There was also a TV series in 1975. The setting is Cold War-divided Berlinwhere Quillertackles a threat from a group ofneo-Nazis whocall themselves Phoenix. The setting is as classic as the comeBerlin during the 1960s. Quiller also benefits from some geographically eclectic West Berlin location shooting from master cinematographer and Berlin native Erwin Hillier. (UK title). 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. Quiller tells Inge that they got most, but clearly not all, of the neo-Nazis. With a screenplay by Harold Pinter and careful direction by Michael Anderson, the movie is more a violent-edged tale of probable, cynical betrayal by everyone we meet, with the main character, Quiller (George Segal), squeezed by those he works for, those he works against and even by the delectable German teacher, Inge Lendt (Senta Berger) he meets. When they find, Quiller gives the phone number of his base to Inge and investigates the place. This was a great movie and found Quillers character to be excellent. It keeps the reader engrossed right up to the last couple of lines. 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. I just dont really understand the ending to a degree. International in its scope its contributors include scholars from Australia, Quiller . 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. He quickly becomes involved with numerous people of suspicious motives and backgrounds, including Inge (Senta Berger), a teacher at a school where a former Nazi war criminal committed suicide. Newer. When Quiller returns to his hotel, a porter bumps Quiller's leg with a suitcase on the steps. Weary, Quiller only accepts the assignment on the assumption that he can fulfill a self-made promise revenge for a friend. 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. Fairly interesting spy movie, but doesn't make much sense under close scrutiny. I wanted to make a list of all the things that are wrong with this film, but I can't - such a list would need much more than a thousand words. At the 1967 BAFTA Awards the film had nominations in the best Art Direction, Film Editing and Screenplay categories, but did not win. I was really surprised, because I don't usually like books written during the 50s or 60s. 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. And he sustains the same high level of quality over the course of nineteen books. 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 film had its world premiere on 10 November 1966 at the Odeon Leicester Square in the West End of London. After their first two operatives leading the field mission are assassinated in subsequent order, the British Secret Service recruit Quiller, an American agent, to continue to lead that field operation, namely to discover the base of operations of a new Nazi organization in West Berlin, they whose general members hide in plain sight in blending in with all walks of West German society. 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. The source novel "The Berlin Memorandum" is billed in the credits as being by Adam Hall. ): as a result, they were summarily bumped off with stereotypical German precision. You are a secret agent working for the British in Berlin. Don't start thinking you missed something: it's the screenplay who did ! 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. Other viewers have said it all: it is a good movie and more interestingly it is a different kind of spy movie. 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. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Having just read the novel, it's impossible to watch this without its influence and I found the screen version incredibly disappointing. 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 Quiller Memorandum Reviews. Submissions should be for the purpose of informing or initiating a discussion, not just to entertain readers. 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.) Hall alsopeppered the text with authentic espionage jargon and as you read you get to live the part of Quiller. Its excellent entertainment. 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. First isthe protagonist himself. 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). 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. Because the books were written in the first person the reader learns very little about him, beyond his mission capability. Your email address will not be published. The ploy works as one, two or all three of those places were where the Nazis did learn about Quiller, who they kidnap. 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. Hes lone wolf who lives or dies by his own actions a very clean and principled approach to espionage. The friend proves to be Hassler, who is now much more friendly. Visually, the film was rather stunning, but the magical soft focus that appears every time Inga is in the frame is silly. He calls Inge and arranges to meet. My take was, he knows she's one of the bad guys, and same with the headmistress who he passes on the way out. Composer Barry provides an atmospheric score (though one that is somewhat of a departure from the notes and instruments used in his more famous pieces), but silence is put to good use as well. The book and movie made a bit of a splash in the spy craze of the mid-sixties, when James Bond and The Man From Uncle were all the rage. 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. And although Harold Pinters screenwriting for Quiller doesnt strike one as being classically Pinteresque, occasionally his distinct style reveals itself in pockets of suggestive menace where silence is often just as important as whats spoken. There are a number of unique elements in the Quiller series that make it stand out. The film is ludicrous. That makes the story much more believable, and Adam Hall's writing style kept me engaged. 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. All Rights Reserved. movies. When Quiller refuses to talk, Oktober orders his execution. George Segal as Agent Quiller with Inge Lindt (Senta Berger). 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 . NR. Quiller's assignment is to take over where Jones left off. 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. While the rest of the cast (Alec Guinness, Max Von Sydow and George Sanders) are good and Harold Pinter tries hard to turn a very internal story into the visual medium, George Segal is totally miscast as Quiller. 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 asks after Jones at the bowling alley without success and the swimming pool manager Hassler tells him spectating is not allowed. Or was she simply a lonely Samaritan who altruistically beds the socially awkward American spy to help prevent a Fourth Reich? See production, box office & company info, Europa-Center, Charlottenburg, Berlin, Germany. An almost unrecognizable George Segal stars in "The Quiller Memorandum," set in Berlin and made 40 years ago. 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). It was time for kitchen-sink alternatives to the Bond films upper-crust Empire nostalgia, channeled as it was through a tuxedoed, priapic Anglo toff committing state-sponsored murder in service of Her Majestys postcolonial grudges. 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. Book 4 stars, narration by Simon Prebble 4 stars. . The headmistress introduces him to a teacher who speaks English, Inge Lindt. Max von Sydow plays the Nazi chief quietly but with high camp menace. He sounded about as British as Leo Carillo or Cher. Michael Anderson directs a classy slice of '60s spy-dom. Quiller works for the Bureau, an arm of the British Secret Service so clandestinethat no-one knows itexists. - BH. The Wall Street Journal said it was one of the best espionage/spy series of all time. Also the increasing descent into the minutiae of spycraft plays into the reveal, plot-wise as well as psychologically. Quiller is surprised to learn that no women were found. As explained by his condescending boss Pol (Alec Guinness), Quillers two unfortunate predecessors were getting too close to exposing the subterranean neo-Nazi cell known as Phoenix (get it? Hall (also known as Elleston Trevor and several other pseudonyms) seemed really to hate the Germans, or at least his character did. Following the few leads his predecessor Jones had accumulated, Quiller finds himself nosing around for clues in the sort of unglamorous places in which Bond would never deign to set footbowling alleys and public swimming pools, especially. But how could she put up with the love scenes with the atrocious Segal? 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. 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. 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! Kindle Edition. The shooting on location in Berlin makes it that much more thrilling. . Quiller confronts a man who seems to be following him, revealing that he (Quiller) speaks German fluently. A Twilight Time release. 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. Pol dispatches a team to Phoenix's HQ, which successfully captures all of Phoenix's members. Just watched it. And considering how terrible its one fight scene is, it's certainly a blessing that it doesn't have any more. 15 years after the end of WW II. 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). At a key breakfast meeting, Pol uses two blueberry muffins to outline the particularly precarious cat-and-mouse game Quiller must play while in the gap between his own side and the fascist gang. 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 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 . That way theres no-one to betray him to the other side. 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. 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." 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. He is British secret agent Kenneth Lindsay Jones. When their backs against the wall, its him they turn to. youtu.be/rQ4PA3H6pAw. [6], The mainly orchestral atmospheric soundtrack composed by John Barry was released by Columbia in 1966. The film was shot on location in West Berlin and in Pinewood . 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. How nice to see you again! and so forth. Elleston Trevor (pictured) himself was a prolific, award-winning writer, producing novels under a range of pen names nine in total! Watched by Rui Alves de Sousa 04 Jun 2022. Quiller continues his subtle accusations, and Inge continues her denial of ever meeting Jones. "The Quiller Memorandum" is a film with a HUGE strike against it at the outset.they inexplicably cast George Segal as a British spy! This isachievedviaQuillers first person perspective. Two British agents are murdered by a mysterious Neonazi organization in West Berlin. 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. Quiller investigates, but hes being followed and has been since the moment he entered Berlin. The setting is the most shadowy "post WWII Berlin" with the master players lined up against each other - The Brits and The Nazi Heirs. The West had sent a couple of agents to find out their headquarters, but both are killed.
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