The Day of the Jackal

How do you like your movie thrillers? If you're a fan of more recent thrillers, things just aren't as subtle and underplayed as the ones I appreciate more. As in so many film genres, the current solution to everything seems to be violence and explosions, car chases, beautiful women and sex. It wasn't always that way though, like with 1973's The Day of the Jackal, one of the all-time great thrillers. How good is it? It's so brutally efficient, it's almost hard to explain.

It's 1962 and French president Charles De Gaulle is dealing with some serious civil unrest after he has given Algeria its freedom separate from the rule of France. A splinter group of rebels, the O.A.S., many from the French army, has had enough of  De Gaulle's rule but an assassination attempt fails miserably, doing nothing other than alerting French security to the OAS' plan. Desperate to stop De Gaulle's presidency and power, the OAS command puts together a desperate last plan. They hire an extremely gifted, brutally efficient hired killer, an Englishman (Edward Fox), who agrees to go by the codename 'Jackal.' He's paid handsomely but has his work cut out for him as De Gaulle is protected by one of the world's best security forces. How will he do it? When will he do it? The assassin goes about his planning, his ideas known only to himself. Though the deal was made in extreme secrecy with the OAS officials, French security manages to catch wind of the assassination attempt. Can they find him and stop him in time? Not if the Jackal has anything to say about it.

Wow. Just wow. What a good movie, director Fred Zinnemann doing an admirable job of bringing Frederick Forsyth's equally impressive/entertaining novel to the big screen. How good is it? Knowing that this story didn't in fact....you know, actually happen, you start to believe that it did happen. When it comes to tough as nails, hard-edged stories about no-nonsense tough guys, it's hard to beat Forsyth, who also wrote The Odessa File and The Dogs of War among others. This should serve as a blueprint for how to construct a no frills thriller that will nonetheless have you on the edge of your seat. 'Jackal' clocks in at 145 minutes which may sound long but simply put, it isn't. The running time flies by, absolutely flies. I've probably been saying this too much of late -- I do have my reasoning -- but I'll go out and say this is a perfect movie. I love it. Hopefully you will too.

What's the big appeal? It's so well-written you believe that maybe Fox's Jackal did exist, maybe an assassin was hired to take out De Gaulle. It's just the sort of thing you could believe a government and security covering it up for the sake of national security. 'Jackal' wreaks of realism, of authenticity that all adds up. Zinneman films it in business-like fashion, giving it a quasi-documentary feel to the fast-developing story. Through the entire film, we watch the Jackal hunt (of sorts), the police on an international level (especially France and England) hunting him, and all the while wondering how things will eventually turn out (even knowing the history). The filming locations across Europe add another dimension to the film, especially the on-location shooting in and around Paris in the final act. It just works, every bit of it.

Hopefully if you're a history buff or even just remotely know some history, you know how this story will end -- at least in some fashion. So who to watch for? An underrated actor with quite a few good flicks to his name, Fox delivers a career-best performance as the Jackal. It is sinister and smooth, subtle and underplayed, Fox bringing this character to life in impressive fashion. Why? We literally know nothing about him other than some off-hand comments made about his reputation. He gives the Jackal an air of professionalism, a brutally efficient killer who kills not because he enjoys it, but because he's freakishly efficient at killing. His actions aren't personal. It is simply business. That element adds an interesting element to the story. You're not rooting for the Jackal per se, but you're nonetheless incredibly curious how he proposes to pull off this job. An excellent performance for Mr. Fox.

So while the Jackal is the unquestioned star, the rest of the cast is a very solid ensemble. The best supporting part without a doubt goes to Michael Lonsdale as Lebel, the deputy police commissioner tasked with tracking down an unknown killer with no physical description or any real idea where he's at. It's underplayed and perfect, a stressed detective pushed to his limit, forced to use all the tricks he's learned over the years. Derek Jacobi plays his assistant in a good part. Also look for Alan Badel as the French minister of the Interior, in charge of the manhunt, Thomas (Tony Britton), a British inspector looking into the Jackal's background, Cyril Cusack as the gunsmith who helps the Jackal construct his specialized rifle, and Jean Martin as Wolenski, an OAS clerk/bodyguard, a nice nod to the Battle of Algiers which Martin also starred in.

With a story that's underplayed and subtle, you might not think the story would be a thrill a minute type of thing. But it is, and it works better because none of it is obvious. The Jackal always manages to stay one step ahead of his pursuers in these great moments, the noose closing in. By the time he makes his attempt on De Gaulle, I'm on the edge of my seat waiting to see what happens. What an ending, just a crazy, adrenaline-packed finale to wrap things up. As if that wasn't enough, there's a twist in the closing scenes that adds another layer of mystery to the whole story.

Just a phenomenally well-made and well-executed thriller. Can't recommend it enough.

The Day of the Jackal (1973): ****/****

The Sundowners

Teaming up for John Huston's Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison in 1957, stars Deborah Kerr and Robert Mitchum made up a perfect pair in an underrated movie. Don't fix what isn't broken, right? Just three years later, the duo teamed up again with equally positive results, this time in 1960's The Sundowners.

Working and living in the Australian Outback, Irish-Australian Paddy Carmody (Mitchum) is constantly on the go, taking odd jobs wherever he can to support his family. Along for the ride with him is his wife, Ida (Kerr), and his teenage son, Sean (Michael Anderson Jr.). While Paddy loves the roving, even nomadic lifestyle, Ida and Sean want to settle down somewhere, especially one farm along a river they find in Bulinga. Paddy can't quite bring himself to do it, refusing to be tied down anywhere, but for the sake of his family, he takes a job shearing sheep at a ranch with hopes of saving enough money to purchase the farm. Paddy's old ways may prove to be harder to fix than anything as Ida and Sean dream of their farm.

Thanks to my own forgetfulness and stubbornness, this 1960 movie from director Fred Zinnemann has long avoided me. I was finally able to catch up with it, and it was well worth the wait. This is a big movie, clocking in at 133 minutes, with a scale that's meant to impress you. According to the always-reliable Wikipedia page, Zinnemann spent 12 weeks in Australia shooting everything from the land itself to shots of sheep herding. The actual movie -- filmed on location with the cast in Australia -- looks great, from the vast horizons in the Outback to the towns that pop up along the way. Some money was clearly spent on establishing that sense of reality, and it pays dividends immediately.

For all its impressive scale though, 'Sundowners' is most successful because it works in terms of story on a personal level. It is a big, expansive story, but the focus is on the Carmody family and their journey (through good and bad) as they search for some sort of normal. Paddy? He loves his roving life. Ida and Sean? They want a home to call their own. In terms of its portrayal of a family, the story reminded me at times of a John Ford story where family (immediate and extended) is the most important thing in life. Thankfully, it avoids all the schmaltzy, sugary sweet portrayals of family that Ford often fell back on. No slapstick humor here, just the authentic feel of a family striving to be together and to be something together.

Some actors and actresses just have chemistry, and that's certainly the case with Kerr and Mitchum working together. Showing off that same chemistry they had in 'Mr. Allison,' the duo gets the ball rolling immediately. Some on-screen couples just had that back and forth that doesn't feel like acting. Like here, it has the very real feel of a couple that has spent years and years married through the trials and tribulations, the good and the bad. Who better to play an amiable but sometimes hard-drinking middle-aged man who refuses to be tied down to one single place? I can't come up with anyone better than Mitchum for that part. As for Kerr, she is quickly climbing my list of favorite actresses. She has this easy-going charm that is hard not to fall for. Her Ida obviously loves Paddy, but she admits he also can drive her batty at times too. Their relationship doesn't feel forced. It feels genuine.

What will set this apart from a lot of aspiring epics is the cast. We're not talking Ben-Hur or Lawrence of Arabia here. Instead, it's an epic-looking movie that focuses on a handful of key characters on a smaller scale so in other words? Not a big cast. Peter Ustinov is a scene-stealer as Rupe Venneker, a former ship's captain (possibly) who headed back to land and in general loves everything about life. He signs on with the Carmodys as they undertake driving a sheep herd to market, working as a drover alongside Paddy, and becomes almost an adopted member of the family. In just his second credited role, Anderson Jr. holds his own on-screen with Kerr, Mitchum and Ustinov. His wide-eyed innocence at the world is a good fit alongside his roving Dad, weary Mom, and always mischievous (in a good way) Rupe. In an Oscar nominated part for Best Supporting Actress, Glynnis Johns plays Mrs. Firth, a hotel/saloon owner who takes a shine to Ustinov's Rupe. Also, look for John Meillon, Ronald Fraser and Chips Rafferty as some of Paddy's fellow sheep-shearers.

Struggling in theaters in 1960, 'Sundowners' apparently didn't catch on with audiences. Zinnemann thought it was because it was advertised as a From Here to Eternity knock-off of sorts. Again, Wikipedia is never wrong, right? Whatever the reason for its struggles, I liked it. It's nothing profound or different, but just a good story about family. The road-weary Kerr looking at a done-up woman on a train and wanting to be her, even just for a second. The roving Mitchum, genuinely distraught after a mistake he made cost the family dearly. It's the little things in this quasi-epic that never aspires to EPIC status, but it just don't need to. Enjoy.

The Sundowners <---TCM trailer/clips (1960): ***/****

The Seventh Cross

Released in 1944 as WWII was still raging in Europe and the Pacific, The Seventh Cross had to be one of, if not the first, major motion picture to deal with the Holocaust. The first major camp was even liberated by the Russians just a day before The Seventh Cross was released in theaters. People joke all the time about dealing with touchy subjects with the line "Oh, too soon?" and in this case the Holocaust in Europe was still very much an issue. Of course, to say this movie is purely a Holocaust movie would be misleading because the story moves away from the concentration camps quickly.

It's 1936 deep in Germany -- so the war hasn't even started yet for all you history majors -- and seven men escape from the Westhofen concentration camp. The group splits up to travel individually with the escape leader George Heissler (Spencer Tracy) narrowly escaping being picked up just minutes after leaving the camp. The search is on for these escapees and one by one they are picked up. The camp commandant vows to hang each of the prisoners from a row of crosses standing outside his office (hence the title), but Heissler eludes capture.

With no options and always close to exhaustion, Heissler must make his way to safety somehow. The Gestapo is looking for him and offers a reward for information on him. Unbeknownst to Heissler, an old friend, Franz Marnet (Herbert Rudley) is trying to get in contact with him to help him get out of Germany safely. Down to his last resort, George turns to an acquaintance from his past, a factory worker (Hume Cronyn) with a wife (Jessica Tandy) and three children. Time seems to be running out though for Heissler as the authorities close in.

For several reasons, this was a movie ahead of its time. For starters, it deals with the Holocaust in Germany from a different perspective. Instead of telling the story from inside the concentration camps, the whole movie is a chase through Germany. No time is wasted at all in the camp with the first shot showing the seven escapees cutting through the barbed wire. For the rest of the movie, we are given a glimpse into what German citizens dealt with before and during WWII. People and families disappear without a trace and no explanation. So when Heissler shows up asking for him with no knowledge of where he was, these people are curious as to his whereabouts.

It's also interesting to see a home-front war movie where most tend to deal in front line stories about the soldiers and officers fighting the battles. Granted, 'Cross' is several years before the war started, but there's a sense of what's to come. Cronyn's Paul Roeder works in a factory that's been converted to war materiel in an epic weapons build-up, and there's already a feeling of the Gestapo being like Big Brother with an ear to the ground and an interest in goings-on all around the country. Even the German citizens fear for what the secret police could be up to.

Through the casting, the picture of the German home front comes across clearly with a variety of people as George attempts to get out of the country. Tracy is very strong in his performance as a shell of the man he used to be, now trying to regain some of the dignity he used to have. It's through his travels he comes to trust again and see that man can be a compassionate, emotional individual. Cronyn and Tandy (some 40 years before Cocoon) are at their best, a typical young married couple who put everything at risk to help their old friend. There's also a young Swedish girl Toni (Signe Hasso) and a long list of underground members trying their best to save this one man, putting their lives on the line in the process.

A very enjoyable movie overall that does drag a bit in the second half. It would have been hard for director Fred Zinnemann to keep up the energy from the 1st hour, but it is not enough to not recommend this movie. So for a different, pretty unique look at pre-WWII Germany and the concentration camps and Holocaust, give this one a try.

The Seventh Cross <---trailer (1944): ***/****