Callan (1974)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Truly Dreadful Film

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Based on what i believe was the original pilot for the late seventies TV series. I just remember the TV show but not to clearly, however i saw this movie version as the supporting feature to something around the late seventies at a historic cinema that alas is no longer with us. However this very dark, cold sinister thriller where the bad guy is very likable while the hero may be challenged but he is cruel violent and very efficient in a most sinister way, this hero is quiet repellent. The direction story and writing are remarkably good with a splendid cast in very fine form, for me this movie contains a car chase so good, that only Bullit and The French Connection can compare, it really is that good. I had not seen this movie for a very long time but if anything it was even better than my memory supposed. Vertually unknown and all but forgotten this is a secret gem, so if you go went for Michael Caine in Get Carter or as Harry Palmer in the Ipcress File you will definitely go for Edward Woodford who was a very fine actor indeed as David Callan secret government enforcer. For PC do look elsewhere.

I first encountered this film on USA Cable, in the late 80'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't and recognized Edward Woodward from The Equalizer and Breaker Morant. The film is very much in the same vein as Harry Palmer, slower paced, a character who is an agent not by his own choice, meticulous detail, and a more real world approach.Edward Woodward is outstanding as David 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'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.Woodward breathes tremendous life into Callan. He is ably assisted by Eric Porter as Hunter, his boss, and Russel Hunter, as 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.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.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.

An acceptable expansion of the pilot episode of the celebrated TV spy series,CALLAN benefits from Edward Woodward's memorable characterisation of an unglamourous,seedy and brutish secret agent David Callan,helped and hindered by his even seedier sidekick,smelly petty crook Lonely,superbly played by Russell Hunter.Although not quite as good as the TV series,this film version is still very watchable and efficiently directed by Don Sharp,with a few interesting frisson's added,most notably Callan's ferocious disposal of a gangster's hit-man(played by Dave Prowse,later to become Darth Vader's physical form.As with Star Wars,Prowse's Bristol accent is dubbed over here as well)and the gangster's subsequent use for virtual human experimentation,which Callan observes to his disgust and horror.The series was always interesting for Callan's frequent clashes with his superiors,made more strident because of his working-class background;his colleagues were invariably upper middle-class,public schoolboys,as typified by the vindictive bully Toby Meres,played here by Peter Egan.Egan is adequate in the role but lacks the extra toughness,wit and humour provided by Anthony Valentine in the TV series(Peter Bowles played Meres in the pilot),and his boss 'Hunter',played in this film version by Eric Porter; the best 'Hunter' of all in the TV series was probably William Squire.Many UK TV shows had film versions produced in the 1970's,mostly sitcoms like ON THE BUSES,LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR,MAN ABOUT THE HOUSE,etc. These and others were mostly dismal but CALLAN works far better despite having to add more footage from the original TV pilot,and works as a taut,terse and respectable film version of an excellent TV original.RATING:6 and a half out of 10.

This is a tight, intelligent thriller closely based on the fine novel Red File For Callan, from which the great 1960s-1970s Thames TV series developed. David Callan is a solitary, mentally unstable killer, who is given one last chance to return to "The Section", a shadowy British government security department. Callan hates to kill, but is qualified for little else, and has been forced by his old masters into a dull, mundane office job with a harassing boss. His test is to murder someone - a man whom it turns out he knows, an apparently harmless businessman with whom he shares an interest in military history and battle games. The film boasts a first-class performance from Edward Woodward as Callan, reprising his TV role with confidence. Russell Hunter is also extremely good as Lonely, a smelly petty crook who Callan employs to get him a gun. Sadly the film was made with little style, and the military band score is disappointingly out of kilter with Jack Trombey's fine, moody Callan TV theme.The Callan character was an icon in British television history, and was extremely popular with viewers. This story got its first outing as A Magnum for Schneider (the book's original title) in a 50 minute slot on Armchair Theatre, a famous British TV drama anthology. (This unofficial pilot can now be seen on a very good DVD compilation of what early episodes are still unwiped, called "Callan: The Monochrome Years" (Network DVD, 2010).) Callan was seen, like The Ipcress File, as an antidote to the invulnerable 007. Why there were no other Callan films made, since the creator James Mitchell wrote several filmable novels about the character, is a mystery.Callan boasts one technical distinction: according to the Guinness Book of Movie Facts and Feats, this was the first film to be released with a Dolby encoded mono soundtrack. (A Clockwork Orange used Dolby noise reduction in its making some years before but used a conventional soundtrack on its release prints.) When I saw Callan on its release at a local cinema, I remember thinking the sound was uncommonly clear and the dialogue for once actually audible.