The novels are esoteric thrillers, very cerebral and highly recommended. Drama. 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.) His Oktober does, however, serve as a one-man master class in hyperironic cordiality: Ah, Quiller! Hes lone wolf who lives or dies by his own actions a very clean and principled approach to espionage. He also wroteacrossa number ofgenres. Agent Quiller is relaxing in a Berlin theater the night before returning to London and rest after a difficult assignment when he is accosted by Pol, another British agent, with a new, very important assignment. Their aim is to bring back the Third Reich. movies. But Quiller gets closer to the action when he visits a supposedly progressive West Berlin middle school on a tip about an alleged Nazi war criminal who once taught there. Author/co-author of numerous books about the cinema and is regarded as one of the foremost James Bond scholars. George Segal provides us with a lead character who is somewhat quirky in his demeanor, yet nonetheless effective in his role as an agent. Max Van Sydow is better as the neo-Nazi leader, veiled by the veneer of respectability as he cracks his knuckles and swings a golf club all the time he's injecting Segal with massive doses of truth serum, while Senta Berger is pleasant, but slight, as the pretty young teacher who apparently leads our man initially to the "other side", but whose escape at the end from capture and certain death at the hands of the "baddies" might lead one to suspect her true proclivities. Nobel prizes notwithstanding I think Harold Pinter's screenplay for this movie is pretty lame, or maybe it's the director's fault. This books has excellent prose, unrealistic scenes, and a mediocre plot. 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. And considering how terrible its one fight scene is, it's certainly a blessing that it doesn't have any more. In 1966, the book was made into a successful film starring George Segal, Max Von Sydow, Senta Berger, and Alec Guinness. George Segal as Agent Quiller with Inge Lindt (Senta Berger). 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. I read it in two evenings. As such, it was deemed to be in the mode of The Ipcress File (1965) and The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965). The film was shot on location in West Berlin and in Pinewood Studios, England. So, at this level. Elleston Trevor (pictured) himself was a prolific, award-winning writer, producing novels under a range of pen names nine in total! The Quiller Memorandum book. Whats left most open to interpretation is Inges role in all this: was she a Janus-faced Nazi mole who used sex as a weapon to lead Quiller into a trap? 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 read the whole Quiller series when I was younger, and loved it. Blu-ray, color, 105 min., 1966. When drug-induced questioning fails to produce results, Segal is booted to the river, but he isn't quite ready to give in yet. Because the books were written in the first person the reader learns very little about him, beyond his mission capability. Finally, he is placed in the no-win position of either choosing to aid von Sydow or allowing Berger to be murdered. Quiller admits to Inge that he is an "investigator" on the trail of neo-Nazis. And of course, no spy-spoof conversation would be complete without mentioning 1967s David Niven-led piss-take on the Bond films, Casino Royale. But admittedly its a tricky business second-guessing his dramatic instincts here. What Adam Hall did extremely wellwas toget us readers inside the mind of an undercover operative. "The Quiller Memorandum" is a film with a HUGE strike against it at the outset.they inexplicably cast George Segal as a British spy! Oh, there are some problems, and Michael Anderson's direction is. Quiller's assignment is to take over where Jones left off. 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. Quiller has a love affair with Inge and they seek out the location of Oktober. [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?" Quiller (played by George Segal) is an American secret agent assigned to work with British MI6 chief Pol ( Alec Guinness) in West Berlin. 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). February 27, 2023 new bill passed in nj for inmates 2022 No Comments . The book is built around a continual number of reveals. And he sustains the same high level of quality over the course of nineteen books. (UK title). The thugs believe him dead when they see the burning wreckage. Really sad. Also contains one of the final appearences of George Sanders in a brief role, a classic in his own right! 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. Quiller befriends a teacher, Inge Lindt, whose predecessor at the school had been arrested for being a Neo-Nazi. 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 . Alec Guinness plays spymaster Pol, Quillers minder. The novel was titled The Berlin Memorandum and at its centre was the protagonist and faceless spy, Quiller. All Rights Reserved. The source novel "The Berlin Memorandum" is billed in the credits as being by Adam Hall. Variety wrote that "it relies on a straight narrative storyline, simple but holding, literate dialog and well-drawn characters". Oktober informs Quiller that if he does not disclose secret information this time, both he and Inge will be killed. Quiller goes back to the school and confronts Inge in her classroom. For my money, the top three cold war spy novelists were Le Carre, Deighton, and Adam Hall. Quiller is surprised to learn that no women were found. It was from the quiller memorandum ending of the item, a failed nuclear weapons of Personalized Map Search. He is shot dead by an unseen gunman. It is credible. I just dont really understand the ending to a degree. Read more 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. The setting is the most shadowy "post WWII Berlin" with the master players lined up against each other - The Brits and The Nazi Heirs. youtu.be/rQ4PA3H6pAw. We never find out histrue identity or his history. The film is ludicrous. 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. In the process, he discovers a complex and malevolent plot, more dangerous to the world than any crime committed during the war. 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. 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. 2023 Variety Media, LLC. 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. His virtual army of nearly silent, oddball henchmen add to the flavor of paranoia and nervousness. 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. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. Visually, the film was rather stunning, but the magical soft focus that appears every time Inga is in the frame is silly. My take was, he knows she's one of the bad guys, and same with the headmistress who he passes on the way out. 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. When Quiller refuses to talk, Oktober orders his execution. Quiller leaves, startling the headmistress on the way out. . Von Sydow (one of the few actors to have recovered from playing Jesus Christ and gone on to a varied and lengthy career) is excellent. 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. 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). It was written by Harold Pinter, but despite his talent for writing plays, he certainly had no cinematic sense whatever. American agent Quiller (George Segal) arrives in Berlin and meets with his British handler Pol (Alec Guinness). Special guests Sanders and Helpmann bring their special brand of haughty authority to their roles as members of British Intelligence. No one really cared that Gable did not even attempt an English accent the film was that good. Quiller, a British agent who works without gun, cover or contacts, takes on a neo-Nazi underground organization and its war criminal leader. Quiller manages to outwit his opponent yet again, leading to his arrest. Quiller investigates, but hes being followed and has been since the moment he entered Berlin. The screenwriter, Harold Pinter, no less, received an Edgar nomination. Performed by Matt Monro, "Wednesday's Child" was also released as a single. "[4], The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports that 67% of critics have given the film a positive rating, based on 12 reviews, with an average score of 7.4/10. A man walks along a deserted Berlin street at night and enters an internally lit phone box. But soon he finds that she has been kidnapped and Oktober gives a couple of hours to him to give the location of the site; otherwise Inge and him will be killed. 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. Or was she simply a lonely Samaritan who altruistically beds the socially awkward American spy to help prevent a Fourth Reich? They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. 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). Theres a humanity to Quiller that is unique in this type of action spy thriller. I was really surprised, because I don't usually like books written during the 50s or 60s. Don't start thinking you missed something: it's the screenplay who did ! At the 1967 BAFTA Awards the film had nominations in the best Art Direction, Film Editing and Screenplay categories, but did not win. That way theres no-one to betray him to the other side. . This isn't your average James Bond knockoff spy thriller; the fact that the screenplay is by playwright Harold Pinter is the first clue. I recall being duly impressed by the menacing atmospherics, if much of it went over my head. 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 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. 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. She states that she "was lucky, they let me go" and claims she then called the phone number but it did not work. I liked that the main character was ornery and tired and smart and still made mistakes and tried to see all possible outcomes at once and fought more against jumping to conclusions and staying alert and clear-headed than he did directly against the villains themselves. Like Harry Palmer, Quiller is a stubborn individualist who has some rather inflated ideas of being his own man and is contemptuous of his controlling stuffed-shirt overlords. There was also a TV series in 1975. Having just read the novel, it's impossible to watch this without its influence and I found the screen version incredibly disappointing. Twist piles upon twist , as a British agent becomes involved in a fiendishly complicated operation to get a dangerous ringleader and his menacing hoodlums . Write by: 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. 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 . Pol tells Quiller the fascist underground is far more organized and powerful in Germany than people believe. 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). Probably the most famous example of a solid American type playing an Englishman is Clark Gable from Mutiny On The Bounty. Pretending to be a reporter, Quiller visits the school featured in the article. 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. The name of the intelligence agency that Quiller ( George Segal) worked for was MI6. Scriptwriter Harold Pinter, already with two of the best adapted screenplays of the 1960s British New Wave under his belt (The Servant and The Pumpkin Eater), adapted his screenplay for Quiller from Adam Halls 1965 novel, The Berlin Memorandum. Hall is not trying be a Le Carre, hes in a different area, one he really makes his own. 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. The original, primary mission has been completely omitted. Quiller tells Inge that they got most, but clearly not all, of the neo-Nazis. This isachievedviaQuillers first person perspective. The first thing to say about this film is that the screenplay is so terrible. Your name is Quiller. Where to Watch. 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. 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. 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. 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. Its excellent entertainment. 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. Hall's truncated writing style contributes to this effect. 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. 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). 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. The mission in Berlin is a mess, two of the Bureaus spies have been murdered already by the shadowy Phoenix. Keating. 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. In a feint to see if Quiller will reveal more by oversight, Oktober decides to spare his life. They are not just sympathisers though. 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. In addition to Pinters screenplay, the film was noted for its plot twists and the portrayal of Quiller as refreshingly vulnerable and occasionally inept. Quiller works for the Bureau, an arm of the British Secret Service so clandestinethat no-one knows itexists. As classic as it gets. The headmistress introduces him to a teacher who speaks English, Inge Lindt. I enjoyed the book. 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. Michael Anderson directs with his usual leaden touch. His romantic interest is Senta Berger, whose understated and laconic dialog provides the perfect counterpoint to Segal's character. . And, the final scene (with her and Segal) is done extremely well (won't spoil it for those who still wish to see itit fully sums up the film, the tension filled times and cold war-era Germany). Get help and learn more about the design. 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 photo shows a man in Luftwaffe (airforce) uniform. ago Just watched it. While most realistic spy films of the 60s focused on the Soviet threat, Quiller pits the title character against a group of neo-Nazis. And whats more, Quillers espionage tale is free of the silly gimmicks and gadgetry that define the escapist Bond franchise. He begins openly asking question about Neo-Nazis and is soon kidnapped by a man known only as "Oktober". This was a great movie and found Quillers character to be excellent. 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. The Quiller Memorandum: Directed by Michael Anderson. Variety and the Flying V logos are trademarks of Variety Media, LLC. 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. 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 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. before he started doing "genial" and reminds us that his previous part was in the heavyweight "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf". The friend proves to be Hassler, who is now much more friendly. On the surface, we get at least some satisfying closure to the case of the clandestine neo-Nazi gang. In West Berlin, George Segal's Quiller struggles through a near- existential battle with Neo-Nazi swine more soulless than his own cold-fish handlers. In many ways, it creates mystery through the notion of exploring "mystery" itself. This isn't your standard spy film with lots of gunplay, outrageous villains, and explosions. Is there another film with as many sequences of extended, audible footsteps? He recruits Berger to help him infiltrate the Neo-Nazis and discover their base of operations, but, once again, is thwarted. 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. How did I miss this film until just recently? 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. Michael Anderson directs a classy slice of '60s spy-dom. I also expected just a little more from the interrogation scenes from the man who wrote "The Birthday Party". 1966's The Quiller Memorandum is a low-key gem, a pared-down existential spy caper that keeps the exoticism to a minimum. The setting is Cold War-divided Berlin where Quiller tackles a threat from a group of neo-Nazis who call themselves Phoenix. Is Quiller going to wind up dead too? I can't NOT begin by saying, "This Is A MUST Read For Every Fan Of The Espionage Genre". 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! The mind of the spy The Chief of the Secret Service Pol (Alec Guinness) summons the efficient agent Quiller (George Segal) to investigate the location of organization's headquarter. 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. In the mid-Sixties, the subgenre of the James Bond backlash film was becoming a crowded market. 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.

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