Callan

You can never go wrong watching Edward Woodward as the tortured but oh-so-capable assassin - and using a proven TV storyline for expansion was a savvy move as well. The big problem with 1974's Callan appear to come from a shoe-string budget that caused some real problems. The worst is the fifth-rate musical score that frankly steps all over the scenes in which it is used. The inappropriate harmonica is particularly grating and you cheer for the sequences without the ill-fitting music. The sets seem pretty squalid too with a 3rd-rate school gym housing the training ground for England's top assassins. But stick to the acting and story and it's a fairly diverting yarn. The film is tough and diverting as Callan wrestles with his conscience and the demands of his section. Fun to see Peter Egan playing against type as a psycho-bully as well as David Prowse from Clockwork Orange and Star Wars. Finally, the film features a rare chance to see tabletop wargaming on screen - a hobby both for Callan and Woodward.

There's alot of things I wish happened on this film adaptation of Callan. The main one is casting. I would have loved to see Ronald Radd or William Squire reprise the role of Hunter and Anthony Valentine return as Toby Myres. Valentine didn't play the character during the original Aemchair Theater teleplay (Peter Boyles did) so this would have been new. The casting is still good as are the performances and if one is not so initiated with the tv series, would not mind these actors at all. Some familiar faces do return like Russell Hunter as Lonely (no one else can bring that role to life), and Clifford Rose as Snell, the Section's doctor with a chillingly indifferent aire about him.

This is a very small budget film but like the show, the strength is in the story and performances. The story which was the initial teleplay that started the serie is expanded to include some action sequences like Callan training to return to the service and a well shot action sequence involving an interesting car chase in the English countryside.

To me, this is about on par with the TV show, the difference is how James Mitchell expanded the story and not too much else. There is a difference with the movie from the TV show that can't be helped and that's how claustrophobic the TV show made everything seem. All these characters caught in this world of intrigue, very few places to hide. That added to the strength of the stories. Here, things are out in the open, it's all shot on film and that gives it some space. The viewer is not so drawn into it all.

If you don't mind limitations (this certainly doesn't have the budget of a Bond film) and like the genre, this film would be something you like. If you are a fan of a show but never got around to this, you might be a little disappointed for the reasons I mentioned but maybe not so much after a second or third viewing.

I think that my parents used to watch the TV series "Callan", I can remember the title but would have been too young to have seen it at the time. I may or may not have watched some re-runs, I honestly don't know so I have treated the 1974 movie as my first Callan viewing. Brilliant actor Edward Woodward (who was so good in the 1973 classic "The Wicker Man") plays retired British secret agent Callan, lured back for an assassination job on a crooked German businessman. The two characters strike up quite a friendship with a mutual love of playing out historical battle scenes using model soldiers at the target's mansion, almost slightly surreal. Other interesting characters include a petty crook called Lonely on account that he doesn't wash so nobody wants to go near him (whoever thought of that name I salute you, brilliant!), a camp arms dealer known as The Greek and his henchman Arthur, played by the one and only David Prowse, a giant of a man probably best known for playing the physical part of Darth Vader. The movie packs in plenty of action - when Callan displays his martial arts skills the screen colour becomes tinted and goes into slow motion, pretty silly in my opinion, on the other hand there is a fantastic rural car chase, one of the movie's most memorable scenes. Woodward reminds me of Michael Caine, I could imagine him playing the part too. He also has a bit of Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry Callahan, wise cracking on one hand, deadly serious on the other, in fact Callan's choice of weapon, a Magnum, is surely a nod to the American film. In addition to the plot, which isn't as straight forward for Callan as he'd hoped, we get a view of London in 1974, nice seeing the fashions, locations, old vehicles and a boozer (pub). One of my favourite lines has Lonely say "You're not going to shoot bears though are you Mr Callan?" after Callan, who bought the Magnum off Lonely, explains that it could blow a bear's head off. Callan is a tough cookie up against some very nasty people. It is violent at times but also amusing at others, I don't think that as a thriller that it was intended to be taken too seriously and is all the better for that.

"Callan" (Edward Woodward) was retired from his top secret job after his boss "Hunter" (Eric Porter) thought he'd lost his edge, but now that very man is courting him to return for one very special task. That will involve him killing a man called "Schneider". If he does this, then he will be reinstated no questions asked. Thing is, though, "Callan" isn't just an hit man, he wants to know a little bit more about his quarry and so sets about getting to know this man (Carl Möhner) who loves replaying Napoleonic battles using hand painted, cast-iron, armies and who shares a seemingly innocuous life with his wife (Catherine Schell). His employer isn't convinced with these methods, so decides to let his replacement "Meres" (Richard Egan) make up a plan B - in which it is quite possible that "Callan" could end up being collateral damage. What now ensues is a decently paced, if slightly confusing, thriller replete with just about everything save a poisoned umbrella tip. Woodward and his fixer "Lonely" (Russell Hunter) have reprised their roles from the successful ATV television series from the late 1960s and in many ways this is just one feature-length episode from that. It works fine, with solid production values and it's even got a little bit of soul.

I saw this film prior to viewing any episodes of the TV series. With hindsight, one can identify ways in which this adaptation falls short of it's source material - however, taken on it's own merit, this is an excellent, slow burn thriller.

It has one undeniable advantage over the TV show. It is shot on film on location and therefore the grimy, low-rent milieu Callan occupies is rendered credibly. One of the strengths of the TV version is it's relentlessly downbeat tone, but this was somewhat mitigated by the stagey, shot on video aesthetic, which gave the material intimacy. On film the effect is far more cold and alienating. In some ways the film reminded me of an English 'Taxi Driver', with long scenes of Edward Woodward in a grubby bedsit practising his quick-draw.

I'd advise all viewers to give this fine film a look, and for Callan purists to give it a chance on it's own terms.

It would be interesting to know more about the circumstances that led to the making of this film. Would there have been sequels? Was it an opportunity to bring Woodward's excellent performance as the character to a wider, potentially international, audience?

In some ways, the later series The Equalizer feels like an americanised variation on Callan, wherein he has quit government work and become a freelance troubleshooter on behalf of private citizens. But Robert McCall is a much more straightfoward, palatable character for the US than the complex David Callan and his shades-of-grey world. Let me tell you, Brit 70s TV was really something!