Apparently, it was made into a classic movie and there is even a website compiled by Trevor devotees. See production, box office & company info, Europa-Center, Charlottenburg, Berlin, Germany. One of the most interesting elements of the novel is Quiller's explanation of tradecraft and the way he narrates his way through receiving signals from his Control via coded stock market reports on the radio, and a seemingly endless string of people following him around Berlin as he goes about his mission. In the process, he discovers a complex and malevolent plot, more dangerous to the world than any crime committed during the war. 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. He steals a taxi, evades a pursuing vehicle and books himself into a squalid hotel. This film has special meaning for me as I was living in Berlin during the filming and, subsequent screening in the city. He was the author of. That way theres no-one to betray him to the other side. 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 by Adam Hall - Goodreads 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. Nimble, sharp-toothed and sometimes they have to bite and claw their way out of a dark hole. The Quiller Memorandum (1966) - Turner Classic Movies In the following chapter the events have moved on beyond the crisis, instantly creating a how? question in your mind. Each reveal, in turn, provides a separate level of truth--or, as it may be, self-deception. 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). 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. The book is more focused on thinking as a spy and I found it to be very realistic. 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. The Quiller Memorandum by Adam Hall | Goodreads Don't start thinking you missed something: it's the screenplay who did ! I read a few of these many years ago when they first came out. Elleston Trevor (pictured) himself was a prolific, award-winning writer, producing novels under a range of pen names nine in total! A highly unusual and stimulating approach that draws us into the story. 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. Your email address will not be published. An almost unrecognizable George Segal stars in "The Quiller Memorandum," set in Berlin and made 40 years ago. A much better example of a spy novel-to-film adaptation would be Our Man in Havana, also starring Alec Guinness. He believes this is explained early years like a priest, ending in this page numbers were both the end, bibi andersson and actor. This is an espionage series that started in the '60's and ran through the '90's. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Clumsy thriller. When their backs against the wall, its him they turn to. Variety is a part of Penske Media Corporation. Another characteristic of Halls style isthe ending of chapters with a cliff hanger. 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. He calls Inge and arranges to meet. 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. 2 decades after the collapse of Nazi Germany, several old guard are planning to (slowly) rebuild. Ian Nathan of Empire described the film as "daft, dated and outright confusing most of the time, but undeniably fun" and rated it with 3/5 stars. Performed by Matt Monro, "Wednesday's Child" was also released as a single. [6], The mainly orchestral atmospheric soundtrack composed by John Barry was released by Columbia in 1966. The Quiller Memorandum - Wikipedia It was nominated for three BAFTA Awards,[2] while Pinter was nominated for an Edgar Award for the script. The setting is Cold War-divided Berlinwhere Quillertackles a threat from a group ofneo-Nazis whocall themselves Phoenix. Variety wrote that "it relies on a straight narrative storyline, simple but holding, literate dialog and well-drawn characters". Visually, the film was rather stunning, but the magical soft focus that appears every time Inga is in the frame is silly. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); 2021 Crime Fiction Lover. Drama. But how could she put up with the love scenes with the atrocious Segal? As usual for films which are difficult to pin down . DVD Savant Review: The Quiller Memorandum - DVD Talk Your name is Quiller. Thank God Segal is in it. 1 jamietre 8 mo. Keating. Required fields are marked *. In a feint to see if Quiller will reveal more by oversight, Oktober decides to spare his life. They are not just sympathisers though. 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 . 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. 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! Quiller tells Inge that they got most, but clearly not all, of the neo-Nazis. Corrections? Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Quiller Memorandum, The (Blu-ray Review) - The Digital Bits 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, a British agent who works without gun, cover or contacts, takes on a neo-Nazi underground organization and its war criminal leader. On the surface, we get at least some satisfying closure to the case of the clandestine neo-Nazi gang. The film was shot on location in West Berlin and in Pinewood . A Twilight Time release. The premise isn't far-fetched, but the details are. Pol tells Quiller the fascist underground is far more organized and powerful in Germany than people believe. He also works alone and without contacts. Elleston Trevor wrote 19 novels in the highly successful Quiller series. The Quiller Memorandum - Variety 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. The goal of /r/Movies is to provide an inclusive place for discussions and news about films with major releases. The Quiller Memorandum | film by Anderson [1966] | Britannica Harold Pinter's fairly literate screenplay features . His dry but quick Yiddish humor shines through on many occasions, providing diversions that masquerade his underlying desire to expose the antagonists' machinations. Adam Hall/Elleston Trevor certainly produces the unexpected. The setting is Cold War-divided Berlin where Quiller tackles a threat from a group of neo-Nazis who call themselves Phoenix. 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. The original, primary mission has been completely omitted. Their aim is to bring back the Third Reich. By day, the city is presented so beautifully, it's hard to imagine that such ugly things are going on amidst it. 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. Be the first to contribute. In fact, he is derisory about agents who insist on being armed. Finally, he is placed in the no-win position of either choosing to aid von Sydow or allowing Berger to be murdered. The source novel "The Berlin Memorandum" is billed in the credits as being by Adam Hall. Hall is not trying be a Le Carre, hes in a different area, one he really makes his own. He first meets with Pol, who explains that each side is trying to discover and annihilate the other's base. 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. The film ends with Quiller suspecting that Inge is more than an ordinary schoolteacher. See for instance DANDY IN ASPIC too, sooo complex and fascinating in the same time. The film was shot on location in West Berlin and in Pinewood Studios, England. The novel was titled The Berlin Memorandum and at its centre was the protagonist and faceless spy, Quiller. 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. Read more Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. 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. 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 Quiller Memorandum, British-American spy film, released in 1966, that was especially noted for the deliberately paced but engrossing script by playwright Harold Pinter. Because the books were written in the first person the reader learns very little about him, beyond his mission capability. 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. 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 When drug-induced questioning fails to produce results, Segal is booted to the river, but he isn't quite ready to give in yet. Also the increasing descent into the minutiae of spycraft plays into the reveal, plot-wise as well as psychologically. A bit too sardonic at times, I think his character wanted to be elsewhere, clashing with KGB agents instead of ferreting out neo-nazis. 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. "[4], The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports that 67% of critics have given the film a positive rating, based on 12 reviews, with an average score of 7.4/10. With George Segal, Alec Guinness, Max von Sydow, Senta Berger. The film is ludicrous. In addition to Pinters screenplay, the film was noted for its plot twists and the portrayal of Quiller as refreshingly vulnerable and occasionally inept. Harold Pinter was nominated for an Edgar Award in the Best Motion Picture category, but also didn't win. When a spy film is made in the James Bond vein then close analysis is superfluous, but when the movie has a pretense of seriousness then it'd better make sense. He walks down the same street where Jones was shot, but finds he is followed by Oktober's men. American agent Quiller (George Segal) arrives in Berlin and meets with his British handler Pol (Alec Guinness). 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 - Movie Reviews and Movie Ratings - TV Guide It was written by Harold Pinter, but despite his talent for writing plays, he certainly had no cinematic sense whatever. What is the French language plot outline for The Quiller Memorandum (1966)? Quiller, however, escapes, and with Inges help, he discovers the location of Phoenixs headquarters. The Quiller Memorandum subtitles | 36 subtitles Segal plays a secret agent assigned to ferret out the headquarters of a Neo-Nazi movement in Berlin. 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. What Adam Hall did extremely wellwas toget us readers inside the mind of an undercover operative. No one really cared that Gable did not even attempt an English accent the film was that good. The Quiller Memorandum (1966) - Plot Summary - IMDb He accepts the assignment and almost immediately finds that he is being followed. I listened to the audio version narrated by Andrew B Wehrlen and found it an utterly engaging tale. En route he has some edgy adventures. 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. 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. Author/co-author of numerous books about the cinema and is regarded as one of the foremost James Bond scholars. Phoenix boss Oktober (Max von Sydow) with George Segal, seated. 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. The classic tale of espionage that started it all! 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. Fans of "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" will notice that film's Mr. Slugworth (Meisner) in a small role as the operator of a swim club (which features some memorably husky, "master race" swimmers emerging from the pool.) 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 While most realistic spy films of the 60s focused on the Soviet threat, Quiller pits the title character against a group of neo-Nazis. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. This one makes no exception. 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. The plot revolves around former Nazis and the rise of a Neo-Nazi organisation known as Phonix. The Quiller Memorandum. 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! Studios: The Rank Organisation and Ivan Foxwell Productions, https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Quiller-Memorandum, BFI Screenonline - The Quiller Memorandum (1966), Britmovie.co.uk - "The Quiller Memorandum", The Quiller Memorandum - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). 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. The film had its world premiere on 10 November 1966 at the Odeon Leicester Square in the West End of London. Newer. In terms of style The Quiller books aretaut and written with narrative pace at the forefront. Quiller leaves, startling the headmistress on the way out. 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. 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. George Segal as Agent Quiller with Inge Lindt (Senta Berger). My take was, he knows she's one of the bad guys, and same with the headmistress who he passes on the way out. 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. 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 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. They are all members of Phoenix, led by the German aristocrat code-named Oktober. True, Segal never seems to settle into the role of Quiller. 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. 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. It's a more realistic or credible portrayal of how a single character copes with trying to get information in a dangerous environment. 1966's The Quiller Memorandum is a low-key gem, a pared-down, existential spy caper that keeps the exoticism to a minimum. The Wall Street Journal said it was one of the best espionage/spy series of all time. This isn't your average James Bond knockoff spy thriller; the fact that the screenplay is by playwright Harold Pinter is the first clue. This demonstration using familiar breakfast food items serves to stimulate the American spys brainwaves into serious operative mode. Adam Hall's 1966 Edgar Winner: The Quiller Memorandum - Criminal Element Is there another film with as many sequences of extended, audible footsteps? Quiller Memorandum, The - DVD Talk The Quiller Memorandum was based on a novel by Elleston Trevor (under the name Adam Hall). When they find, Quiller gives the phone number of his base to Inge and investigates the place. Neo-Nazi plot Inge tells him she loves him, and he tells her a phone number to call if he is not back in 20 minutes. I had to resist the temptation to fast forward on several occasions. The nation remained the home of the best spies. That makes the story much more believable, and Adam Hall's writing style kept me engaged. 1 hr 45 mins. The Phoenix group descend and take Quiller, torturing him to find out what he knows. , . 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. It's a bit strange to see such exquisitely Pinter-esque dialogue (the laconic, seemingly innocuous sentences; the profound silences; the syntax that isn't quite how real people actually talk) in a spy movie, but it really works. 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." . Read 134 reviews from the world's largest community for readers. 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).