MovieChat Forums > The Day of the Jackal (1973) Discussion > Short-lived Danish imposter

Short-lived Danish imposter

posted 3 years ago by RP1968 (2)
5 replies | jump to latest

Watched the film (yet again) on Christmas Day, as it is such a good film. However the Jackal only really used the Danish schoolteacher ID to board the train to Paris, after dumping the car of the lady he murdered overnight.

He left her mansion very early that morning (5.30am as per a clock in shot) after dying his hair and getting 'into' the Danish schoolteacher role. He drove off in her car, then he stopped remotely on a high road bridge and threw a suitcase away below, saying 'goodbye Mr Duggan'. The Jackal then parked up in a town from where he could catch a direct Paris train, and showed his Danish passport to a gendarme at the railway station.

NOW - on the train the Jackal had no contact with anyone (ie the OAS). Yet on arrival at Paris he did not ask the taxi driver to take him to a hotel, but to a turkish bath. OBVIOUSLY this was because he felt it too risky to book in anywhere with the Danish ID. But why? he was already in the taxi when he saw police cars whizzing to the station. So he must have been ultra intuitive not to risk using the Danish ID a second time.

[–] huwdj (4566) 3 years ago

I always thought he went to turkish bath because it was basically a gay pickup place and he didn't want to check in to a hotel under any name.

[–] Druff (1796) 3 years ago

He would have wanted to ditch that identity ASAP because as soon as the Danish man he killed was discovered, the identity would be worthless.

[–] SooBee (129) 2 years ago

But he didn't kill a Danish man, did he? He killed Jules who he met in the sauna. And he was French.

[–] Druff (1796) 2 years ago

Maybe I mistakenly assumed he killed Lundquist. I just can't imagine a top shelf master assassin taking on the identity of a person who is still alive and out and about, potentially reporting their ID stolen and putting the Jackal on the cops' radar even faster than them eventually finding his hidden corpse. But apparently that's what he did.

So yeah, the Danish mark being alive would mean that stolen identity would be even more of a hot potato the Jackal would want to ditch ASAP.

[–] bsantosu (156) 2 years ago

When the murder of Madame De Montpellier was discovered at the villa, her car was discovered close to a train station. Detectives Caron and Lebel discovered a Dane bought a ticket at the local train station shortly afterward. They deduced he could be the Jackel and must have stolen a Danish passport. They also deduced it was probably reported to the Danish Consulate. They contacted the Danish Consulate and got the name.