Oktober also wants to know the location of the British base in Germany and uses drugs in Quiller to get the information but the skilled agent resists. That makes the story much more believable, and Adam Hall's writing style kept me engaged. Inga is unrecognizable and has been changed to the point of uselessness. As usual for films which are difficult to pin down . That way theres no-one to betray him to the other side. 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). 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. Quiller asks after Jones at the bowling alley without success and the swimming pool manager Hassler tells him spectating is not allowed. He begins openly asking question about Neo-Nazis and is soon kidnapped by a man known only as "Oktober". It was written by Harold Pinter, but despite his talent for writing plays, he certainly had no cinematic sense whatever. Also published as "The Berlin Memorandum" (UK title). Oh, there are some problems, and Michael Anderson's direction is. Quiller, an agent working for British Intelligence, is sent to Berlin to meet with Pol, another operative. 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 photo shows a man in Luftwaffe (airforce) uniform. Fairly interesting spy movie, but doesn't make much sense under close scrutiny. A crisply written story that captured my attention from beginning to end. Quiller continues his subtle accusations, and Inge continues her denial of ever meeting Jones. Not terribly audience-friendly, but smart and very, very cool. She claims she turned in the teacher from the article, and points out the dilapidated Phoenix mansion. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. Quiller's assignment is to take over where Jones left off. This books has excellent prose, unrealistic scenes, and a mediocre plot. From that point of view, the film should be seen by social, architectural, and urban landscape historians. But admittedly its a tricky business second-guessing his dramatic instincts here. His dry but quick Yiddish humor shines through on many occasions, providing diversions that masquerade his underlying desire to expose the antagonists' machinations. Sort of a mixed effect clouds this novel. 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. His Oktober does, however, serve as a one-man master class in hyperironic cordiality: Ah, Quiller! 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. The book is more focused on thinking as a spy and I found it to be very realistic. It's a more realistic or credible portrayal of how a single character copes with trying to get information in a dangerous environment. 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. At the 1967 BAFTA Awards the film had nominations in the best Art Direction, Film Editing and Screenplay categories, but did not win. After all, his characters social unease and affectless personality are presumably components of the movies contra-Bond commitment. THE SITE FOR DIE HARD CRIME & THRILLER FANS. 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. Quiller slips out though a side door to the small garage yard where his car is kept. The novel was titledThe Berlin Memorandum and at its centre was the protagonist and faceless spy, Quiller. He walks down the same street where Jones was shot, but finds he is followed by Oktober's men. A spy thriller for chess players. 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 mid-Sixties, the subgenre of the James Bond backlash film was becoming a crowded market. Dril several holes in it, the size of a pin, one the size of a small coin. , . He published over 50 novels as Elleston Trevor alone. How nice to see you again! and so forth. 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. Instead, the screenplay posits a more sinister threat: the nascent re-Nazification of German youths, facilitated by an underground coven of Nazi sympathizing grade-school teachers. The cast is full of familiar faces: Alec Guinness, who doesn't have much of a role, George Sanders, who has even less of one, Max von Sydow in what was to become a very familiar part for him, Robert Helpmann, Robert Flemyng, and the beautiful, enigmatic Senta Berger. 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! 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. Weary, Quiller only accepts the assignment on the assumption that he can fulfill a self-made promise revenge for a friend. 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. All Rights Reserved. A much better example of a spy novel-to-film adaptation would be Our Man in Havana, also starring Alec Guinness. 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. Also the increasing descent into the minutiae of spycraft plays into the reveal, plot-wise as well as psychologically. Other viewers have said it all: it is a good movie and more interestingly it is a different kind of spy movie. The Wall Street Journal said it was one of the best espionage/spy series of all time. The story is ludicrous. The film illustrates the never-ending game of spying and the futility that results as each mission is only accomplished in its own realm, but the big picture goes on and on with little or no resolution. Cue the imposing Max Von Sydow as Nazi head honcho Oktober, whose Swedish accent is inflected with an Elmer Fudd-like speech impedimentthus achieving something like a serviceable German accent. Variety wrote that "it relies on a straight narrative storyline, simple but holding, literate dialog and well-drawn characters". While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. 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. This was a great movie and found Quillers character to be excellent. 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 Phoenix group descend and take Quiller, torturing him to find out what he knows. NR. Director Michael Anderson Writers Trevor Dudley Smith (based on the novel by) Harold Pinter (screenplay) Stars George Segal Alec Guinness Max von Sydow See production, box office & company info 1966's The Quiller Memorandum is a low-key gem, a pared-down, existential spy caper that keeps the exoticism to a minimum. 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!). After the interview, he gives her a ride to her flat and stops in for a drink. Elleston Trevor wrote 19 novels in the highly successful Quiller series. Quiller, a British agent who works without gun, cover or contacts, takes on a neo-Nazi underground organization and its war criminal leader. Newer. 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 . Senta Berger was gorgeous! before he started doing "genial" and reminds us that his previous part was in the heavyweight "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf". 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's not my intention to be obnoxious and list every point in the movie that strays from the book, but it's truly a shame that such well-crafted material--intriguing back stories, superior spy tactics--is wasted here. The third to try is Quiller, an unassuming man, who knows he's being put into a deadly game. The nation remained the home of the best spies. You HAVE been watching it carefully. By day, the city is presented so beautifully, it's hard to imagine that such ugly things are going on amidst it. 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. His job is to locate their headquarters. America's leading magazine on the art and politics of the cinema. This one makes no exception. All Rights Reserved. The film is a spy-thriller set in 1960s West Berlin, where agent Quiller is sent to investigate a neo-Nazi organisation. He is shot dead by an unseen gunman. This isn't your average James Bond knockoff spy thriller; the fact that the screenplay is by playwright Harold Pinter is the first clue. They are not just sympathisers though. But then Quiller retraces his steps in a flashback. Updates? It is the first book in the 20-volume Quiller series. 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. 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. They are not just sympathisers though. He brings graceful authority and steely determination to his role. The film ends with Quiller suspecting that Inge is more than an ordinary schoolteacher. It keeps the reader engrossed right up to the last couple of lines. Finally, he is placed in the no-win position of either choosing to aid von Sydow or allowing Berger to be murdered. So, at this level. This well-drawn tale of espionage is set in West B. 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. Quiller goes back to the school and confronts Inge in her classroom. Kindle Edition. effective, low key, intelligent, spy film, Attractive, thoughtful spy film with an excellent cast. In the process, he discovers a complex and malevolent plot, more dangerous to the world than any crime committed during the war. 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. 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. 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. 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. The Quiller Memorandum book. Michael Anderson directs a classy slice of '60s spy-dom. The thugs believe him dead when they see the burning wreckage. The West had sent a couple of agents to find out their headquarters, but both are killed. He also has to endure some narcotically enhanced interrogation, which is the basis of one of the novel's most thrilling chapters. A Twilight Time release. Required fields are marked *. 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. I recall being duly impressed by the menacing atmospherics, if much of it went over my head. Segal plays a secret agent assigned to ferret out the headquarters of a Neo-Nazi movement in Berlin. As usual for films which are difficult to pin down . The movie made productive use of the West German locations. He sounded about as British as Leo Carillo or Cher. 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). Quiller works for the Bureau, an arm of the British Secret Service so clandestinethat no-one knows itexists. 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. Don't start thinking you missed something: it's the screenplay who did ! In a feint to see if Quiller will reveal more by oversight, Oktober decides to spare his life. . In terms of style The Quiller books aretaut and written with narrative pace at the forefront. 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. Watchlist. Hall alsopeppered the text with authentic espionage jargon and as you read you get to live the part of Quiller. 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 West Berlin, George Segal's Quiller struggles through a near- existential battle with Neo-Nazi swine more soulless than his own cold-fish handlers. George Segal provides us with a lead character who is somewhat quirky in his demeanor, yet nonetheless effective in his role as an agent. The friend proves to be Hassler, who is now much more friendly. Hes that good try the book and youll find out. Very eerie film score, I believe John Barry did it but, I'm not sure. 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. 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. From the latest Scandinavian serial killer to Golden Age detective stories, we love our crime novels! The British Secret Service sends agent Quiller to investigate. My take was, he knows she's one of the bad guys, and same with the headmistress who he passes on the way out. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. But George Segal just doesn't cut it as a British secret agent in The Quiller Memorandum. 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. 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. February 27, 2023 new bill passed in nj for inmates 2022 No Comments . Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. 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 . The film starred George Segal in the lead role, with Alec Guinness supporting andwas nominated for three BAFTAs. Probably the most famous example of a solid American type playing an Englishman is Clark Gable from Mutiny On The Bounty. This film has special meaning for me as I was living in Berlin during the filming and, subsequent screening in the city. The source novel "The Berlin Memorandum" is billed in the credits as being by Adam Hall. Book 4 stars, narration by Simon Prebble 4 stars. The setting is Cold War-divided Berlin where Quiller tackles a threat from a group of neo-Nazis who call themselves Phoenix. 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. 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. The headmistress introduces him to a teacher who speaks English, Inge Lindt.
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