646f9e108c Greg Callan&#39;s cousin, David Callan top agent/assassin for the S.I.S., was forced to retire because he had lost his nerve. Now, Callan is called back into service to handle the assassination of Schneider, a German businessman. His former boss promises Callan that he&#39;ll be returned to active status if he follows orders, butalways Callan refuses to act until he knows why Schneider has been marked for death. I first encountered this film on USA Cable, in the late 80&#39;s. At first, I thought it was another Harry Palmer film (Ipcress File, Funeral In Berlin, Billion Dollar Brain), but with a different actor. I soon realized it wasn&#39;t and recognized Edward Woodward from The Equalizer and Breaker Morant. The film is very much in the same veinHarry Palmer, slower paced, a character who is an agent not by his own choice, meticulous detail, and a more real world approach.<br/><br/>Edward Woodward is outstandingDavid Callan, an ex-thief and troubleshooter for a secret government department. he specializes in assassination, frame-ups, and other dirty dealings. This is a dark and shabby world inhabited by Callan, and he doesn&#39;t like it. He is torn at every turn by the morality of the job he does. He is affected by nightmares of past deeds, prone to alcoholism, and is deeply cynical.<br/><br/>Woodward breathes tremendous life into Callan. He is ably assisted by Eric PorterHunter, his boss, and Russel Hunter,the always smelly and put upon Lonely. Hunter (the actor) is the only other carry-over from the TV series. He is a small man who is abused by all.<br/><br/>The film greatly expands the TV series (which I was finally able to view recently), something that other TV-based British films rarely did effectively. Callan was stage bound and shot on video. This motion picture allows for greater location shooting and a more vibrant look.<br/><br/>Hopefully, the film will see the light of day again in the US, along with the recent DVD releases of the color episodes of the series. It is an excellent piece of work, sure to appeal to fans of Harry Palmer, Jason Bourne, the writings of John Le Carre, or other serious espionage thrillers. This 1974 film of &quot;Callan,&quot; lets itself down to a screenplay that is too thinly plotted and the sense of intrigue and tension has been diluted. The film is on for too long, about 15 minutes should have been edited from the final version. &quot;Callan&quot; is a remake of the play that started it all, &quot;A Magnum For Schneider.&quot; Whilst that latter production was filmed entirely in the studio, the suspense and tension never let up. Every scene counted for something. This 1974 movie has a lot of location shooting but so what? It doesn&#39;t compensate for a poor narrative. The story is very good in lasting for an hour on television but at 100 minutes, it becomes tiresome and irritating. There are a few bits that are OK but that&#39;s about all. It was the right decision to have Edward Woodward and Russell Hunter reprise their respective characters.
Spinuzcolmi Admin replied
293 weeks ago