He published over 50 novels as Elleston Trevor alone. Their aim is to bring back the Third Reich. Quiller, however, escapes, and with Inges help, he discovers the location of Phoenixs headquarters. 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! Blu-ray, color, 105 min., 1966. 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. Where to Watch. ago Just watched it. Its there to tackle the dirty jobs, and Quiller is the Bureaus go-to guy. His understated (and at times simply wooden) performance here can be a tough sell when set against the more expressive comedic persona he cultivated in offbeat 1970s comedies like Blume in Love, The Owl and the Pussycat, Wheres Poppa?, California Spilt, and Fun With Dick and Jane. 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. Not terribly audience-friendly, but smart and very, very cool. This was evidently the first of a very long series featuring the spy Quiller. 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. The book is more focused on thinking as a spy and I found it to be very realistic. Quiller is released. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. He is shot dead by an unseen gunman. There are a number of unique elements in the Quiller series that make it stand out. Very eerie film score, I believe John Barry did it but, I'm not sure. What is the French language plot outline for The Quiller Memorandum (1966)? The goal of /r/Movies is to provide an inclusive place for discussions and news about films with major releases. I was really surprised, because I don't usually like books written during the 50s or 60s. Really sad. Variety is a part of Penske Media Corporation. 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. The film was shot on location in West Berlin and in Pinewood Studios, England. I found it an interesting and pleasant change of pace from the usual spy film, sort of in the realm of The Spy Who Came in From the Cold (but not quite as good). Thank God Segal is in it. This was a great movie and found Quillers character to be excellent. 1966's The Quiller Memorandum is a low-key gem, a pared-down, existential spy caper that keeps the exoticism to a minimum. The third to try is Quiller, an unassuming man, who knows he's being put into a deadly game. 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. Defiant undercover spy Quiller carries out a nervy , stealthy , prowling around Berlin in which he becomes involved into a risked cat and mouse game , being chased and hunted , by a strange and sinister leader , known only as Oktober (Max Von Sidow) . 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.) A much better example of a spy novel-to-film adaptation would be Our Man in Havana, also starring Alec Guinness. 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. He also wroteacrossa number ofgenres. Max von Sydow as a senior post-War Nazi conspirator over-acts and is way out of control, Anderson being so hopeless and just a bystander who can have done no directing at all. Two British agents are murdered by a mysterious Neo-Nazi organization in West Berlin. 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. 1966's The Quiller Memorandum is a low-key gem, a pared-down existential spy caper that keeps the exoticism to a minimum. 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! 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. They both go to the building, whereupon they are captured. 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). 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 Chief of the Secret Service Pol (Alec Guinness) summons the efficient agent Quiller (George Segal) to investigate the location of organization's headquarter. Book 4 stars, narration by Simon Prebble 4 stars. How did I miss this film until just recently? The film had its world premiere on 10 November 1966 at the Odeon Leicester Square in the West End of London. 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? Your email address will not be published. An American agent is sent to Berlin to track down the leaders of a neo-Nazi organization, but when they . Watchlist. The Quiller character is constantly making terrible decisions, and refuses to use a gun, and he's certainly no John Steed. The characters and dialog are well-written and most roles are nicely acted. Don't start thinking you missed something: it's the screenplay who did ! So, at this level. Weary, Quiller only accepts the assignment on the assumption that he can fulfill a self-made promise revenge for a friend. 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!). 1966's The Quiller Memorandum is a low-key gem, a pared-down, existential spy caper that keeps the exoticism to a minimum. 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. Quiller is surprised to learn that no women were found. En route he has some edgy adventures. On the surface, we get at least some satisfying closure to the case of the clandestine neo-Nazi gang. He steals a taxi, evades a pursuing vehicle and books himself into a squalid hotel. 2 decades after the collapse of Nazi Germany, several old guard are planning to (slowly) rebuild. Phoenix boss Oktober (Max von Sydow) with George Segal, seated. But the writing was sloppy and there was a wholly superfluous section on decoding a cipher, which wasn't even believable. Twist piles upon twist , as a British agent becomes involved in a fiendishly complicated operation to get a dangerous ringleader and his menacing hoodlums . If your idea of an exciting spy thriller involves boobs, blondes and exploding baguettes, then The Quiller Memorandum is probably not for you. The film magnificently utilizes West German locations to bring the story to life. Clumsy thriller. 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. What Adam Hall did extremely wellwas toget us readers inside the mind of an undercover operative. Dril several holes in it, the size of a pin, one the size of a small coin. Each reveal, in turn, provides a separate level of truth--or, as it may be, self-deception. Michael Anderson directs a classy slice of '60s spy-dom. Von Sydow (one of the few actors to have recovered from playing Jesus Christ and gone on to a varied and lengthy career) is excellent. It relies on a straight narrative storyline, simple but holding, literate dialog and well-drawn characters. Alec Guinness gets to play a Smiley prototype but brings too much Noel Coward to the table. 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. 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. Quiller's assignment: to discover the location of the neo-Nazi . 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. Having just read the novel, it's impossible to watch this without its influence and I found the screen version incredibly disappointing. When Quiller arrives inthe cityhis handler gives him three items found on a dead agent: tickets to a swimming pool and a bowling alley along with a newspaper cutting. The West had sent a couple of agents to find out their headquarters, but both are killed. Sadly the Quiller novels have fallen out of favour with the apparentend of the Cold War. 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). Unfortunately, the film is weighed down, not only by a ponderous script, but also by a miscast lead; instead of a heavy weight actor in the mold of a William Holden, George Segal was cast as Quiller. What a difference to the ludicrous James Helm/Matt Bond (or is it the other way round?) AKA: Ivan Foxwell's the Quiller Memorandum, Quiller, Quiller Memorandum, Ian Foxwell's The Quiller Memorandum, Ivan Foxwell's Production The Quiller Memorandum. 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. Elleston Trevor (pictured) himself was a prolific, award-winning writer, producing novels under a range of pen names nine in total! Adam Hall/Elleston Trevor certainly produces the unexpected. 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). Quiller becomes drowsy from a drug that was injected by the porter at the entrance to the hotel. Apparently, it was made into a classic movie and there is even a website compiled by Trevor devotees. Published chrismass61 Aug 21 2013 . I can't NOT begin by saying, "This Is A MUST Read For Every Fan Of The Espionage Genre". The book is built around a continual number of reveals. From that point of view, the film should be seen by social, architectural, and urban landscape historians. 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. A spy thriller for chess players. The thugs believe him dead when they see the burning wreckage. The Quiller Memorandum strips the spy persona down to its primal instincts, ditching the fancy paraphernalia in favor of a rather satisfying display of wits and gumption. The premise isn't far-fetched, but the details are. As usual for films which are difficult to pin down . These include another superior soundtrack by John Barry, if perhaps a little too much son-of "The Ipcress File", some fine real-life (West) Berlin exteriors, particularly of the Olympic Stadium with its evocation of 1936 and all that and Harold Pinter's typically rhythmic, if at times inscrutable screenplay.
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