As a Bond fan, I was thinking about this the entire film. In some ways it felt like a very realistic, down-to-earth 007 film. The Fox character even pulls a "Connery" when he seduces that married lady to serve his purposes... Well, not so much when he picks up a guy at a gay sauna lol

I think he actually was in the Bond movie "Never Say Never Again".

You are so right!

He has the demeanour but not quite the physical attributes.

He would have made a good Bond *villain* .

That's a killer line

Also, Jackal isn't greedy or lavish.

Absolutely.

Not really ordinary. He doesn't have the swagger of a working class type. You see him on the street you wouldn't assume he is someone who grew up in poverty. He has the swagger of a former officer in the Army now freelance.

Apparently, Roger Moore wanted the role but was turned down, They felt he would be unbelievable in the role. Well, it is very hard to be low-key in a white safari suit! LOL!

@@florinivan6907 His body language wasn't totally unremarkable but I think the average person on the street would never say "that guy looks like an assassin".

The book gives a few moments of internal thought for the Jackal: he wants the rich life; money, women, good meals, a fast car. Beyond that, he is a cipher; an intelligent nobody who can shoot. Even the personality he projects is that of a sociopath; he does what is needed to get what he wants, but is more concerned about living to enjoy his money (which if he fails, the OAS will want back, should he and they live) than the legal problems of killing someone. In the book Rolland of the OAS finds information on three possible assassins and they settle on the Jackal, as the others have obvious flaws. How he does this is never explained. Did he go to Britain? They come to choose the Englishman without knowing what work he has done, except that he is believed to have worked in Africa. The British Police work on a rumour of man who shot the driver of a car in Central America so that rebels could capture and kill a dictator. They connect this with a man selling near-legal weapons there at the time, which is discovered to be a coincidence. Both are wrong: the identity of the Jackal is never discovered. Yet: real history lists an attempt on DeGaulle's life while he was in Britain during WWII. Acid was used to damage control linkages in an aircraft he was due to use; the controls failed just before take-off and the damage was discovered. DeGaulle was furious, but the investigation merely blamed 'enemy action'. It's worth looking up how many high-ranking people died in plane crashes during WWII. DeGaulle remained unpopular with the political establishment in Britain after world war II. Did the author suggest in the book that the Jackal is actually an anti-James Bond? a British agent, deniable, who is there to either kill DeGaulle, or destroy the OAS by revealing them, or both, benefitting the British Government's bargaining power with the French government at a time when they were blocking Britain's entry in to the European Economic Community?

Agreed! Owing for conversion rate, his asking price of $500,000 would be over five million dollars today.

@@jamesdrynan Which isn't a particularly high figure to be honest when you consider who the target was.

I certainly have a notion to second THAT emotion !

He leaves positive, yet utterly unremarkable impression of himself to casual observer. Just a guy between early 30s and 50s and native speaker would recognize his foreign accent of French. Just a tourist - nothing more.

Sociopaths can often be charming and charismatic when they want to be.

@@vksasdgaming9472 the grey man-he just blends into the scenery

@@Beppo85 One would rather say that he is a psychopath than a sociopath. A psychopath is patient, calculated, calm, does not lose his temper...he is very often charming and excellent at manipulating others.

​@@zak8458High-functioning sociopath. Many traits are present and high intelligence as well.

Plus the man at reception informed the authorities that a fair haired man visited the oas

@Sdk ElMaruecan The police knowing the assassin's codename made no difference at all.

@@dcasey77 yes it did. Discovering the Jackal's code name is what made them make that wild guess about it being Charles Calthrop. Raiding Charles Calthrop's appartment and finding his passport gave them the idea of finding the fake passport of Duggan. The entire process is much better detailed in the book.

@@neelanshguptaa1440 I'm talking about the film not the book. And isn't it obvious anyway that a contract killer will travel under a false passport?

@@dcasey77 Yeah I'm not talking about the book either. I just said whatever you saw in the movie was way better shown in the book. My explanation still relates to the movie and not the book. Whether it should be common knowledge that someone would travel on a false passport like that or not is not the issue here. You can clearly see here that it wasn't and they only thought of thinking that way after they found Charles Calthrop's real passport, discovering whom would have been impossible if they didn't know the Jackal's codename. They showed how with word-play you get the French word for Jackal from Charles Calthrop. That might have been a stupid coincidence in reality, but it did give them momentum on their investigation.

two different acting styles dude

@@RagedContinuum Did you see both movies ? The Edward Fox movie put the other movie to shame. Bruce Willis’ character is brain dead compared to Edward Fox’s character.

@@KB-sv7fm Oops, I meant Bruce Willis in general - he had some great roles in other movies.. the jackal was just an unnecessary movie

@@RagedContinuum This was a piss poor remake compared to the 1973 movie. Edward Fox was a cunning motherf*cker.

@@KB-sv7fm Bruce Willis himself is braindead, ergo his characters.

Stunning movie.

After the book, I thought the same.

Indeed !

Spot on!

The book was even better!

It was on television in the 70's. It is a quiet thriller, perfect for the late show.

My sentiments exactly !!

I agree 100 per cent !!

The best political thriller of all times. The late version with Bruce Willis and Richard Gere doesn't come close to this one.. Not by a long shot..

Absolutely! A pity that so many younger viewers overlook this gem, although it's hardly hidden!

@@barracuda7018 It's total trash, garbage. An Insult.

Right On !!

240? If there's a 4 hour cut of this movie, please post a link.

It’s 143 minutes my guy.

I think a longer runtime is necessary sometimes.

Yes it was excellent. Read the book too. Awesome as well. Frederick Forsyth wrote some great thrillers.

My two favorite quotes: Jackal- Just use your network to rob some banks. LeBel- I didn't (know which phone) so I bugged them all.

I shall be known as the Walrus. Koo-koo-ka-choo.

Could not agree more. Saw it at a local theater as a teen when it first came out. Awesome & amazing !!

I've seen Fox in The Bounty (1984) - he has like one or two lines, but makes the scene 10x better

También salió en "Un Puente demasiado lejos", de 1977, como el teniente general británico Horrocks.-🎥🎞📽🎬📺😊👍🇨🇱

l really like that comment its really somes up what we are faced with today with are own Ruthless Government scum trying their damndest too replace us at every possible opportunity

"You see gentlemen, not only have your own efforts failed, you've rather queered the pitch for everyone else..."

Yeah, he could've gotten half a million.

The book has an interesting take on that: the French Government (DeGaulle himself) had just blocked Britain's entry into the European Economic Community, as this would put France in second position. Later France left the EEC as it wasn't dominating any more. It may be that assassinating DeGaulle with a deniable m killer would benefit Britain greatly... it's only a vague suggestion in the book, but could this mean that the Jackal is James Bond, licenced to kill?

@@stevetheduck1425 Interesting. It's a great film though -

Remake was a POS.

I never saw the remake. I watched the trailer and decided to pass on it. The book was AWESOME! 👍💪👊

@@johnfitzpatrick3094 Poor Bruce Willis in a fat suit. What were they thinking?!

@@louthegiantcookie They think that casting Bruce Willis means an automatic hit. You can't begin to imagine how many movies did not star Bruce Willis, even though they wanted him for the starring role.

The remake was execrable

🍷😎

he knows how to get their job done better than them lol

It's because it's Edward Fox.

@@rogerkincaid931 He'd have made a good Bond in the Roger mould. Just the hair's a bit on the blonde. A no no back then.

actually I thought in the book The Jackal is more charming *when he wants to be* than Fox ever is in the movie. Fox does a good job but he seems kind of stuffy even when he’s supposed to be seducing the Baroness or getting the attention of Jules Bernard at the Turkish bathhouse.

@@Kelly14UK it’s funny as he played James Bond’s Superior M in Sean Connery’s non official Bond film Never Say Never Again in 1983.

@@scottknode898honestly say what u want about how weird and kinda shit that movie is, the performances in it are such fun, Edward Fox is just having so much fun as M, even Rowan Atkinson is in it a small bit, and Barbara Carrera is having a ball. Edward Fox would’ve made a great M with the years after, he has that politely British snide attitude

Is. Still alive

Both Foxes are still alive and kicking.

@@kurtgodel5236 good genes!

He often got the tube. Lived close to Warwick Avenue. As did Ken Livingstone when he was GLC leader. I once spotted them both in the same carriage

Interestingly, in "Never Say Never Again" (regardless of how you "count" that one in the Bond canon), Fox played M, who told Bond to eliminate all free radicals. In other words, he told Bond to clean up his diet. Heh.

@@Dave-bo8ry not the doctor, he was M.

@@Ateisthortlak Mea culpa. I've corrected it.

Fox is better then Lazenby and Dalton.

@@thomaskruse8298 As an actor , for me only Connery and maybe Craig are in Fox League.

That's why this movie is so good: the villain and the hero are both smart and capable so they don't make any unrealistic mistakes just to move the plot forward. This raises the tension of the plot.

In the book a decision is made by the Jackal on the recommendation of the gunsmith: the Jackal wants a gun that can be dismantled and hidden in aluminium tubes of a certain diameter, as he already had an idea of how he would hide the gun. This ruled out both a semi-auto with fast second-shot ability and a prevented a fast-working bolt system. This is why the Jackal fails to survive the Police discovering him, and why he did not get a second shot at his target. His limiting the gunsmith's options defeated him twice in a few seconds, just before he died.

Why did he waste his time with a super accurate rifle. Why not a bazooka? Would his clients be concerned about the collateral damage? More difficult to secret on his person for sure, but even so.

@@celtspeaksgoth7251 he is a professional killer he wouldn’t draw attention with a law rocket or anything like high powered rifle and wanted something he could take a part quickly and escape after shooting De Galle

Bruce Willis went for $70,000,000 in the remake of this movie...not a bad payday either. Actually, thank you for figuring this out in today's money. I love this film and had often wondered about The Jackal's price's worth today.

You're welcome! Btw, I figured out that $70,000,000 back in 1997, when the remake was made, would be about $110,000,000 today. REALLY good payday for one contract! :)

@@kapnerad I love how the jackal put it in the original novel, when he was asked if he could assassinate De Gaulle: "Yes, but it will cost a lot of money...You must understand this is a once-in-a-lifetime job. The man who does it will never work again.The chances of remaining not only uncaught but undiscovered are very small. One must take enough for this job both to be able to live well for the rest of his days and to acquire protection against rage from the Guallists- ...I am the best, and therefore the most expensive...You would get men cheaper, and you would find they took your fity-percent deposit and vanished or made excuses as to why it could not be done. When you employ the best you pay. Half a million dollars is the price. Considering you expect to get France itself, You value your country very cheap." There is some brilliant writing in this book :) .

Seems a small amount to me to live the rest of your life of

"That's $2,027,335.52 now and $2,027,335.53 on completion."

Invisible ink? 🧐

A slip of paper with the name of a bank and a number. That doesn't tell much.

​​@@haraldsnnichsenkrogsrud4539 Really? Doesn't tell much? Why then would the FBI keep a database of inks and have handwriting experts?

​@@davidnjuguna9477We can assume that the Jackal thought it was a risk worth taking.

@@davidnjuguna9477 In 1962? From an account in Switzerland?

The new tv series looks good. This scene takes place on a park bench but is almost word for word (with a change of target) the same. Eddie Redmayne is great in the role.

Would you take a chance on the OAS getting the account number wrong and transferring $250,000 to the wrong person?

ah, but it's a Swiss bank account, they never reveal names, numbers amounts to anyone. CIA, Mossad, no-one. There is some speculation that former Nazi's had a nice retirement from Swiss bank accounts and nearly every dictator, warlord and major criminal in the world uses Swiss bank accounts.

@@bellerophonchallen8861 Not any longer Swiss Bank regulations have changed completely. Today they always ask where the money comes from.. Otherwise they refuse to accept deposits.

@@ppuh6tfrz646 Nobody can take the risk. In 1962 you only needed an account number to open an account with a Swiss private bank. No name or adress was needed.. Today its impossible...

@@barracuda7018 Ah shit, what I going to do with the money from this garage full of cocaine now?

I don't know of Laurence, but it was a discovery to find out that Emilia Fox ( Gunpowder, Treason and Plot ) is a niece.

@@dunjica77 Ta. Was thinking of James.

Too bad Laurence is a massive sociopathic tit for real.

Laurence should have remained a brown stain on a sofa in Chelsea.

Ah indeed==physically fit, well dressed, impeccable manners, too.Now, all we need is the upright posture and deep voice of Christopher Lee thrown in for good measure==sadly, I will never measure up.

@@nickmitsialis I couldn’t agree with you more about Christopher Lee too!

You mean ... no more Crocs, tattoos, drawstring shorts, beer belly, goiterneck, and permaballcap?

​@@RideAcrossTheRiver well...honestly that sounds more like my fashion choice on my days off

I assume it's not a coincidence that they cast Jean Martin as part of the coup, a throw back to his character in BoA perhaps

Algeria was not a French colony, it was divided into 4 departments of France and Algerians were French citizens.

The film is online and we'll worth watching

Gripping thriller .Tense all the way through

That's why they say it's not about the destination it's the journey that matters 😉

"Use your network to rob some Banks"

He IS the smartest man in the room.

@@stevetheduck1425 True, but why didn't he pick up his coat from the bed when he was ready to leave the room? Leaving it behind means the intelligence and security services could trace it to him, unless Rodin and the others burned it?

It's also a dig at the US services who failed to protect JFK a few months after this fictional attempt on De Gaulle. That seems emphasised by FF's next book The Odessa File which although set in Germany tellingly opens with their reaction to the JFK assassination that very day.

@@brianforbes8325 It’s probably just a movie gaffe.

@@brianforbes8325 check 3:14 he has the coat in his left hand

Obviously, you have not seen many movies with Edward Fox. A comedian, he ain’t.

@@davidweihe6052 _Battle of Britain_ he plays a bit of a wag.

A pistol at 300 metres?

Not a goof at all. Completely intentional part of the story.

What about MI6?

That fellow in The Congo?

1954? Where did you get that from? The film is set in 1963.