But don't go see it again if you like to keep it in favorable memory. We liked it a lot the 1st time and made that mistake to watch it again: it revealed a riddle of flaws.
How can a deGaulle! assassin in a 'can never work again' job, not have a backup ( hand-) weapon?
But lets not get ahead of ourselves.
140 gunshots in 7 seconds - we witness how the rear window of deGaulle's Citroen shatters and falls out, so the back of his head and his shoulders, become visible. Yet when he arrives minutes later in that same car, the rear window is almost completely in place again.
Mr.Jackal was presented as an intellectual ( and experienced ) assassin, but Zinnemann made him throw a suitcase ( which did not cross the border with him ) into plain sight knowing the cops are on Mr.Jackal's trail.
And leave the scene of a license-plates-theft in sight of the victims, where the natural thing is to avoid being seen.
Three sections of his gun tubes would not fit inside the Alfa Romeo exhaust pipe shown : recognize the 'cut' between wrapping and shoving it in. And how did he smuggle i.e where did he hide the rest of his crutches-assembly ? The lil' Alfa don't have enough hidden spaces.
If it is midnight in Paris, it's not "7" in D.C. -not am nor pm- and NOPE no daylight saving in '63.
There was no paint-gun yet operable at 12v (invented 1971)
Accident-scene: if the driver of the Peugoet 404 died in this crash, there was a considerable 2nd impact-site. And sure the cops were able to tell there was a 2nd vehicle involved in the accident. How then can LeBel order only 10km radius search and ...'watch for 2 suitcases' ... ????
No 40yr old average human being suffocates another 40yr old healthy human in 10sec with bare hands ( or get them unconscious and kill ) without a sound or struggle.
If you are 70+ yrs of age, would you climb the top of a 30ft ladder to break thru a window when the hallway-door to that same room has a handle and a key-hole ?
Tulle station, machine-gun flic. Q "Danish?" A "Please?" and then Q "What is your business here?" A "I'm a schoolteacher on holiday" After pretending not to understand the word "Danish?" every cop in the world would've arraigned 'Mr.Lundquist' after his 2nd answer.
That "midday train to Paris" has 3 different engines.
The 1st minister-meeting was from 7pm to about 10pm. According to the light however, LeBel's wife ran to the dove-house to tell about Berthier's car late morning or early pm. And when LeBel arrived, the ministers hallways were showered in mid-daylight.
Mr. Duggan could not have been Mr.Duggan anywhere; according to LeBel the passport was issued JUL.30th and quoting LeBel " no need to go back any further "
France's entire law-apparatus at LeBel's descretion was hunting the wrong car : the Alfa's license plate was not GE1741 as LeBel had his assistant write down.
From LeBel's office to Gare Austerlitz was more than 30minutes - under good circumstances thru 1963 Paris' street-traffic. It is also said in another IMDb'ers comment that they certainly had plenty of manpower at a major Paris-train station. A simple phone-call would've accomplished a better job. The 'rushing-to-the-train' scene is complete nonsense whichever way you look at it.
Was there a problem with the film's budget, that Zinnemann couldn't afford to avoid ( or cut ) vehicles that didn't yet exist ?
In '63 there were no BMX bikes in Genova or anywhere on this globe, no Renault R16, Peugeot 504 or 304, Vespa Scooters with square headlights, no Citroen Limousines with 'chinese' around-the-curve looking headlights ( we're sure you can find 2doz more wrong 'voitures' ).
This piece became a science-fiction. Or is Pontius Pilate starting Ben Hur's race with a flare-gun and 'The Godfather' driving Ford Mondeo's and Chevy Lumina's ?
And once LeBel discovered the open window - his logical and fastest option ( duty? ) to prevent the Jackal, was to get to deGaulle less than 10sec away. Not climb 6 flights by foot to "top floor" for a shootout.
Compare the explosion of the melon with the tiny " puff " of Jackal's shot at DeGaulle. An explosive bullet would've caused a 5inch crater in the cobble-stones, not to speak of the 150 'dezibel' at impact less than 5ft from DeGaulle's head. In a 100ft diameter everyone would 'duck away' after such a bullet's impact on granite. It is human reflex.
***
All those things can truly 'disenchant' it'll throw you off as they say. Zinnemann and Ross budged massively.
However much of the above we didn't recognize quite AS badly at first watch, 'cause plot and places ( thanks to FF ) are pleasurable and manage to distract and occupy.
How can a deGaulle! assassin in a 'can never work again' job, not have a backup ( hand-) weapon?
But lets not get ahead of ourselves.
140 gunshots in 7 seconds - we witness how the rear window of deGaulle's Citroen shatters and falls out, so the back of his head and his shoulders, become visible. Yet when he arrives minutes later in that same car, the rear window is almost completely in place again.
Mr.Jackal was presented as an intellectual ( and experienced ) assassin, but Zinnemann made him throw a suitcase ( which did not cross the border with him ) into plain sight knowing the cops are on Mr.Jackal's trail.
And leave the scene of a license-plates-theft in sight of the victims, where the natural thing is to avoid being seen.
Three sections of his gun tubes would not fit inside the Alfa Romeo exhaust pipe shown : recognize the 'cut' between wrapping and shoving it in. And how did he smuggle i.e where did he hide the rest of his crutches-assembly ? The lil' Alfa don't have enough hidden spaces.
If it is midnight in Paris, it's not "7" in D.C. -not am nor pm- and NOPE no daylight saving in '63.
There was no paint-gun yet operable at 12v (invented 1971)
Accident-scene: if the driver of the Peugoet 404 died in this crash, there was a considerable 2nd impact-site. And sure the cops were able to tell there was a 2nd vehicle involved in the accident. How then can LeBel order only 10km radius search and ...'watch for 2 suitcases' ... ????
No 40yr old average human being suffocates another 40yr old healthy human in 10sec with bare hands ( or get them unconscious and kill ) without a sound or struggle.
If you are 70+ yrs of age, would you climb the top of a 30ft ladder to break thru a window when the hallway-door to that same room has a handle and a key-hole ?
Tulle station, machine-gun flic. Q "Danish?" A "Please?" and then Q "What is your business here?" A "I'm a schoolteacher on holiday" After pretending not to understand the word "Danish?" every cop in the world would've arraigned 'Mr.Lundquist' after his 2nd answer.
That "midday train to Paris" has 3 different engines.
The 1st minister-meeting was from 7pm to about 10pm. According to the light however, LeBel's wife ran to the dove-house to tell about Berthier's car late morning or early pm. And when LeBel arrived, the ministers hallways were showered in mid-daylight.
Mr. Duggan could not have been Mr.Duggan anywhere; according to LeBel the passport was issued JUL.30th and quoting LeBel " no need to go back any further "
France's entire law-apparatus at LeBel's descretion was hunting the wrong car : the Alfa's license plate was not GE1741 as LeBel had his assistant write down.
From LeBel's office to Gare Austerlitz was more than 30minutes - under good circumstances thru 1963 Paris' street-traffic. It is also said in another IMDb'ers comment that they certainly had plenty of manpower at a major Paris-train station. A simple phone-call would've accomplished a better job. The 'rushing-to-the-train' scene is complete nonsense whichever way you look at it.
Was there a problem with the film's budget, that Zinnemann couldn't afford to avoid ( or cut ) vehicles that didn't yet exist ?
In '63 there were no BMX bikes in Genova or anywhere on this globe, no Renault R16, Peugeot 504 or 304, Vespa Scooters with square headlights, no Citroen Limousines with 'chinese' around-the-curve looking headlights ( we're sure you can find 2doz more wrong 'voitures' ).
This piece became a science-fiction. Or is Pontius Pilate starting Ben Hur's race with a flare-gun and 'The Godfather' driving Ford Mondeo's and Chevy Lumina's ?
And once LeBel discovered the open window - his logical and fastest option ( duty? ) to prevent the Jackal, was to get to deGaulle less than 10sec away. Not climb 6 flights by foot to "top floor" for a shootout.
Compare the explosion of the melon with the tiny " puff " of Jackal's shot at DeGaulle. An explosive bullet would've caused a 5inch crater in the cobble-stones, not to speak of the 150 'dezibel' at impact less than 5ft from DeGaulle's head. In a 100ft diameter everyone would 'duck away' after such a bullet's impact on granite. It is human reflex.
***
All those things can truly 'disenchant' it'll throw you off as they say. Zinnemann and Ross budged massively.
However much of the above we didn't recognize quite AS badly at first watch, 'cause plot and places ( thanks to FF ) are pleasurable and manage to distract and occupy.