The Quiller Memorandum is a 1966 British neo noir eurospy film filmed in Deluxe Color and Panavision, adapted from the 1965 spy novel The Berlin Memorandum, by Elleston Trevor under the name "Adam Hall", screenplay by Harold Pinter, directed by Michael Anderson, featuring George Segal, Alec Guinness, Max von Sydow and Senta Berger. No doubt Quiller initially seems like a slow-witted stumblebum, but his competence as an agent begins to reveal itself in due course: for instance, we find out he speaks fluent German; in a late scene, he successfully uses a car bomb to fake his own death and fool his adversaries; and along the way he exhibits surprisingly competent hand-to-hand combat skills in beating up a few Nazi bullyboys. He manages to get over the wall of his garage stall as well as the adjoining one and then outside to the side of the building before detonation. In the West Berlin of the 1960s, two British agents are killed by a Nazi group, prompting British Intelligence to dispatch agent Quiller to investigate. Quiller, a British agent who works without gun, cover or contacts, takes on a neo-Nazi underground organization and its war criminal leader. This exciting movie belongs to spy sub-genre being developed during the cold war , it turns out to be a stirring thriller plenty of mystery , tension , high level of suspense , and a little bit of violence . It was interesting to me that in 1965 (when I also happened to be living in Germany as a US Army dependent) the crux of the book was the fear of a Nazi resurgence -- and I'm not talking about skinheads, but Nazis deep within the German government and military. During the car chase scene, the cars behind Quiller's Porsche appear and disappear, and are sometimes alongside his car, on the driver's (left) side. Quiller works for the Bureau, an arm of the British Secret Service so clandestinethat no-one knows itexists. At a key breakfast meeting, Pol uses two blueberry muffins to outline the particularly precarious cat-and-mouse game Quiller must play while in the gap between his own side and the fascist gang. Sadly the Quiller novels have fallen out of favour with the apparentend of the Cold War. I thought the ending was Quller getting one last meeting with the nice babe and sending a warning to any remaining Nazis that they are being watched. The Quiller Memorandum, British-American spy film, released in 1966, that was especially noted for the deliberately paced but engrossing script by playwright Harold Pinter. The name of the intelligence agency that Quiller ( George Segal) worked for was MI6. before he started doing "genial" and reminds us that his previous part was in the heavyweight "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf". This film has special meaning for me as I was living in Berlin during the filming and, subsequent screening in the city. Author/co-author of numerous books about the cinema and is regarded as one of the foremost James Bond scholars. I also expected just a little more from the interrogation scenes from the man who wrote "The Birthday Party". The original, primary mission has been completely omitted. They don't know how to play it, it's neither enjoyable make-believe like the James Bond movies, nor is it played for real like "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold." . Max von Sydow plays the Nazi chief quietly but with high camp menace. Directed by Michael Anderson; produced by Ivan Stockwell; screenplay by Harold Pinter; cinematography by Erwin Hiller; edited by Frederick Wilson; art direction by Maurice Carter; music by John Barry; starring George Segal, Max Von Sydow, Alec Guinness, Senta Berger, and guest stars George Stevens and Robert Helpmann. While most realistic spy films of the 60s focused on the Soviet threat, Quiller pits the title character against a group of neo-Nazis. Set in 1950s Finland, during the Cold War, the books tell the story of a young police woman and budding detective who cuts against the grain when, John Fullertons powerful 1996 debut The Monkey House was set in war-torn Sarajevo and was right in the moment. The book itself sets a standard for the psychological spy thriller as an agent (code-named Quiller) plays a suspense-filled cat-and-mouse game with the head of a neo-Nazi group in post-war Berlin. In terms of style The Quiller books aretaut and written with narrative pace at the forefront. No one really cared that Gable did not even attempt an English accent the film was that good. youtu.be/rQ4PA3H6pAw. The cast is full of familiar faces: Alec Guinness, who doesn't have much of a role, George Sanders, who has even less of one, Max von Sydow in what was to become a very familiar part for him, Robert Helpmann, Robert Flemyng, and the beautiful, enigmatic Senta Berger. What will Quiller do? At lunch in an exclusive club in London, close to Buckingham Palace, the directors of an unnamed agency, Gibbs and Rushington, decide to send American agent Quiller to continue the assignment, which has now killed two agents. As usual for films which are difficult to pin down . Adam Hall/Elleston Trevor certainly produces the unexpected. Writing in The Guardian, playwright David Hare described Pinters strengths as a dramatist perfectly: In the spare, complicated screenwriting of Pinter, yes, no and maybe become words which do a hundred jobs. Unfortunately, when it comes to the use of language in Quiller, less does not always function as more. From the latest Scandinavian serial killer to Golden Age detective stories, we love our crime novels! If your idea of an exciting spy thriller involves boobs, blondes and exploding baguettes, then The Quiller Memorandum is probably not for you. The nation remained the home of the best spies. The Quiller Memorandum is the third Quiller novel that I have read, and it firmly establishes my opinion that Quiller is one of the finest series of espionage novels to have ever been written. The Berlin Memorandum, renamed The Quiller Memorandum, was published in 1965 by Elleston Trevor, who used the pseudonym Adam Hall. I enjoyed the book. It relies. The film ends with Quiller suspecting that Inge is more than an ordinary schoolteacher. A highly unusual and stimulating approach that draws us into the story. Take a solid, healthy chicken's egg out of the hen house or the fridge Now throw out all the substance, and just keep the eggshell. Our hero delivers a running dialogue with his own unconscious mind, assessing the threats, his potential responses, his plans. They say 'what a pity' with droll indifference as they eat their roast pheasant and take note of which operatives have been killed this week. While the rest of the cast (Alec Guinness, Max Von Sydow and George Sanders) are good and Harold Pinter tries hard to turn a very internal story into the visual medium, George Segal is totally miscast as Quiller. [6], The mainly orchestral atmospheric soundtrack composed by John Barry was released by Columbia in 1966. Quiller goes back to the school and confronts Inge in her classroom. Oktober informs Quiller that if he does not disclose secret information this time, both he and Inge will be killed. On the surface, we get at least some satisfying closure to the case of the clandestine neo-Nazi gang. The Quiller Memorandum, based on a novel by Adam Hall (pen name for Elleston Trevor) and with a screenplay by Harold Pinter, deals with the insidious upsurge of neo-Nazism in Germany. The love interest between Quiller and Inge (Senta Berger) developed with no foundation. Also the increasing descent into the minutiae of spycraft plays into the reveal, plot-wise as well as psychologically. Sadly, Von Sydows formidable acting chops are never seriously challenged here, and his lines are limited to fairly standard B-movie Euro-villain speak. See production, box office & company info, Europa-Center, Charlottenburg, Berlin, Germany. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. effective, low key, intelligent, spy film, Attractive, thoughtful spy film with an excellent cast. Like Harry Palmer, Quiller is a stubborn individualist who has some rather inflated ideas of being his own man and is contemptuous of his controlling stuffed-shirt overlords. A crisply written story that captured my attention from beginning to end. - BH. Theres a humanity to Quiller that is unique in this type of action spy thriller. The film's screenplay (by noted playwright Pinter) reuses to spoon feed the audience, rather requiring that they rely on their instinct and attention span to pick up the threads of the plot. Quiller wakes up beside Berlin's Spree River. That way theres no-one to betray him to the other side. The burning question for Quiller is, how close is too close? [3], In a contemporary review for The New York Times, critic Bosley Crowther wrote: "Clearly, 'The Quiller Memorandum' is claptrap done up in a style and with a musical score by John Barry that might lead you to think it is Art. When drug-induced questioning fails to produce results, Segal is booted to the river, but he isn't quite ready to give in yet. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. The Quiller Memorandum is a 1966 British neo noir eurospy film filmed in Deluxe Color and Panavision, adapted from the 1965 spy novel The Berlin Memorandum, by Elleston Trevor under the name "Adam Hall", screenplay by Harold Pinter, directed by Michael Anderson, featuring George Segal, Alec Guinness, Max von Sydow and Senta Berger. Languid, some might say ponderous mid-60's British-made cold-war drama (it could scarcely be called a thriller, more "The Spy Who Came In From The Cold" than, say "Thunderball") that for all its longueurs, does have some redeeming features. The Quiller Memorandum (1966) is one such film, and though it's one of the more obscure ones, it is also one of the better ones. I had to resist the temptation to fast forward on several occasions. En route he has some edgy adventures. 2023 Variety Media, LLC. We never find out histrue identity or his history. Hall is not trying be a Le Carre, hes in a different area, one he really makes his own. Submissions should be for the purpose of informing or initiating a discussion, not just to entertain readers. The quarry for all the work is old Nazi higher officials who are now hiding behind new names and plotting to return Germany to the glory days of the Third Reich, complete with a resurrected Fhrer twenty years after the end of WW II. The setting is the most shadowy "post WWII Berlin" with the master players lined up against each other - The Brits and The Nazi Heirs. It keeps the reader engrossed right up to the last couple of lines. The whole thing, including these two actors, is as hollow as a shell. Just watched it. In the West Berlin of the 1960s, two British agents are killed by a Nazi group, prompting British Intelligence to dispatch agent Quiller to investigate. Conveniently for Quiller, shes also the only teacher there whos single and looks like a Bond girl. After the interview, he gives her a ride to her flat and stops in for a drink. The British Secret Service sends agent Quiller to investigate. Quiller tells Inge that they got most, but clearly not all, of the neo-Nazis. While the Harry Palmer films from 1965 to 1967 (Ipcress File, Funeral in Berlin, and Billion Dollar Brain) saw cockney Everyman Michael Caine nail the part of Palmer, who was the slum-dwelling, bespectacled antithesis to Sean Connerys martini-sipping sybarite. Hall's truncated writing style contributes to this effect. "The Quiller Memorandum" is a film with a HUGE strike against it at the outset.they inexplicably cast George Segal as a British spy! 42 editions. Read more Kindle Edition. For my money, the top three cold war spy novelists were Le Carre, Deighton, and Adam Hall. THE QUILLER MEMORANDUM (3 outta 5 stars) The 1960s saw a plethora of two kinds of spy movies: the outrageous semi-serious James Bond ripoffs (like the Flint and Matt Helm movies) and the very dry, methodical ones that were more talk than action (mostly John Le Carre and Alistair MacLean adaptations). The Quiller character is constantly making terrible decisions, and refuses to use a gun, and he's certainly no John Steed. On its publication in 1966, THE QUILLER MEMORANDUM received the Edgar Award as best mystery of the year. She states that she "was lucky, they let me go" and claims she then called the phone number but it did not work. Probably the most famous example of a solid American type playing an Englishman is Clark Gable from Mutiny On The Bounty. And, the final scene (with her and Segal) is done extremely well (won't spoil it for those who still wish to see itit fully sums up the film, the tension filled times and cold war-era Germany). [5], According to Fox records, the film needed to earn $2,600,000 in rentals to break even and made $2,575,000, meaning it initially showed a marginal loss, but subsequent television and home video sales moved it into the black. Hengel gives Quiller the few items found on Jones: a bowling alley ticket, a swimming pool ticket and a newspaper article about a Nazi war criminal found teaching at a school. The novel was titled The Berlin Memorandum and at its centre was the protagonist and faceless spy, Quiller. But for today's audiences, those films are a bit old fashioned and not always very easy to follow, too much complicated. The film is a spy-thriller set in 1960s West Berlin, where agent Quiller is sent to investigate a neo-Nazi organisation. Whats more, not even Harold Pinter can inject Segals Quiller with anything like the cutting cynicism and dark humor that made Alec Leamus such a formidably wretched character. Ian Nathan of Empire described the film as "daft, dated and outright confusing most of the time, but undeniably fun" and rated it with 3/5 stars. He sounded about as British as Leo Carillo or Cher. The book is more focused on thinking as a spy and I found it to be very realistic. In the West Berlin of the 1960s, two British agents are killed by a Nazi group, prompting British Intelligence to dispatch agent Quiller to investigate. This isachievedviaQuillers first person perspective. What is the French language plot outline for The Quiller Memorandum (1966)? Pol dispatches a team to Phoenix's HQ, which successfully captures all of Phoenix's members. Press J to jump to the feed. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. It was nominated for three BAFTA Awards,[2] while Pinter was nominated for an Edgar Award for the script. Read our extensive list of rules for more information on other types of posts like fan-art and self-promotion, or message the moderators if you have any questions. How did I miss this film until just recently? In addition to Pinters screenplay, the film was noted for its plot twists and the portrayal of Quiller as refreshingly vulnerable and occasionally inept. Instead, the screenplay posits a more sinister threat: the nascent re-Nazification of German youths, facilitated by an underground coven of Nazi sympathizing grade-school teachers. In a feint to see if Quiller will reveal more by oversight, Oktober decides to spare his life. Quiller (played by George Segal) is an American secret agent assigned to work with British MI6 chief Pol ( Alec Guinness) in West Berlin. Quiller's assignment is to take over where Jones left off. Watchlist. Where to Watch. This is one of the worst thriller screenplays in cinema history. The Phoenix group descend and take Quiller, torturing him to find out what he knows. The Quiller Memorandum is a 1966 British neo noir eurospy film filmed in Deluxe Color and Panavision, adapted from the 1965 spy novel The Berlin Memorandum, by Elleston Trevor under the name "Adam Hall", screenplay by Harold Pinter, directed by Michael Anderson, featuring George Segal, Alec Guinness, Max von Sydow and Senta Berger. As usual for films which are difficult to pin down . In the process, he discovers a complex and malevolent plot, more dangerous to the world than any crime committed during the war. Quiller enters the mansion and is confronted by Phoenix thugs. This time he's a spy trying to get the location of a neo-Nazi organization. Have read a half dozen or so other "Quiller" books, so when I saw that Hoopla had this first story, I figured I should give it a listen to see how Quiller got started. February 27, 2023 new bill passed in nj for inmates 2022 No Comments . Clumsy thriller. I loved seeing and feeling the night shots in this film and, as it was shot on location, the sense of reality was heightened for me. The former was a bracingly pessimistic Cold War alternative to freewheeling Bondian optimism that featured burnout boozer actor Richard Burton in an all-too-convincing performance as burnout boozer spy Alec Leamus. They are all members of Phoenix, led by the German aristocrat code-named Oktober. Directed by Michael Anderson; produced by Ivan Stockwell; screenplay by Harold Pinter; cinematography by Erwin Hiller; edited by Frederick Wilson; art direction by Maurice Carter; music by John Barry; starring George Segal, Max Von Sydow, Alec Guinness, Senta Berger, and guest stars George Stevens and Robert Helpmann. As for the rest of the movie, the plot, acting, and dialog are absolutely atrocious; even the footsteps are dubbed - click, click, click. Fans of "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" will notice that film's Mr. Slugworth (Meisner) in a small role as the operator of a swim club (which features some memorably husky, "master race" swimmers emerging from the pool.) I just dont really understand the ending to a degree. When they find, Quiller gives the phone number of his base to Inge and investigates the place. If you have seen this movie, and it leaves you very dissatisfied or with a bunch of bright orange question marks, don't worry ! Nimble, sharp-toothed and sometimes they have to bite and claw their way out of a dark hole. Phoenix boss Oktober (Max von Sydow) with George Segal, seated. In this first book in the QUILLER series, undercover agent Quiller is asked to take the place of a fellow spy who has recently been murdered in Berlin, in identifying the headquarters of an underground but powerful Nazi organization, Phnix, twenty years . Alec Guinness is excellent as a spy chief, and he gives a faint whiff of verisimilitude to this hopeless film. And will the world see a return of Nazi power? But admittedly its a tricky business second-guessing his dramatic instincts here. It's hard to believe this book won the Edgar for Best Novel, against books by Mary Stewart, Len Deighton, Ross MacDonald, Dorothy Salisbury Davis, and H.R.F. . The film illustrates the never-ending game of spying and the futility that results as each mission is only accomplished in its own realm, but the big picture goes on and on with little or no resolution. I can see where some might find it more exhausting than anything else, though--he does get tired :). As such, it was deemed to be in the mode of The Ipcress File (1965) and The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965). The setting is Cold War-divided Berlin where Quiller tackles a threat from a group of neo-Nazis who call themselves Phoenix. In . I feel this film much more typified real counter espionage in the 60's as opposed to the early Bond flicks (which I love, by the way). In a clever subversion of genre expectations, the plot and storyline ignore contemporary East versus West Cold War themes altogether (East Berlin is, in fact, never mentioned in the film). Quiller continues his subtle accusations, and Inge continues her denial of ever meeting Jones. Although the situations are often deadly serious, Segal seems to take them lightly; perhaps in the decade that spawned James Bond, he was confused and thought he was in a spy spoof. Pol tells Quiller that Kenneth Lindsay Jones, a fellow agent and friend of Quiller's, was killed two days earlier by a neo-Nazi cell operating out of Berlin. I probably haven't yet read enough to be fully aware of what the typical Quiller characteristics are, but never mindthe key thing is that it was a pacy, intense and thrilling read. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Read 134 reviews from the world's largest community for readers. The film has that beautiful, pristine look that seems to only come about in mid-60's cinema, made even more so by the clean appearance and tailored lines of the clothing on the supporting cast and the extras. On paper, this film had all the makings of a potential masterpiece: youve got a marquee cast, headed up by George Segal, Max Von Sydow, and Alec Guinness, for starters. Its there to tackle the dirty jobs, and Quiller is the Bureaus go-to guy. Your email address will not be published. Or was she simply a lonely Samaritan who altruistically beds the socially awkward American spy to help prevent a Fourth Reich? Although competing against a whole slew of other titles in the spies-on-every-corner vein, the novel, "The Quiller Memorandum" was amazingly successful in book stores. The intense first person narration which is the defining characteristic of the Quiller books comes into its own during this interrogation scene, and also during the latter chapters of the books as events begin to come to a head. The West had sent a couple of agents to find out their headquarters, but both are killed. When a spy film is made in the James Bond vein then close analysis is superfluous, but when the movie has a pretense of seriousness then it'd better make sense. I'll give this horribly dated film a generous **1/2 rating anyway; hell, you don't see a cast as great as this one every day! Write by: His investigations (and baiting) lead him to a pretty schoolteacher (Berger) who he immediately takes a liking to and who may be of assistance to him in his quest. After two British agents are killed while investigating Phoenix, a neo-Nazi group, Quiller is tasked with finding the organizations leader. See for instance DANDY IN ASPIC too, sooo complex and fascinating in the same time. Summaries In the West Berlin of the 1960s, two British agents are killed by a Nazi group, prompting British Intelligence to dispatch agent Quiller to investigate. Oktober demands Quiller reveal the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) base by dawn or Inge will be killed. Unfortunately, the film is weighed down, not only by a ponderous script, but also by a miscast lead; instead of a heavy weight actor in the mold of a William Holden, George Segal was cast as Quiller. You are a secret agent working for the British in Berlin. The book and movie made a bit of a splash in the spy craze of the mid-sixties, when James Bond and The Man From Uncle were all the rage. The Quiller Memorandum, based on a novel by Adam Hall (pen name for Elleston Trevor) and with a screenplay by Harold Pinter, deals with the insidious upsurge of neo-Nazism in Germany. His virtual army of nearly silent, oddball henchmen add to the flavor of paranoia and nervousness. This one makes no exception. It relies on a straight narrative storyline, simple but holding, literate dialog and well-drawn characters. aka: The Quiller Memorandum the first in a series of 19 Quiller books. Sort of a mixed effect clouds this novel. The third to try is Quiller, an unassuming man, who knows he's being put into a deadly game. With George Segal, Alec Guinness, Max von Sydow, Senta Berger. The film is ludicrous. The setting is Cold War-divided Berlinwhere Quillertackles a threat from a group ofneo-Nazis whocall themselves Phoenix. Fans of realistic spy fiction will enjoy David McCloskeys debut thriller Damascus Station, newly available in paperback in the UK. This movie belongs to the long list of the spy features of the sixties, and not even James Bond like movies, rather John Le Carr oriented ones, in the line of IPCRESS or ODESSA FILE, very interesting films for movie buffs in search of a kind of nostalgia and also for those who try to understand this period. The Quiller Memorandum. A much better example of a spy novel-to-film adaptation would be Our Man in Havana, also starring Alec Guinness. Twist piles upon twist , as a British agent becomes involved in a fiendishly complicated operation to get a dangerous ringleader and his menacing hoodlums . This demonstration using familiar breakfast food items serves to stimulate the American spys brainwaves into serious operative mode. The latter reveals a local teacher has been unmasked as a Nazi. Your email address will not be published. Quiller avoids answering Oktober's questions about Quiller's agency, until a doctor injects him with a truth serum, after which he reveals a few minor clues. The British Secret Service sends agent Quiller to investigate. Quiller, however, escapes, and with Inges help, he discovers the location of Phoenixs headquarters. Slow-moving Cold War era thriller in the mode of "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold," "The Quiller Memorandum" lacks thrills and fails to match the quality of that Richard Burton classic. Lindt (Berger) is a school teacher who meets Quiller to translate for him. And whats more, Quillers espionage tale is free of the silly gimmicks and gadgetry that define the escapist Bond franchise. With what little information the British operatives are able to provide him especially in his most recent predecessor, Kenneth Lindsay Jones, working alone without backup against advice, Quiller decides to take a different but potentially more dangerous tact than those predecessors in showing himself at three places Jones was known to be investigating, albeit in coded terms, as the person who has now taken over the mission from Jones in the probability that the Nazis will try to abduct him for questioning to discover what exactly their opponents know or don't know, and to discover in turn their base of operations in West Berlin. I havent watched too many movies from the 1960s in my lifetime, but the ones I have watched have been excellent (Von Ryans Express, Tony Rome, To Kill A Mockingbird, The Hustler, The Great Escape, etc, including this one.) 1966's The Quiller Memorandum is a low-key gem, a pared-down, existential spy caper that keeps the exoticism to a minimum. Quiller's primary contact for this job is a mid level administrative agent named Pol. Quiller investigates, but hes being followed and has been since the moment he entered Berlin. What a difference to the ludicrous James Helm/Matt Bond (or is it the other way round?) Can someone explain it to me? Want to Read. Other viewers have said it all: it is a good movie and more interestingly it is a different kind of spy movie. The setting is as classic as the comeBerlin during the 1960s. But his accent was all wrongtaking the viewer out of the moment. This was a great movie and found Quillers character to be excellent. [7][8], Learn how and when to remove this template message, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Quiller_Memorandum&oldid=1135714025, "Wednesday's Child" main theme (instrumental), "Wednesday's Child" vocal version (lyrics: Mack David / vocals: Matt Monro), "Have You Heard of a Man Called Jones?"
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