Den Aasgeiern eiskalt serviert

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.