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. 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. Get help and learn more about the design. Segal plays a secret agent assigned to ferret out the headquarters of a Neo-Nazi movement in Berlin. [6], The mainly orchestral atmospheric soundtrack composed by John Barry was released by Columbia in 1966. AKA: Ivan Foxwell's the Quiller Memorandum, Quiller, Quiller Memorandum, Ian Foxwell's The Quiller Memorandum, Ivan Foxwell's Production The Quiller Memorandum. After being prevented from using a phone, Quiller makes a run for an elevated train, and thinking he has managed to shake off Oktober's men, exits the other side of the elevated station only to run into them again. Read our extensive list of rules for more information on other types of posts like fan-art and self-promotion, or message the moderators if you have any questions. But his accent was all wrongtaking the viewer out of the moment. The setting is Cold War-divided Berlinwhere Quillertackles a threat from a group ofneo-Nazis whocall themselves Phoenix. 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. After two British agents are killed while investigating Phoenix, a neo-Nazi group, Quiller is tasked with finding the organizations leader. 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. And will the world see a return of Nazi power? I'm generally pretty forgiving of film adaptations of novels, but the changes that were made just do not make sense. 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. 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. Much quieter and understated than most spy flicks. That makes the story much more believable, and Adam Hall's writing style kept me engaged. The intense first person narration which is the defining characteristic of the Quiller books comes into its own during this interrogation scene, and also during the latter chapters of the books as events begin to come to a head. aka: The Quiller Memorandum the first in a series of 19 Quiller books. What a difference to the ludicrous James Helm/Matt Bond (or is it the other way round?) The Quiller Memorandum book. 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 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. She states that she "was lucky, they let me go" and claims she then called the phone number but it did not work. 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. When drug-induced questioning fails to produce results, Segal is booted to the river, but he isn't quite ready to give in yet. Take a solid, healthy chicken's egg out of the hen house or the fridge Now throw out all the substance, and just keep the eggshell. When Quiller refuses to talk, Oktober orders his execution. International in its scope its contributors include scholars from Australia, Quiller . Neo-Nazi plot Analismos este filme no 10. episdio de TRS J COMPANHIA. Quiller, a British agent who works without gun, cover or contacts, takes on a neo-Nazi underground organization and its war criminal leader. That way theres no-one to betray him to the other side. I recall being duly impressed by the menacing atmospherics, if much of it went over my head. Be the first to contribute. But admittedly its a tricky business second-guessing his dramatic instincts here. Pol tells Quiller the fascist underground is far more organized and powerful in Germany than people believe. Quiller has a love affair with Inge and they seek out the location of Oktober. His virtual army of nearly silent, oddball henchmen add to the flavor of paranoia and nervousness. The Wall Street Journal said it was one of the best espionage/spy series of all time. He was the author of. They both go to the building, whereupon they are captured. 42 editions. The film starred George Segal in the lead role, with Alec Guinness supporting andwas nominated for three BAFTAs. 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. See production, box office & company info, Europa-Center, Charlottenburg, Berlin, Germany. Your email address will not be published. The shooting on location in Berlin makes it that much more thrilling. The mission in Berlin is a mess, two of the Bureaus spies have been murdered already by the shadowy Phoenix. 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. 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. The screenwriter, Harold Pinter, no less, received an Edgar nomination. You are a secret agent working for the British in Berlin. People tend to like it because "it's not like the Bond movies"; well, it's not - it's like "The Ipcress File", except that "The Ipcress File" was a genuinely smart and atmospheric movie, while "The Quiller Memorandum" is a clumsy, dated spy thriller full of pseudo-hip dialogue and plot holes. 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. 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. 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! While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Quiller tells Inge that they got most, but clearly not all, of the neo-Nazis. Quiller captures the contrast between the new and the seedy in the West Berlin of the 60s and how Germany remains haunted by the sins of its recent past. Quiller slips out though a side door to the small garage yard where his car is kept. The film is ludicrous. But how could she put up with the love scenes with the atrocious Segal? It was written by Harold Pinter, but despite his talent for writing plays, he certainly had no cinematic sense whatever. The Quiller character is constantly making terrible decisions, and refuses to use a gun, and he's certainly no John Steed. This repackaging includes some worthwhile special features like an isolated score track and commentary by film historians Eddy Friedfeld and Lee Pfeiffer of Cinema Retro magazine to go with the new format. 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. Your name is Quiller. On the surface, we get at least some satisfying closure to the case of the clandestine neo-Nazi gang. George Segal, plays the edgy American-abroad new CI5 recruit (looking unnervingly at times like a young George W Bush!) Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. 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. He calls Inge and arranges to meet. The premise isn't far-fetched, but the details are. It is credible. This isn't your standard spy film with lots of gunplay, outrageous villains, and explosions. 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. Performed by Matt Monro, "Wednesday's Child" was also released as a single. 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. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. 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The novel was titled The Berlin Memorandum and at its centre was the protagonist and faceless spy, Quiller. All Rights Reserved. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. 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 classic tale of espionage that started it all! 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 Quiller Memorandum. (UK title). The love interest between Quiller and Inge (Senta Berger) developed with no foundation. Hall is not trying be a Le Carre, hes in a different area, one he really makes his own. 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). I read a few of these many years ago when they first came out. The movie made productive use of the West German locations. With what little information the British operatives are able to provide him especially in his most recent predecessor, Kenneth Lindsay Jones, working alone without backup against advice, Quiller decides to take a different but potentially more dangerous tact than those predecessors in showing himself at three places Jones was known to be investigating, albeit in coded terms, as the person who has now taken over the mission from Jones in the probability that the Nazis will try to abduct him for questioning to discover what exactly their opponents know or don't know, and to discover in turn their base of operations in West Berlin. Clumsy thriller. 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.) Quiller's primary contact for this job is a mid level administrative agent named Pol. 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). This was evidently the first of a very long series featuring the spy Quiller. 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. 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. Whats more, not even Harold Pinter can inject Segals Quiller with anything like the cutting cynicism and dark humor that made Alec Leamus such a formidably wretched character. This demonstration using familiar breakfast food items serves to stimulate the American spys brainwaves into serious operative mode. Corrections? This was the first book, and I liked it. 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. The mind of the spy True, Segal never seems to settle into the role of Quiller. Quiller continues his subtle accusations, and Inge continues her denial of ever meeting Jones. His romantic interest is Senta Berger, whose understated and laconic dialog provides the perfect counterpoint to Segal's character. When they find, Quiller gives the phone number of his base to Inge and investigates the place. Mind you, in 1966-67 the Wall was there, East German border guards and a definite (cold war) cloud hanging over the city. No doubt Quiller initially seems like a slow-witted stumblebum, but his competence as an agent begins to reveal itself in due course: for instance, we find out he speaks fluent German; in a late scene, he successfully uses a car bomb to fake his own death and fool his adversaries; and along the way he exhibits surprisingly competent hand-to-hand combat skills in beating up a few Nazi bullyboys. Alec Guinness plays spymaster Pol, Quillers minder. The only redeeming features of The Quiller Memorandum are the scenes of Berlin with its old U-Bahn train and wonderful Mercedes automobiles, and the presence of two beautiful German women, Senta Berger and Edith Schneider; those two females epitomize Teutonic womanhood for me. 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. It relies. 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. 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 Quiller Memorandum subtitles. One of my all time favorites and the film too. Weary, Quiller only accepts the assignment on the assumption that he can fulfill a self-made promise revenge for a friend. Quiller, a British agent who works without gun, cover or contacts, takes on a neo-Nazi underground organization and its war criminal leader. Quiller's assignment: to discover the location of the neo-Nazi . But then Quiller retraces his steps in a flashback. I loved seeing and feeling the night shots in this film and, as it was shot on location, the sense of reality was heightened for me. Max von Sydow plays the Nazi chief quietly but with high camp menace. 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. Alec Guinness is excellent as a spy chief, and he gives a faint whiff of verisimilitude to this hopeless film. I read it in two evenings. It relies on a straight narrative storyline, simple but holding, literate dialog and well-drawn characters. 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. Quiller becomes drowsy from a drug that was injected by the porter at the entrance to the hotel. Its excellent entertainment. Omissions? Harold Pinter's fairly literate screenplay features . This isachievedviaQuillers first person perspective. Write by: 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? movies. Although the situations are often deadly serious, Segal seems to take them lightly; perhaps in the decade that spawned James Bond, he was confused and thought he was in a spy spoof. A highly unusual and stimulating approach that draws us into the story. Two British agents are murdered by a mysterious Neonazi organization in West Berlin. [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. Very eerie film score, I believe John Barry did it but, I'm not sure. This time he's a spy trying to get the location of a neo-Nazi organization. Watched by Rui Alves de Sousa 04 Jun 2022. This is an espionage series that started in the '60's and ran through the '90's. Although competing against a whole slew of other titles in the spies-on-every-corner vein, the novel, "The Quiller Memorandum" was amazingly successful in book stores. Variety wrote that "it relies on a straight narrative storyline, simple but holding, literate dialog and well-drawn characters". Quiller manages to outwit his opponent yet again, leading to his arrest. En route he has some edgy adventures. Sadly, Von Sydows formidable acting chops are never seriously challenged here, and his lines are limited to fairly standard B-movie Euro-villain speak. While most realistic spy films of the 60s focused on the Soviet threat, Quiller pits the title character against a group of neo-Nazis. 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. Michael Sandlin is a writer and academic based in Houston, Texas. The plot revolves around former Nazis and the rise of a Neo-Nazi organisation known as Phonix. The film was shot on location in West Berlin and in Pinewood . From that point of view, the film should be seen by social, architectural, and urban landscape historians. 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. 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. My take was, he knows she's one of the bad guys, and same with the headmistress who he passes on the way out. He spends as much time and energy attempting to lose the bouncer-like minders sent to cover him in the field as he does the neo-Nazi goon squads that eventually come calling. His job is to locate their headquarters. The film was shot on location in West Berlin and in Pinewood Studios, England. Watchlist. Also the increasing descent into the minutiae of spycraft plays into the reveal, plot-wise as well as psychologically. This isn't your average James Bond knockoff spy thriller; the fact that the screenplay is by playwright Harold Pinter is the first clue. 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 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. There are a number of unique elements in the Quiller series that make it stand out. With its gritty, real-world depiction of contemporary international espionage, The Quiller Memorandum was one of the more notable anti-Bond films of the 1960s. 2 decades after the collapse of Nazi Germany, several old guard are planning to (slowly) rebuild. Visually, the film was rather stunning, but the magical soft focus that appears every time Inga is in the frame is silly. Michael Anderson directs a classy slice of '60s spy-dom. 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 Quiller Memorandum 1966, directed by Michael Anderson | Film review The Quiller Memorandum Film Time Out says The thinking man's spy thriller, in as much as Harold Pinter wrote the script. Oktober reveals they are moving base the next day and that they have captured Inge. 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). And whats more, Quillers espionage tale is free of the silly gimmicks and gadgetry that define the escapist Bond franchise. Read more 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. 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. His book. 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 Nobel prizes notwithstanding I think Harold Pinter's screenplay for this movie is pretty lame, or maybe it's the director's fault. Theres a humanity to Quiller that is unique in this type of action spy thriller. Yes, Scream VI Marketing Is Behind the Creepy Ghostface Sightings Causing Scares Across the U.S. David Oyelowo, Taylor Sheridan's 'Bass Reeves' Series at Paramount+ Casts King Richard Star Demi Singleton (EXCLUSIVE), Star Trek: Discovery to End With Season 5, Paramount+ Pushes Premiere to 2024. 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. But good enough to hold my interest till the end. After the interview, he gives her a ride to her flat and stops in for a drink. Having just read the novel, it's impossible to watch this without its influence and I found the screen version incredibly disappointing. Variety is a part of Penske Media Corporation. Hall (also known as Elleston Trevor and several other pseudonyms) seemed really to hate the Germans, or at least his character did. 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. George Segal as Agent Quiller with Inge Lindt (Senta Berger). Guinness appears as Segal's superior and offers a great deal of presence and class. He recruits Berger to help him infiltrate the Neo-Nazis and discover their base of operations, but, once again, is thwarted. The name of the intelligence agency that Quiller ( George Segal) worked for was MI6. On the other hand, the female lead is played by the charming Senta Berger, then aged 25, who does very well, and manages to be enigmatic, and gets just the right tone for the story. 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. The friend proves to be Hassler, who is now much more friendly. He is shielded behind the building when the bomb explodes. Inga is unrecognizable and has been changed to the point of uselessness. 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. 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. Soon after his amorous encounter with Inge, Quiller is drugged on the street by a crafty hypodermic-wielding operative and wakes up in a seedy basement full of stern-looking Nazis in business attire. Audiobook. 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. Each reveal, in turn, provides a separate level of truth--or, as it may be, self-deception. He brings graceful authority and steely determination to his role. 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. 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. [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?"

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