wonder, "But if the Jackal wasn't Calthrop, then who the hell was he?"
Cast and roles
- Edward FoxEdward Fox (actor)Edward Charles Morice Fox, OBE is an English stage, film and television actor.He is generally associated with portraying the role of the upper-class Englishman, such as the title character in the film The Day of the Jackal and King Edward VIII in the serial Edward & Mrs...
as The Jackal - Michael LonsdaleMichael LonsdaleMichael Lonsdale , sometimes billed as Michel Lonsdale, is a French actor who has appeared in over 180 films and television shows....
as Claude Lebel CommissionerCommissionerCommissioner is in principle the title given to a member of a commission or to an individual who has been given a commission .... - Cyril CusackCyril CusackCyril James Cusack was an Irish actor, who appeared in more than 90 films.-Early life:Cusack was born in Durban, Natal, South Africa, the son of Alice Violet , an actress, and James Walter Cusack, a sergeant in the Natal mounted police. His parents separated when he was young and his mother took...
as The Gunsmith - Delphine SeyrigDelphine SeyrigDelphine Claire Beltiane Seyrig was a stage and film actress and a film director.-Early life:...
as Colette de Montpellier - Philippe LéotardPhilippe LéotardPhilippe Léotard was a French actor, poet, and singer....
as Policeman/Police Constable, Gardien de la paix - Terence AlexanderTerence AlexanderTerence Joseph Alexander was an English film and television actor, best known for his role as Charlie Hungerford in the British TV drama Bergerac.-Early life and career:...
as Lloyd - Michel AuclairMichel AuclairMichel Auclair was an actor of Serbian and French ancestry, known best for his roles in French cinema.Auclair was born Vladimir Vujović to a Serbian father and a French mother in Koblenz. His father was Vojislav Vujović, prominent Yugoslav Communist and secretary of the Communist Youth...
as Colonel Rolland - Alan BadelAlan BadelAlan Fernand Badel was a distinguished English stage actor who also appeared frequently in the cinema, radio and television and was noted for his richly textured voice which was once described as "the sound of tears".-Early life:...
as The Minister - Tony BrittonTony BrittonAnthony Edward Lowry "Tony" Britton is an English actor. He is the father of presenter Fern Britton, scriptwriter Cherry Britton and actor Jasper Britton.-Life and career:...
as Inspector Thomas - Denis Carey as Casson
- Adrien Cayla-Legrand as President Charles de GaulleCharles de GaulleCharles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
- Maurice DenhamMaurice DenhamMaurice Denham OBE was an English character actor who appeared in over 100 television programmes and films throughout his long career.-Life and career:...
as General Colbert - Vernon DobtcheffVernon DobtcheffVernon Dobtcheff is a French and British actor.Dobtcheff was born in Nîmes, France, to a family of Russian descent. He attended Ascham Preparatory School in Eastbourne, Sussex, England, in the 1940s, where he won the Acting Cup...
as The Interrogator - Jacques François as Pascal
- Olga Georges-PicotOlga Georges-PicotOlga Georges-Picot was a French actress.Born in Shanghai, China, she was the daughter of Guillaume Georges-Picot, the French Ambassador to China, and a Russian mother. Olga studied acting at the Actor’s Studio in Paris. Her acting career covered many diverse French and English films and...
as Denise - Raymond Gérôme as Flavigny
- Edward HardwickeEdward HardwickeEdward Hardwicke , sometimes credited as Edward Hardwick, was an English actor.-Early life and career:...
as Charles Calthrop (appears at the very end) - Barrie InghamBarrie InghamBarrie Ingham is an English actor in stage, TV and film.-Life and career:Ingham was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, the son of Irene and Harold Ellis Stead Ingham. He was educated at Heath Grammar School and became a Royal Artillery Officer. His major theatre debut was at Manchester Library...
as St. Clair (also narrator in the beginning) - Derek JacobiDerek JacobiSir Derek George Jacobi, CBE is an English actor and film director.A "forceful, commanding stage presence", Jacobi has enjoyed a highly successful stage career, appearing in such stage productions as Hamlet, Uncle Vanya, and Oedipus the King. He received a Tony Award for his performance in...
as Caron - Jean MartinJean MartinJean Martin was a French actor of stage and screen. Martin served in the French Resistance during World War II and later fought with the French paratroopers in Indochina. Theatrically, he is perhaps best-known for originating two roles in Samuel Beckett's most famous plays: Lucky in Waiting for...
as Wolenski - Ronald PickupRonald Pickup-Life and career:Pickup was born in Chester, England, the son of Daisy and Eric Pickup, who was a lecturer. Pickup was educated at The King's School, Chester, trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, and became an Associate Member of RADA.His television work began with an episode...
as The Forger - Eric PorterEric PorterEric Richard Porter was an English actor of stage, film and television.-Early life:Porter was born in Shepherd's Bush, London, to Richard John Porter and Phoebe Elizabeth Spall...
as Col. Rodin - Anton RodgersAnton RodgersAnton Rodgers was an English actor and occasional director. He performed on stage, in film and in television dramas and sitcoms.-Life and career:...
as Bernard - Donald SindenDonald SindenSir Donald Alfred Sinden CBE is an English actor of theatre, film and television.-Personal life:Sinden was born in Plymouth, Devon, England, on 9 October 1923. The son of Alfred Edward Sinden and his wife Mabel Agnes , he grew up in the Sussex village of Ditchling, where their home doubled as the...
as Mallinson - Jean SorelJean SorelJean Sorel is a French actor.He also worked in Italian cinema, and Spanish cinema with directors such as Luis Buñuel or Luchino Visconti. However since 1980 he has worked mostly in television...
as Bastien-Thiry - David Swift as Montclair
- Timothy WestTimothy WestTimothy Lancaster West, CBE is an English film, stage and television actor.-Career:West's craggy looks ensured a career as a character actor rather than a leading man. He began his career as an Assistant Stage Manager at the Wimbledon Theatre in 1956, and followed this with several seasons of...
as Berthier
Production
The film was expensive to produce, as it was filmed in numerous locations throughout Europe. Despite being heavily promoted, being based on a successful novel, and receiving generally positive reviews, the film was a box office failure. It did, however, make Edward FoxEdward Fox (actor)
Edward Charles Morice Fox, OBE is an English stage, film and television actor.He is generally associated with portraying the role of the upper-class Englishman, such as the title character in the film The Day of the Jackal and King Edward VIII in the serial Edward & Mrs...
a well-known actor (if not an A-list star), though many speculated the film's lack of an established star was the reason for its lack of financial success. Michael Caine
Michael Caine
Sir Michael Caine, CBE is an English actor. He won Academy Awards for best supporting actor in both Hannah and Her Sisters and The Cider House Rules ....
, Jack Nicholson
Jack Nicholson
John Joseph "Jack" Nicholson is an American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is renowned for his often dark portrayals of neurotic characters. Nicholson has been nominated for an Academy Award twelve times, and has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice: for One Flew Over the...
, and Roger Moore
Roger Moore
Sir Roger George Moore KBE , is an English actor, perhaps best known for portraying British secret agent James Bond in seven films from 1973 to 1985. He also portrayed Simon Templar in the long-running British television series The Saint.-Early life:Moore was born in Stockwell, London...
were considered for the title role. However, Zinnemann wanted the part to be played by an unknown to emphasize that the Jackal was a faceless outsider.
The French government was extremely helpful in the filming of the movie, providing soldiers and use of exclusive locations for the filming of the final Liberation Day
Liberation Day
Liberation Day is a day, often a public holiday, that marks the liberation of a place, similar to an independence day. Liberation marks the date of either a revolution, as in Cuba, or the end of an occupation by another state, thereby differing from independence in the meaning of secession from...
sequence. Fred Zinnemann wrote that Adrian Cayla-Legrand, the actor who played de Gaulle, was mistaken by several Parisians for the real thing during filming — though de Gaulle had been dead for two years prior to the film's release. The sequence was filmed during a real parade, leading to confusion; the crowd (many of whom were unaware that a film was being shot) mistook the actors portraying police officers for real officers, and many tried to help them arrest the "suspects" they were apprehending in the crowd.
Some critics have seen visual and thematic similarities between the film and the John F. Kennedy assassination
John F. Kennedy assassination
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, was assassinated at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas...
. These include the shot of the exploding watermelon during the Jackal's target practice, the man being carted away by an ambulance during the parade (recalling a similar incident in Dealey Plaza
Dealey Plaza
Dealey Plaza , in the historic West End district of downtown Dallas, Texas , is the location of the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963...
), and the presence of a magazine with JFK's picture on the cover in the hotel scene. Also, the setting is in August 1963, three months before Kennedy's death. Save the last, these were not evident in the original novel.
Although the story takes place in 1962 and 1963, the filmmakers made no efforts to avoid showing car models whose production began later, for example Peugeot 504
Peugeot 504
The Peugeot 504 is a large family car manufactured by French automaker Peugeot between 1968 and 1983, with licensed production continuing until 2006.-1968 — introduction:...
(built from 1968), Renault 12
Renault 12
The Renault 12 is a family car produced by French automaker Renault between 1969 and 1980. Available as a saloon and estate , it was also produced under licence in many countries across the globe into the early 21st century....
(built from 1969), and a Fiat 128
Fiat 128
The Fiat 128 is a small family car manufactured by the Italian manufacturer Fiat from 1969 to 1985. The engine was designed by the famous Ferrari racing engine designer Aurelio Lampredi.-History:...
(1969).
Won
- BAFTA Awards, 197427th British Academy Film Awards1974----Best Film: Day for Night The 27th British Film Awards, given by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in 1974, honoured the best films of 1973.- Best Film : Day for Night * The Day of the Jackal...
- Best Film Editing (Ralph KemplenRalph KemplenRalph Kemplen was a British film editor with more than fifty film credits between 1933 and 1982. Kemplen had a notable collaboration with director John Huston on six films between 1951 and 1966...
)
- Best Film Editing (Ralph Kemplen
Nominations
- Academy Awards, 197446th Academy AwardsThe 46th Academy Awards were presented April 2, 1974 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles. The ceremonies were presided over by John Huston, Diana Ross, Burt Reynolds, David Niven....
- Best Film Editing (Ralph KemplenRalph KemplenRalph Kemplen was a British film editor with more than fifty film credits between 1933 and 1982. Kemplen had a notable collaboration with director John Huston on six films between 1951 and 1966...
)
- Best Film Editing (Ralph Kemplen
- BAFTA Awards, 197427th British Academy Film Awards1974----Best Film: Day for Night The 27th British Film Awards, given by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in 1974, honoured the best films of 1973.- Best Film : Day for Night * The Day of the Jackal...
- Best Film
- Best Direction (Fred ZinnemannFred ZinnemannFred Zinnemann was an Austrian-American film director. He won four Academy Awards and directed films like High Noon, From Here to Eternity and A Man for All Seasons.-Life and career:...
) - Best Screenplay (Kenneth Ross)
- Best Sound Track (Nicholas Stevenson, Bob Allen)
- Best Supporting Actor (Michael LonsdaleMichael LonsdaleMichael Lonsdale , sometimes billed as Michel Lonsdale, is a French actor who has appeared in over 180 films and television shows....
) - Best Supporting Actress (Delphine SeyrigDelphine SeyrigDelphine Claire Beltiane Seyrig was a stage and film actress and a film director.-Early life:...
)
- Golden Globe Award 197431st Golden Globe AwardsThe 31st Golden Globe Awards, honoring the best in film and television for 1973, were held on January 26, 1974.-Best Actor - Drama: Al Pacino - Serpico*Robert Blake - Electra Glide in Blue*Jack Lemmon - Save the Tiger...
- Best Director — Motion Picture (Fred ZinnemannFred ZinnemannFred Zinnemann was an Austrian-American film director. He won four Academy Awards and directed films like High Noon, From Here to Eternity and A Man for All Seasons.-Life and career:...
) - Best Motion Picture — Drama
- Best Screenplay — Motion Picture (Kenneth Ross)
- Best Director — Motion Picture (Fred Zinnemann
Inspiration for 1997 film
The film was the inspiration for the 1997 American film The Jackal, shot in Richmond, VirginiaRichmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
and featuring Richard Gere
Richard Gere
Richard Tiffany Gere is an American actor. He began acting in the 1970s, playing a supporting role in Looking for Mr. Goodbar, and a starring role in Days of Heaven. He came to prominence in 1980 for his role in the film American Gigolo, which established him as a leading man and a sex symbol...
, Bruce Willis
Bruce Willis
Walter Bruce Willis , better known as Bruce Willis, is an American actor, producer, and musician. His career began in television in the 1980s and has continued both in television and film since, including comedic, dramatic, and action roles...
, Sidney Poitier
Sidney Poitier
Sir Sidney Poitier, KBE is a Bahamian American actor, film director, author, and diplomat.In 1963, Poitier became the first black person to win an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Lilies of the Field...
and Jack Black
Jack Black
Jack Black , is an American actor and musician, notably of Tenacious D.Jack Black may also refer to:* Jack Black , late 19th - early 20th Century author and hobo* Jack Black , drummer for 1970s UK punk band The Boys...
. Except for being a story about an assassin nicknamed The Jackal, it has nothing in common with the original story. Frederick Forsyth
Frederick Forsyth
Frederick Forsyth, CBE is an English author and occasional political commentator. He is best known for thrillers such as The Day of the Jackal, The Odessa File, The Fourth Protocol, The Dogs of War, The Devil's Alternative, The Fist of God, Icon, The Veteran, Avenger, The Afghan and The Cobra.-...
refused to allow his name to be used in connection with it, and director Fred Zinnemann
Fred Zinnemann
Fred Zinnemann was an Austrian-American film director. He won four Academy Awards and directed films like High Noon, From Here to Eternity and A Man for All Seasons.-Life and career:...
fought with the studio to ensure that the new film did not share the first film's title.
See also
- The Day of the JackalThe Day of the JackalThe Day of the Jackal is a thriller novel by English writer Frederick Forsyth, about a professional assassin who is contracted by the OAS, a French terrorist group of the early 1960s, to kill Charles de Gaulle, the President of France....
(novel) - The Jackal (1997 loose remake)
- Carlos the JackalCarlos the JackalIlich Ramírez Sánchez , better known as Carlos the Jackal, is a Venezuelan pro-Palestinian currently serving a life sentence in France for shooting to death two French secret agents and a Lebanese informer in 1975....
, real-life hired killer - Assassinations in fiction