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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0-0. A Magnum for Schneider.

Callan (Edward Woodward) plays a war game
against his target, Schneider (Joseph Furst).

Air Date: February 4, 1967. Written by: Terence Feely, James Mitchell. Based on the Novel, A Red File for Callan, by James Mitchell. Directed by: Bill Bain. Produced by: Leonard White.


THE PLOT:

Colonel Hunter (Ronald Radd), head of an unspecified British intelligence section, has a problem: Schneider (Joseph Furst), a German-born businessman, whom Hunter has marked for death. Only he doesn't want the Section connected with the killing.

Callan (Edward Woodward) used to be Hunter's best assassin. But he was too "soft" - He was bothered not only by the deaths of innocents, but by those of his targets as well. Now stuck in a thankless job under an abusive supervisor (Ivor Dean), Callan is desperate to return to a world that has a place for him. But though he agrees to kill Schneider, he decides he must first know why - and in the process, finds that he personally likes his target, even as he despises the men he works for.

Callan menaces his contact, Lonely (Russell Hunter).

CHARACTERS:

Callan: Edward Woodward's performance arrives basically fully-formed. He is physically unimposing. He mostly alternates between seeming morose and, when sharing with Schneider his enthusiasm for battles with model soldiers, almost childlike. But he will turn on a dime, sometimes in mid-line, and become truly threatening - as when his street contact, Lonely (Russell Hunter), starts to walk away after one insult too many only for Callan to freeze him in place with a single, hard look.

Hunter: Ronald Radd matches Woodward's performance with a dominating screen presence. He doesn't really do much. But with his cold, unruffled manner, he makes it clear at all times that he is in control - so much so that when he stammers slightly in his final scene, after things don't quite go to his plan, this tiny shift instantly catches our attention. Later, "Hunter" would become a job description, a title denoting all section chiefs. Here, it seems clear enough that it's simply the man's name.

Schneider: Though Schneider is the story's ostensible villain, Joseph Furst wisely never plays him as such. Late in the episode, Callan notes that he likes Schneider and hates Hunter, and in many ways Schneider is Hunter's opposite. Schneider as warm and affable as Hunter is cold and aloof. Schneider enjoys his ill-gotten gains with the attractive young Jenny (Francisca Tu), who seems genuinely fond of him, and with his games of strategy with model soldiers; if Hunter has any enthusiasm in him, we don't see it. It's easy to see why Callan hesitates to act on his contract, as it's hard even for the audience to truly hate Schneider even once his secrets are revealed.

Callan receives orders from the hated Col. Hunter (Ronald Radd).

THOUGHTS:

The first Callan episode (based on the first novel) actually belonged to a different series: Armchair Theatre, a series of weekly plays for television. Even before it aired, a series was planned - likely why the series followed so quickly, and with only one major casting change (Callan's rival, Meres, is here played by Peter Bowles; Anthony Valentine would replace him in the series proper).

Callan serves as very much an anti-Bond. He is working class, morose to the point of depression, and borderline alcoholic. "I'm not particularly nice," he says at one point, and it's true. He has an adversarial relationship with both of his employers. He is casually abusive to Lonely, the man he relies on to get him a gun to complete his assignment. The only person to whom he is genuinely pleasant is his intended target!

Still, the story balances Callan's unpleasant traits carefully, making sure we are on his side throughout. The opening establishes that he has problems with killing, and that he ran afoul of his superiors by wanting to know why his targets were selected. Though he agrees to kill Schneider, he hesitates, breaking into the man's home and office to find out what he did; it's unspoken but clear that he will only go through with it if Schneider is guilty. He is also shrewd, anticipating that Hunter might try to make a patsy out of him and countering that. All of this makes him the hero by default - Less callous than his employers, less amoral than Schneider.

More than 50 years later, the episode holds up well. Performances are strong across the board, and the simple-yet-moody theme is such a perfect fit with the tone, I was actively surprised to learn that it was not specifically composed for it (it's a library piece, titled Girl in the Dark). Pacing is good, and other than one poorly-choreographed moment of violence, it's rather well-made.

A Magnum for Schneider would be an excellent television play in its own right, and it's no surprise that it led to a rapid series pickup.  I can't imagine that a better pilot to Callan could have been produced, and it stands up as a fine piece of television today.


Overall Rating: 10/10.

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