Smear Job.

Publication Date: 1975. Written by: James Mitchell. Published by: Hamilton & Co. 316 pages.


THE PLOT:

Callan is doing well for himself, working in private security and using Lonely's skills to create "demonstrations" for prospective clients. It's safe, it's lucrative, and - in a change of pace for Lonely - it's legal.

Inevitably, this easy civilian life is disrupted by The Section. Hunter calls Callan in for a case requiring his (and Lonely's) skills. Callan is to participate in a card game, with orders to clean out Gunther Kleist, whose position in East Germany makes him an attractive prospect for The Section. The game is just a side issue, though. More important is where it's occurring: at the Sicilian estate of the Earl of Hexham, a British noble in possession of a very particular book that Hunter wants. While Callan plays cards with Kleist and Hexham, Lonely is to case the property and find the book.

What Callan doesn't realize is that this is only the beginning of a long and complicated series of events that will take him from London to Sicily to the underbelly of Las Vegas - and into the private inquiries of a U. S. senator and his inquisitive daughter.


CHARACTERS:

Callan: When he's called out of retirement, this time he goes with considerable reluctance. He muses that he's "lost the desire" for his old life. He is even halfway honest with Lonely about the job, asking for help rather than trying to trick or intimidate him. When he later has to resort to intimidation to get Lonely focused, he reflects just how much he despises Hunter. He's "gone soft" during his time away. His taste for liquor has become full-blown alcoholism, and Hunter warns him of consequences to himself and Lonely if he can't manage to stay sober for the duration of the job.

Hunter: "Greed takes many forms... What I crave is information, and I'm not alone in that craving." Hunter is particularly cold blooded in this book. When dissatisfied with Callan's training, he has Meres face him, knowing that a beating from his hated rival will spur a desire for revenge - which Hunter then takes steps to thwart. He is equally cold with Meres, lightly but distinctly threatening him after he gives into his worst impulses at a particularly bad moment. Meres spends most of the rest of the story trying to make that error up to Hunter, and Hunter doesn't hesitate to keep dangling it over his head.

Lonely: For the card game, Callan enlists the aid of card sharp Bulky Berkeley. Lonely becomes instantly jealous, because he has always been Callan's "expert." Callan observes Lonely's reaction and deals carefully with it, warning Lonely to lay off Bulky because he's "almost" as good at cards as Lonely is at locks. Lonely picks up on the phrasing and preens at the compliment. As the series repeatedly reminded us, Lonely actually is that good. Chapter 16 is largely occupied with the burglary, detailing his meticulous operations. He feels guilt at destroying an antique mirrored bureau-cabinet, where the book is hidden, appreciating the craftsmanship even as he dismantles it.

Meres: He loses his self-control when he's sent to question a female spy, carelessly killing her in anger. This doesn't go down well with Hunter, who punishes him by making him befriend Kleist - the woman's grieving boyfriend - to manipulate the gullible man into helping to achieve the Section's goals. Meres does, hating every second that he spends with the self-pitying German. As he feeds Kleist lies that are as eagerly gobbled up as candy, Meres reflects on love as something he preferred to avoid ever feeling: "If it made the impossible that easy to believe, what chance would you have?"

Fitzmaurice: The hulking black Section agent introduced in Death and Bright Water returns, and his second appearance builds and improves on the characterization established in the previous book. Smear Job also mercifully drops most of the racial slurs. When he works with Callan in the second half, Fitzmaurice makes it clear that he is ready to enforce Hunter's will if he needs to. Still, he turns out to be a lot more like Callan than like Meres. He'll do the nasty work, but he doesn't revel in it. When the mission's over, he confides in Callan that he's growing to hate this job in the same way that Callan once did, and for a lot of the same reasons.

Bulky Berkeley: The card sharp Callan uses to ruin Kleist. Berkeley is smart enough to recognize that he's out of his depth with Callan. He chooses to focus solely on the game that he's there for and to ignore whatever else Callan and Lonely are up to. He's consistently pleasant, and his demeanor combines with his unquestioned skill to create a good working relationship. He's a well-drawn and entertaining character, and I was actively sorry to see his role reduced in the second half.

Congressman Manette: A separate strand runs through the book involving Manette, a US congressman who has been attached to an Intelligence committee. While it's a while before we know exactly why, he is actively investigating information that's fallen into his lap. He uses his college age daughter, Elizabeth, to identify a contact who will lead him closer to his goal, then uses intimidation based on his position to gain further information. Not unlike Hunter, come to think of it, though with a lot less skill and subtlety.

Elizabeth Manette: Many scenes in the first half of the book are written from the viewpoint of Elizabeth Manette, the congressman's precocious daughter, as she does her father's bidding by completing an investigation whose details are quite vague. These scenes establish that she's bright, both through her questioning of people in a way that's designed to come across as innocent and in her comprehension that she should not ask for any details that haven't been given. She has a good heart underneath her surface sophistication. When she finds herself talking to the mother of a college boy who recently died, she listens to every piece of information she can gather... but then tells her father that she's done with this. Too bad for her that she gets dragged back in for the second half. She also has a fascination for older men, so no prizes for guessing who she ends up in bed with.


EXCELLENT CHARACTERIZATION:

Smear Job was very nearly the last of author James Mitchell's Callan novels. It wouldn't be until 2002's Bonfire Night - more than a quarter century later, at the very end of Mitchell's life - that he would release one final book in the series.

As was often true of the television series, characterization is this book's greatest strength. The supporting cast is particularly good. I loved the interactions between Fitzmaurice and Lonely's shrewd Uncle Lennie. Lennie instantly recognizes Fitzmaurice as someone to be respected, and Fitzmaurice responds by treating the man with absolute respect. I also enjoyed the relationship that built between Fitzmaurice and Callan in the second half. Each man is wary of the other. As the mission continues, however, they develop mutual respect, with Fitzmaurice able to recognize a lot of himself, and his likely future trajectory, in the older agent.

The book moves between different perspectives throughout.  Several scenes in the first half are written from the viewpoints of Congressman and Elizabeth Manette, whose scenes end up feeling sharper and more interesting than a lot of Callan's early scenes. Other moments take us into the head of Kleist, Callan's hapless German victim, as he's roped into becoming an asset for The Section. The scene in which he completes a minor job, alternating between fear and pride at how well (he thinks) he's doing, is a particularly good one.


...BUT A MESS OF A PLOT:

Smear Job soars with its characters. Too bad, then, that it keeps being yanked down to Earth by a story that doesn't best serve its excellent cast.

There are a lot of threads here - too many. The first half jumps between the amateur investigations of Manette and his daughter and Callan's attempts to fleece a gambling addicted German noble. The second half sends Callan and Fitzmaurice on a mission to (a very generically portrayed) Las Vegas, where they somehow end up taking a road trip to Mexico with the Manettes. There are also cutaways to Meres manipulating Kleist, and still more cutaways to a group of petty criminals who cause complications even after a visit from Meres that's designed to warn them off.

The locations are uneven in realization. The scenes in Sicily come across strongly, but the American scenes feel generic, particularly during the Las Vegas chapters. The book labors to create connections among all these people and places, but many of these connections seem... well, labored. The end result often feels less like a novel and more like Mitchell stuffed two novellas and two additional short stories into a literary blender and pressed, "Purée."


OVERALL:

Like its predecessors, Smear Job is highly readable. All the individual parts are good, the characters in particular. But the individual pieces don't add up to a satisfying whole. While reading, I encountered chapters-long stretches in which I couldn't have told you what the book was about. The first half and second half almost seem to be entirely different stories, with only a fairly mild link between them.

It's generally well written, and I enjoyed reading it on a chapter-by-chapter basis. However, at the end, the overall choppiness and lack of focus left me feeling underwhelmed. Smear Job is easily the worst of the Callan novels I've read to date - and I'd also rate it below most of the offerings of the television show.

Ultimately, I'd rate this as one for Callan completists only.


Overall Rating: 5/10.

Previous Novel: Death and Bright Water
Next Novel: Bonfire Night (not yet reviewed)

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Death and Bright Water.

Publication Date: 1974. Written by: James Mitchell. Published by: Hamilton & Co. 194 pages.


THE PLOT:

Callan has left The Section and is determined to put his old life behind him... until he's contacted by an associate of Greek dissident Sophie Kollonaki. Once a freedom fighter for Greece during the war, Sophie now lives in Paris, in exile from the "The Colonels," the military dictatorship currently ruling her home country.

Sophie and her brother, Michael Vardarkis, were once on the same side - but now Michael is a rich businessman, and a firm supporter of the Colonels. He subsidizes her exile and protects her, but he also has leverage to keep her in check: Her daughter, Helena, who is being kept in Greece, safe and comfortable, but also under constant guard.

Sophie wants Callan to rescue her daughter. Not out of any particular affection - just so that she'll be able to once again act freely. Her brother wants Callan to accept the job, but to deliberately botch it.

But the important thing is what Hunter wants - and Hunter wants Callan to rescue the girl and to bring her straight to him, giving him leverage over everyone...


CHARACTERS:

Callan: As the book opens, he is doing manual labor. He dislikes the tedium of it, complaining to Lonely: "They'll tell you (hard work) never killed anybody. Don't you believe it, old son." He acknowledges that it has improved both his mental and physical condition, and his wits are certainly sharp. He recognizes immediately that Sophie's Soviet backers have set her up to fail, and he has no interest in being sacrificed for her cause. When Hunter coerces him into accepting the assignment, he trusts nobody except Lonely. He genuinely likes Dimitri, Sophie's contact inside the house where her daughter is being held, but he knows Dimitri is working to his own agenda. After Callan agrees to break into the house on one day, he immediately makes plans with Lonely to break in exactly one day before.

Hunter: He knows Sophie from her time as a partisan "up in the mountains, knocking off Germans." When Callan dismisses her as "a clown," Hunter firmly responds that he would trust Sophie "with (his) life," a vow a man like him doesn't make casually. After the Greek rebels make an attempt on Michael Vardarkis's life, Hunter muses about how much the rebels genuinely hate the man. He seems almost envious: "In this country, we don't seem to hate anymore... Or love, for that matter. We've lost the talent for it."

Lonely: Lonely is a genuine friend, which Callan is reminded of (yet again) when he learns that he's been stopping by his apartment since he left to check in and to clean. Lonely is indignant when Callan asks if he was followed, observing: "If I didn't want to be followed could you follow me?" His skill as a thief continues to impress, and he forgets to be afraid when he's working the locks during the final operation. His usual cowardice only returns after the alarms are bypassed and the door is open.

Meres: Shows outward respect for Hunter, but inwardly he's impatient. When Hunter muses about the Greeks, he mentally mocks the older man's reflectiveness. "Another minute and the old boy would be crying." Still, the only outward sign he allows is a slight shifting in his chair - and if I was inclined to bet, I would wager that Hunter knows exactly how impatient Meres is with his musings.

Fitzmaurice: A black agent in Hunter's employ, Fitzmaurice's interactions with Callan amount to exchanges of racial slurs. I suspect these scenes are what compelled the publisher of the modern reprint to add a disclaimer: "Please note that these books were published in the 1970s, when social attitudes were very different." Still, give James Mitchell credit: Fitzmaurice is no stereotype. Every time he appears, he is portrayed as completely competent. When he shares a job with Meres midway through, he's the one who shows restraint and keeps Meres from going too far.

Blythe: A mild mannered, homosexual dentist who loves Greece probably more than most of the actual Greek citizens do, and who is completely sympathetic to Sophie's cause. He endures a fair number of slurs about his sexuality, but he is portrayed in entirely sympathetic terms. By the end of the book, even Callan is impressed at his surprising courage in a crisis, and he ends the book determined to continue helping the resistance, even though he's every bit as sure as Callan that this will eventually end badly for him.

Helena Kollonaki: She has no interest in her mother's revolutionary activities. She is actually much fonder of her uncle, her supposed kidnapper, than of her mother. She is genuinely shocked when she sees Callan kill with casual efficiency, but she maintains a realistic attitude toward her situation.


THOUGHTS:

Death and Bright Water was published in 1974, the same year that the Greek junta, aka The Regime of the Colonels, fell after a mere seven years in power. There was no way that James Mitchell could have known that it was about to collapse. Still, it's clear that he did his research, and a sense of decay hangs over the story.

The main plot is well structured. The initial chapters see Callan learning of the job and meeting all the key players. He turns the job down, only for Hunter to intervene and make him accept. The next third or so follows Callan's meticulous preparations, while introducing complications: Dimitri, an ally he likes but can't afford to trust, and Bradley, the latest eager young assassin who lacks Callan's judgment but has enough strength and speed to make him wary. The final third chronicles the operation and the subsequent escape from Greece.

Somewhat surprisingly, it's the setup portion that works best. Mitchell's writing is at its most effective when detailing Callan's preparations and showing how he adjusts to every potential bit of treachery. I particularly enjoyed the scenes of Callan tricking Lonely into thinking they're on vacation before springing the job on him. As was true of both the series and Russian Roulette, the Callan/Lonely interactions are a highlight throughout.

The later action scenes are also well done, described in a way that's appropriate to both Callan the character and the series. In contrast to Meres or Bradley, Callan uses violence only when it's his last option. When violence is needed, he goes in with full recognition of his own mortality. There's no sense of excitement when he eliminates some guards during the escape or when he prepares an ambush for a would-be murderer. It's just a methodical, if unpleasant, task that he must accomplish in order to stay alive.

Mitchell's descriptions remain spare, with just enough description for the reader to clearly visualize settings but not so much as to slow down the pace. His writing feels sharper and more polished than in Russian Roulette, however. Descriptions of locations feel more distinct, probably because of the need to bring the Greek locations to life. Transitions, particularly switches in point-of-view, are also much smoother than in the previous book. There was at least one viewpoint switch in Russian Roulette that briefly threw me, something that never happens here.

I do have one quibble: a subplot involving a stubborn young police officer tracking Lonely. Though this thread arises from the main plot, it doesn't actually go anywhere. Yes, it showcases The Section's ruthlessness... but frankly, the scenes between Hunter and Callan already do that far more effectively. In my opinion, this entire strand should have been jettisoned, as all it does is steal focus from the more interesting central story.


OVERALL:

I thoroughly enjoyed Death and Bright Water. The story is well plotted, and it makes good use of the background involving The Regime of Colonels without ever getting bogged down by it. It also features fine character moments for Callan, Lonely, and Hunter, along with a passably interesting guest cast.

I'd rank this as an excellent addition to the series for Callan fans, as well as being a rather good thriller in its own right.


Overall Rating: 8/10.

Previous Novel: Russian Roulette
Next Novel: Smear Job

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Russian Roulette.

Publication Date: 1973. Written by: James Mitchell. Published by: Hamilton & Co. 202 pages.


THE PLOT:

Callan is seeing double. At the optometrist, he sees two doctors, two desks, and two eye charts - though he does find some compensation in also seeing two of the office's pretty nurse. The doctor gives him eyedrops to restore his vision, but it's a temporary solution: To permanently correct it, he will need surgery. If he doesn't get it, he will go blind.

The timing couldn't be worse. When he arrives at The Section, Hunter tells him point blank that he has sold him out to the Russians. In exchange for a top agent who was discovered by the KGB, Hunter has granted permission for the Russians to kill him. Three assassins are on their way, and Hunter is leaving him helpless: No guns, no money to buy guns. Section agents have even confiscated his model soldiers.

With just a little over twenty pounds to his name, Callan finds himself on the streets of London, left to wait for his three executioners. But he doesn't intend to go down easily...


CHARACTERS:

Callan: Offered up as a sacrificial lamb, he's left to rely on his abilities and, perhaps even more importantly, his determination to live. He's fortunate in that the assassins only come after him one at a time. Between the problem he's having with his vision and his inability to lay claim to a gun, he would have no chance against all three. But he has long experience as a killer - a hunter, if you will - and by taking on his would-be murderers one at a time, he is able to find opportunities to seize the advantage.

Hunter: Makes the deal with the Soviets out of cold calculation. He explains that he weighed Callan vs. the other spy and determined that Callan simply had slightly less value. For all that, he arranged very specific terms. The Section won't kill Callan for the enemy, but the Section will allow the KGB agents into the country and will deny Callan a weapon to defend himself. When Callan manages to kill the first assassin, Hunter openly admires his resourcefulness, and he seems regretful that the odds remain stacked against him.

Lonely: Though most of the book is told from Callan's perspective, we do get bits that follow Lonely. The first chapter from his point of view sees him once again trying to procure a gun for his friend, only to find that all of his usual sources have been "warned off." When he's thrown out of one place in a way both "painful and undignified," Lonely reflects that "the lack of dignity he could live with," but not so much the pain. He waits on another source, ruminating that he is "used to waiting for the attention of more important people. It was a part of life." For all his supposed cowardice, he refuses to let Callan warn him off him. "What kind of a mate would I be if I ran away now?"

Meres: One element that separates book Callan from TV show Callan is the relationship with Meres. In the show, the two were wary and often adversarial, but even in the first season there was respect, which bordered on being a bizarre sort of "not-friendship" by the end of the second season. Not here. Meres is portrayed as a snake, his feelings for Callan limited to malicious envy. He still suggests Hunter break the deal with the Soviets once their agent is returned, but that seems mostly borne from self-interest, in case he's ever in a similar situation.


OFTEN LESS INTERESTING THAN THE TELEVISION SERIES:

James Mitchell's first Callan novel was A Red File for Callan. This was adapted into the series' pilot, A Magnum for Schneider and was adapted again into the 1974 film, Callan - which is why I'm skipping it for the time being. I've already watched two versions of Callan's reluctant cat-and-mouse game with Schneider in as many years. It's a good story, but at the moment I'm not much interested in experiencing a third version of it.

I'm instead starting my look at the Callan novels with Russian Roulette, which was released one year after the end of the television series. And... honestly, in a lot of ways, I find it to be less interesting than the series. The deeper themes and layered characters are mostly discarded in favor of a straightforward action thriller. Callan and (particularly) Lonely still come across strongly, but Meres has been flattened into two dimensions. Never mind being less interesting than Anthony Valentine's television portrayal - This Meres isn't even as layered as Cross!

The story also starts from a premise I have difficulty accepting. I have no trouble believing Hunter selling out Callan for the right prize - but he wouldn't do so carelessly. Hunter dedicates the full might of The Section to making sure Callan can't even the odds, meaning that other agents know what's happening. As Meres points out, sacrificing one of their own is neither a morale builder nor a way to inspire loyalty.

The last part of the book offers up a couple of reveals. I'll avoid spoilers, except to say that both plot turns are telegraphed far too heavily to actually surprise.


LEAN AND EFFICIENT:

For all the flaws, which I think were fixable, I still enjoyed Russian Roulette. Taken as a lean, efficient little thriller, it's a good read. The story may be simple, but it wastes no time. It starts right out the gate, first introducing Callan's double vision and then Hunter's deal with the Russians, and it builds straight on from there.

James Mitchell's writing style is much like Callan himself: plain and blunt. There are no flowery descriptions. Physical settings are established quickly, with only the detail needed to allow for easy visualization. Scenes between characters are dominated by dialogue and action, with the prose kept as succinct as possible.

The Callan/Lonely material is unsurprisingly the most interesting part of the book, and Mitchell's writing is at its best when focusing on this. Scenes from Callan's perspective don't linger on emotion at all: He observes his surroundings and plans what he will do. Lonely's scenes fold in a sense of the man's weakness compared to most of the people he deals with, and the character's mix of fear and acceptance of his lot in life seeps into the descriptions during his scenes.

It's this aspect of the book that leaves me hopeful that some of James Mitchell's other Callan novels will rise above being just expendable "good reads."


OVERALL:

I would not rank Russian Roulette alongside the best episodes of the television series. Aside from the Callan/Lonely material, very little of the show's complexity makes it into this story. This is no moody rumination on Cold War politics, abuses of power, or the psychological impact of violence on those who perpetrate it. It's just a straight-up thriller.

The thing is... It's a rather good straight-up thriller. It zips along, and there's some cleverness in the ways Callan deals with his would-be assassins. All told, I think this would have made for a pretty good movie.

If nothing else, it's certainly a better continuation for the characters than 1982's Wet Job.


Overall Rating: 7/10.

Previous Novel: A Red File for Callan (not yet reviewed)
Next Novel: Death and Bright Water

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Goodbye, Mary Lee.

Written by: James Mitchell. This review is based on an unproduced script, published in Callan Uncovered. The story follows the Series One setup, with Callan outside The Section.


THE PLOT:

Gorgeous Mary Lee Townsend is the daughter of a conservative American senator. Disowned by her father after taking part in Freedom Marches and antiwar protests, she now works as a flight attendant for American Airlines - and also as a low-level courier for the other side. The CIA approach Hunter for a favor: Frame Mary Lee for a non-political crime, something that will put her safely in prison for the remainder of her father's term.

Hunter sets to work immediately, assigning a promising female agent the task of setting up Mary Lee to look like a drug pusher. However, there is one complication Hunter hasn't taken into account. Mary Lee has a boyfriend in London. A certain David Callan...


CHARACTERS:

Callan: Is besotted with Mary Lee, but that doesn't dull his senses. When she loses track of some unspecified "papers," he instantly realizes what sort of mess she's gotten herself into. He gives her the best advice possible - to just get out of it. Still, he can't help but protect her, particularly when he realizes that she's put herself into Hunter's sights, leading him to a painful final decision.

Col. Hunter: "Do you ever find our trade disgusting?" he asks operative Charlotte Rigby as they prepare to frame Mary Lee. Charlotte replies that she only thinks of their actions as "necessary," but it's clear from his question and from descriptions of him looking "weary" that he is less sanguine. This character beat actually echoes a few moments from Series One (notably his distaste for Meers' sadism), indicating that his external detachment may have at least in part been a front.

Mary Lee: She despises her father, and there's a sense that her dedication to social justice is as much to rebel against him as anything else. Certainly, there's nothing noteworthy about her political convictions, which fall firmly within the stereotype of the self-righteous campus radical. That creates the single biggest problem with the script: I simply never believe that Callan feels anything for someone this naive and shallow.


THOUGHTS:

An unproduced script by James Mitchell, Goodbye, Mary Lee "reads" like a Series One episode. Mitchell likely intended it for Series Two, before two things happened that made the script untenable: actor Ronald Radd did not return for Series Two, and incoming producer Reginald Collin (wisely) made the decision to make Callan a full-time Section member. A new Hunter could have been written around; but the amount of rewriting needed to make this story work with Callan inside the Section would have been equivalent to creating a whole new teleplay.

Had this been produced, I think it would have ranked among the series' weaker entries. The entire story relies on the odds-defying coincidence that Callan's current girlfriend is also the target of Hunter's operation. I suspect this is the exact sort of thing that made Collin determined to reformat the show. Even in the filmed Series One episodes, the ways in which Callan became entangled with The Section often stretched suspension of disbelief. This script outright snaps it. Even if Mary Lee wasn't a dreadfully scripted character, it would be hard to buy into this particular setup.

Had this been filmed, the main things that would have been interesting to see would have been the realization of the "psychedelic party" that forms the story's main set piece (it probably would have been laughable). I also would have personally enjoyed watching the scene with Ronald Radd's Hunter out-cheating Lonely at cards.

Whether by design or coincidence, elements similar to this script did make their way into some early Series Two episodes. The idea of Callan trying to protect a naive young woman who foolishly made herself a target for the enemy? That is the basic premise for The Most Promising Girl of Her Year, which ended up being one of Series Two's stronger episodes. Callan getting romantically involved with a young woman who is linked to a current crisis? That would be one piece of the excellent Let's Kill Everybody. Whether this was deliberate recycling or not, in both cases, the filmed episodes made better use of the ideas than the unproduced script.

In the end, I'd rate Goodbye, Mary Lee as an interesting curio. But I can't say that I'm sorry that it didn't end up as an episode of the series.


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Callan: This Man Alone.

Callan dots the covers of issues of TV Times.

Release Date: Feb. 1, 2016. Written by: Thomas Cock and Steve Rogers. Directed by: Thomas Cock. Executive Producer: Tim Beddows.


THE PLOT:

The (as of 2016) surviving writers, producers, actors, and directors recall the production of the television series Callan, from its inception as an Armchair Theatre play to its development as a series - and to its ascent as a surprise television hit!


THOUGHTS:

Callan: This Man Alone is, when you think about it, a very unlikely documentary. Though Callan was a hit in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and though it was (and remains) an excellent program, it just hasn't stuck in the popular culture hive mind. Many people would at least recognize and have some (probably false) preconceptions about, say, The Avengers or The Prisoner, but many of those same people would just return a blank look if fed the name Callan.

So here's what was produced: a 130 minute documentary, exhaustively covering the creation of a television show that's not remembered by much of the general public, and that is made up of a succession of talking heads, interspersed with a few stills and video clips. Stylistically, it's like watching a particularly long DVD featurette -  an extremely good one, but that is still about what both content and production evokes. For an independent feature, I would think that would be the definition of a "tough sell" to almost any production company.

Thankfully, Network did release it, making it the centerpiece of a DVD set that I'd label a must-buy for fans of Callan.

The late Edward Woodward's reflections are included,
thanks to audio interviews from the late 1980s.

Though it's interesting in itself, Callan: This Man Alone also stands as a well-timed piece of oral history. Co-writer/director Thomas Cock and executive producer Tim Beddows managed to put this together while there were still enough members of the series' production alive to make this feel like a fairly comprehensive chronicle. Given that several of the interview subjects (Jim Goddard, Robert Banks Stewart, Piers Haggard, and others) have since passed on, I can't help but feel that this was made at probably the latest possible point to capture points-of-view from all sides of the production.

The interview subjects include producers, writers, directors, and actors, along with audio recordings of those who had already passed. While every person provides material of interest, I found some of the strongest observations consistently came from three sources: Ray Jenkins, who scripted several of the series' best episodes (including the series-altering Let's Kill Everybody and If He Can, So Could I?); Reginald Collin, who produced three of the show's four series; and Peter Mitchell, son of Callan's late creator, James Mitchell.

One of the pleasures of this feature is how articulate and prepared every single person is. They all seem to have come fully ready to speak about their old work, with no one shrugging off that it was a long time ago and they just can't recall.  They all seem (justifiably) proud of what they achieved. Some of the more interesting comments come when those who remained active in television (including actor Patrick Mower) compare television production from the late 1960s and early 1970s to modern productions.

A succession of talking heads - all of whom seem fully
prepared and speak with intelligence about their work.

SUPPLEMENTAL FEATURES:

Network released This Man Alone with a wealth of extra features that make this set a must-buy for Callan fans.

Disc One contains the documentary and about 25 minutes of additional interview footage that, while interesting, was rightly deleted from the main feature. Disc Two contains cleaned-up prints of A Magnum for Schneider, the Armchair Theatre play that acted as the series' pilot, and The Good Ones Are All Dead, the first regular episode; the latter definitely benefits from the cleanup. Also included is the unedited studio recording of The Worst Soldier I Ever Saw, the "missing" episode that was reconstructed for DVD release from the raw footage.

A production still from the missing
episode, Goodness Burns Too Bright.

Disc Three contains the real prize: The .pdf archive. This is a veritable goldmine. It includes scripts of every episode. The missing episode scripts from this archive formed the basis of my reviews of those installments (well, save for a couple that were cleaned up and published in the Callan Uncovered volumes). These are must-reads. Not only can readers finally experience the missing episodes in printed form, but these scripts greatly improve the character of the third Hunter, who was particularly hard-hit by episode junkings.

There are multiple cases in which both a rehearsal and a camera script exist. This gives a nice glimpse at how scripts were adjusted after rehearsal. The Running Dog's camera script sees Callan using his "Mr. Tucker" alias, while the rehearsal script has him always referenced as "Callan," for instance, and also tightens some scenes. Even more notable is Once A Big Man, Always a Big Man, whose camera script boasts a significantly different (much improved) ending vs. the rehearsal script.

Also included in this .pdf archive are: the original (in my opinion, better) Callan/Hunter script pages from the Series One version of Nice People Die at Home; James Mitchell's original series format document; an internal ABC summary of the results of an audience survey gauging reactions to Series One; summaries of several episodes for overseas sales purposes; layouts for the structure of each season; and more.

In short, Callan fans will get their money's worth from this set even if they never watch the main feature!

A few of James Mitchell's Callan novels.

OVERALL:

Callan: This Man Alone is a very traditional "talking heads" documentary, but it has been carefully structured, with each snippet chosen for the final film advancing the overall story. This is clearly not a big budget production, but it's polished and well-presented, with narration by Peter Woodward (Edward Woodward's son) moving the film along from one segment to the next.

It does a good job of telling the story of Callan as both series and brief British cultural phenomenon. I personally found that story interesting - but then, I've just finished watching the series, which I found generally excellent, and that makes me the perfect audience for this. I suspect overall appeal will be to fans of Callan or enthusiasts of television history (British television history specifically).


Overall Rating - Documentary: 8/10.

Overall Rating - DVD set: 10/10.

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Wet Job.

A retired Callan has one last job to do...

Release Date: Sept. 2, 1981. Written by: James Mitchell. Directed by: Shaun O'Riordan. Produced by: Shaun O'Riordan.


THE PLOT:

David Callan has retired. Now living as "David Tucker," his one-time alias for undercover operations, he is living a comfortable middle-class life. He runs a shop that sells war memorabilia, he has a somewhat undefined relationship with his landlady (Angela Browne), and he is overall content.

Until he receives a message from "Charlie" that reels him back into the Section. The new Hunter (Hugh Walters) insists that he's not reactivating Callan. He simply has news that might be of interest.

Daniel Haggerty (George Sewell), owner of an independent construction company and intermittent liberal politician, is writing a memoir. Nothing that would fall under the Official Secrets Act, but he is working on a chapter about the murder for hire of his daughter's fiancé. A killing that was performed by Callan - information that Haggerty has "somehow" managed to obtain.

Hunter's manipulations may be obvious, but they are effective. If Haggerty publishes, then Callan will spend the rest of his life in prison. There is only one way to stop him. But Callan's no longer the man he was, and he doesn't know if he's still capable of pulling the trigger...

Seems like old times: Callan calls on Lonely for help.

CHARACTERS:

Callan: The years have changed Callan, and Edward Woodward adjusts his performance accordingly. The early scenes see a Callan who is more passive. Some of his old personality surfaces when he's called into Hunter's office, but he isn't as cuttingly savage as he often had been with the first or fourth Hunters. As the story progresses, and he finds himself engaging in old patterns, Callan's accustomed anger starts breaking through the "David Tucker" persona - but only in flashes that grow progressively more frequent.

Hunter: Hunter #5 (Hugh Walters) presents himself as a sort of frivolous schoolboy. He talks in a light tone, he never raises his voice, and he practically uses "old boy" as punctuation when he speaks. At a glance, he seems like the least threatening of all the Hunters. But he's laid a perfect trap for Callan. Of course the old spy can recognize how Haggerty learned of him, but he's left with just as few options as if he didn't. The ending reveals another manipulation that was running underneath the obvious one, as well. This unthreatening foppish schoolboy is actually quite sharp, and it's a shame that Wet Job would be his only appearance.

Lonely: Like Callan, he's moved on from his old life. He's now a plumber - generally respectable, and soon to be married to a respectable younger woman. This might be a surprise, given his problem with body odor - but as he informs Callan, he's been happy these past several years. "I never pong when I'm happy." He also recognizes what, on some level, Callan refuses to. "The old days is over, can't you see that? I'm different now, and so are you." He even stands up to Callan when his old friend reverts to bullying... Though he still panics at the thought of police finding him with Callan's gun, knowing that a trip to "the nick" would be the end of his comfortable new existence.

Daniel Haggerty: Callan's target, Haggarty (George Sewell), is a failed former politician and a successful businessman. He has the skillset, interacting with unforced affability, which he's able to put on even when he goes to visit the shop of the man he blames for his daughter's death. It's a tragedy from which he's never really recovered; and while he knows the book will result in Callan going to prison, he also knows that Callan's been to prison before. He fumes that it's not enough of a punishment, and makes private plans to deal with his enemy more directly.

Margaret Channing: Angela Browne, as Callan's landlady, does as well as she can. It's not her fault that Margaret is a bad role. I think she's meant to parallel Callan in some ways. She's middle-aged, but she tries to pretend to youth by sleeping with a younger man at the same time she's sleeping with Callan. The problem is that she comes across as insufferable, shallow, and dull, and I had difficulty believing that Callan was as invested in this relationship as the script insists. There is a nice Easter egg for old fans, however, when the photograph of her long dead husband is shown.

Lucy Robson Smith: Lucy (Helen Bourne) dominates the movie's "B" plot. Lucy is Margaret's niece, an author who is working with Haggerty on his book. She has that particular blend of earnestness and naivete that so easily draws young people into trouble. She is in love with a (much older) dissident Soviet professor, and most of her scenes see her trying to secure the money to get him safely to London. It goes without saying that this dovetails into the main plot... eventually. But it takes its sweet time doing it, and for much of the running time Lucy's scenes are an unwanted distraction from Callan's dilemma.

Haggerty (George Sewell) helps Lucy (Helen Bourne)
secure the release of her much older Russian boyfriend.

THOUGHTS:

Wet Job sees the final appearance of Edward Woodward as David Callan, and that is the main reason to see it. I remembered it as being a complete disappointment. Happily, on this viewing, I found a lot more merit in it - but it's still decidedly lesser Callan.

The plot is entirely mundane, and it takes a little longer than it should for the "A" and "B" plots to come together. It holds together structurally and even builds to an effective climax. It's just that it's all rather low-stakes and a little too familiar. I also feel that there really needed to be a scene early in the movie with the Soviet professor, to better establish his character and subplot. 

As usual with Callan, it's the character moments that help to make up for a stock standard plot. Woodward is excellent as a changed, but still recognizable, Callan, and the film is at its best when focusing on the divide between his new life and his old. This is most visible in the scenes with Lonely, as Callan moves back and forth, first politely asking Lonely for help, then threatening him, then apologizing and claiming "force of habit." There's a general sense that "David Tucker" is as much his real self as "Mr. Callan" is now - although Hunter may have done him a favor, as it's also clear that he needed a bit of his old assertiveness.

Unfortunately, while the Callan material works well and the Callan/Lonely interactions are wonderful, most of the guest characters fall flat. George Sewell and Helen Bourne do a decent job of making Haggerty and Lucy into believable characters, but I'd be lying if I said either of them was interesting. Meanwhile, I have trouble believing that anyone watching this gave even the tiniest fig about Callan's relationship with Margaret Channing. Not to mention the real "wet job" of this film: the callow young operative who is this movie's Meres equivalent... but who makes Cross look tough, sharp, and competent by comparison!

Oh, and the music is terrible. Then again, it is a TV movie from the early '80s.

The newest Hunter (Hugh Walters) manipulates
Callan into a bad situation. So... situation normal.

OVERALL:

Wet Job is lesser Callan, suffering from a mundane story, uninteresting guest characters, and dreadful incidental music.

All of that said, it's not actually bad. I loved the characterization of Callan here: he's older, and he's more restrained, but that anger is still inside. The scenes with Callan and Lonely are particularly good, with Edward Woodward and Russell Hunter doing sterling work recapturing their old dynamic while also showing how their characters have moved on.

I think this movie could have been good, but the script feels undercooked, like a rough draft hauled in front of cameras before it was ready. The basic story structure is fine, but the pacing feels off and the "B" plot isn't so much established as just dropped onto the viewer. Much of the dialogue is functional rather than quotable, and the new characters lack spark.

Overall, it's a near miss. It has some wonderful individual moments, and I could pick out a handful of worse episodes from the series. But Callan was a great show, and a great character, and both deserved a better final bow than this.


Overall Rating: 4/10.

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Callan (1974).

Callan admires the battlefield of model soldiers owned by
Schneider (Carl Möhner) - the man he's been ordered to kill!

Release Date: May 23, 1974. Written by: James Mitchell. Based on the novel, A Red File for Callan, by James Mitchell. Directed by: Don Sharp. Produced by: Harry Benn, Derek Horne.


THE PLOT:

Callan (Edward Woodard) was once a government assassin. He was good at it - the best, save for one problem: a conscience. This weakness led his superior, Hunter (Eric Porter), to exile him to a dead-end accounting job, where he has spent the last 18 months under an abusive supervisor.

Now Hunter is offering him a way back. He has a target for Callan: Schneider (Carl Möhner), an affable German businessman who just so happens to share Callan's enthusiasm for waging mock battles with model soldiers... and who just happens to be in the office right next to Callan's. Both of which make it obvious that Callan's exile has actually been Hunter putting him into position to make the kill.

But as desperate as he is to return to his prior status, Callan can't quite quash that conscience of his. It's not enough that Hunter wants Schneider killed. Before he pulls the trigger, Callan needs to know why...

Callan asks his criminal contact, Lonely (Russell Hunter),
to buy him a gun - after a round of intimidation.

CHARACTERS:

Callan: The Callan movie effectively acts as a remake of A Magnum for Schneider - but, being made close to a decade after that pilot, Edward Woodward's age has to be incorporated into the script. Hunter and Meres debate whether Callan might be "past it." Callan puts himself through a training regimen, hardening his fists by repeatedly punching into a bowl of wet sand. He also practices drawing the gun Lonely gets for him, berating himself for his own slowness: "Too late - You're dead, mate, you are dead!"

Hunter: Character actor Eric Porter's Hunter is unfailingly calm and polite, but he's also calculating in his dealings with Callan. He tests his old assassin to see how "rusty" he is by ordering his best men to tail him, and he is pleased when Callan spots and loses them. He seems close to emotionless through most of the movie... until he shares screen time with Snell (Clifford Rose, briefly but memorably reprising his television role), who is so cold-blooded while discussing the effects of psychotropic drugs on a "patient" that even Hunter is taken aback.

Lonely: By the series' final season, Callan and Lonely were portrayed as friends, albeit with a stark power imbalance. This film returns to the original character dynamic, with Lonely clearly terrified of Callan and Callan seeming to enjoy intimidating him. This is starkly different to their relationship by the end of the series, and it caught me off-guard at first. Russell Hunter remains a wonderful nonverbal actor. I love the way he rarely directly meets anyone's eyes, slouching by instinct and keeping his gaze downward, pre-emptively subservient.

Meres: Anthony Valentine was attached to Colditz, and so was unavailable to appear as Meres. Surprisingly, Peter Egan's Meres works splendidly. He doesn't in any way copy Valentine's performance, instead offering his own distinct take. Valentine's Meres hid his sadism beneath several layer of urbane with; Egan's is more of a direct psychopath. He's like a predator, hungry to strike both to feed his need for violence and because he finds it fun.

Schneider: In A Magnum for Schneider, Joseph Furst emphasized the character as charming and friendly, really selling the idea of him and Callan forming a fast friendship. Carl Möhner gives a good performance in this remake, but his Schneider is more of a direct villain. As he prepares a "business deal," he actively boasts about how his work has resulted in people's deaths, and he generally seems to celebrate the devastation he has caused. This, combined with subplots that take focus away from the Callan/Schneider scenes, leaves far less of a sense of a bond between the two men than in the earlier version.

Jenny: Schneider's girlfriend represents a noticeable departure from the original version. In the television pilot, she was Asian, her Eastern connections one of the foundations of Schneider's business. In the movie, she is played by beautiful, white, English Catherine Schell. While Jenny is aware of Schneider's business, she does not appear to be a direct participant, even begging him early in the film to stop so that they can enjoy their life together.

Jenny (Catherine Schell) begs Schneider to stop his
"business" before it catches up with both of them.

THOUGHTS:

Like A Magnum for Schneider, the series' pilot, the Callan movie is based on James Mitchell's A Red File for Callan. It is not a continuation of the television show, acting instead as an alternative take on Callan's origin story.

This is a decent movie on its own merits. The story remains as solid as it was in 1967, and performances are good. Director Don Sharp uses London locations to good effect, particularly in a scene in which Callan evades pursuit by Hunter's agents. After four seasons of playing this role, Edward Woodward has an instinctive understanding of Callan; as good as he was in the original pilot, he's even better here, his performance more layered than it was in the 1967 version.

Unfortunately, with the exception of Woodward's performance, this just isn't as good as the earlier version. What was crisp and sharp at 50 minutes is slightly sluggish when stretched out to twice that running time. The first Act borders on being dull; and while the pace improves as it goes, there are many bits that seem to be there just to keep the story running.

These expansions steal focus from the Callan/Schneider interactions, which are less prominent here than in the television version. With less screen time between the two characters, and with Schneider more of a true baddie, the story never feels as personal to Callan than it did in A Magnum for Schneider.

Finally, there are some odd bits of editing. Particularly in the middle of the movie, several very short scenes abruptly cut away to other very short scenes. This can leave the film feeling jagged. Given that a few of these bits don't even seem to do much with regard to the plot, it would have been better to have allowed some scenes to play out more, and to have simply removed a few others entirely.

Hunter (Eric Porter) presses Callan to finish his
mission - and to stop asking questions!

OVERALL:

I have no doubt that I would rate the 1974 Callan movie more highly if I had never seen A Magnum for Schneider. It is an enjoyable film on its own merits. Even when the story struggles, the actors make up for it. Edward Woodward and Russell Hunter remain excellent as Callan and Lonely, and Peter Egan is surprisingly good taking over the role of Meres.

Unfortunately, A Magnum for Schneider is simply, plainly better - and even if it didn't exist, some of the extensions made here just scream of padding, from a car chase that is only tangentially related to the main plot to a full subplot involving the small-time criminal who provides Callan's gun!

It's not a bad movie in any way. But since a better version exists and is now widely available, the 1974 film is basically a curio. It's worth watching for fans, if only as an alternate take, and I enjoyed it well enough - but it's definitely the lesser variant.


Overall Rating: 5/10.

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