The Day of the Jackal

Continuity mistake: Inspector Lebel's level of grey hair colour varies quite markedly back and forth during the movie.

RussT1

Continuity mistake: When the Jackal is parking his car near the hotel, he parks in a small gap between two cars. When he gets out of his car, the leftmost car is gone.

Continuity mistake: The first time we see the beautiful Alfa Romeo Spider, the registration plate at the end of the car says GE1761, without a space between GE and 17. The next time we see the car, when he practices shooting in the the woods, the plate says GE 1761 with a huge space between GE and 17.

Morten Underholdningsavdelingen

Continuity mistake: When the Jackal boards the train to go to the gun maker, the clock outside the station shows 11 o'clock. When he comes through the door, the overhead clock shows 9 o'clock. When he boards the train, an overhead clock shows 11 o'clock.

peabotrambull

Continuity mistake: When the Jackal assembles the gun, to shoot the President, he puts the pieces on the table. Next shot the table is clear as he puts a chair on top to steady the gun.

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Mistakes

Plot hole: When the French conclude - incorrectly - that Charles Calthrop is the Jackal, they contact the British authorities and obtain his file photograph from the passport office. The photograph is of Edward Fox in character as the Jackal - but it shouldn't be! The Jackal and Calthrop have no connection. The Jackal never used his identity and did not apply for a false passport in his name. The photo should have been of Edward Hardwicke in character as Charles Calthrop, who appears in the closing minutes of the film. The two actors do not look anything like each other.

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Quotes

Caron: You know, sir, what they'll do to you if you don't catch this man in time.
Lebel: I've been given a job to do, so we'll just have to do it.
Caron: But no crime has been committed yet, so where are we supposed to start looking for the criminal?
Lebel: We start by recognizing that, after De Gaulle, we are the two most powerful people in France.

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Trivia

Trivia: Fred Zinnemann wanted the Jackal to be played by an anonymous actor, so he passed over established stars such as Michael Caine, Roger Moore, and Jack Nicholson in favor of Edward Fox. He later admitted that his decision might have been what contributed to the film's sub-par performance at the box office.

Cubs Fan ★

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Questions

Chosen answer: According to Wikipedia: "Cordite is a family of smokeless propellants made by combining two high explosives: nitrocellulose and nitroglycerin, i.e. it is a double-base propellant. However, Cordite N, a triple-base propellant is also used. Cordite is classified as an explosive, but it is normally used as a propellant for guns and rockets." So yes, it works.

Twotall

Answer: Yes, cordite is classified a an explosive, but it's rarely used as such. It's a common propellant for artillery shells etc. Realistically, the Jackal would have used a plastic explosive such C4 or Semtex for a bomb. And the mercury fulminate tipped rounds are a fantasy, it's so unstable, it would explode before it had left the barrel.

stiiggy

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