The Quiller Memorandum came near the peak of the craze for spy movies in the Sixties, but its dry, oddly sardonic tone sets it apart from both the James Bond-type sex-and-gadget thrillers and the more somber, "adult" spy dramas such as Martin Ritt's The Spy Who Came In from the Cold (1965). To do his job George Segal's hapless Quiller must set himself out as bait in the middle of a pressure play in West Berlin. The third to try is Quiller, an unassuming man, who knows he's being put into a deadly game. Lindt (Berger) is a school teacher who meets Quiller to translate for him. . The book is more focused on thinking as a spy and I found it to be very realistic. It's a more realistic or credible portrayal of how a single character copes with trying to get information in a dangerous environment. From the latest Scandinavian serial killer to Golden Age detective stories, we love our crime novels! His understated (and at times simply wooden) performance here can be a tough sell when set against the more expressive comedic persona he cultivated in offbeat 1970s comedies like Blume in Love, The Owl and the Pussycat, Wheres Poppa?, California Spilt, and Fun With Dick and Jane. Alec Guinness plays spymaster Pol, Quillers minder. After they have sex, she unexpectedly reveals that a friend was formerly involved with neo-Nazis and might know the location of Phoenix's HQ. 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. Quiller: At the end of our conversation, he ordered them to kill me. American agent Quiller (George Segal) arrives in Berlin and meets with his British handler Pol (Alec Guinness). Always under-appreciated by U.S. audiences, it's a relief to know that she's had a major impact on the German film community in later years. 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. Quiller's assignment is to take over where Jones left off. Michael Anderson directs a classy slice of '60s spy-dom. 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. As usual for films which are difficult to pin down . He first meets with Pol, who explains that each side is trying to discover and annihilate the other's base. Meanwhile , Quiller befriends and fall in love for a teacher , Inge Lindt (Senta Berger) , and both of whom suffer constant dangers . 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. This repackaging includes some worthwhile special features like an isolated score track and commentary by film historians Eddy Friedfeld and Lee Pfeiffer of Cinema Retro magazine to go with the new format. Keating. The setting is Cold War-divided Berlinwhere Quillertackles a threat from a group ofneo-Nazis whocall themselves Phoenix. The British Secret Service sends agent Quiller to investigate. 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. Mind you, in 1966-67 the Wall was there, East German border guards and a definite (cold war) cloud hanging over the city. Blu-ray, color, 105 min., 1966. Quiller asks after Jones at the bowling alley without success and the swimming pool manager Hassler tells him spectating is not allowed. When they find, Quiller gives the phone number of his base to Inge and investigates the place. I am not saying he was bad in the filmor at least that bad. 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. This was a great movie and found Quillers character to be excellent. It certainly held my interest, partly because it was set in Berlin and even mentioned the street I lived on several times. Composer Barry provides an atmospheric score (though one that is somewhat of a departure from the notes and instruments used in his more famous pieces), but silence is put to good use as well. Quilleris a code name. Following the few leads his predecessor Jones had accumulated, Quiller finds himself nosing around for clues in the sort of unglamorous places in which Bond would never deign to set footbowling alleys and public swimming pools, especially. En route he has some edgy adventures. The British Secret Service sends agent Quiller to investigate. 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. It was written by Harold Pinter, but despite his talent for writing plays, he certainly had no cinematic sense whatever. How nice to see you again! and so forth. Quiller then returns to his hotel, followed by the men who remain outside. Audiobook. Sadly the Quiller novels have fallen out of favour with the apparentend of the Cold War. [6], The mainly orchestral atmospheric soundtrack composed by John Barry was released by Columbia in 1966. And whats more, Quillers espionage tale is free of the silly gimmicks and gadgetry that define the escapist Bond franchise. Nobel prizes notwithstanding I think Harold Pinter's screenplay for this movie is pretty lame, or maybe it's the director's fault. The friend proves to be Hassler, who is now much more friendly. 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. She claims she turned in the teacher from the article, and points out the dilapidated Phoenix mansion. The film had its world premiere on 10 November 1966 at the Odeon Leicester Square in the West End of London. The Quiller Memorandum Reviews. The latter reveals a local teacher has been unmasked as a Nazi. I enjoyed the book. The film magnificently utilizes West German locations to bring the story to life. Be the first to contribute. 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). I've not put together a suite before so hopefully it works.Barry's short (35mins) if atmospheric score for the Cold War thriller The Quiller Memorandum, 1966. . Read more Quiller is surprised to learn that no women were found. George Segal, plays the edgy American-abroad new CI5 recruit (looking unnervingly at times like a young George W Bush!) The nation remained the home of the best spies. He accepts the assignment and almost immediately finds that he is being followed. The novels are esoteric thrillers, very cerebral and highly recommended. He does this in a lone-wolf way, refusing to be hampered by bodyguards. (UK title). They wereso popularthat in 1966 a film was made the title waschanged to The Quiller Memorandum and from then on all future copies of the book were published under this title, rather than the original. This well-drawn tale of espionage is set in West B. He is the true faceless spy. 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. Fans of realistic spy fiction will enjoy David McCloskeys debut thriller Damascus Station, newly available in paperback in the UK. It was nominated for three BAFTA Awards,[2] while Pinter was nominated for an Edgar Award for the script. After being prevented from using a phone, Quiller makes a run for an elevated train, and thinking he has managed to shake off Oktober's men, exits the other side of the elevated station only to run into them again. Hall is not trying be a Le Carre, hes in a different area, one he really makes his own. . The movie wants to be more Le Carre than Fleming (the nods to the latter fall flat with a couple of fairly underpowered car-chases and a very unconvincing fight scene when Segal first tries to escape his captors) but fails to make up in suspense what it obviously lacks in thrills. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. When Quiller returns to his hotel, a porter bumps Quiller's leg with a suitcase on the steps. Conveniently for Quiller, shes also the only teacher there whos single and looks like a Bond girl. 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. This time he's a spy trying to get the location of a neo-Nazi organization. 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. 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. movies. In the process, he discovers a complex and malevolent plot, more dangerous to the world than any crime committed during the war. 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 the West Berlin of the 1960s, two British agents are killed by a Nazi group, prompting British Intelligence to dispatch agent Quiller to investigate. Try as he might though, he can't quite carry the lead here, lacking as he does the magnetism of Connery or the cynicism of Caine. Quiller, however, escapes, and with Inges help, he discovers the location of Phoenixs headquarters. Harold Pinter's fairly literate screenplay features . No one really cared that Gable did not even attempt an English accent the film was that good. As classic as it gets. From that point of view, the film should be seen by social, architectural, and urban landscape historians. Another characteristic of Halls style isthe ending of chapters with a cliff hanger. 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. This isn't your standard spy film with lots of gunplay, outrageous villains, and explosions. 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. You are a secret agent working for the British in Berlin. Twist piles upon twist , as a British agent becomes involved in a fiendishly complicated operation to get a dangerous ringleader and his menacing hoodlums . Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. Quiller admits to Inge that he is an "investigator" on the trail of neo-Nazis. Segal is an unusual actor to be cast as a spy, but his quirky approach and his talent for repartee do assist him in retaining interest (even if its at the expense of the character as originally conceived in the source novels.) The Quiller Memorandum book. , . 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.
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