Their aim is to bring back the Third Reich. The Quiller Memorandum - Rate Your Music The premise isn't far-fetched, but the details are. 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. True, Segal never seems to settle into the role of Quiller. Pol dispatches a team to Phoenix's HQ, which successfully captures all of Phoenix's members. My take was, he knows she's one of the bad guys, and same with the headmistress who he passes on the way out. Can someone please explain to me the ending in The Quiller Memorandum 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. Inga is unrecognizable and has been changed to the point of uselessness. They are not just sympathisers though. Quiller manages to outwit his opponent yet again, leading to his arrest. Fairly interesting spy movie, but doesn't make much sense under close scrutiny. 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. The Quiller Memorandum (1966) - IMDb Author/co-author of numerous books about the cinema and is regarded as one of the foremost James Bond scholars. 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. 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. This well-drawn tale of espionage is set in West Berlin, 15 years after the end of WW II. Variety and the Flying V logos are trademarks of Variety Media, LLC. 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. It was written by Harold Pinter, but despite his talent for writing plays, he certainly had no cinematic sense whatever. 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). 1966's The Quiller Memorandum is a low-key gem, a pared-down existential spy caper that keeps the exoticism to a minimum. He accepts the assignment and almost immediately finds that he is being followed. Published chrismass61 Aug 21 2013 In . 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. While the Harry Palmer films from 1965 to 1967 (Ipcress File, Funeral in Berlin, and Billion Dollar Brain) saw cockney Everyman Michael Caine nail the part of Palmer, who was the slum-dwelling, bespectacled antithesis to Sean Connerys martini-sipping sybarite. 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. Special guests Sanders and Helpmann bring their special brand of haughty authority to their roles as members of British Intelligence. The Quiller Memorandum | Popular Culture Wiki | Fandom Read more For Quiller, it's a question of staying alive when he's not in possession of all of the facts. Fans of realistic spy fiction will enjoy David McCloskeys debut thriller Damascus Station, newly available in paperback in the UK. The Quiller Memorandum subtitles | 36 subtitles This spy novel about neo-Nazis 1960's Berlin seemed dated and a little stilted to me. In the following chapter the events have moved on beyond the crisis, instantly creating a how? question in your mind. Pretending to be a reporter, Quiller visits the school featured in the article. Just watched it. Nobel prizes notwithstanding I think Harold Pinter's screenplay for this movie is pretty lame, or maybe it's the director's fault. Quiller Memorandum, The - DVD Talk His virtual army of nearly silent, oddball henchmen add to the flavor of paranoia and nervousness. My take was, he knows she's one of the bad guys, and same with the headmistress who he passes on the way out. American agent Quiller (George Segal) arrives in Berlin and meets with his British handler Pol (Alec Guinness). The ploy works as one, two or all three of those places were where the Nazis did learn about Quiller, who they kidnap. Quiller wakes up beside Berlin's Spree River. Blu-ray, color, 105 min., 1966. I read it in two evenings. The first thing to say about this film is that the screenplay is so terrible. Probably the most famous example of a solid American type playing an Englishman is Clark Gable from Mutiny On The Bounty. 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 . 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 story is ludicrous. A man walks along a deserted Berlin street at night and enters an internally lit phone box. Quiller is surprised to learn that no women were found. This is the first in the series, and it seems to have a reputation for being a little different from what would become the typical Quiller novel. Hall's truncated writing style contributes to this effect. Really sad. The Quiller Memorandum (1966) - Trivia - IMDb The film is ludicrous. En route he has some edgy adventures. The characters and dialog are well-written and most roles are nicely acted. 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. Another characteristic of Halls style isthe ending of chapters with a cliff hanger. With George Segal, Alec Guinness, Max von Sydow, Senta Berger. What will Quiller do? 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). Quiller, a British agent who works without gun, cover or contacts, takes on a neo-Nazi underground organization and its war criminal leader. He calls Inge and arranges to meet. This exciting movie belongs to spy sub-genre being developed during the cold war , it turns out to be a stirring thriller plenty of mystery , tension , high level of suspense , and a little bit of violence . I'm generally pretty forgiving of film adaptations of novels, but the changes that were made just do not make sense. When their backs against the wall, its him they turn to. 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. Quiller asks after Jones at the bowling alley without success and the swimming pool manager Hassler tells him spectating is not allowed. In the process, he discovers a complex and malevolent plot, more dangerous to the world than any crime committed during the war. Quiller, an agent working for British Intelligence, is sent to Berlin to meet with Pol, another operative. The Quiller Memorandum book. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. Oh, there are some problems, and Michael Anderson's direction is. The Quiller Memorandum: Directed by Michael Anderson. Kindle Edition. And he sustains the same high level of quality over the course of nineteen books. 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. All of that, and today the novels are largely forgotten. Watchable and intriguing as it occasionally is, enigmatic is perhaps the most apposite adjective you could use to describe the "action" within. Finally, he is placed in the no-win position of either choosing to aid von Sydow or allowing Berger to be murdered. [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. 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. The headmistress introduces him to a teacher who speaks English, Inge Lindt. Press J to jump to the feed. 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. He also works alone and without contacts. 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. Updates? Nimble, sharp-toothed and sometimes they have to bite and claw their way out of a dark hole. 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. The novel was titled The Berlin Memorandum and at its centre was the protagonist and faceless spy, Quiller. It keeps the reader engrossed right up to the last couple of lines. For example operatives are referred to as ferrets, and thats what they are. You HAVE been watching it carefully. Quiller tells Inge that they got most, but clearly not all, of the neo-Nazis. Quiller also benefits from some geographically eclectic West Berlin location shooting from master cinematographer and Berlin native Erwin Hillier. 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. Your name is Quiller. He begins openly asking question about Neo-Nazis and is soon kidnapped by a man known only as "Oktober". But don't let it fool you for one minutenor Mr. Segal, nor Senta Berger as the girl. The Quiller Memorandum, British-American spy film, released in 1966, that was especially noted for the deliberately paced but engrossing script by playwright Harold Pinter. Sadly the Quiller novels have fallen out of favour with the apparentend of the Cold War. She states that she "was lucky, they let me go" and claims she then called the phone number but it did not work. He is shielded behind the building when the bomb explodes. The casting of George Segal in the lead was a catastrophe, as he is so brash and annoying that one wants to scream. 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. First isthe protagonist himself. Michael Sandlin is a writer and academic based in Houston, Texas. 15 years after the end of WW II. 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. The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels by Janice Hallett, Norwegian crime show Witch Hunt comes to Walter Presents, The Wall: Quebec crime show comes to More4, Irish crime drama North Sea Connection comes to BBC Four, The complete guide to Mick Herrons Slough House series. 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. Two British agents are murdered by a mysterious Neo-Nazi organization in West Berlin. He steals a taxi, evades a pursuing vehicle and books himself into a squalid hotel. 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. And the legendary John Barrycomposer of the original Bond themeprovides appropriately haunting incidental music here. Quiller being injected with truth serum by agents of Phoenix. Alec Guinness never misses a trick in his few scenes as the cold, witty fish in charge of Berlin sector investigations. The love interest between Quiller and Inge (Senta Berger) developed with no foundation. How nice to see you again! and so forth. The Quiller Memorandum is based on Adam Hall's thriller novel about neo-Nazism in contemporary Germany. 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. After two British agents are killed while investigating Phoenix, a neo-Nazi group, Quiller is tasked with finding the organizations leader. 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 mind of the spy Dril several holes in it, the size of a pin, one the size of a small coin. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. The film starred George Segal in the lead role, with Alec Guinness supporting andwas nominated for three BAFTAs. If your idea of an exciting spy thriller involves boobs, blondes and exploding baguettes, then The Quiller Memorandum is probably not for you. - BH. The nation remained the home of the best spies. This movie belongs to the long list of the spy features of the sixties, and not even James Bond like movies, rather John Le Carr oriented ones, in the line of IPCRESS or ODESSA FILE, very interesting films for movie buffs in search of a kind of nostalgia and also for those who try to understand this period. On the surface, we get at least some satisfying closure to the case of the clandestine neo-Nazi gang. 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. He was the author of. 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! Quiller's primary contact for this job is a mid level administrative agent named Pol. Submissions should be for the purpose of informing or initiating a discussion, not just to entertain readers. It is very rare that I find anyone else who is even aware of the Quiller books and yet they are as your reviewer mentions, absolutely first class. Michael Anderson directs with his usual leaden touch. 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.