User reviews

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.

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.

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.

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.

This 1974 film of "Callan," lets itself down due to a screenplay that is thinly plotted and the sense of intrigue and tension being 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 on film, it becomes tiresome and irritating. There are a few scenes 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? Eric Porter is effectively cast as Hunter but he's no match for Ronald Radd. Peter Egan is bloody terrible as Meres!

The music is all wrong for the film. That harmonica noise soon grates on my nerves.

A disappointing experience.

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!

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.

As a Callan fan from when it was first broadcast in the late 60s this was painful for me to watch. The story and dialogue was just too contrived as was the relationship between the original characters. Edward Woodward's almost Shakespearean angst was missing and Lonely's subservience was too contrived. Plus as a major fan of Anthony Valentine so missed his charming malevolence what a tragic loss. Wish in a way I'd not seen it will review my Callan boxset to eradicate it from my mind. If you loved Callan don't watch this. If you've never seen the originals still don't but seek out the TV series.

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!

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.

In the 1970s there was a trend of some television shows being spun of for a feature film.

Two years after the show ended. Callan arrived in the cinema which was a reworking of an earlier episode from the series.

After being retired from the service for losing his nerve. Callan (Edward Woodward) is called back, he is the assassin that Hunter needs.

The target is German arms dealer Schneider but Hunter needs to know that Callan stills has his skills and instincts. Hot on his heels is rival and young buck Toby Meres (Peter Egan) who is just waiting for Callan to foul up.

Callan realises that Hunter has been pulling the strings for a long time. Callan has a menial job and a boss he loathes. It just so happens that Schneider happens to be in the next office.

Callan also reunites with Lonely who needs to procure a gun for Callan as Hunter would not supply one.

The big screen outing has a bigger budget with more outdoor scenes and a car chase scene involving Callan and Schneider.

There is a nod to the martial arts craze of the time as Callan practises his punching skills.

The movie has to be accessible to new viewers who might not be familiar with the television show. There is an element of introduction for them.

The longer running time just made this flabby and the pace static. It did not flow well at all and lacked the spirit of the tv series.

It might be that I have seen the series recently and was familiar how Callan's relationship with some of the characters and the service evolved.

It was less of a feature film in its own right and more a glorified and longer television episode that was remade.