Callan (1974)

Director:

Don Sharp

Writer:

James Mitchell (novel)

Release Date:

11 April 1975 (Finland)

Genre:

Thriller

Tagline:

Your favourite undercover agent blasts the big screen

Plot:

David Callan, top agent/assassin for the S.I.S., was forced to retired because he had lost his nerve...

Plot Keywords:

Remake | Spy | Sequel | Independent Film | Based On Novel

Cast

Edward Woodward	...	David Callan
Eric Porter	...	Hunter
Carl Möhner	...	Schneider
Catherine Schell	...	Jenny
Peter Egan	...	Toby Meres
Russell Hunter	...	Lonely
Kenneth Griffith	...	Waterman
Michael Da Costa	...	The Greek (as Michael da Costa)
Veronica Lang	...	Liz, Hunter's Secretary
Clifford Rose	...	Dr. Snell
David Prowse	...	Arthur (as Dave Prowse)
Don Henderson	...	George
Nadim Sawalha	...	Padilla
David Graham	...	Wireless operator
Yuri Borionko	...	Security porter (as Yuri Borienko)

Also Known As:

The Neutralizer
This Is Callan (UK) (video box title)

Runtime:

Germany:88 min | USA:106 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Eastmancolor)

Sound Mix:

Dolby | Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | Finland:K-16 | West Germany:16 | USA:PG | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Lee International Studios, Wembley, London, England, UK

Company:

Magnum Films

Trivia:

Whilst making the film, Woodward was also playing five different rôles on stage in Ferenc Molnár's "The Wolf" in the evenings, plus two matinée performances.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: As Callan opens Schneider's wall-safe, the action jiggles the picture hanging above it, which it clearly would not if the wall were real.

Quotes:

Hunter: What about Meres?
David Callan: I believe he is unconscious, though with Meres it is difficult to tell.

Movie Connections:

Remake of "Armchair Theatre: A Magnum for Schneider (#7.2)" (1967)

Recommended thriller

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 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 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 the 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. 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.