Callan **** (1974, Edward Woodward, Eric Porter, Carl Möhner, Catherine Schell, Peter Egan, Kenneth Griffith) – Classic Movie Review 8503

Director Don Sharp’s excellent 1974 British crime action thriller Callan [The Neutralizer] is an imaginatively developed and extended version of the opening programme of Edward Woodward’s popular TV show from 1967, about a lonely, ruthless secret agent /assassin with a conscience, in which David Callan (Woodward) returns to active service and joins a British Government department, the Security Service (British counterintelligence), to eradicate bad guys. His first job is to handle the assassination of German businessman Schneider (Carl Möhner).

Having accepted the mission to kill the German businessman, he needs to know why Schneider has been marked for death and finds out that there is more to the case than meets the eye. Can he square his ethics with the task he is ordered to carry out?

Woodward’s charisma, Russell Hunter as his buddy Lonely, a fine cast, James Mitchell’s first-rate script and the lively direction help make it seem as bright as a new pin even after so many Sixties spy movies that preceded it.

Mitchell’s screenplay is based on his own 1969 novel A Red File for Callan. Only two of prolific writer Mitchell’s novels have been adapted for the screen: Innocent Bystanders (1972) and Callan (1974). Mitchell also re-wrote the original screenplay for The Last Grenade (1970).

Callan TV series creator James Mitchell’s 1969 novel A Red File for Callan is an expansion of his 1967 teleplay Armchair Theatre: A Magnum for Schneider (1967). The Callan TV series ran for four seasons from 1967 to 1972. There were 43 episodes.

Also in the cast are Catherine Schell, Peter Egan, Kenneth Griffith, Michael Da Costa, Veronica Lang, Clifford Rose, David Prowse [Dave Prowse], Don Henderson, Nadim Sawalha and David Graham.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8503

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