MovieChat Forums > The Day of the Jackal (1973) Discussion > Police methods

Police methods

posted 13 years ago by Hancock_the_Superb
12 replies | jump to latest

One interesting wrinkle that came to mind thinking about the film is the contrast of the British versus French police methods.

As portrayed in the film at least, Scotland Yard is shown to be extremely bureaucratic and almost labrynthian. Thomas and Mallinson have a large staff but complain that they don't have enough men at one point. Thomas is dogged by higher-ups throughout his investigation, even having to meet with the Prime Minister at one point.

On the other hand, their system certainly pays off. The "old boy network" gives Thomas his big break, allowing him to track down his friend in MI6 (?) for the Calthrop tip. Also the number of detectives working on the case ensures that the red tape gets navigated faster.

By contrast, the French entrust responsibility entirely with Lebel and Caron. Lebel is made to report to his higher-ups but is given a free hand in his investigation. Lebel is expected to carry the investigation on his own, with only situational help from local authorities. He has to interview Madame Montpellier, makes several of the big arrests himself, call overseas investigators, etc.

Someone more analytically minded can read something into this; I thought it a point worth noting.

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[–] turtletommy 13 years ago

Interesting, though I think the French are just as or more bureaucratic and labyrinthine as the English or any number of other countries. Maybe things move faster in the French bureaucracy when seemingly most of the country is on summer holiday!

[–] Hancock_the_Superb 13 years ago

I hadn't considered that.

"I had a big lunch that DIDN'T tempt fate!"

[–] Hancock_the_Superb 13 years ago

One thing I forgot to mention: The French see discovering the Jackal's name as of utmost importance. When Thomas first hears about Calthrop from his SIS contact, his reaction is "Just a name?"

"I had a big lunch that DIDN'T tempt fate!"

[–] ib011f9545i 13 years ago

I think you have it the wrong way round,Lebel is the hero detective because his method is like a British detective.
Whether or not it is fair or not I don't know but the French police are not famous for being great detectives,the British police are but you sometimes wonder if they are lucky to have such a good reputation.

I have read in the press when there are murders in France the people say they wish they had a Scotland Yard style police rather than the macho policing without consent model the French seem to favour.
Of course Scotland Yard is not nearly as good as its legend.

[–] 13 years ago

[deleted]

[–] DBloodnok 11 years ago

I think the movie highlights some interesting differences between British and French police and also attitudes to the police in each country. Throughout the movie, the French police are seen as a mix: hard-as-nails, servants of the state and downright rude with little sense of policing by consent. This is quite the opposite of the British police: we see the Brits drinking tea and in the pub, strolling in St James's Park, worrying about waking up the staff at Somerset House and making polite enquiries of genteel folk in apartment blocks. When Charles Calthrop finally makes an appearance in his apartment in London, it isn't the police who are strong-arming him, rather it's Calthrop being righteously (and rightly) indignant that the police are in his home. When the policeman asks Calthrop to accompany him to the station (note - he asks him, no coshes over the head), Calthrop replies "too bloody right I will": Calthrop is going to mouth-off about the police rifling through his drawers.

I do wonder, however, if the story suggests that, in order to prevent a crime of the magnitude depicted, both methods of policing are necessary? The iron fist and the velvet glove?

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[–] Squeeth2 11 years ago

It seems to me to be a mixture of propaganda and a demonstration that the porkies are a class milita. If Calthrop had been a Cockernee or a Lascar he'd have fallen downstairs fast enough.

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[–] DBloodnok 11 years ago

True - if there'd been a touch of the Blarney about him, I suspect he'd have been charged with assault on a police officer while armed with his jaw.

"Someone has been tampering with Hank's memories."

[–] q_leo_rahman 11 years ago

I think the French and British authorities were treated equivocally, there wasn’t really any bias given to either side. Both sides are rather aloof, trusting in their own invulnerability and looking down on foreigners and their antics (which proves rather detrimental with the Jackal switching nationalities). This was the 1960s, and then people were swinging and hadn’t lost faith in their governments yet; also the novel states that both France and Britain were rather cold to each other over the European Common Market sitation.

If there is a difference, it is that the French are more direct and active and make use of contacts in their underworld; in contrast, the British are more legalistic and bureaucratic, going all the way to the Prime Minister with the affair that should have stayed in the lower ranks. The British are also more tenacious, slowly tracing down the Jackal through their own (let’s say more substantial) records. If there wasn’t a time limit, they would have nabbed him for sure.

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[–] Miss_Sui_Generis 10 years ago

Lebel was a fantastic character. He got results.

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[–] wwestar 9 years ago

Their positions are complicated. For the French it's an internal investigation. For the British it's external. At the time the French would have gone through the Foreign Office and that would have meant the involvement of M.I.6 which was very secretive at the time. The British wouldn't be too sure who's jurisdiction this would fall under as Special Branch deals with UK internal matters. Once the suspect is believed to be British then Special Branch are involved but only because the Prime Minister is able to by pass all the usual steps relating to an international incident. All nations were still very suspicious of one another even in the early 60's, and assistance was usually only forth coming if it was in the national interest.

[–] stevekaczynski 9 years ago

It's all very much pre-computer age. So the British police wade through huge tomes from Somerset House to get the birth certificate, while the French collect hotel registrations of foreigners. Both involve a certain time lag the Jackal can make use of.

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