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. His two predecessors were killed off in their attempts, but he nevertheless proceeds with headstrong (perhaps even bullheaded) confidence without the aid of cover or even a firearm! His Oktober does, however, serve as a one-man master class in hyperironic cordiality: Ah, Quiller! This is an espionage series that started in the '60's and ran through the '90's. 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. 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. The Quiller Memorandum (1966) - IMDb A highly unusual and stimulating approach that draws us into the story. I also expected just a little more from the interrogation scenes from the man who wrote "The Birthday Party". The Quiller Memorandum is based on Adam Hall's thriller novel about neo-Nazism in contemporary Germany. The Quiller Memorandum (1966) - Turner Classic Movies 1966's The Quiller Memorandum is a low-key gem, a pared-down, existential spy caper that keeps the exoticism to a minimum. 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. Fresh off an Oscar nomination for the mental anguish he suffered at the hands of Richard Burton and Liz Taylor in Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf (also 1966), George Segal seems, in hindsight, a dubious choice to play the offbeat Quiller. Fans of realistic spy fiction will enjoy David McCloskeys debut thriller Damascus Station, newly available in paperback in the UK. Quiller's assignment: to discover the location of the neo-Nazi . Segals laconic, stoop-shouldered Quiller is a Yank agent on loan to the British government to replace the latest cashiered Anglo operative in West Berlin. He also has to endure some narcotically enhanced interrogation, which is the basis of one of the novel's most thrilling chapters. 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. A Twilight Time release. The Quiller Memorandum's strengths and charms are perhaps a bit too subtle for a spy thriller, but those who like their espionage movies served up with a sheen of intelligence rather than gloss or mockery will embrace Quiller.Still, there's no denying that that intelligence doesn't go as deep as it thinks it does, which can be frustrating. 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. 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. Quiller, a British agent who works without gun, cover or contacts, takes on a neo-Nazi underground organization and its war criminal leader. The photo shows a man in Luftwaffe (airforce) uniform. I enjoyed this novel just as much (if not more) as the previous books that I have read, and I will certainly be purchasing any further Quiller novels that I come across in my exploration of second-hand bookshops. 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. 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. . This reactionary quake in the spy genre was brief but seismic all the same. Very eerie film score, I believe John Barry did it but, I'm not sure. Max von Sydow plays the Nazi chief quietly but with high camp menace. As for the rest of the movie, the plot, acting, and dialog are absolutely atrocious; even the footsteps are dubbed - click, click, click. [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. Pol tells Quiller the fascist underground is far more organized and powerful in Germany than people believe. 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. Mind you, in 1966-67 the Wall was there, East German border guards and a definite (cold war) cloud hanging over the city. He is British secret agent Kenneth Lindsay Jones. This was the first book, and I liked it. "The Quiller Memorandum" is a film with a HUGE strike against it at the outset.they inexplicably cast George Segal as a British spy! It was nominated for three BAFTA Awards,[2] while Pinter was nominated for an Edgar Award for the script. The whole thing, including these two actors, is as hollow as a shell. Quiller becomes drowsy from a drug that was injected by the porter at the entrance to the hotel. 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 . Phoenix boss Oktober (Max von Sydow) with George Segal, seated. 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 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!). Each reveal, in turn, provides a separate level of truth--or, as it may be, self-deception. Quiller is eventually kidnapped and tortured by Oktober (Max von Sydow), the leader of Phoenix. A spy thriller for chess players. 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. 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 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. The story is ludicrous. 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. 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. 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) . The name of the intelligence agency that Quiller ( George Segal) worked for was MI6. 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. She claims she turned in the teacher from the article, and points out the dilapidated Phoenix mansion. Quiller enters the mansion and is confronted by Phoenix thugs. He notices the concierge is seated where he can see anyone leaving. The Wall Street Journal said it was one of the best espionage/spy series of all time. What is the French language plot outline for The Quiller Memorandum (1966)? 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. Performed by Matt Monro, "Wednesday's Child" was also released as a single. 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. And of course, no spy-spoof conversation would be complete without mentioning 1967s David Niven-led piss-take on the Bond films, Casino Royale. 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 being injected with truth serum by agents of Phoenix. The friend proves to be Hassler, who is now much more friendly. effective, low key, intelligent, spy film, Attractive, thoughtful spy film with an excellent cast. He calls Inge and arranges to meet. Hall alsopeppered the text with authentic espionage jargon and as you read you get to live the part of Quiller. Two British agents are murdered by a mysterious Neo-Nazi organization in West Berlin. Weary, Quiller only accepts the assignment on the assumption that he can fulfill a self-made promise revenge for a friend. It is credible. 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. 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. A few missteps toward the end so that a few of the twists felt thin and not solidly set up, but overall very nicely plotted and written. The Quiller Memorandum (1966) - IMDb The love interest between Quiller and Inge (Senta Berger) developed with no foundation. Quiller then returns to his hotel, followed by the men who remain outside. In typically British mordant fashion, George Sanders and a fellow staffer in Britain are lunching in London on pheasant, more concerned with the quality of their repast than with the loss of their man in the field! These include another superior soundtrack by John Barry, if perhaps a little too much son-of "The Ipcress File", some fine real-life (West) Berlin exteriors, particularly of the Olympic Stadium with its evocation of 1936 and all that and Harold Pinter's typically rhythmic, if at times inscrutable screenplay. The movie made productive use of the West German locations. Segal is a very young man in this, with that flippant, relaxed quality that made him so popular. The premise isn't far-fetched, but the details are. Oh, there are some problems, and Michael Anderson's direction is. The Quiller Memorandum Reviews. 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. I recently found and purchased all 19 of the series in hardback and read them serially. [6], The mainly orchestral atmospheric soundtrack composed by John Barry was released by Columbia in 1966. Hall is not trying be a Le Carre, hes in a different area, one he really makes his own. 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. Variety is a part of Penske Media Corporation. Pol dispatches a team to Phoenix's HQ, which successfully captures all of Phoenix's members. 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. Watched by Rui Alves de Sousa 04 Jun 2022. Hassler drives them to meet an old contact he says knows a lot more, who turns out to be Inge's headmistress. 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. movies. 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! This isn't your average James Bond knockoff spy thriller; the fact that the screenplay is by playwright Harold Pinter is the first clue. For example operatives are referred to as ferrets, and thats what they are. Visually, the film was rather stunning, but the magical soft focus that appears every time Inga is in the frame is silly. 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). Oktober demands Quiller reveal the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) base by dawn or Inge will be killed. Quiller: At the end of our conversation, he ordered them to kill me. Apparently, it was made into a classic movie and there is even a website compiled by Trevor devotees. 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. A crisply written story that captured my attention from beginning to end. The Quiller Memorandum. This books has excellent prose, unrealistic scenes, and a mediocre plot. The Quiller Memorandum was based on a novel by Elleston Trevor (under the name Adam Hall). 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. Berger is luminous and exceedingly solid in a complicated role. The film is a spy-thriller set in 1960s West Berlin, where agent Quiller is sent to investigate a neo-Nazi organisation. From that point of view, the film should be seen by social, architectural, and urban landscape historians. The original, primary mission has been completely omitted. 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). The book is more focused on thinking as a spy and I found it to be very realistic. Once Quiller becomes extra-friendly with Ingewhich happens preternaturally quicklyits clear someone on the other side is getting nervous. And the legendary John Barrycomposer of the original Bond themeprovides appropriately haunting incidental music here. 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. The setting is as classic as the comeBerlin during the 1960s. The film magnificently utilizes West German locations to bring the story to life. He contacts the teacher Inge Lindt (Senta Berger) expecting to get some clues to be followed and soon he is abducted the the leader Oktober (Max von Sydow) and his men. 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. 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 novels are esoteric thrillers, very cerebral and highly recommended. Drama. This film has special meaning for me as I was living in Berlin during the filming and, subsequent screening in the city. In 1966, the book was made into a successful film starring George Segal, Max Von Sydow, Senta Berger, and Alec Guinness. 42 editions. Oktober reveals they are moving base the next day and that they have captured Inge. Adam Hall's 1966 Edgar Winner: The Quiller Memorandum - Criminal Element Twist piles upon twist , as a British agent becomes involved in a fiendishly complicated operation to get a dangerous ringleader and his menacing hoodlums . From the latest Scandinavian serial killer to Golden Age detective stories, we love our crime novels! 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. There are a number of unique elements in the Quiller series that make it stand out. 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. We never find out histrue identity or his history. The film is ludicrous. Hall's truncated writing style contributes to this effect. Michael Anderson directs a classy slice of '60s spy-dom. Newer. The Quiller Memorandum strips the spy persona down to its primal instincts, ditching the fancy paraphernalia in favor of a rather satisfying display of wits and gumption. The Quiller Memorandum | Popular Culture Wiki | Fandom After all, his characters social unease and affectless personality are presumably components of the movies contra-Bond commitment. Despite an Oscar nomination for "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?," Segal's strength lies in light comedy, and both his demeanor and physical build made him an unlikely pick for an action role, even if the film is short on action. America's leading magazine on the art and politics of the cinema. The nation remained the home of the best spies. He accepts the assignment and almost immediately finds that he is being followed. Another characteristic of Halls style isthe ending of chapters with a cliff hanger. One of my all time favorites and the film too. Reviews of The Quiller Memorandum Letterboxd 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. Quiller investigates, but hes being followed and has been since the moment he entered Berlin. And whats more, Quillers espionage tale is free of the silly gimmicks and gadgetry that define the escapist Bond franchise.
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