Studios: The Rank Organisation and Ivan Foxwell Productions, https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Quiller-Memorandum, BFI Screenonline - The Quiller Memorandum (1966), Britmovie.co.uk - "The Quiller Memorandum", The Quiller Memorandum - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). Special guests Sanders and Helpmann bring their special brand of haughty authority to their roles as members of British Intelligence. Hall is not trying be a Le Carre, hes in a different area, one he really makes his own. I had to resist the temptation to fast forward on several occasions. Elleston Trevor (pictured) himself was a prolific, award-winning writer, producing novels under a range of pen names nine in total! In conclusion, having recently watched "Quiller's" almost exact contemporary "The Ipcress File", I have to say that I preferred the latter's more pointed narrative, down-home grittiness and star acting to the similar fare offered here. 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. I listened to the audio version narrated by Andrew B Wehrlen and found it an utterly engaging tale. It certainly held my interest, partly because it was set in Berlin and even mentioned the street I lived on several times. He is British secret agent Kenneth Lindsay Jones. How nice to see you again! and so forth. Berger is luminous and exceedingly solid in a complicated role. Alec Guinness never misses a trick in his few scenes as the cold, witty fish in charge of Berlin sector investigations. If your idea of an exciting spy thriller involves boobs, blondes and exploding baguettes, then The Quiller Memorandum is probably not for you. Older ; About; In many ways, it creates mystery through the notion of exploring "mystery" itself. 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). Mind you, in 1966-67 the Wall was there, East German border guards and a definite (cold war) cloud hanging over the city. 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. Quiller has a love affair with Inge and they seek out the location of Oktober. 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. He brings graceful authority and steely determination to his role. 1 jamietre 8 mo. 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. 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. As explained by his condescending boss Pol (Alec Guinness), Quillers two unfortunate predecessors were getting too close to exposing the subterranean neo-Nazi cell known as Phoenix (get it? But the writing was sloppy and there was a wholly superfluous section on decoding a cipher, which wasn't even believable. The burning question for Quiller is, how close is too close? A Twilight Time release. I was really surprised, because I don't usually like books written during the 50s or 60s. [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?" This was the first book, and I liked it. For example operatives are referred to as ferrets, and thats what they are. 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. Quiller is released. As classic as it gets. Your name is Quiller. Another isQuillers refusal to carry a weapon hebelieves it lends the operative an over-confidence and cangive the opposition an opportunity to turn your firearm against you. It's not often that one wishes so much for a main character to get killed, especially by NAZI's. The only really interesting thing is the way we're left spoiler: click to read in the end. Read more You are the hero of an extraordinary novel that shows how a spy works, how messages are coded and decoded, how contacts are made, how a man reacts under the influence of truth drugs, and that traces the story of a vastly complex, entertaining, convincing, and sinister plot. Thank God Segal is in it. Quiller works for the Bureau, an arm of the British Secret Service so clandestinethat no-one knows itexists. 42 editions. If you have seen this movie, and it leaves you very dissatisfied or with a bunch of bright orange question marks, don't worry ! The setting is Cold War-divided Berlin where Quiller tackles a threat from a group of neo-Nazis who call themselves Phoenix. I can see where some might find it more exhausting than anything else, though--he does get tired :). One of the first grown-up movies I was allowed to go see by myself as an impressionable adolescent (yes, this was some years ago now) was the Quiller Memorandum, with George Segal. 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. Also published as "The Berlin Memorandum" (UK title). Neo-Nazi plot Quiller (played by George Segal) is an American secret agent assigned to work with British MI6 chief Pol (Alec Guinness) in West Berlin. The screenwriter, Harold Pinter, no less, received an Edgar nomination. Oktober also wants to know the location of the British base in Germany and uses drugs in Quiller to get the information but the skilled agent resists. The film starred George Segal in the lead role, with Alec Guinness supporting andwas nominated for three BAFTAs. Also contains one of the final appearences of George Sanders in a brief role, a classic in his own right! This well-drawn tale of espionage is set in West B. He begins openly asking question about Neo-Nazis and is soon kidnapped by a man known only as "Oktober". The novel was titled The Berlin Memorandum and at its centre was the protagonist and faceless spy, Quiller. 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). The mind of the spy Finally, he is placed in the no-win position of either choosing to aid von Sydow or allowing Berger to be murdered. But don't let it fool you for one minutenor Mr. Segal, nor Senta Berger as the girl. Sadly the Quiller novels have fallen out of favour with the apparentend of the Cold War. The film had its world premiere on 10 November 1966 at the Odeon Leicester Square in the West End of London. THE SITE FOR DIE HARD CRIME & THRILLER FANS. The Quiller character is constantly making terrible decisions, and refuses to use a gun, and he's certainly no John Steed. A much better example of a spy novel-to-film adaptation would be Our Man in Havana, also starring Alec Guinness. In fact, he is derisory about agents who insist on being armed. Quiller slips out though a side door to the small garage yard where his car is kept. He first meets with Pol, who explains that each side is trying to discover and annihilate the other's base. Quiller leaves the Konigshof Hotel on West Berlin's Kurfurstendamm and confronts a man who has been following him, learning that it is his minder, Hengel. Quiller: At the end of our conversation, he ordered them to kill me. 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. And whats more, Quillers espionage tale is free of the silly gimmicks and gadgetry that define the escapist Bond franchise. The protagonist, Quiller, is not a superhuman, like the James Bond types, nor does he have a satchel full of fancy electronic tricks up his sleeve. Without knowing where they have taken him, and even if it is indeed their base of operations, Quiller is playing an even more dangerous game as in the process he met schoolteacher Inge Lindt, who he starts to fall for, and as such may be used as a pawn by the Nazis to get the upper hand on Quiller. Clumsy thriller. George Segal is a fine and always engaging actor, but the way his character is written here, he doesn't really come across as "a spy who gets along by his brains and not by his brawn"; he seems interested almost exclusively in the girl he meets, not in the case he's investigating, and (at least until the end) he seems to survive as a result of a combination of his good luck and the stupidity of the villains. But good enough to hold my interest till the end. The Chief of the Secret Service Pol (Alec Guinness) summons the efficient agent Quiller (George Segal) to investigate the location of organization's headquarter. The first thing to say about this film is that the screenplay is so terrible. If Quiller isnt the most dramatically pleasing of the anti-Bond subgenre, its certainly not for lack of ambition, originality, or undistinguished crew or cast members. Finally, paint the result in Barbie pink and baby blue That's more or less what happened to Adam Hall's spy novel for this movie. With its gritty, real-world depiction of contemporary international espionage, The Quiller Memorandum was one of the more notable anti-Bond films of the 1960s. Its there to tackle the dirty jobs, and Quiller is the Bureaus go-to guy. After a pair of their agents are murdered in West Berlin, the British Secret Service for some unknown reason send in an American to investigate and find the location of a neo-Nazi group's headquarters. His book. This books has excellent prose, unrealistic scenes, and a mediocre plot. After all, his characters social unease and affectless personality are presumably components of the movies contra-Bond commitment. Harold Pinter's fairly literate screenplay features . Hes lone wolf who lives or dies by his own actions a very clean and principled approach to espionage. Quiller meets his controller for this mission, Pol, at Berlin's Olympia Stadium, and learns that he must find the headquarters of Phoenix, a neo-Nazi organization. He notices the concierge is seated where he can see anyone leaving. An American agent is sent to Berlin to track down the leaders of a neo-Nazi organization, but when they . 2 decades after the collapse of Nazi Germany, several old guard are planning to (slowly) rebuild. 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 reaches Pol's secret office in Berlin, one of the top floors in the newly built Europa-Center, the tallest building in the city, and gives them the location of the building where he met Oktober. In the relationship between Quiller and Inge, Pinter casts just enough ambiguity over the proceedings to allow us plebian moviegoers our small participatory role in the production of meaning. 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" is a film with a HUGE strike against it at the outset.they inexplicably cast George Segal as a British spy! While most realistic spy films of the 60s focused on the Soviet threat, Quiller pits the title character against a group of neo-Nazis. Quiller had the misfortune to hit cinemas hot on the heels of two first-rate examples of Bond backlash: Martin Ritts gritty The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and the first (and easily best) entry in the acclaimed Harry Palmer trilogy, The Ipcress File, both released in 1965. 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 well-drawn tale of espionage is set in West Berlin, 15 years after the end of WW II. 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. (UK title). Not terribly audience-friendly, but smart and very, very cool. This reactionary quake in the spy genre was brief but seismic all the same. - BH. Written by Harold Pinter from the novel by Adam Hall Produced by Ivan Foxwell Directed by Michael Anderson Reviewed by Glenn Erickson The enormous success of James Bond made England the center of yet another worldwide cultural phenomenon. Really sad. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. George Sanders and others back in London play the stock roles of arch SIS mandarins who love putting people down, wearing black tie and being the snobs that they are. Its excellent entertainment. The latter reveals a local teacher has been unmasked as a Nazi. For example, when the neo-Nazi goons are sticking to Quiller like fly paper, wasn't he suspicious when they did not follow him into his hotel? effective, low key, intelligent, spy film, Attractive, thoughtful spy film with an excellent cast. Pol dispatches a team to Phoenix's HQ, which successfully captures all of Phoenix's members. Alec Guinness plays spymaster Pol, Quillers minder. ago Just watched it. The Quiller Memorandum is a film adaptation of the 1965 spy novel The Berlin Memorandum, by Trevor Dudley-Smith, screenplay by Harold Pinter, directed by Michael Anderson, featuring George Segal, Max von Sydow, Senta Berger and Alec Guinness.The film was shot on location in West Berlin and in Pinewood Studios, England.The film was nominated for 3 BAFTA Awards, while Pinter was nominated for an . He calls Inge and arranges to meet. On its publication in 1966, THE QUILLER MEMORANDUM received the Edgar Award as best mystery of the year. 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. 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. Also the increasing descent into the minutiae of spycraft plays into the reveal, plot-wise as well as psychologically. [6], The mainly orchestral atmospheric soundtrack composed by John Barry was released by Columbia in 1966. Blu-ray, color, 105 min., 1966. Inge tells him she loves him, and he tells her a phone number to call if he is not back in 20 minutes. 1966's The Quiller Memorandum is a low-key gem, a pared-down, existential spy caper that keeps the exoticism to a minimum. Nobel prizes notwithstanding I think Harold Pinter's screenplay for this movie is pretty lame, or maybe it's the director's fault. George Segal was good at digging for information without gadgets. It's a more realistic or credible portrayal of how a single character copes with trying to get information in a dangerous environment. Oktober informs Quiller that if he does not disclose secret information this time, both he and Inge will be killed. The only redeeming features of The Quiller Memorandum are the scenes of Berlin with its old U-Bahn train and wonderful Mercedes automobiles, and the presence of two beautiful German women, Senta Berger and Edith Schneider; those two females epitomize Teutonic womanhood for me. It is the first book in the 20-volume Quiller series. It was from the quiller memorandum ending of the item, a failed nuclear weapons of Personalized Map Search. He spends as much time and energy attempting to lose the bouncer-like minders sent to cover him in the field as he does the neo-Nazi goon squads that eventually come calling. He steals a taxi, evades a pursuing vehicle and books himself into a squalid hotel. 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. Watchable and intriguing as it occasionally is, enigmatic is perhaps the most apposite adjective you could use to describe the "action" within. But Quiller shares an important kinship with Spy in that it challenges popular 007 mythmaking: freshly envisioning the unglamorous underside of an intelligence profession that the James Bond franchise had been relentlessly trivializing since its inception. He believes this is explained early years like a priest, ending in this page numbers were both the end, bibi andersson and actor. He finds that a bomb has been strapped underneath and sets it on the bonnet of the car so it will slowly slide and fall off due to vibration from the running engine. Oktober demands Quiller reveal the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) base by dawn or Inge will be killed. Quiller being injected with truth serum by agents of Phoenix. Released at a time when the larger-than-life type of spy movie (the James Bond series) was in full swing and splashy, satirical ones (such as "Our Man Flynt" and "The Silencers") were about to take off, this is a quieter, more down-to-earth and realistic effort. 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. 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It was written by Harold Pinter, but despite his talent for writing plays, he certainly had no cinematic sense whatever. Quilleris a code name. One of the most interesting elements of the novel is Quiller's explanation of tradecraft and the way he narrates his way through receiving signals from his Control via coded stock market reports on the radio, and a seemingly endless string of people following him around Berlin as he goes about his mission. She states that she "was lucky, they let me go" and claims she then called the phone number but it did not work. Inga is unrecognizable and has been changed to the point of uselessness. 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. You HAVE been watching it carefully. But his accent was all wrongtaking the viewer out of the moment. Thought I'd try again and found this one a bit dated and dry - I will persevere with the series, Adam Hall (one of Elleston Trevor' many pseudonyms) wrote many classic spy stories, and this one is considered one of his best. 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. Phoenix boss Oktober (Max von Sydow) with George Segal, seated. By day, the city is presented so beautifully, it's hard to imagine that such ugly things are going on amidst it. 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. 1966. 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. The film was shot on location in West Berlin and in Pinewood Studios, England. Your email address will not be published. The film is ludicrous. Visually, the film was rather stunning, but the magical soft focus that appears every time Inga is in the frame is silly. Theres a humanity to Quiller that is unique in this type of action spy thriller. And he sustains the same high level of quality over the course of nineteen books. 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. The story, in the early days of, This week sees the release of Trouble, the third book in the Hella Mauzer series by Katja Ivar. Newer. Lindt (Berger) is a school teacher who meets Quiller to translate for him. When drug-induced questioning fails to produce results, Segal is booted to the river, but he isn't quite ready to give in yet. It's a bit strange to see such exquisitely Pinter-esque dialogue (the laconic, seemingly innocuous sentences; the profound silences; the syntax that isn't quite how real people actually talk) in a spy movie, but it really works. Where to Watch. The Neo-Nazis want to know the location of British operations and similarly, the British want to know the location of the Neo-Nazis' headquarters. Dril several holes in it, the size of a pin, one the size of a small coin. ): as a result, they were summarily bumped off with stereotypical German precision. Twist piles upon twist , as a British agent becomes involved in a fiendishly complicated operation to get a dangerous ringleader and his menacing hoodlums . In addition to Pinters screenplay, the film was noted for its plot twists and the portrayal of Quiller as refreshingly vulnerable and occasionally inept. After the interview, he gives her a ride to her flat and stops in for a drink. 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. Commenting on Quiller in 1966, The New York Timessomewhat unfairlywrote off Segals performance as an unmitigated bust: If youve got any spying to do in Berlin, dont send George Segal to do the job. The reviewer then refers to Quiller as a pudding-headed fellow (a descriptive phrase that sounds more 1866 than 1966). He published over 50 novels as Elleston Trevor alone. Movie Info After two British Secret Intelligence Service agents are murdered at the hands of a cryptic neo-Nazi group known as Phoenix, the suave agent Quiller (George Segal) is sent to Berlin to. Quiller manages to outwit his opponent yet again, leading to his arrest. When Quiller decides to investigate the building, Inge says she will wait for him, while Hassler and the headmistress leave one of their cars for them. 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 usual for films which are difficult to pin down .
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