Zinneman and "Jackal"

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Was there any film that was truly, madly and absolutely Fred Zinneman's? He did High Noon proud, but that 1952 western wasn't Zinneman's as much as it was screenwriter-producer Carl Foreman's. From Here to Eternity was well assembled by Zinneman, but it's hard to see him as the auteur with Montgomery Clift, Burt Lancaster, screenwriter Daniel Taradash, Frank Sinatra and Deborah Kerr being so perfectly on their game. Likewise, A Man for All Seasons seemed more particularly empowered by the brilliance of screenwriter Robert Bolt and actors Paul Scofield, Roy Kinnear, John Hurt and Robert Shaw than by Zinneman's solid, somewhat rote direction.

If there is a definitive Zinneman film, it is 1973's The Day of the Jackal. I agree with David Poland that it was odd -- curious -- of Emanuel Levy to overlook this film in his Zinneman centennial essay. It is Zinneman's best because it's the most taut and well-honed film of his career. Its crisp, dry efficiency not only satisfies from an audience absorption perspective, but it also harmonizes with the arid efficiency of the "Jackal" assassin (Edward Fox). And don't forget the exquisitely subtle sexiness of Delphine Seyrig as the 40ish woman of property whom Fox meets and beds at that small Southern France hotel.

A shot I took in May 2001 of the exact same beach, located on the east coast of Oahu, where Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr had their famous tryst in From Here to Eternity

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on April 23, 2007 at 1:12 AM

comment #1

le corbeau says ...

So what you're saying is, an auteur is someone who uses second-rate actors and material because then it's easier for his own personality to shine through? It's certainly easier to spot the auteur in, say, a Sam Fuller movie that way, but it still seems perverse to ding the guys like Zinnemann, Wyler, Cukor etc. who were really good at getting great performances out of great performers, as if he had nothing to do with Clift, Reed, Lancaster, Sinatra et al. doing some of the best-remembered work of their careers.

I would argue the following as, at minimum, representing Zinnemann's deepest engagement with his material: Jackal, yes, coolly cerebral, and in much the same way, The Nun's Story, whose depiction of the dehumanization of the individual by the organization seems to have been picked up whole by at least one grade-A auteur, S. Kubrick, in Full Metal Jacket; and A Man For All Seasons, representing a great break in how the Tudor era was depicted on film (stony, drafty and totalitarian-- Bolt and Zinnemann both clearly intend for us to think of Communist dissenters when we see the screws of the state being applied to More). There's no question that there were times that he was just handling posh assignments (Oklahoma!), but those films-- and maybe The Search as well-- certainly seem as personal as one could wish.

Posted by le corbeau at April 23, 2007 7:04 AM

comment #2

atticusrex says ...

Interesting Jeff... but how many great actors have been terrible as well...? Just because a film has a Brando, Pacino, DeNiro or a host of other grade A actors does not make it easier on the director... Sure the actor knows how to hit their marks better than most... but a director is still responsible for the performance that we see on the screen. Usually when actors seem to get it and it seems the director let them do what they can do... it's usually in films like QT who knows how to cast for the particular character same as Eastwood. Eastwood believes in casting for the success of the character and not for the studio marketing machine.

To be sure though there are directors who leave their particular stamp on a film ( Kubrick, Mann, Hitchcock, DePalma ect) but those who usually do not like Norman Jewison does that make him less a great director? Like Zimmerman Jewison made all types of films in all genres another director like these two that comes to mind is Robert Wise... did he have a particular style? No, yet would he also be shortchanged as a director?

Just my 2 cents... I could be wrong.... not! LOL.

Posted by atticusrex at April 23, 2007 7:43 AM

comment #3

christian says ...

i would consider robert wise the greatest studio director until spielberg, but zinnerman felt like a thoughtful studio director with limited personal style.

Posted by christian at April 23, 2007 8:09 AM

comment #4

CambridgeCat says ...

HIGH NOON is high on my most overrated movies list but is there a director working today with three movies as good as FROM HERE TO ETERNITY, A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS, and DAY OF THE JACKAL on their resume?

Posted by CambridgeCat at April 23, 2007 8:31 AM

comment #5

MarkVH says ...

Funny that Wells has written up entries on both Zinnemann and Brando in the last few days, without connecting the fact that Zinnemann actually directed Brando in his debut film, The Men, in 1950.

It's no masterpiece, but it's a very sturdy, independently produced message picture about paralyzed war veterans that's got some great supporting work from Theresa Wright (always excellent) and Everett Sloane, with Brando showing obvious promise. Worth checking out on disc (it's a barebones release from Artisan, but the transfer is solid).

Posted by MarkVH at April 23, 2007 8:52 AM

comment #6

Reedyb says ...

Zinnemann was interested in telling good stories well. The style of his movies seemed to serve the stories, not some sense of auterian style.

You left out Julia, by the way on the great list of Zinnemann movies.

I even liked Five Days One Summer, which is a quiet little movie that has a real sense of place.

Don't forget the 70MM version of Oklahoma or From Here to Eternity (which has one of the most iconic, if impractical love scenes ever).

Posted by Reedyb at April 23, 2007 9:37 AM

comment #7

nemo says ...

Some of Zinnemann's more forgotten films are very good too. "Behold a Pale Horse", a post-Spanish Civil War story with Anthony Quinn and Gregory Peck. I wanted to watch it again after seeing "Pan's Labyrinth", but haven't been able to lay my hands on either DVD or VHS.

"The Nun's Story" with Audrey Hepburn and Peter Finch. One of Audrey Hepburn's best performances. Stunning final shot when Hepburn leaves the convent, walks through an open door, and the shot is held seemingly forever as she walks farther and farther away out into the world.

"Act of Violence", a 1948 film noir that immediately preceded "The Men", with a good performance by Van Heflin, and better than good by Mary Astor and the always great Robert Ryan.

Posted by nemo at April 23, 2007 10:19 AM

comment #8

jeffmcm says ...

Not every director is a Kubrick-style auteur and they shouldn't necessarily be judged that way. Jut being able to make a good movie at all within a studio context should be praised. Being able to make consistently good movies that all at least have a stamp of conscientious humanism and values about them, instead of just being total hackwork, is pretty gamn good too.

Posted by jeffmcm at April 23, 2007 10:55 AM

comment #9

thorsen1nk says ...

Day of the Jackal is one of the few "perfect" thrillers IMO. Chilly and elegant, it moves along like clockwork, great twists that you don't see coming, solid performances all around. To overlook it is to showcase one's own ignorance, and a black eye for anyone claiming to be a film journalist. Shame, Mr. Levy!

Posted by thorsen1nk at April 23, 2007 11:37 AM

comment #10

MarkVH says ...

I just saw Day of the Jackal for the first time this year (piggybacking on the Munich/Lonsdale connection), and I agree - it's a fucking incredible film. As taught and suspenseful as any American film that's come since, and really minimalist from a script perspective - there's precious little dialogue that doesn't advance the plot in some way. But every minute is used effectively.

Needs a better DVD, too. Wish Universal would spiff it up using their new "Legacy Series."

Posted by MarkVH at April 23, 2007 12:48 PM

comment #11

Patrick says ...

Jeff - Move on! You lost this one.

Posted by Patrick at April 23, 2007 8:51 PM

comment #12

atticusrex says ...

Thornsen1nk: Just wanted to add to the list of great thrillers like Day of the Jackal... Parallax View and The Ipcress File. I would love to include 3 Days of the Condor but the semi-love plot between Redford and Dunaway slow things down a tad... though the film does have a great opening.

Posted by atticusrex at April 23, 2007 9:30 PM

comment #13

Silverscreenvideos says ...

Edward Fox has made about one hundred movies in his career, and in ninety-nine of them he has played essentially the same stuffy twit character. The mere fact that Zinneman could get that sort of performance out of him makes Jackal a superior thriller.

It was also unprecedented in a mainstream film of that era to have a male character get involved in a casual gay liaison as Fox did to avoid discovery in one key scene.

Thrillers of that era emphasized plot and carefully drawn suspense instead of high tech graphics and music video soundtracks.

Posted by Silverscreenvideos at April 24, 2007 10:57 PM

comment #14