Callan (film)

Callan
Callan
	UK theatrical poster
Directed by	Don Sharp
Written by	James Mitchell
Based on	A Red File for Callan; by James Mitchell
Produced by	Harry Benn; Derek Horne
Starring	Edward Woodward; Eric Porter; Carl Möhner; Catherine Schell; Peter Egan; Russell Hunter
Cinematography	Ernest Steward
Edited by	Teddy Darvas
Music by	Wilfred Josephs
Production; company	Magnum Films
Distributed by	EMI
Release dates	May 23, 1974 (London); June 12, 1974 (United Kingdom);
Running time	101 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Callan (also known as This is Callan) is a 1974 British thriller film directed by Don Sharp and starring Edward Woodward, Eric Porter, Carl Möhner and Russell Hunter.^[1] It was based on the pilot episode of the ITV television series Callan which ran from 1967 to 1972.

Plot

David Callan, a leading intelligence agent/assassin in the employment of the S.I.S., was forced into retirement when he lost his nerve. Now, he is called back into service to handle the assassination of Schneider, a German businessman. Colonel Hunter, his former employer, promises Callan that he'll be returned to active status as long as he follows his orders. But Callan refuses to act until he knows exactly why Schneider has been marked for death.

Cast

Edward Woodward as David Callan
Russell Hunter as Lonely
Eric Porter as Charles Hunter
Peter Egan as Toby Meres
Carl Möhner as Rudolph Schneider
Catherine Schell as Jenny
Kenneth Griffith as Waterman
Michael Da Costa as The Greek
Veronica Lang as Liz
Clifford Rose as Dr. Snell
David Prowse as Arthur
Don Henderson as George
Nadim Sawalha as Padilla
David Graham as wireless operator
Yuri Borienko as security porter

Production

The script by James Mitchell is based on his original TV pilot "A Magnum for Schneider" and the novelization thereof, Red File for Callan, although only the novel is listed in the film's credits (as A Red File for Callan). The film was based more on the novel than on the original television script.

Callan's boss Hunter is played by Eric Porter, and Meres too is re-cast, this time played by Peter Egan. The only recurring actors from the TV series were Edward Woodward as Callan, Russell Hunter as Lonely, and Clifford Rose as Dr Snell.

Callan was the first film with a Dolby-encoded optical soundtrack.^[2]

The film was shot in late 1973 at Lee Studios and on locations such as the Spint Crossing at Newbury. Director Don Sharp called it "a joy to film" in part because Woodward's "character was so set but he came to it so fresh again."^[3] "We're making a much more extended approach than the TV series," said Woodward during filming. "We could have easily fallen into the trap of making an elongated TV series, but we didn't want it to look cheap. But we mustn't close the claustrophic tight atmosphere that made it so effective and true to life."^[4]

Sharp said the film received "lovely notices".^[3]

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Don Sharp has constructed an unambitious but none the less powerful and convincing little thriller. Apart from one lapse (a slowed-down negative reversal of Callan dealing a death-blow to a heavy), his direction is spare and efficient, managing to combine fear and humour, especially in an inspired car-chase where Callan plays a cat-and-mouse game across the countryside with Schneider. As he takes a short-cut through a farmyard, his path is unexpectedly blocked by a large greenhouse: "Bloody hell!" yells Callan momentarily hesitating, and proceeds to bulldoze it down. The performances are uniformly good, topped by Edward Woodward in the title role, totally at one with the character, and as tight-lipped and uncompromising as ever."^[5]

The Observer called it "surprisingly enjoyable".^[6]

The Guardian said it "amounts to little more, nor much less, than an episode of the telly series writ large."^[7]

The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film 3/5 stars, writing: "In 1967, James Mitchell turned his novel A Red File for Callan into an Armchair Theatre production called A Magnum for Schneider. This movie expands that play to feature-length status to cash in on the success of the popular TV series. The film is disappointingly slow off the mark, but thanks to Don Sharp's slick direction, the pace eventually begins to pick up, with Edward Woodward excelling as the ex-agent whose ruthless professionalism belies a highly developed conscience."^[8]

Leslie Halliwell said: "Expanded rewrite of the first episode of a long-running TV series, quite fresh and vivid in the circumstances, especially as it comes at the tail end of ten years of similar bouts of blood and thunder."^[9]

References

^ "Callan". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
^ Sergi, Gianluca (2004). The Dolby Era: Film Sound in Contemporary Hollywood. Manchester University Press. p. 46. ISBN 0719070678.
^ ^a ^b Sharp, Don (2 November 1993). "Don Sharp Side 6" (Interview). Interviewed by Teddy Darvas and Alan Lawson. London: History Project. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
^ Otterburn-Hall, William (6 January 1974). "Does the Violent Callan Really Care About People?". The San Francisco Examiner. p. 19.
^ "Callan". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 41 (480): 144. 1 January 1974 – via ProQuest.
^ Cross-country parable Milne, Tom. The Observer 26 May 1974: 31
^ Malcolm, Derek (23 May 1974). "Sailor Blue". The Guardian. p. 10.
^ Radio Times Guide to Films (18th ed.). London: Immediate Media Company. 2017. p. 148. ISBN 9780992936440.
^ Halliwell, Leslie (1989). Halliwell's Film Guide (7th ed.). London: Paladin. p. 165. ISBN 0586088946.