THE DAY OF THE JACKAL

THE DAY OF THE JACKAL (1973). Director: Fred Zinnemann. Based on the novel by Frederick Forsythe.

In 1962 French President DeGaulle has been targeted for assassination by the terrorist group OAS because of the issue of Algerian independence, which he supports. Since DeGaulle is heavily guarded and many of the members of the OAS are well-known to the government, the group decides it would be safer to bring in an outsider and foreigner, and hire a contract killer who becomes known as the Jackal (Edward Fox of The Mirror Crack'd). The film details this sociopath's meticulous planning even as French officials convene under the direction of the Minister (Alan Badel of Salome) and assign Commissioner Lebel (Michael Lonsdale) to track him down. Using his quick wits and ruthless nature, the Jackal manages to stay one step ahead of the police, until they figure just when the man is going to strike. But will they be able to prevent disaster? Obviously, they do, but the interest in the film is in exactly how the Jackal will be stopped and when. 

     

Michael Lonsdale

The Day of the Jackal proceeds almost like a documentary. It has no real musical score (until the closing credits) and hasn't much style. There is one memorable sequence in which the Jackal murders a man whom he meets in a Turkish bath. This is handled in a low-key, matter-of-fact fashion that makes it all the more chilling. (The assassin is shown having sex with a woman he picks up, but whether or not he gets it on with the guy is left to the imagination, although he does apparently spend the night.) Edward Fox really isn't given a lot to sink his teeth into as his character is virtually unemotional and is given no real background or identity, but he manages to make a positive impression in spite of it. The other actors, mostly unknown, are all professional and adept. Jackal is one of those movies that keeps you perfectly absorbed even as you think afterward that it wasn't all that great. There's no real nail-biting suspense to the film. The only familiar faces in this, besides Lonsdale (who was later the villain in Moonraker), are Derek Jacobi [Breaking the Code] as his assistant, Caron, Jean Sorel [Sandra] as Bastien-Thiry, an OAS man who is executed at the opening of the film, and perhaps Delphine Seyrig, as Collette, a wealthy married woman who dallies with the Jackal and comes to regret it. 

Verdict: It entertains, but it sure could have used a musical score. **3/4. 

MOONRAKER

Hero vs villain: Roger Moore and Michael Lonsdale

MOONRAKER (1979). Director: Lewis Gilbert.

"Mr. Bond, you arrive with the tedious inevitability of an unloved season." -- Hugo Drax

When a Moonraker shuttle built by Drax Industries is hijacked in midair, James Bond (Roger Moore) is assigned to the investigation. He discovers that Hugo Drax (Michael Lonsdale) is behind a scheme to wipe out the earth's population and replace it with perfect specimens over which he, of course, will rule. After a variety of misadventures, Bond -- assisted by CIA agent Holly Goodhead (Lois Chiles) -- winds up on a space station for the final battle. Moonraker was the ultimate live-action cartoon and science fiction version of 007, but it's great fun on that level. There are major action setpieces in the film, such as a prologue in which Bond is forced out of an airplane; a scene when Bond is caught in a whirling thingamajig that registers acceleration pressure; a battle with metal-toothed Jaws (Richard Kiel) high atop a cable car over Rio; a chase on a river with a waterfall, Bond's glider at the ready; and another boat chase on a canal in Venice. [Bond's gondola is outfitted with wheels and an outboard motor!] Moore plays his own version of a lighter-hearted Bond and plays it well. The other two main performers underplay to good effect: Lonsdale is neither hysterical nor flamboyant but radiates a quiet menace; and while Chiles could be considered bland, even wooden at times, she gets across her character's strength, avoids making her a Kewpie doll (despite her dirty joke of a name), and only succumbs to Bond's charms when she is ready. John Barry's majestic music is on the money, including an excellent title tune very well-sung by Shirley Bassey of Goldfinger fame. A very colorful and exciting picture with some fascinating settings.

Verdict: More silly than it needs to be, but highly entertaining. ***.