THE DAY OF THE JACKAL

Original film script. Frederick Forsyth's copy. Signed by the author. Grip bound, dark blue card covers, title page and 166 numbered pages. A very good copy, the covers a little rubbed, creased and with a cup ring to the upper cover. The contents, with some light foxing to the upper page edges, are otherwise clean throughout. Very Scarce.

The screenplay is by Kenneth Ross, based on the bestselling novel by Frederick Forsyth. This was Forsyth's copy of the script, and is signed and inscribed in black ink on the title page "Original film script of 1972 / Frederick Forsyth". "The Day of the Jackal", directed by Fred Zinneman, starred Edward Fox as the eponymous Jackal, an assassin hired to carry out the (failed) assassination of President Charles De Gaulle of France in the summer of 1963. While working as a journalist for Reuters, Forsyth covered the real assassination attempt, also known as the Petit-Clamart Affair, and drew inspiration for his novel from the political tensions in France surrounding De Gaulle's approval of Algerian "self-determination" as an independent nation, and the manhunt and sensational trial proceedings which garnered international attention. According to the American Film Institute Catalog, Zinnemann, on Universal Studio's insistence of hiring an American actor to portray Jackal, first considered Robert Redford and Jack Nicholson for the role, flying them to Europe to audition. However, due to stipulations in the Anglo-French production agreement, only a British or French actor could ultimately be cast, leading to Fox taking on the role. The critically acclaimed film went on to win the BAFTA Award for Best Editing (Ralph Kemplen), five additional BAFTA Award nominations (including Best Film and Best Direction), two Golden Globe Award nominations, and one Academy Award nomination. Frederick Forsyth later wrote that for the film contract to buy rights for his novel, he was offered two options: £17,500 plus a small percentage of subsequent film profits, or £20,000 and no royalties. He took £20,000, noting that such a payment was already a massive sum to him, but due to his naïveté about finances, he waived rights to a small fortune in royalties given the film's enduring success (Forsyth, Frederick: The Outsider: My Life in Intrigue (2015). Provenance: Frederick Forsyth; gifted to his close friend Sally Harrison in 2017.