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The Day of the Jackal (film)

1973 film by Fred Zinnemann

The Day of the Jackal is a 1973 film about a professional assassin codenamed "Jackal" who plots to kill Charles de Gaulle, the President of France.

Directed by Fred Zinnemann. Written by Kenneth Ross, based on the the novel by Frederick Forsyth.
Nameless, faceless...relentlessly moving towards the date with death that would rock the world. taglines

The Jackal

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  • This is a once in a lifetime job. Whoever does it can never work again.

Dialogue

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Lieutenant Colonel Marc Rodin: We are not terrorists, you understand. We are patriots. Our duty is to the soldiers who've died fighting in Algeria, and to the three million French citizens who have always lived there.
The Jackal: And so you want to get rid of him.
Col. Rodin: [after a pause in which he, Commandant Montclair and Andre Casson look at each other] Speaking as a professional, do you think it's possible?
The Jackal: [thinks] It's possible. The point is getting away with it. And speaking as a professional, that's a very important consideration. [smokes his cigarette]
Commandant Rene Montclair: But in principle, you'd say it could be done? [The Jackal nods, takes his cigarette out of his mouth.]
The Jackal: [thoughtfully] Yes...with enough time and planning. It would be much more difficult than most other targets.
Andre Casson: Why more?
The Jackal: Because de Gaulle has the best security service in the world. Their information is first class. You see, gentlemen, not only have your own efforts failed, but you've rather queered the pitch for everyone else.
Casson: How dare you suggest that?!
The Jackal: In this work, you simply can't afford to be emotional. That's why you've made so many mistakes.
Col. Rodin: But if we decided to employ a professional...
The Jackal: You have to employ a professional. Your organization is so riddled with informants, that nothing you decide is a secret for long. [He stands up and goes over to the window] No, the job would have to be done by an outsider. The only question, that is, by who, and how much.
[Rodin, Montclair and Casson look at each other.]
Col. Rodin: Will you do it?
The Jackal: [after a pause, while he smokes] Yes.
Montclair: How much?
The Jackal: [seriously] You must understand that this is a once in a lifetime job. Whoever does it can never work again. [he returns to the desk]
Montclair: How much do you want?
The Jackal: Half a million -
Montclair: [in disbelief] What? [Rodin opens his mouth to protest but is stopped by the next dialogue]
The Jackal: In cash. Half in advance, and half on completion. [he gestures and nods]
Montclair: Half a million francs?
The Jackal: Dollars. [Rodin, Montclair and Casson are in disbelief]
Montclair: [stands up, leans over the desk at the Jackal] Are you mad?
The Jackal: Considering you expect to get France in return, I'd have thought it a reasonable price. [awkwardly] If you can't manage it, then there's...nothing more to be said. [he walks over to the bed and picks up his coat]
[Montclair and Rodin look at each other quickly.]
Rodin: We accept.
The Jackal: [after a pause] How many people know about this?
Rodin: Just the four of us.
The Jackal: Let's keep it that way. This job depends on absolute secrecy. [He starts to walk back to the desk] No notes must be kept. If any one of you is captured, I shall feel free to call it off. I suggest you go somewhere and remain there under heavy guard until the job is done. Agreed?
Rodin: Agreed.
The Jackal: [takes a pen out of his inside jacket pocket] The planning will be mine. [takes a piece of paper from the desk] No one else will get the details, and you will hear nothing from me again. [He writes something on the paper during the next dialogue] This is the name and account number of my bank in Switzerland. When I receive word that the first $250,000 has been deposited, [Finishes writing and straightens up] I'll move - provided I'm ready. But I'll not be hurried or interfered with in any way. [Puts his pen back in his pocket]
Rodin: [as Montclair and Casson look to him] Agreed. [He passes the piece of paper to Montclair]
The Jackal: Now, all I want from you is a telephone number in Paris that I could call about changes in de Gaulle's plan. But the contact mustn't know who I am, or what this is about. [Rodin nods] Send me the phone number by mail.
Montclair: I'd like to know how you expect us to find half a million dollars so quickly.
The Jackal: Use your network to rob some banks.
The Gunsmith: Over what range will you fire?
The Jackal: I'm not sure yet but probably not more than 400 feet.
The Gunsmith: Will the gentleman be moving?
The Jackal: Stationary.
The Gunsmith: Will you go for a head shot or a chest shot?
The Jackal: Probably head.
The Gunsmith: What about the chance of a second shot?
The Jackal: Well I might get the chance but I doubt it. In any event I'll need a silencer to escape.
The Gunsmith: In that case you'd better have explosive bullets. I can prepare a handful along with the gun.
The Jackal: Glycerin or mercury?
The Gunsmith: Oh mercury... much cleaner.
Minister: Commissioner Berthier, any suggestions?
Berthier: We're in trouble on this one. Our agents inside the OAS can't pin him down, since not even the OAS knows who he is. Action Service can't destroy him; they don't know who to destroy. The gendarmes, all forty-eight thousand of them, can't pursue him; they don't know who to pursue. The police can't arrest him. How can they? They don't know who to arrest. Without a name, all other proposals are meaningless. The first task, then, is to find it. We get a name, we get a passport and a face. And with a face, we get an arrest. But to find his name, and to do it in secret, is a job of pure detective work.
Minister: Commissioner, who is the best detective on the force?
Berthier: The best detective is my own deputy commissioner, Claude Lebel.
Caron: You know, sir, what they'll do to you if you don't catch this man in time...
Lebel: I've been given a job to do, so we'll just have to do it.
Caron: But no crime has been committed yet, so where are we supposed to start looking for the criminal?
Lebel: We start by recognizing that, after De Gaulle, we are the two most powerful people in France.
Mallinson: The prime minister?
Insp. Thomas: The prime minister, sir. That he said if there's the remotest possibility of General de Gaulle's life being threatened by a person of these islands, then it is to be stopped. And he's given me full powers and top priority.
Mallinson: Is this some kind of bloody joke?
Insp. Thomas: No, of couse not, sir. I've got to drop whatever I'm doing, and I shall need six of your best men, straight away.
Mallinson: Where's the notification for all this? Where's the proper authority? [Telephone rings. Mallison answers] Yes! [Mallison listens then rises] Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Of course, sir.

[Lebel arranges calls from Holland, Belgium, Italy, West Germany, South Africa, the United States and Britain]

Caron: Sir, how do you know that the Jackal comes from any of these seven countries?
Lebel: I don't. But he must be on file somewhere.
Lebel: Excuse me, but it has just occurred to me that we have forty-eight hours in which to find this Jackal.
[There is a chorus of "What?" and "How do you know?" from the committee members]
Lebel: Am I right in assuming that the President has no engagements outside the Elysee Palace today, tomorrow and Saturday?
Minister: None.
Lebel: And what is Sunday, August the twenty-fifth?
Minister: [Slaps forehead] Of course! Liberation Day!
Lebel: That's what he's been waiting for.
Minister: We must have been blind.
Mallinson: There's no question of Her Majesty's Government ever conceding the fact that this Jackal was an Englishman. So far as one can see, there was a period when an Englishman came under suspicion, but he has now been cleared. Certainly, the Jackal masqueraded as an Englishman, but he also masqueraded as a Dane and as a Frenchman. So there's no way of proving his identity at all.
Inspector Thomas: But, if the Jackal wasn't Calthrop, THEN WHO THE HELL WAS HE?

Taglines

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  • Nameless, faceless...relentlessly moving towards the date with death that would rock the world.
  • The Jackal spent 71 days, 56 minutes thinking a bullet into the brain of de Gaulle.

Cast

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