The Day of the Jackal (1973)

Tony Britton: Inspector Thomas

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Quotes 

• [last lines] 

  Mallinson : There's no question of Her Majesty's Government ever conceding the fact that this Jackal was an Englishman. So far as one can see, there was a period when an Englishman came under suspicion, but he has now been cleared. Certainly, the Jackal masqueraded as an Englishman, but he also masqueraded as a Dane and as a Frenchman. So there's no way of proving his identity at all.

  Insp. Thomas : But if the Jackal wasn't Calthrop, then who the hell was he?

• Mallinson : The prime minister?

  Insp. Thomas : The prime minster, sir. That he said if there's the remotest possibility of General de Gaulle's life being threatened by a person of these islands, then it is to be stopped. And he's given me full powers and top priority.

  Mallinson : Is this some kind of bloody joke?

  Insp. Thomas : No, of couse not, sir. I've got to drop whatever I'm doing, and I shall need six of your best men, straight away.

  Mallinson : Where's the notification for all this? Where's the proper authority?

  [Telephone rings. Mallison answers] 

  Mallinson : Yes!

  [Mallison listens then rises] 

  Mallinson : Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Of course, sir.

• Insp. Thomas : [after Special Branch Detective finds Charles Calthrop's passport in his apartment]  What's this?

  Special Branch Detective : His passport.

  Insp. Thomas : Oh?

  Special Branch Detective : We checked it. It's him, all right. Look. The Dominican visa. There's no exit stamp, though. He must have got out on the sly.

  Insp. Thomas : You haven't grasped it yet, have you? Oh, yes, this is our man, all right. Definitely. But hasn't it occurred to you that we're holding his passport in our hands? If he is out of the country, what's he travelling on? Eh?

• Insp. Thomas : [to his squad]  He may be abroad, traveling on a false passport. What you're going to do now is to go down to the Passport Office. Get a complete list of every passport application for the last three months.

  Special Branch Detective : But, sir...

  Insp. Thomas : I don't care who's closed, wake the buggers up! Then take all those papers down to Somerset House, get started on checking the applicants' names against death certificates. Not birth certificates, mind you. If you find a passport filed by someone who died as a child, the one who filed it might be our man. If you don't find anything in the first three months, go back another three, and another three if you have to. Right, off you go!

• Insp. Thomas : I don't think I've ever heard of a political killer in this country. It's not our style, is it?

• Insp. Thomas : [answers phone]  Thomas... Yes, that's right... Is this some sort of bloody joke?... What, now? Personally? Oh, yes, I'll...

  [cut to Thomas arriving at 10 Downing Street, the residence of the British Prime Minister]