The Day of the Jackal

Director: Fred Zinnemann Fred Zinnemann

Overview

"Fred Zinnemann's The Day of the Jackal comes to DVD with a widescreen transfer that preserves the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1. The English soundtrack is rendered in Dolby Digital Mono. Spanish and French subtitles are accessible, and the soundtrack is closed-captioned. Supplemental materials include the theatrical trailer, talent biographies, and production notes. This is a fine release from Universal."

Product Details

Release Date:	04/29/1998
UPC:	0025192026126
Original Release:	1973
Rating:	PG
Source:	STUDIO DISTRIBUTION SERVS LLC
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[monaural, Dolby Digital]
Language:	English
Time:	2:23:00
Sales rank:	18,645

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Edward Fox	The Jackal
Terence Alexander	Lloyd,Lloyd
Michel Auclair	Colonel Rolland
Alan Badel	The Minister
Tony Britton	Inspector Thomas
Denis Carey	Casson
Adrien Cayla-Legrand	The President
Cyril Cusack	The Gunsmith
Maurice Denham	General Colbert
Vernon Dobtcheff	The Interrogator
Jacques François	Pascal(as Jacques Francois)
Olga Georges-Picot	Denise
Raymond Gérôme	Flavigny(as Raymond Gerome)
Barrie Ingham	St. Clair
Derek Jacobi	Caron
Michael Lonsdale	Lebel(as Michel Lonsdale)
Jean Martin	Wolenski
Ronald Pickup	The Forger
Eric Porter	Colonel Rodin
Anton Rodgers	Bernard
Delphine Seyrig	Colette
Donald Sinden	Mallinson
Jean Sorel	Bastien-Thiry
Van Doude	Actor
Nicolas Vogel	Actor
Edward Hardwicke	Actor

Technical Credits

Kenneth Ross

Fred Zinnemann	Director
Irving Allen	Producer
Albert R. Broccoli	Producer
Claude Perrier	Producer
John Woolf	Producer
Cliff John Richardson	Special Effects
Robert Allen	Sound/Sound Designer
Gordon McCallum	Sound/Sound Designer
Julien Derode	Producer
David Deutsch	Producer
Kenneth Ross	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

Considered one of the superior 1960s/1970s spy thrillers, Fred Zinnemann's adaptation of Frederick Forsyth's bestseller combined an eye for stylish European locales with a chillingly detailed account of an assassin's mission to kill French president Charles de Gaulle. Cross-cutting between the Jackal's preparations and Inspector Lebel's efforts to find the phantom killer before the crime occurs, Day of the Jackal gains power by focusing on the two opposite jobs at hand rather than indulging in either psychology or gratuitous violence. Devoid of politics and past, Edward Fox's blond killer embodies the phrase "hired gun"; he may be charming and keenly clever, but he is ominously professional about his work. Still, the question of whether he will succeed becomes as enthralling as whether Lebel will get him; the ending's sense of random yet pervasive menace was made all the more timely by the contemporary rash of assassinations. The location photography and the Jackal's lethal cool more than made up for complaints about plot holes. The film was loosely remade in 1997 as the more flashy and violent The Jackal.