Callan - Den Aasgeiern eiskalt serviert (1974) Online

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 it turns out 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 petty crook whom Callan employs to buy him a gun. Sadly the film was made with little style, and the military band score is disappointingly out of kilter with Jack Trombey's 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 TV 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. (This unofficial pilot can now be seen on a very good DVD compilation of what early episodes are still unwiped, called "Callan: The Monochrome Years" (Network DVD, 2010).) There was also a recent BBC radio version. 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.

An acceptable expansion of the pilot episode of the celebrated TV spy series,CALLAN benefits from Edward Woodward's memorable characterisation of an unglamourous,seedy and brutish secret agent David Callan,helped and hindered by his even seedier sidekick,smelly petty crook Lonely,superbly played by Russell Hunter.Although not quite as good as the TV series,this film version is still very watchable and efficiently directed by Don Sharp,with a few interesting frisson's added,most notably Callan's ferocious disposal of a gangster's hit-man(played by Dave Prowse,later to become Darth Vader's physical form.As with Star Wars,Prowse's Bristol accent is dubbed over here as well)and the gangster's subsequent use for virtual human experimentation,which Callan observes to his disgust and horror.The series was always interesting for Callan's frequent clashes with his superiors,made more strident because of his working-class background;his colleagues were invariably upper middle-class,public schoolboys,as typified by the vindictive bully Toby Meres,played here by Peter Egan.Egan is adequate in the role but lacks the extra toughness,wit and humour provided by Anthony Valentine in the TV series(Peter Bowles played Meres in the pilot),and his boss 'Hunter',played in this film version by Eric Porter; the best 'Hunter' of all in the TV series was probably William Squire.

Many UK TV shows had film versions produced in the 1970's,mostly sitcoms like ON THE BUSES,LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR,MAN ABOUT THE HOUSE,etc. These and others were mostly dismal but CALLAN works far better despite having to add more footage from the original TV pilot,and works as a taut,terse and respectable film version of an excellent TV original.

RATING:6 and a half out of 10.

I thought the film was very good. I like others at first approached the film with a jaundiced view, specifically the totally different effect of the music. However once viewed several times ones' view changes and accepts the film / music / different "Hunter" etc. afresh. No one else could play Callan other than Edward Woodward, the effect of Eric Porter as the new "Hunter" also becomes part of the whole fabric. I have seen the film many times now and to change anything or to try to align it with the way Callan was presented for TV would be detrimental.Enjoy it as it stands without prejudice. One weak spot, the scene where Callan is located with Lonely in a pub by one of Mears' henchmen; you could never jam a kiosk door with a piece of folded up card!

I first encountered this film on USA Cable, in the late 80's. At first, I thought it was another Harry Palmer film (Ipcress File, Funeral In Berlin, Billion Dollar Brain), but with a different actor. I soon realized it wasn't and recognized Edward Woodward from The Equalizer and Breaker Morant. The film is very much in the same vein as Harry Palmer, slower paced, a character who is an agent not by his own choice, meticulous detail, and a more real world approach.

Edward Woodward is outstanding as David Callan, an ex-thief and troubleshooter for a secret government department. he specializes in assassination, frame-ups, and other dirty dealings. This is a dark and shabby world inhabited by Callan, and he doesn't like it. He is torn at every turn by the morality of the job he does. He is affected by nightmares of past deeds, prone to alcoholism, and is deeply cynical.

Woodward breathes tremendous life into Callan. He is ably assisted by Eric Porter as Hunter, his boss, and Russel Hunter, as the always smelly and put upon Lonely. Hunter (the actor) is the only other carry-over from the TV series. He is a small man who is abused by all.

The film greatly expands the TV series (which I was finally able to view recently), something that other TV-based British films rarely did effectively. Callan was stage bound and shot on video. This motion picture allows for greater location shooting and a more vibrant look.

Hopefully, the film will see the light of day again in the US, along with the recent DVD releases of the color episodes of the series. It is an excellent piece of work, sure to appeal to fans of Harry Palmer, Jason Bourne, the writings of John Le Carre, or other serious espionage thrillers.

The spy genre saw a (British-led) backlash in the mid-/late-1960s against the 'James Bond-led' type of upper class, super-human, perfect being spies and attention being paid in literature ("The spy who came in from the cold") and film (the Harry Palmer films) to a much more realistic portrayal of who spies were and what they actually did (often grubby little men working in atrocious conditions and for minimal recompense). In addition to literature and film, I can recall seeing the original "Callan" series on TV and of being very impressed by it. As portrayed by Woodward, Callan really was a working class thug (ex-army/ex-offender/borderline alcoholic and capable of great viciousness) doing the most unglamorous kinds of things in order to "take care" (with threats, blackmail, entrapment and, ultimately, 'termination') of people his superiors ordered him to. At the same time, Woodward gave the character a real human side who often displayed pity and empathy for his victims and who refused to turn into just the simple killing machine his masters wanted. I thought this film (which I had never seen before and found on some TV network being broadcast between 1.00 and 3.00 AM!) caught all of this very well. It was made at a time of great violence/almost seeming social melt-down (IRA bombing campaigns in Britain, the never-ending "Troubles" in Ireland, terrorism across much of Europe, the PLO terrorist attacks across the world. the Vietnam War staggering towards its bloody (and probably inevitable) end) and there are a number of places in the film where issues of direct relevance for today are also addressed (where to draw the line between 'enhanced interrogation' and outright torture, what are the limits of surveillance, how far can people 'follow orders' and still stay human?) An exciting film to watch but also one with a lot more to offer as well.

Based on what i believe was the original pilot for the late seventies TV series. I just remember the TV show but not to clearly, however i saw this movie version as the supporting feature to something around the late seventies at a historic cinema that alas is no longer with us. However this very dark, cold sinister thriller where the bad guy is very likable while the hero may be challenged but he is cruel violent and very efficient in a most sinister way, this hero is quiet repellent. The direction story and writing are remarkably good with a splendid cast in very fine form, for me this movie contains a car chase so good, that only Bullit and The French Connection can compare, it really is that good. I had not seen this movie for a very long time but if anything it was even better than my memory supposed. Vertually unknown and all but forgotten this is a secret gem, so if you go went for Michael Caine in Get Carter or as Harry Palmer in the Ipcress File you will definitely go for Edward Woodford who was a very fine actor indeed as David Callan secret government enforcer. For PC do look elsewhere.

David Callan and the TV series he appeared in were the brainchild of writer James Mitchell. Both character and series became a successful phenomenon of the late sixties and early seventies and made a star of Edward Woodward. Conceived as a flip-side to Bond, Callan was a reluctant spy – a veteran combatant of Malaya, dishonourably discharged from the army, a career criminal and ex-con. He winds up blackmailed into working for The Section, the sharp end of cold war espionage. A crack-shot with a pistol and a multiple murderer, he gets the dirty jobs. The Section is all about damage-limitation by whatever means necessary and is run by a series of different bureaucrats with the same codename – Charlie Hunter.

Callan's only friend, a pathetic and perpetually nervous thief called Lonely (Russell Hunter) is like something straight out of the pages of Dickens. Their interactions are full of dramatic pathos and distorted humanity, defined by Callan's cruel jibes about Lonely's body odour problem and his at times frightening aggression towards him. In response, Lonely reciprocates with awestruck fear and respect for the man who is the only person who actually cares about him. For despite all, Callan does everything he can to protect Lonely because Lonely is in fact the only person in the world who really cares about Callan.

Essentially, Callan has a conscience and it bothers him. He questions and rebels against authority, hates his life but has no other options open. He is a working class thug and peerless killer with a sharp brain and a fractured psyche. He should perhaps be seen as a monster, but his inherent humanity and convincingly empathic personality flaws render him completely relatable and sympathetic.

The colour episodes (all available and intact) are arguably less visually impactive than the monochrome ones. Of the sixties black and white series, about nine teleplays have been "lost" for all time – the tapes reputedly wiped by some idiot jobsworth at ITV. Those that remain – including the original introductory play "A Magnum For Schneider" – depict a sixties London that definitely isn't all swinging, all dancing. It is bleak, grimy, downbeat and dangerous - full of squalid bed-sits, creeping social paranoia and post-war depression. Callan lives in the shadows and life there is cruel, harsh and often painfully short.

This brings us to the 1974 movie version and the penultimate screen appearance of the character. The last time Callan appeared on screen was in the 1981 teleplay "Wet Job" which, despite being penned by Mitchell, was unfortunately a bit lacking and not the most appropriate of swansongs for such a great creation. Still, it was good to see him meet up with Lonely one last time and live to fight another day.

The movie is a retread of "A Magnum For Schneider." A disgraced Callan has been kicked out of The Section, working as a book-keeper for a seedy businessman. This is just a set up for some wet work. Hunter has manipulated the situation to put Callan in close proximity with Schneider, a German industrialist based in the offices next door. He is rich, has Nazi connections and funds global terrorism. Callan is to get close to Schneider – through their mutual love of playing war-games – find and retrieve evidence of his activities and kill him. But it's never that simple. Callan has to operate off the books so The Section has plausible deniability, so he's on his own. If he succeeds, Hunter promises to take him back into The Section.

It's a solid enough film, but workmanlike rather than inspired. Woodward is, as always, convincingly superb as the conflicted and tortured agent. Russell Hunter gives his usual authentic portrayal of the ultimate dweller on the fringes of society, a pathetic petty crook habitually addicted to a hopeless life of crime. Toby Meres is this time played by a very smooth Peter Egan, the third actor to take on the role, and he's OK but he's not a patch on Anthony Valentine who truly owns it.

There are some memorable moments and lines of dialogue. After Callan kills the towering heavy, Arthur (Dave Prowse), with his bare hands, he tells Lonely that he hit him. "You hit Arthur?" Lonely inquires incredulously. Callan replies: "I hit him... and he died of it." It's a terrific little scene, beautifully played, with both actors conveying an entire range of affecting emotions in mere flickering seconds of screen time. At one later point Hunter inquires: "what about Meres?" to receive the laconic and perfectly delivered response from Callan: "I believe he is unconscious, though with Meres it is difficult to tell." The writing is crisp and bone dry.

There are sporadic bursts of realistic action, and the film overall has a pleasing, downbeat early seventies vibe. It captures certain elements of the TV series well – the sense of being close to what real Cold War espionage might have been like – but it really would have benefited from re-using the original Jack Trombey "Callan Theme" to add to the atmosphere. The jaunty harmonica and military band motifs here are no replacement for that slow, resonating guitar hook, spartan strings and melancholic horns.

"Callan" the movie remains a firm personal favourite for me and it's due another viewing once I've worked my way through my recent purchase of "The Monochrome Years" and "The Colour Years" DVD sets of the original series. All TV episodes in existence are available in these collections and represent one of the best purchases I've ever made. The movie remains a respectful and decent enough representation of one of British TV's greatest and most influential creations.

Callan made Edward Woodward into a star. He plays a sort of James Bond as anti hero, a reluctant and downbeat assassin who wants to retire as he is being damaged by his work, but is blackmailed by the SIS into carrying out one last job, which is never his last.

Basically the 1973 film version of Callan was a remake of a classic episode A Magnum for Schneider, where Callan is ordered to kill a German businessman who has links to the Stasi and who is involved in some dodgy arms deals with a liking for Magnum revolvers. ( Interestingly the little known Japanese version of the pistol is mentioned in the film).

While I haven't seen this film for a while, it seems to have disappeared from the late night television schedules, Callan is quite a good and brutal film. Callan in this is shown to be a karate expert, he uses it to extract some information from his associate Lonely in his squalid bedsit and then dispenses with two arms dealers in the most brutal karate display this side of a Bruce Lee film. Also of note are a car chase which involves Callan driving a Range Rover through an orchard and a Jaguar being bounced across a level crossing by an Inter City train. Schneider, who is killed off by Callan, also has a penchant for collecting toy soldiers and re enacting classic battles.

Another interesting fact about the film is Clifford Rose makes an appearance as a consultant physician, later he was to make his name as the sinister SS officer Kessler in Secret Army.

Not a great film, but a good way to pass an afternoon and Russell Hunter in particular is excellent as Lonely, the smelly, loyal informant for Callan who deserves a medal for the way Callan treats him throughout the film( usually knocking him about).

It seems to me that half of the British films made during the 1970s seemed to be big-screen outings for popular television series, and while most were comedies, CALLAN is a thriller spin-off of the late '60s TV show. Edward Woodward is the renegade secret agent tasked with assassinating a rival German agent, but first he wants to find out why. This film has a cheap, working class feel to it which is somehow quite different to the rest of the thriller genre from the era. Woodward is solid and the likes of Russell Hunter help to propel the story along in an entertaining fashion, although Carl Mohner bags the most sympathetic role as the war gaming enthusiast. There's also a very well-filmed car chase through the English countryside in which bus shelters are demolished and the like.

This 1974 film of "Callan," lets itself down due to a screenplay that is thinly plotted and the sense of intrigue and tension has been diluted. The film is on for too long, about 15 minutes should have been edited from the final version. "Callan" is a remake of the play that started it all, "A Magnum For Schneider." Whilst that latter production was filmed entirely in the studio, the suspense and tension never let up. Every scene counted for something. This 1974 movie has a lot of location shooting but so what? It doesn't compensate for a slack narrative. The story is very good at 55 minutes on television but at 100 minutes, it becomes tiresome and irritating. There are a few bits that are OK but that's about all. The scene where Callan deals with Darth Vader himself - Dave Prowse - demonstrates a bit of the tension from the series. It was the right decision to have Edward Woodward and Russell Hunter reprise their respective characters. Who else would we fans want except those two? Eric Porter is effectively cast as Hunter but he's no match for Ronald Radd. Peter Egan is bloody terrible as Meres! He couldn't fight his way out of a rubber Johnny! The music is all wrong for the film. That harmonica noise soon grates on my nerves. It's much more suited to Westerns. A disappointing experience.

While the notion of "franchising" a successful creative work is nothing new today, it was quite novel (sorry for the pun) for author James Mitchell.

His spy novel A Magnum for Schneider was published in 1969. It begat a successful book series; a top-rated British TV drama which ran for years, which Mitchell also wrote for; a bona fide international star (Woodward) who was so successfully identified with the role of Callan that he actually crossed the pond and starred in a TV show there called The Equalizer; and, of all things, this bizarre almost reverent attempt to milk the original cow (the first novel) one more time, in 1974, using most of the original cast, in a feature length film, and shot in colour.

This should be point in the review where I tell you that this whole exercise was of such high quality that Callan is as watchable today (whenever you are reading this) as it was then. If I said that, I would be lying.

While Mitchell had his finger on the pulse of the 60s -- a gradual turning away from traditional and respectable spy stories to something a little more violent and gritty -- it was only a taste of what was to come.

Which means that this film, as competent as it is, will always remain merely a curiosity for fans who remember the original. (And also remember, for example, that in the series, Callan not only returned to his "job" but for a while actually ran the entire Section!) Fond memories. But only memories.