It was nominated for three BAFTA Awards,[2] while Pinter was nominated for an Edgar Award for the script. 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. There are long stretches of what may have seemed to Pinter like very lively and amusing dialogue (the torture scenes between October and George Segal), but they drag on interminably, and make one want to go to sleep. Probably the most famous example of a solid American type playing an Englishman is Clark Gable from Mutiny On The Bounty. The Quiller Memorandum - DVD Talk A man walks along a deserted Berlin street at night and enters an internally lit phone box. Thank God Segal is in it. Guinness appears as Segal's superior and offers a great deal of presence and class. 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. aka: The Quiller Memorandum the first in a series of 19 Quiller books. The film ends with Quiller suspecting that Inge is more than an ordinary schoolteacher. His book. 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 . 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. Watchable and intriguing as it occasionally is, enigmatic is perhaps the most apposite adjective you could use to describe the "action" within. 42 editions. The novel was titled The Berlin Memorandum and at its centre was the protagonist and faceless spy, Quiller. Also the increasing descent into the minutiae of spycraft plays into the reveal, plot-wise as well as psychologically. (What with wanting to go to sleep and wanting to scream at the same time, this film does pose certain conflict problems.) Author/co-author of numerous books about the cinema and is regarded as one of the foremost James Bond scholars. It was written by Harold Pinter, but despite his talent for writing plays, he certainly had no cinematic sense whatever. From the latest Scandinavian serial killer to Golden Age detective stories, we love our crime novels! ): as a result, they were summarily bumped off with stereotypical German precision. Press J to jump to the feed. Sadly the Quiller novels have fallen out of favour with the apparentend of the Cold War. 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 Quiller Memorandum is based on Adam Hall's thriller novel about neo-Nazism in contemporary Germany. 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. As Quiller revolves around a plot that's more monstrously twisted than he imagines it to be . He does this in a lone-wolf way, refusing to be hampered by bodyguards. He steals a taxi, evades a pursuing vehicle and books himself into a squalid hotel. 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. That makes the story much more believable, and Adam Hall's writing style kept me engaged. 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. 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). The story is ludicrous. He also works alone and without contacts. Elleston Trevor (pictured) himself was a prolific, award-winning writer, producing novels under a range of pen names nine in total! The Quiller Memorandum (1966) - Turner Classic Movies I too read the Quiller novels years ago and found them thrilling and a great middle ground between the super-spy Bond stories and the realism of Le Carre. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. If you've only seen the somewhat tepid 1966 film starring George Segal which is based on this classic post-WWII espionage novel, don't let it stop you from reading the original. Alec Guinness gets to play a Smiley prototype but brings too much Noel Coward to the table. Widescreen viewing is a must, if possible, if for no other reason than to fully glimpse the extraordinary stadium built by Hitler for the 1936 Olympic games. 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. The sentences are generally clipped and abrupt, reminiscent of Simon Kernicks style wherenot a word is wasted, but predating him by a generation. 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 published over 50 novels as Elleston Trevor alone. How nice to see you again! and so forth. There was also a TV series in 1975. Much quieter and understated than most spy flicks. Michael Anderson directs a classy slice of '60s spy-dom. I recently found and purchased all 19 of the series in hardback and read them serially. I know several spy fiction fans who rate Quiller highly; I'd read a couple and thought they were only OK, plus seen and enjoyed the film (which fans of the novel tend to dislike). En route he has some edgy adventures. Newer. And although Harold Pinters screenwriting for Quiller doesnt strike one as being classically Pinteresque, occasionally his distinct style reveals itself in pockets of suggestive menace where silence is often just as important as whats spoken. Before long, his purposefully clumsy nosing around leads to his capture and interrogation by a very elegantly menacing von Sydow, who wants to know where Segal's own headquarters is! The West had sent a couple of agents to find out their headquarters, but both are killed. See for instance DANDY IN ASPIC too, sooo complex and fascinating in the same time. 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. With George Segal, Alec Guinness, Max von Sydow, Senta Berger. International in its scope its contributors include scholars from Australia, Quiller . But admittedly its a tricky business second-guessing his dramatic instincts here. Finally, he is placed in the no-win position of either choosing to aid von Sydow or allowing Berger to be murdered. 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. Submissions should be for the purpose of informing or initiating a discussion, not just to entertain readers. 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. Required fields are marked *. In fact, Segal as Quiller can often feel like a case of simple miscasting, although not as egregious a lapse in judgment as, say, Segals choice to play a Times Square smackhead in 1971s Born to Win. Blu-ray, color, 105 min., 1966. Other viewers have said it all: it is a good movie and more interestingly it is a different kind of spy movie. I can see where some might find it more exhausting than anything else, though--he does get tired :). The Quiller series is highly regarded by the spy-fiction community, and as strange as it may seem - because I have had most of the books for years - I have never actually read them. In a feint to see if Quiller will reveal more by oversight, Oktober decides to spare his life. 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. Where to Watch. 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. 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. 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. Hall (also known as Elleston Trevor and several other pseudonyms) seemed really to hate the Germans, or at least his character did. He was the author of. Max von Sydow plays the Nazi chief quietly but with high camp menace. It certainly held my interest, partly because it was set in Berlin and even mentioned the street I lived on several times. Hes that good try the book and youll find out. At the 1967 BAFTA Awards the film had nominations in the best Art Direction, Film Editing and Screenplay categories, but did not win. The Quiller Memorandum (1966) directed by Michael Anderson Reviews This was a great movie and found Quillers character to be excellent. 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). [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?" On its publication in 1966, THE QUILLER MEMORANDUM received the Edgar Award as best mystery of the year. The setting is Cold War-divided Berlinwhere Quillertackles a threat from a group ofneo-Nazis whocall themselves Phoenix. Pol tells Quiller the fascist underground is far more organized and powerful in Germany than people believe. 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. 1966's The Quiller Memorandum is a low-key gem, a pared-down existential spy caper that keeps the exoticism to a minimum. In the mid-Sixties, the subgenre of the James Bond backlash film was becoming a crowded market. ago Just watched it. The film magnificently utilizes West German locations to bring the story to life. 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. The film starred George Segal in the lead role, with Alec Guinness supporting andwas nominated for three BAFTAs. Another characteristic of Halls style isthe ending of chapters with a cliff hanger. This is an espionage series that started in the '60's and ran through the '90's. When they find, Quiller gives the phone number of his base to Inge and investigates the place. He also wroteacrossa number ofgenres. This demonstration using familiar breakfast food items serves to stimulate the American spys brainwaves into serious operative mode. 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. It is credible. Fairly interesting spy movie, but doesn't make much sense under close scrutiny. Quiller also benefits from some geographically eclectic West Berlin location shooting from master cinematographer and Berlin native Erwin Hillier. 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 recall being duly impressed by the menacing atmospherics, if much of it went over my head. The casting of George Segal in the lead was a catastrophe, as he is so brash and annoying that one wants to scream. Clumsy thriller. 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. 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. Max von Sydow as a senior post-War Nazi conspirator over-acts and is way out of control, Anderson being so hopeless and just a bystander who can have done no directing at all. Special guests Sanders and Helpmann bring their special brand of haughty authority to their roles as members of British Intelligence. The Quiller Memorandum (1966) - IMDb In 1966, the book was made into a successful film starring George Segal, Max Von Sydow, Senta Berger, and Alec Guinness. , . Your name is Quiller. Quiller enters the mansion and is confronted by Phoenix thugs. What is the French language plot outline for The Quiller Memorandum (1966)? The Quiller Memorandum Ending Explained 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. And will the world see a return of Nazi power? 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. 1966's The Quiller Memorandum is a low-key gem, a pared-down, existential spy caper that keeps the exoticism to a minimum. 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 is not trying be a Le Carre, hes in a different area, one he really makes his own. CIS: The Quiller Memorandum revisited | Crime Fiction Lover 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 . So, at this level. 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. [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. Apparently, it was made into a classic movie and there is even a website compiled by Trevor devotees. The film is ludicrous. 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. Not terribly audience-friendly, but smart and very, very cool. He walks down the same street where Jones was shot, but finds he is followed by Oktober's men. But George Segal just doesn't cut it as a British secret agent in The Quiller Memorandum. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. 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. Nimble, sharp-toothed and sometimes they have to bite and claw their way out of a dark hole. I read it in two evenings. 2023 Variety Media, LLC. If you have seen this movie, and it leaves you very dissatisfied or with a bunch of bright orange question marks, don't worry ! Journeyman director Michael Andersons The Quiller Memorandum, which was as defiantly anti-Bond as you could get in 1966, has just been rescued from DVD mediocrity by the retro connoisseurs at Twilight Time and given a twenty-first-century Blu-ray upgrade. 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 is one of the worst thriller screenplays in cinema history. He is shot dead by an unseen gunman. In 1965, writing under the pseudonym of Adam Hall, Elleston Trevor published athriller which, like Ian Flemings Casino Royale before it, was to herald a change in the world of spy thrillers. Hall alsopeppered the text with authentic espionage jargon and as you read you get to live the part of Quiller. The films featured secret agent is the very un-British Quiller (George Segal), a slightly depressive American operative on loan to Britains secret services (take that, Bond!). Inge tells him she loves him, and he tells her a phone number to call if he is not back in 20 minutes. Conveniently for Quiller, shes also the only teacher there whos single and looks like a Bond girl. 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. This was evidently the first of a very long series featuring the spy Quiller. He recruits Berger to help him infiltrate the Neo-Nazis and discover their base of operations, but, once again, is thwarted. My take was, he knows she's one of the bad guys, and same with the headmistress who he passes on the way out. The photo shows a man in Luftwaffe (airforce) uniform. Get help and learn more about the design. 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. 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. When Quiller arrives inthe cityhis handler gives him three items found on a dead agent: tickets to a swimming pool and a bowling alley along with a newspaper cutting. Can someone please explain to me the ending in The Quiller Memorandum Quiller confronts a man who seems to be following him, revealing that he (Quiller) speaks German fluently. A highly unusual and stimulating approach that draws us into the story. Segal is a very young man in this, with that flippant, relaxed quality that made him so popular. An American secret agent called Quiller (George Segal) working for MI6 (whose chief is George Sanders) travels to Berlin to uncover a deadly Neo-Nazi band . Quiller continues his subtle accusations, and Inge continues her denial of ever meeting Jones. 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). Lindt (Berger) is a school teacher who meets Quiller to translate for him. Also published as "The Berlin Memorandum" (UK title). The film was shot on location in West Berlin and in Pinewood Studios, England. The Quiller Memorandum (1966) - IMDb 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. Nobel prizes notwithstanding I think Harold Pinter's screenplay for this movie is pretty lame, or maybe it's the director's fault. But good enough to hold my interest till the end. Hassler drives them to meet an old contact he says knows a lot more, who turns out to be Inge's headmistress. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. 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. THE SITE FOR DIE HARD CRIME & THRILLER FANS. Set largely on location in West Berlin, it has George Segal brought back from vacation to replace a British agent who has come to a sticky end at the hands of a new infiltrating group of Nazis. 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. 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. Quiller works for the Bureau, an arm of the British Secret Service so clandestinethat no-one knows itexists. 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) . 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. The Quiller Memorandum subtitles. closing theme, This page was last edited on 26 January 2023, at 11:13. In the 60's, in Berlin, two British agents that are investigating a Neonazi ring are murdered. In . Twist piles upon twist , as a British agent becomes involved in a fiendishly complicated operation to get a dangerous ringleader and his menacing hoodlums . The Quiller Memorandum Cineaste Magazine Corrections? 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.) There are a number of unique elements in the Quiller series that make it stand out. The Quiller Memorandum Audible Audiobook - Unabridged What Adam Hall did extremely wellwas toget us readers inside the mind of an undercover operative. The book is built around a continual number of reveals. Phoenix boss Oktober (Max von Sydow) with George Segal, seated. The film was shot on location in West Berlin and in Pinewood . 1 jamietre 8 mo. This books has excellent prose, unrealistic scenes, and a mediocre plot. Visually, the film was rather stunning, but the magical soft focus that appears every time Inga is in the frame is silly. As other reviewers have suggested, this Cold War Neo-Nazi intrigue is more concerned with subtle, low-key plot evolution than the James Bond in-your-face-gadgetry genre that was prevalent during the 60's-70's. They are not just sympathisers though. Quiller drives off, managing to shake Hengel, then notices men in another car following him. See production, box office & company info, Europa-Center, Charlottenburg, Berlin, Germany. When Quiller returns to his hotel, a porter bumps Quiller's leg with a suitcase on the steps. The goal of /r/Movies is to provide an inclusive place for discussions and news about films with major releases.
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