While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. 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. I wanted to make a list of all the things that are wrong with this film, but I can't - such a list would need much more than a thousand words. Pol dispatches a team to Phoenix's HQ, which successfully captures all of Phoenix's members. Alec Guinness is excellent as a spy chief, and he gives a faint whiff of verisimilitude to this hopeless film. Other viewers have said it all: it is a good movie and more interestingly it is a different kind of spy movie.
John Barry's The Quiller Memorandum (1966) Suite - YouTube Quiller has a love affair with Inge and they seek out the location of Oktober. It was time for kitchen-sink alternatives to the Bond films upper-crust Empire nostalgia, channeled as it was through a tuxedoed, priapic Anglo toff committing state-sponsored murder in service of Her Majestys postcolonial grudges. 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? Hall alsopeppered the text with authentic espionage jargon and as you read you get to live the part of Quiller. Quiller is released. When Quiller passes out at a traffic stop, the other car pulls alongside and abducts him. I enjoyed the book. Lindt (Berger) is a school teacher who meets Quiller to translate for him. This film has special meaning for me as I was living in Berlin during the filming and, subsequent screening in the city. That way theres no-one to betray him to the other side. Be the first to contribute. Its there to tackle the dirty jobs, and Quiller is the Bureaus go-to guy. 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 nation remained the home of the best spies. 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. 2023's Most Anticipated Sequels, Prequels, and Spin-offs, Dirk Bauer
. 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. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They have lots of information about the film, but inexplicably take ten minutes to explain how the Cold War conflict between Communism and Capitalism relates to . Reviews of The Quiller Memorandum Letterboxd What Adam Hall did extremely wellwas toget us readers inside the mind of an undercover operative. The Quiller Memorandum (1966) - IMDb A handful of engaging spy thrillers followed before the author paused his novels to focus on journalism, although its also worth noting that he has freelanced. The Quiller Memorandum certainly couldnt compete on an aesthetic level with a film like Spy Who Came in from the Cold: No actor, certainly not George Segal, is going to one-up Richard Burton in the anti-Bond department. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Defiant undercover spy Quiller carries out a nervy , stealthy , prowling around Berlin in which he becomes involved into a risked cat and mouse game , being chased and hunted , by a strange and sinister leader , known only as Oktober (Max Von Sidow) . 1966. Submissions should be for the purpose of informing or initiating a discussion, not just to entertain readers. 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. Quiller admits to Inge that he is an "investigator" on the trail of neo-Nazis. The Berlin Memorandum, or The Quiller Memorandum as it is also known, is the first book in the twenty book Quiller series, written by Elleston Trevor under the pen name of Adam Hall. 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. Our hero delivers a running dialogue with his own unconscious mind, assessing the threats, his potential responses, his plans. The mission in Berlin is a mess, two of the Bureaus spies have been murdered already by the shadowy Phoenix. The love interest between Quiller and Inge (Senta Berger) developed with no foundation. The film ends with Quiller suspecting that Inge is more than an ordinary schoolteacher. George Segal's Quiller isn't intense, smart, calculating--qualities Quiller is known for--instead he comes across as a doofus by comparison, better suited to sports-writing or boxing, completely lacking in cunning. The West had sent a couple of agents to find out their headquarters, but both are killed. 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. Once Quiller becomes extra-friendly with Ingewhich happens preternaturally quicklyits clear someone on the other side is getting nervous. 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. As a consequence I was left in some never-never land and always felt I was watching actors in a movie and never got involved. The Quiller Memorandum (1966) - IMDb The Quiller Memorandum - Variety 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. 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. The Quiller Memorandum (1966) - Trivia - IMDb After two British agents are assassinated in Berlin by a group of Neo-Nazis, the British Secret Service assign Quiller to locate and identify the culprits. Thank God Segal is in it. True, Segal never seems to settle into the role of Quiller. 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. Quiller captures the contrast between the new and the seedy in the West Berlin of the 60s and how Germany remains haunted by the sins of its recent past. 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. As usual for films which are difficult to pin down . This was evidently the first of a very long series featuring the spy Quiller. In fact, he is derisory about agents who insist on being armed. 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. 1966's The Quiller Memorandum is a low-key gem, a pared-down, existential spy caper that keeps the exoticism to a minimum. 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. He published over 50 novels as Elleston Trevor alone. The Quiller Memorandum (1966) - Plot Summary - IMDb 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. The Quiller Memorandum - Wikipedia 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. He calls Inge and arranges to meet. He recruits Berger to help him infiltrate the Neo-Nazis and discover their base of operations, but, once again, is thwarted. The Berlin Memorandum, renamed The Quiller Memorandum, was published in 1965 by Elleston Trevor, who used the pseudonym Adam Hall. Quiller is eventually kidnapped and tortured by Oktober (Max von Sydow), the leader of Phoenix. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. Quiller being injected with truth serum by agents of Phoenix. Omissions? 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. Soon Quiller is confronted with Neo-Nazi chief "Oktober" and involved in a dangerous game where each side tries to find out the enemy's headquarters at any price. Two British agents are murdered by a mysterious Neo-Nazi organization in West Berlin. His virtual army of nearly silent, oddball henchmen add to the flavor of paranoia and nervousness. As classic as it gets. Required fields are marked *. Quiller would have also competed with the deluge of popular spy spoofs and their misfit mock-heroes: namely, Dean Martins drinking-and-driving playboy agent Matt Helm (The Silencers, Wrecking Crew) and James Coburns parody of Bondian suavity, Derek Flint, in the trippy spy fantasias Our Man Flint (1966) and In Like Flint (1967). He begins openly asking question about Neo-Nazis and is soon kidnapped by a man known only as "Oktober". Also the increasing descent into the minutiae of spycraft plays into the reveal, plot-wise as well as psychologically. When they find, Quiller gives the phone number of his base to Inge and investigates the place. Can someone explain it to me? The setting is Cold War-divided Berlinwhere Quillertackles a threat from a group ofneo-Nazis whocall themselves Phoenix. 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. For my money, the top three cold war spy novelists were Le Carre, Deighton, and Adam Hall. 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. 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. Mind you, in 1966-67 the Wall was there, East German border guards and a definite (cold war) cloud hanging over the city. 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. 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. Sadly, Von Sydows formidable acting chops are never seriously challenged here, and his lines are limited to fairly standard B-movie Euro-villain speak. The film was shot on location in West Berlin and in Pinewood Studios, England. 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.) A bit too sardonic at times, I think his character wanted to be elsewhere, clashing with KGB agents instead of ferreting out neo-nazis. I just dont really understand the ending to a degree. I found it an interesting and pleasant change of pace from the usual spy film, sort of in the realm of The Spy Who Came in From the Cold (but not quite as good). What is the French language plot outline for The Quiller Memorandum (1966)? The Quiller Memorandum by Adam Hall - Goodreads As for the rest of the movie, the plot, acting, and dialog are absolutely atrocious; even the footsteps are dubbed - click, click, click. 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. Michael Anderson directs a classy slice of '60s spy-dom. Segal plays Quiller with a laconic but likeable detachment, underlining the loneliness and lack of relaxation of the agent, who can- not even count on support from his own side. International in its scope its contributors include scholars from Australia, Quiller . 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. 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.)