The Day of the Jackal (1973)

Starring: Edward Fox and Michel Lonsdale
Grade: B

The Jackal may be an awful person, but he made a serious argument in The Day of the Jackal to bring the ascot back.

Summary

In August of 1962, France was dealing with a lot of turmoil. According to the voiceover from the radio, many people felt that President Charles de Gaulle (Adrien Cayla-Legrand) had betrayed the country by giving independence to Algeria. Extremists, mostly from the army, “swore to kill him in revenge”. They banded together in an underground group called the O.A.S. (Organisation armée secrète/Secret Army Organization).

Soon after the minister’s meeting, an assassination is attempted by the OAS on de Gaulle, once his cavalcade gets past a certain street. Though armed with automatic weapons and such, a change to the schedule throws the OAS off guard. When driving past them, de Gaulle and his entourage are able to drive through the gunfire and escape unharmed. The shootout lasted seven seconds, 140 shots were fired, several bullets pierced the car, and one bullet came within an inch of de Gaulle’s head. Even so, everyone was fine. Six months later, most of the conspirators were arrested. Their leader, Col. Jean Bastien-Thiry (Jean Sorel), is sentenced to death. His lawyer attempted to stave off execution, but he meets with Bastien-Thiry in his cell to tell him that the appeal for clemency has been turned down. He will be shot. Despite the bad news, Bastien-Thiry isn’t worried because he doesn’t believe a French soldier would dare raise their rifle against him. Well, he was wrong. On March 11th, 1963, Bastien-Thiry was executed by firing squad in brutal fashion. With this, the OAS is completely demoralized. The new chief of operations of the OAS in Col. Marc Rodin (Eric Porter), a former paratroop commander in Algeria, is on the run. He’s hiding somewhere in Austria. Many think this recent execution could spell the end for the OAS once and for all.

Turning off the radio that describes this news report, the trio of OAS leaders are in a secluded room somewhere discussing their options, how the people are losing faith in them because of their continuous failures, and what the next step is. Along with Rodin is Montclair (David Swift) and Casson (Denis Carey). Since most of their group can be recognized in France, Rodin suggests hiring a foreign contract killer that hasn’t worked in France. This way, he can come and go as he pleases. Sometime later, they meet up again and look at their options, landing on an Englishman with a highly regarded reputation (Fox). The contract killer sits with Rodin, Montclair, and Casson, and Rodin goes on about how they aren’t terrorists and how important the Algeria situation is to them. The contract killer cuts to the chase, and says the job is possible, but the issue is getting away with it. With enough planning, he does seem confident in pulling off the assassination, though he admits that de Gaulle has the best security service in the world, which could prove to be trouble. After agreeing with them on the fact that an outsider would have to be the one to do it, Rodin finally asks the contract killer if he would be the one. He immediately agrees to it but explains the hurdles of such a job. Considering the potential consequences, this is a once-in-a-lifetime job. Whoever does it can never work again. With this in mind, he asks for $500,000 in cash, half in advance and half upon completion. Though Montclair wants to argue it, the contract killer has no time for it, as he considers it a small price to pay since they’ll be getting France if he succeeds. Rodin agrees to his terms. The contract killer asks who else knows about this job, and Rodin tells him that it’s only the four of them. He insists this stay that way, with additional terms being added of no notes being kept and him having the right to call things off is someone is caught. Until the job is done, the contract killer suggests they find a safe place to go into hiding, and Rodin agrees once more.

All the planning will be done on the contract killer’s end, no one else will get the details, and they will not hear from him again. He gives them the account number of his bank in Switzerland. When they tell him the first $250,000 is deposited, he will begin once he’s ready. He will not be hurried in any way though. All he wants from Rodin is a phone number in Paris that he can call about changes in de Gaulle’s plan. The contact cannot know who he is or what it’s about. It must be sent by mail. Montclair asks how they’ll manage to get the money this quickly, but the contract killer simply suggests they use members of their organization to rob some banks. Before he leaves, Rodin stops him and asks what codename he will use.

Within a second of thought, the contract killer responds, “Why not The Jackal?”.

With the terms known, the OAS sends out groups to start robbing some banks and an armored car. They’re able to get away with 960,000 Fr. General Colbert flips out on the Chief of Action service Col. Rollan (Michel Auclair), and Rolland admits it’s the work of the OAS but it’s part of a bigger picture, as the people who were caught didn’t know why they were robbing these banks. The informers don’t know anything either, though they do know two of the high-profile OAS guys are hiding out in Rome and they’re being watched 24 hours a day. As this goes on, the Jackal goes about his research and planning. This leads to him finding the grave of Paul Oliver Duggan, forging a few forms, and assuming the deceased’s identity for a passport. At the airport, he steals another man’s passport. Next, he buys some hair dye and solvent at a local drug store and starts mixing the chemicals before getting the phone call that the money has been deposited in the bank. Shortly after, he gets the contact and the phone number to call. Immediately after reading it, he burns it. Then, he’s seen getting through airport security with his new passport with the name “Paul Oliver Duggan” on it. Elsewhere, Rolland shows Colbert footage and the details of the hotel in Rome that the OAS members are staying at. It’s owned by a Frenchman with OAS sympathies. Apparently, Rodin, Montclair, and Casson are alone on the top floor. The next floor down is where the eight bodyguards are. The leaders have not stepped foot outside of the hotel in five weeks. Their only contact from the outside is one man, Victor Wolenski (Jean Martin). Wolenski goes to the post office every morning and afternoon. He carries a briefcase handcuffed to him, and he always waits until the collection man arrives before he posts any letters. Then, he goes to pick up the mail.

Once Rolland’s presentation to Colbert is over, he calls in to get everything they have on Wolenski. He knows the OAS is planning something big, so time is of the essence.

Denise (Olga Georges-Picot) comes home to an OAS agent, who snuck in earlier to see if she destroyed the evidence she’s been holding of her fiancé. Since she hasn’t, he sets it on fire himself. Then, he tells her about her new mission. She is to get close to a government official close to de Gaulle. In Genova, the Jackal meets with Gozzi (Cyril Cusack), a gun manufacturer. The Jackal wants a very specific, custom-made, lightweight gun with a short barrel. It must have a silencer, telescopic sight, and a range of no more than 400 hundred feet as well. As they discuss other details on what may be needed of the gun, how he’s approaching the target, and what type of ammunition may be necessary, the Jackal says he needs it done in two weeks. Gozzi asks for a fee of £1000, along with £100-200 more for the raw materials. The Jackal agrees and pays half on the spot, with the other half promised upon delivery. Later, the Jackal meets with a Forger (Ronald Pickup) to take pictures for his other identity that he plans to use later, donning a wig for it. Knowing that the makeup could be a hard sell, the Forger tells the Jackal to use a special chemical he knows of that makes you feel sick and turns the skin a gray color. After an hour, he’ll feel fine, but the skin will still look rough, allowing for him to really complete the older look his picture is of. Since the Forger needs to get a friend to pickpocket a French identity card so he can make a duplicate, he asks the Jackal for a separate payment, which he agrees to. The Jackal tells him he will be back on August 14th at the same place they met and that’s when he’ll contact him. Once the Forger asks about how big of a job this is, the Jackal gets serious and demands that the Forger hand over the negatives and all the prints of the photographs he just took once everything is completed. In addition, he will forget the name “Duggan” and the name on the French documents he will produce.

The Forger nods in agreement.

In Paris, the Jackal goes location scouting and finds a particular building that may be perfect, a flat overlooking the Place du 18 juin 1940. After hearing the old lady landlord outside talk about how all of her tenants are on holiday, the Jackal sneaks in, grabs a key off the wall, and makes an imprint of it in this foam patch he has. Following this, he buys a hat and some military medals from a street vendor. Elsewhere, Denise is told more details about her mission on a stakeout. There, they see Col. St. Clair (Barrie Ingham), the official she is to get close with. St. Clair sends his family out on vacation around this time, so they only have a limited time for her to get involved with him. At the same time, Colbert demands over the phone that they bring Wolenski to Paris immediately, even if they don’t have the greenlight from the Italian government. Soon after, Wolenski is knocked out on the street by agents and is thrown in the back of a work truck. He’s taken to be interrogated by the French Action Service, and the officials demand to know what the leaders of the OAS are waiting for in that hotel. Wolenski refuses to answer the questions and is tortured viciously during the process. Later, some other officials go through the transcript to try to decipher exactly what was said and they hear a slight bit of audio from an exhausted Wolenski that they think sounds like “Jack” or “Jackie”. In the park, Denise watches as St. Clair rides his horse in her direction, so she lets her dog chase the horse and acts as if it’s an accident. The horse stands in the air for a moment, and it sends St. Clair to the ground. Then, the dog chases the horse away. Following this, Denise befriends St. Clair after apologizing.

Back at the office, Rolland is given the audio tape of the interrogation and the accompanying transcript. After redacting things from the official transcript, Rolland takes note of one specific thing said: “Jackal”. He stays up all night with a colleague trying to figure out potential problems. They deduce that the word “Jackal” may be a codename of a foreign killer, and de Gaulle is at risk of an assassination attempt. They send a letter out to de Gaulle’s office regarding the details and the secrecy of the whole thing. The French Interior Minister (Alan Badel) goes straight to de Gaulle with the message. Meanwhile, the Jackal meets with the Forger who did all his French identity papers but sees that the original driving license that he wanted back isn’t there. The Forger smiles and says it’s not there, but he knows where it’s at and has the key to get to it. He’ll give it back to the Jackal along with the negatives for an extra £1000. Initially, the Jackal agrees to it but when he suggests a different meet up place and the Forger protests, Jackal knocks him out and locks him in a chest. After this, he meets with Gozzi to collect his lightweight sniper rifle and explosive ammunition. All of the French government officials have a meeting where they discuss the task of locating the Jackal. It’s headed up by the French Interior Minister. They establish that de Gaulle refuses to alter his schedule in any way regarding his public appearances, the search for the Jackal will be conducted under absolute secrecy, everyone in the room is sworn to total silence, and no one is to discuss the matter outside the room. Colbert tells the room that based off the information they were given about what’s going on Vienna, they only know that the killer is well groomed, in his early 30s, and has fair hair.

Commissioner Berthier (Timothy West) points out they have no clue on what the guy looks like and have no way of pursuing him because of it. Without a name, they got nothing. Once they do get one though, a passport follows. If this happens, they get a face and it will lead to an arrest, which seems obvious but alright. To find his name and to do it in secret however is pure detective work. The Minister asks who the best detective on the force is. Without question, Berthier says it’s Deputy Commissioner Claude Lebel (Michael Lonsdale). As he feeds his pigeons, Lebel’s wife interrupts to tell him that Berthier sent a car for him. Right after, Lebel joins the meeting in progress and is given full power over this investigation and the resources of every power represented, as they will be entirely at his disposal. The only things they ask of Lebel is for there to be no publicity and to not fail. Afterwards, Berthier talks privately with Lebel about how his only priority will now be this mission and the Minstiter will want a progress report by Lebel every evening from now on. With this, Lebel has to use every ounce of wit he has to stop the Jackal before he assassinates President Charles de Gaulle. He may strike the next morning or not for another month. No one knows. Lebel is walking completely into the unknown. After getting permission from Berthier to add Inspector Caron (Derek Jacobi) to his team, Lebel is officially on the hunt.

My Thoughts:

Though it may not draw you in from an emotional standpoint, The Day of the Jackal grabs your attention by staying completely on course and refusing to veer off in unimportant side developments, as we watch every step and resource it takes in a country-wide manhunt to stop an unknown hitman who’s being paid to assassinate President Charles de Gaulle. With a meticulously crafted screenplay and concise direction that makes the entirety of its production a suspense-driven race against the clock, The Day of the Jackal makes the most out of its premise with a simplistic and detailed approach not seen in many mainstream action movies.

For those looking for action in the American sense, this may not be for you. It’s not a shoot-’em-up nor is it a Dirty Harry-like approach to the source material, though it very well could have been. It’s very much European in its style, and the English actors involved in the production are so professional and unemotional about the situation at hand that it becomes rather amusing in certain moments. Right from the beginning, they are working hard to build the suspense and terror surrounding the unknown of who the Jackal is and how Charles de Gaulle is at risk, but it’s little moments like Berthier calmly (and almost with an annoyed tone) telling Lebel “Go and fine this Jackal, will you?” in-between cigarette drags that are so unequivocally English that you can’t help but laugh. I don’t know if he was trying to sound so disinterested or if it’s just the English in him, but moments like this were unintentionally laughable. Then again, maybe it’s because we’re so used to the complete opposite with the overacting of American film actors in action movies, where they stress the importance of every mission until their blue in the face, though this type of acting seems to be more appropriate for this movie in particular considering the circumstances. In The Day of the Jackal, most of them are concerned, but it never boils over to where everyone is flipping out and pointing fingers. Even when they find the mole within their own round table of political advisors, St. Clair calmly excuses himself and everyone just continues, despite how hugely important this moment is. It’s this combination of gentlemanly warfare, politeness, and borderline detachment that the members of the French government all possess without anyone realizing it, and it’s quite the departure from something we are used to seeing. If anything, they should have leaned into this a bit more, acknowledging the fact that there have a reported thirty assassination attempts on de Gaulle and the Jackal just seems like another day on the job, though this would have probably undermined him as a villain now that I’m talking about it out loud.

Disregard that last point.

The Jackal is a very intriguing antagonist because Edward Fox is not intimidating at first glance. When we see the shorter, fair-hared gentleman in his earlier scenes, it’s hard to wrap our heads around the fact that he may or may not have been responsible for the deaths of the Dominican Republic’s Rafael Trujillo and the Congo’s Patrice Lumumba, though they aren’t named directly of course. The Jackal is an unknown to us the viewer and really, the screenwriter as well. A lot is implied, his exploits are well-known by certain characters, but nothing is said specifically, and his reputation precedes him enough to be hired and for people to be worried about his involvement, but there’s not enough to be pinned down on him to find out who he is. Again, he’s a total unknown, a mysterious man who possesses the on-the-surface traits of any average male who enters a room. Despite the Jackal not being the imposing figure we’d think an assassin to be, it becomes clear early on how much more realistic Edward Fox is in the role compared to someone like a Robert Redford or a Jack Nicholson. To be this anonymous contract killer who does his job and has this ability to sneak in and out of any public situation without a single trace through multiple countries (following political assassinations mind you), a special type of actor is required. He has to have distinguishable enough features for the audience to recognize him for the sake of the movie, but he cannot be recognizable enough where he can easily be spotted by a crowd of hundreds, so we can still suspend our disbelief that he’s able to escape. He has to be good looking enough to attract either men or women when he needs to, but he can’t be good looking enough to where he looks like a model. Otherwise, he would be easily identifiable, which would go directly against the character’s whole shtick. In the midst of his many disguises, the aura he generates needs to be more attractive than his physical looks to make this trait of his look plausible.

You can’t find these very specific traits with a movie star, but the right actor can pull it off just fine.

This is not a knock on Edward Fox, but his biggest attribute of being so average to above-average in every category allows for him to actually nail who the Jackal is supposed to be, a chameleon-like mystic to society that could kill someone and disappear without a trace, despite potentially being in plain sight. When he’s stopped at the French border, we see all the people who have been stopped because they vaguely fit the description of the Jackal and it only further proves how “regular” the look of Edward Fox is. Fox is able to make that switch very believably, from well-dressed stranger to contract killer, and without many violent scenes to prove himself to the audience. In The Jackal remake, Bruce Willis is a good choice to bring star power to the film but also be believable enough as someone who can be an inconspicuous killer because his biggest trait as a movie star was that he had the look of an “everyman”. However, they lose this when they start to give him his disguises. Some of them are decent, but some are outlandish enough that he would stand out in a crowd like his bleached blonde hair or the long-haired wig with the notable sunglasses. Though I enjoyed it for entertainment purposes, it doesn’t coincide with the meticulous planning and secrecy of the Jackal character. If you see either of those guys at an airport, you’re going to turn your head to look when people-watching. On the other hand, each of Edward Fox’s disguises are mundane enough to be memorable for the viewing audience, but they also look like any random person walking by. That is who the Jackal is and why this film succeeds much more in the crucial elements of bringing the book and its characters to life. Then again, the American remake didn’t even try to emulate anything regarding the book and seemed to just like the idea of the Jackal character rather than the details regarding him along with the name, so this doesn’t really matter when comparing the two.

With Fox’s Jackal, we can sense the trouble as soon as he starts getting to work and meticulously plans his next kill. Though he’s charismatic, well-groomed, and wears an ascot like he’s a businessman on vacation, there’s a sense of danger surrounding him when he goes on his very specific excursions to plot his next part of the mission. There are only a few scenes where he displays violence to remind the viewer who the French government is dealing with, but they are always placed in just the right spot like the sped-up editing of him striking down the Forger and killing him, the knockdown of the old landlady, or his strangling of Montpellier where the action is barely seen because of the dark room. Anytime the Jackal has instances where he acts like a normal person and either has a conversation with an underground dweller or a random woman he beds, he has to act within seconds when he realizes he can be caught if he lets them go. This is the mindset of a hitman that cannot fail so he can retain his reputation and is well worth his lofty price tag. Additionally, there’s the sequence in which he tests his memorably designed, lightweight sniper rifle in a secluded field. The silence in the scene is deafening. The only things heard are that of nature and the Jackal’s focused adjusting of his scope with a screwdriver, as he shoots at a watermelon to test it. Following all of this, he switches to his explosive ammunition provided to him by Gozzi, and he blows up the fruit entirely with an unmoved response. No words are needed. It’s all action. It’s a great, minimalistic way to show how the Jackal operates as a silent killer hired to do a job, no matter how unassuming he may look.

As interesting as his side quests are, however, my biggest issue comes with the lack of the unknown. Am I bothered by never knowing his true identity? Not at all. In fact, that was an excellent choice from a storytelling perspective and was a bone chilling way to end the story, as the final line of “Who the hell was he?” will go down as iconic. Even with numerous governments aiding in Lebel’s quest and the fact that they caught him (this isn’t a spoiler by the way because we know de Gaulle was never killed in real life), and they still couldn’t find anything to identify him with shows us how much of a genius the character actually was. In turn, it made Lebel that much more impressive for being able to find him despite all of these hurdles. What I did get bothered with was the villain’s decision-making once the Jackal is blown and he’s made aware that the government is onto him. As he said in the beginning of the movie, he reserves the right to call the thing off if anyone is caught, so in this moment, he has a decision to make. He comes to a junction where he can still drive off scot-free to Italy or continue on to Paris. Ultimately, he makes the decision to continue since he’s already in so deep. Based off how he acts up until this point, the Jackal essentially saying, “Fuck it” and going through with the mission, knowing there onto him, seems a little out of place. However, it’s not necessarily a deal breaker because we have to keep in mind, he’s a hitman. He has to have a screw loose. If anything, he may see this as a fun challenge to test his skills. Even Lebel deduces this exact thought, suggesting the Jackal knows they’re tracking him but by going through with his mission, he’s “challenging the whole lot of us”. So, I can get past this because it just adds an extra layer of development to the relative unknown that is the Jackal. What doesn’t make sense to me is his interaction with the wealthy Montpellier.

For someone who seems like such an expert in his field, and up until this point seems like he’s in no mood for any messing around of any kind, I don’t see why his first reaction to hearing the news of “Hey, they know who you are. We’re officially on a running clock now” is going to a well-populated hotel, hanging out in a lobby where anyone could notice you, and having sex with a random woman there after chatting her up for hours. I literally wrote in my notes, “Why is he hunting for pussy right now?”. If he goes to a hotel, checks in, stays in his room, and heads out the next morning as a pitstop, fine. This makes sense because it’s a recharge moment for the Jackal to possibly come up with a new strategy knowing that the authorities are officially after him. However, I can’t fathom why someone who borders on this genius level of intellect in regard to contract killing would sit in a public lobby and be seen by others talking for hours with a woman over drinks, especially knowing that the circumstances have changed and he’s at risk for being under surveillance. This isn’t the behavior of someone who practically lives underground. If everything was running smoothly for him like the forty minutes before this scene, seeing the Jackal getting cocky and deciding it’s time to take a fun little break like this would make a great deal of sense, but with the information known to him, this is a rather out-of-the-ordinary action for a contract killer who’s almost always on the ball. Now, if he had a reason to bed her, it would make sense, but he doesn’t. Everything he does here puts him more at risk and is one of the biggest reasons as to why Lebel is able to continue to track him. On top of that, why does the Jackal backtrack to her home to fuck her again when he already snatched another car? If there were ever an argument for an unnecessary sex scene, both of these sequences are it. It would make more sense for the Jackal to be almost asexual, or someone who doesn’t have any interest in sex (at least during his missions) unless it benefits him in some sort of way.

The entire situation with Montpellier doesn’t align with who they portray the character as. Truthfully, it comes off as a random event who’s only purpose is to allow the good guys to catch up a little bit. Going along that note, his pitstop at the Turkish bathhouse to pick up a guy and stay at his place didn’t seem necessary either. Sure, he needed a place to stay leading up to the assassination attempt, but the way he went about things seem to be more of a stress that could have been avoided entirely. Despite how big these moments are in showing the violent nature of the Jackal, there needs to be more of a reason for him to even find himself in these situations.

With a few lone exceptions from the Jackal’s actions in the second half of the movie, everything in The Day of the Jackal is direct and to the point, from the screenplay to Fred Zinneman’s direction to Michel Lonsdale’s Claude Lebel. Just like Edward Fox is as an antagonist, Lonsdale’s Lebel is very unassuming as the protagonist of the story. His introductory scene is him feeding his pet pigeons in his backyard before being interrupted by his wife. He’s a very likable guy, as Lonsdale approaches the performance in a very understated, relatable type of way. Lebel is a respected detective but not a person of a high society. In every scene where he’s in the same room with all of the top government officials updating them on what’s going on or hearing their input, the audience can sense his uncomfortable demeanor. Lebel is appreciative of the recognition and the assignment, but he doesn’t have the same confidence he has when he’s by himself or with Caron compared to when he’s meeting with the French Interior Ministor and his advisors. It makes him a very likable everyman detective from the outset. Once he introduces this character and molds him as such in the first act, Lonsdale uses the rest of the movie’s momentum to make Lebel more confident as the story progresses, validating what Berthier sees in him as the country’s best detective. In doing so, he starts to evolve into the tougher figure the story needs and becomes more than what he initially portrays himself to be, proving to an unsure audience that once Lebel is in his element, he is the only man who could have succeeded at this ever-important mission. It’s an underrated performance but one that was done with a lot of attention to detail by Lonsdale. With his black and silver hair, constant cigarette smoking, and around-the-clock hard work, Claude Lebel becomes quite the adversary for the Jackal.

Impressively enough, these two foes don’t meet until the finale in one singular scene that lasts mere seconds, with no words spoken between them, and yet, it’s absolutely riveting. This is the work of a confident filmmaker who believes in his ability as an auteur and his actors’ ability in winning over the audience over the course of the story. Simply put, it’s risky, especially with two actors who seem so ordinary when they are introduced in the story. Even so, Zinnemann was right to be confident. Despite this lone scene between them, there won’t be a single person who feels shortchanged in the slightest because of how well the general story is told. In the climax during the festivities of Liberation Day, our hair raises and blood pumps when the sounds of the public are all around, and security has their heads on a swivel as they look for anyone deemed suspicious. Without any random monologuing or any quips thrown out, the viewer can still sense that time is running out and we too need to have our heads on a swivel, as no one knows how the Jackal is looking to pull this off. The key moment during this electric climax is the inaudible conversation with Lebel and the guard that let the disguised Jackal through. We aren’t privy to what is said because of the holiday celebration around them, but the emotion translates with ease, as the horror comes across the surface of Lebel’s expression, as his eyes widen, and he starts exclaiming in a panic before they both start running towards the building.

The simplicity of this moment is the biggest takeaway of respect you will get stemming from the overall production of The Day of the Jackal. Usually in an action film of this magnitude, a good portion of people are anticipating a huge action set piece, an explosion or shootout of some kind, and pure unbridled violence. Don’t get me wrong, a lot of the time, it does work. In the remake of The Jackal, they go for this type of ending in the most mainstream American action film way possible. In The Day of the Jackal though, everything is discreet, hidden, low-key, intense, and suspenseful, without any big-budget chaos going on. This style leads us right into an ending that is very much a chef’s kiss on making this minimalist approach to the thriller subgenre work. The simplicity is the key here, and it’s just as powerful with only a few shots exiting the barrel of a gun and no audible words said. It’s all acting, action, and reacting as authentically as possible in the moment, and it’s fantastically crafted.

There is a lot of greatness found in The Day of the Jackal. Even so, it’s nowhere near as perfect as it’s claimed to be. There are about a thousand supporting characters that are relatively unimportant, but all have speaking lines, and it makes us come to the realization that no one fucking matters outside of Lebel and the Jackal. Even though the OAS start this whole mess and they have this three-headed monster that ignites the action of the film, AND the French government is aware of the danger they present, nothing ever happens to them, and they don’t do anything in the second half of the movie, despite playing a major role in the first half. There’s the aforementioned second half of the movie regarding the Jackal’s inexplicable actions that are inconsistent with his character, some incidents that are redundant or easily avoidable and just seem thrown-in for a moment, and though the whole thing about not knowing who the Jackal is by the end of it all is cool, the real issue is that you don’t know anything about anyone else either! It’s literally all about the manhunt and the steps it takes to get there. So, though I appreciate it’s storytelling and focus on the premise for the most part, a little character development for literally anyone would have gone a long way to allow the viewer to care more about the good guys from a personal standpoint. The film is still very good at its strong points and is still a very well-made action thriller, but it’s not as consistently engrossing or entertaining as it could be from an overall story perspective.

The Day of the Jackal is worth the watch and is much more competent and realistic than its remake, but it’s not as complete of a feature as critics say it is.

Fun Fact: Jack Nicholson and Robert Redford were flown to Europe to audition, but director Edward Zinnemann only wanted European actors to be cast and managed to swing a production agreement that gave him his wish. Before Edward Fox was cast, Michael York, David McCallum, and Ian Richardson were all considered. Jacqueline Bisset was offered the role of Denise, but scheduling conflicts forced here out of consideration.