A Magnum for Schneider

Novel based on the pilot The Armchair Theatre: 'A Magnum for Schneider' play was first televised on 4 February, 1967. On the success of this the ongoing series Callan was commissioned.

The Plot:

Callan is washed up. The most efficient killer in Europe is now working in a dead-end job as a book-keeper for an ungrateful and miserable boss. But circumstances force British intelligence chief 'Charlie' Hunter to re-employ him for one last operation. His target? German businessman Rudolf Schneider, who works in an office opposite Callan. Is the fact that the two men work in such close proximity a mere coincidence? Or is it all an elaborate plan by Hunter? Callan has his suspicions...

Hunter has given Schneider a red file and Callan is all too aware of the significance of this. Cheerful, friendly, affluent Schneider, with his innocent passion for model soldiers, must die.

On DVD

The pilot is included in Callan - the Monochrome Years and on the This Man Alone documentary; both released by Network UK.

Check out a full episode summary with pictures at The Section

Callan - The Motion Picture (1974)

A couple of years after the series had finished production a film was made based on the original pilot. Edward Woodward, Russell Hunter, and Clifford Rose returned to reprise their roles.

Synopsis

David Callan (EDWARD WOODWARD) was for six years a crack member of a British Government Section devoted to the elimination of undesirables'. He is a brilliant shot with a gun, good with a knife and most other weapons and an expert karate fighter. But Hunter (ERIC PORTER), the coldly ruthless Head of the Section, decided that Callan was becoming a problem. He was thinking too much about the people he had to kill, developing a conscience. . So Hunter put him into a deadly dull job where he stagnated with boredom and frustration for many months-until he received an unexpected summons from Hunter...

Hunter wants Callan to kill a German businessman named Schneider (CARL MOHNER), within the next few days. If he does this to Hunter's satisfaction he he will be accepted back into the Section.

Callan contacts an old friend, Lonely (RUSSELL HUNTER), a timid small-time crook who agrees to obtain a revolver and ammunition. Callan learns that Schneider has been behind numerous bloody bomb outrages and gun assaults over the years. He obviously deserves to die.

Callan has got to know Schneider, and has decided to shoot him the following Sunday. He now finds that Schneider plans to leave the country on Saturday, which will upset his plans. A frantic car chase per- suades Schneider to postpone his leaving.

On Sunday, Callan visits Schneider at his luxurious house. When Schneider is called from the room, Callan discovers that his suspicious and jealous fellow agent Meres (PETER EGAN) is also in the house. He realises that he is being 'set up' and will be arrested after committing the murder. Upon Schneider's return, Callan prepares to reach for his gun and shoot-but Schneider, guessing what is afoot, suddenly produces his own gun. Meres enters unawares and Schneider covers the two agents. Aiming to shoot Meres, Schneider takes his eyes off Callan for a second and Callan shoots him dead. He then knocks Meres unconscious and presses his gun into Meres' limp hand, after which, he anonymously telephones the police.

Callan also telephones Hunter to tell him what has happened and to tell him he won't ever work for him again. Hunter sighs and instructs his secretary Liz (VERONICA LANG) to change Callan's personal file from yellow to red. Yellow indicates that the subject needs watching closely-the red means the subject is dangerous and might even need killing at some date.

Arms And The Man..

Tall, tough, moustachioed Austrian-born Carl Schmitt is a gun-maker and ordnance technician with the famous London gun firm of Bapty's which, for nearly fifty years, has been supplying firearms to crack-shots all over the world. Bapty's also supply arms for motion pictures, TV productions and stage presenta- tions. Which is where Carl Schmitt comes in.

For Schmitt often makes and supplies arms for films and to instruct actors, and 'stands by' on set if any problems which may arise.

Schmitt's latest assignment is with the film CALLAN, which stars Edward Woodward as the famous secret agent. In CALLAN the title-character is ordered to kill a seemingly charming but really dangerous German businessman named Schneider (played by Carl Mohner). Callan's choice of gun for the job is a 'Noguchi Magnum 357 revolver' -a deadly weapon which can 'blow a bear's head off'. The film-makers' only problem was that the 'Noguchi' was a fictitious gun created by CALLAN-creator James Mitchell for his screenplay.

So Carl Schmitt was asked to 'invent' from odd bits and pieces in his workshop. The result is a highly-efficient and deadly six- shooter revolver which really works. It's a very powerful gun whose bullets can pierce a sheet of 1-inch metal and easily pierce a car. It could, says Schmitt succinctly, make an ugly mess of a man.

Schmitt has instructed Edward Woodward in the use of the gun. His verdict on the star's marksmanship? Pretty good-let's just say that I'd hate to be a bullseye when he's around!

Among recent films he has worked on in his capacity as 'gun expert' have been Live and Let Die, The Assassin, Yellow Dog Abdication, S.P.Y.S., Drabble and Harrowhouse II. His television assign ments have includeded Dr Who, Special Branch, Crown Court, Spytrap, Upstairs Downstairs and The Pathfinder.

Schmitt's own favourite weapons included the Smith and Wesson 357 Mod. 19 Revolver, with 4-inch barrel length, firing six rounds, and the Smith and Wesson Mod. so pistol, with 9 mm para and 4-inch barrel length, firing is rounds. He also takes a keen interest in military arms and machine-guns.

War-Gamming with Callan

pr wargaming

pr wargaming group

'War-gaming' is a fascinating hobby that notches up more and more enthusiasts throughout the world as the years go by. To play a 'war-game' you need a large board, laid out in detailed relief to simulate a famous battlefield, e.g. Waterloo, Culloden, Agincourt, Hastings etc., complete with hundreds of model soldiers, cannons, wagons, encampments, horses and so on. The appro- priate battle is then 'fought' (usually with the advantage of hindsight knowledge) all over again, with the aid of dice and a complicated system of points won or lost, men killed or wounded, engagements in which you or your opponent are victorious or defeated, and dozens of other refinements. It was H. G. Wells who really started the whole thing off in a popular way with his book 'Little Wars' over forty years ago. Since then 'little wars' have snowballed.

Navigation

On Topic