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.

Continuity mistake: Two straps are on the suitcase presented at Ventimiglia, but after the contents have been checked, there is only one strap.

Continuity mistake: After the Jackal has boarded the train to Paris, we see two subsequent shots of a different train.

Continuity mistake: The Jackal is driving a car with the registration GE 16 17 41 when he crosses the border into France from Italy. When Level later receives notification that the Jackal has crossed the border, he recites the registration to Caron but tells him it is GE 17 41.

Other mistake: Interior Minister Roger Frey advises Commissioner Lebel that all members of the police, military and other security forces attending the ceremonies on the day the Jackal is expected to strike will be issued with lapel badges at the last moment, in case he is going to try to masquerade as one of them. We see hundreds of such people in the next part of the film, including Lebel himself and the CRS private who allows the heavily disguised Jackal through the barricades around the site of the ceremony DeGaulle is due to attend. Only the CRS private wears a lapel badge. Not one of the other police or military officers in attendance is wearing a lapel badge of any kind. (01:58:15)

More mistakes in The Day of the Jackal

Lebel: It's obvious that the Jackal has been tipped off all along, and yet he's decided to go ahead, regardless. He's simply challenged the whole lot of us.
Minister: Are you really suggesting that there's a leak from inside this room?
Lebel: I can't say. But we think that the Jackal is now in Paris with a new name and a new face, probably masquerading as a Danish schoolteacher.

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Trivia: The Jackal demands $500,000 (US) to assassinate De Gaulle, which seems like a modest amount for such a dangerous job. However, when you take inflation into account that's the equivalent in 2024 money of over $5m. No wonder his putative employers are surprised.

More trivia for The Day of the Jackal

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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