Thanks in advance. They don't know how to play it, it's neither enjoyable make-believe like the James Bond movies, nor is it played for real like "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold." 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. 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. So, at this level. 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 book is more focused on thinking as a spy and I found it to be very realistic. 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.) 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. I listened to the audio version narrated by Andrew B Wehrlen and found it an utterly engaging tale. The third to try is Quiller, an unassuming man, who knows he's being put into a deadly game. 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. Alec Guinness gets to play a Smiley prototype but brings too much Noel Coward to the table. George Segal provides us with a lead character who is somewhat quirky in his demeanor, yet nonetheless effective in his role as an agent. At lunch in an exclusive club in London, close to Buckingham Palace, the directors of an unnamed agency, Gibbs and Rushington, decide to send American agent Quiller to continue the assignment, which has now killed two agents. 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. 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 a secret agent working for the British in Berlin. Hall is not trying be a Le Carre, hes in a different area, one he really makes his own. 2023's Most Anticipated Sequels, Prequels, and Spin-offs, Dirk Bauer . 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 . Very eerie film score, I believe John Barry did it but, I'm not sure. In a feint to see if Quiller will reveal more by oversight, Oktober decides to spare his life. An almost unrecognizable George Segal stars in "The Quiller Memorandum," set in Berlin and made 40 years ago. Sadly the Quiller novels have fallen out of favour with the apparentend of the Cold War. 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 setting is Cold War-divided Berlinwhere Quillertackles a threat from a group ofneo-Nazis whocall themselves Phoenix. ago Just watched it. This was the first book, and I liked it. The screenwriter, Harold Pinter, no less, received an Edgar nomination. True, Segal never seems to settle into the role of Quiller. The film ends with Quiller suspecting that Inge is more than an ordinary schoolteacher. 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. 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! America's leading magazine on the art and politics of the cinema. Pretending to be a reporter, Quiller visits the school featured in the article. The thugs believe him dead when they see the burning wreckage. 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. While most realistic spy films of the 60s focused on the Soviet threat, Quiller pits the title character against a group of neo-Nazis. 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. Elleston Trevor wrote 19 novels in the highly successful Quiller series. I also expected just a little more from the interrogation scenes from the man who wrote "The Birthday Party". 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. And whats more, Quillers espionage tale is free of the silly gimmicks and gadgetry that define the escapist Bond franchise. Once Quiller becomes extra-friendly with Ingewhich happens preternaturally quicklyits clear someone on the other side is getting nervous. 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. Phoenix boss Oktober (Max von Sydow) with George Segal, seated. 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. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. 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 film had its world premiere on 10 November 1966 at the Odeon Leicester Square in the West End of London. 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. The movie made productive use of the West German locations. I enjoyed the book. Quiller slips out though a side door to the small garage yard where his car is kept. All Rights Reserved. In many ways, it creates mystery through the notion of exploring "mystery" itself. . ): as a result, they were summarily bumped off with stereotypical German precision. before he started doing "genial" and reminds us that his previous part was in the heavyweight "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf". Hall alsopeppered the text with authentic espionage jargon and as you read you get to live the part of Quiller. It was written by Harold Pinter, but despite his talent for writing plays, he certainly had no cinematic sense whatever. THE SITE FOR DIE HARD CRIME & THRILLER FANS. 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. 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. For Quiller, it's a question of staying alive when he's not in possession of all of the facts. 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 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. This well-drawn tale of espionage is set in West Berlin, 15 years after the end of WW II. If your idea of an exciting spy thriller involves boobs, blondes and exploding baguettes, then The Quiller Memorandum is probably not for you. For example, when the neo-Nazi goons are sticking to Quiller like fly paper, wasn't he suspicious when they did not follow him into his hotel? Two British agents are murdered by a mysterious Neonazi organization in West Berlin. Watchable and intriguing as it occasionally is, enigmatic is perhaps the most apposite adjective you could use to describe the "action" within. The film was shot on location in West Berlin and in Pinewood Studios, England. Is Quiller going to wind up dead too? Quiller, a British agent who works without gun, cover or contacts, takes on a neo-Nazi underground organization and its war criminal leader. What is the French language plot outline for The Quiller Memorandum (1966)? Quiller's assignment: to discover the location of the neo-Nazi . It out the quiller? Which is to say that in Quillers world, death is dispensed via relatively banal means like bombs and bullets instead of, say, dagger shoes and radioactive lint. 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. 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 Berger is luminous and exceedingly solid in a complicated role. I probably haven't yet read enough to be fully aware of what the typical Quiller characteristics are, but never mindthe key thing is that it was a pacy, intense and thrilling read. But his accent was all wrongtaking the viewer out of the moment. As classic as it gets. 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. Lindt (Berger) is a school teacher who meets Quiller to translate for him. 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). 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. The first thing to say about this film is that the screenplay is so terrible. Variety wrote that "it relies on a straight narrative storyline, simple but holding, literate dialog and well-drawn characters". 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