En route he has some edgy adventures. This spy novel about neo-Nazis 1960's Berlin seemed dated and a little stilted to me. Published chrismass61 Aug 21 2013 Quiller leaves, startling the headmistress on the way out. 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. No one really cared that Gable did not even attempt an English accent the film was that good. 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. 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. 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. Whats left most open to interpretation is Inges role in all this: was she a Janus-faced Nazi mole who used sex as a weapon to lead Quiller into a trap? Press J to jump to the feed. Sadly, Von Sydows formidable acting chops are never seriously challenged here, and his lines are limited to fairly standard B-movie Euro-villain speak. 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. Quiller works for the Bureau, an arm of the British Secret Service so clandestinethat no-one knows itexists. He first meets with Pol, who explains that each side is trying to discover and annihilate the other's base. He also has to endure some narcotically enhanced interrogation, which is the basis of one of the novel's most thrilling chapters. There was also a TV series in 1975. What is the French language plot outline for The Quiller Memorandum (1966)? Omissions? The setting is the most shadowy "post WWII Berlin" with the master players lined up against each other - The Brits and The Nazi Heirs. In the process, he discovers a complex and malevolent plot, more dangerous to the world than any crime committed during the war. This well-drawn tale of espionage is set in West B. Kindle Edition. 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 name of the intelligence agency that Quiller ( George Segal) worked for was MI6. George Segal was good at digging for information without gadgets. Read more 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!). Quiller, however, escapes, and with Inges help, he discovers the location of Phoenixs headquarters. 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. Neo-Nazi plot 2 decades after the collapse of Nazi Germany, several old guard are planning to (slowly) rebuild. Your name is Quiller. Theres a humanity to Quiller that is unique in this type of action spy thriller. He also works alone and without contacts. She states that she "was lucky, they let me go" and claims she then called the phone number but it did not work. To do his job George Segal's hapless Quiller must set himself out as bait in the middle of a pressure play in West Berlin. He published over 50 novels as Elleston Trevor alone. 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. They are not just sympathisers though. Quiller befriends a teacher, Inge Lindt, whose predecessor at the school had been arrested for being a Neo-Nazi. The novel was titled The Berlin Memorandum and at its centre was the protagonist and faceless spy, Quiller. What Adam Hall did extremely wellwas toget us readers inside the mind of an undercover operative. [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?" Quiller drives off, managing to shake Hengel, then notices men in another car following him. 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. You are a secret agent working for the British in Berlin. Writing in The Guardian, playwright David Hare described Pinters strengths as a dramatist perfectly: In the spare, complicated screenwriting of Pinter, yes, no and maybe become words which do a hundred jobs. Unfortunately, when it comes to the use of language in Quiller, less does not always function as more. 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. It is credible. Harold Pinter was nominated for an Edgar Award in the Best Motion Picture category, but also didn't win. 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 is not trying be a Le Carre, hes in a different area, one he really makes his own. Variety and the Flying V logos are trademarks of Variety Media, LLC. Your email address will not be published. The premise isn't far-fetched, but the details are. 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. It was interesting to me that in 1965 (when I also happened to be living in Germany as a US Army dependent) the crux of the book was the fear of a Nazi resurgence -- and I'm not talking about skinheads, but Nazis deep within the German government and military. It was from the quiller memorandum ending of the item, a failed nuclear weapons of Personalized Map Search. 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. 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. First isthe protagonist himself. Adam Hall/Elleston Trevor certainly produces the unexpected. 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). Watchlist. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. A crisply written story that captured my attention from beginning to end. And the legendary John Barrycomposer of the original Bond themeprovides appropriately haunting incidental music here. They are not just sympathisers though. A much better example of a spy novel-to-film adaptation would be Our Man in Havana, also starring Alec Guinness. Quiller goes back to the school and confronts Inge in her classroom. His investigations (and baiting) lead him to a pretty schoolteacher (Berger) who he immediately takes a liking to and who may be of assistance to him in his quest. She claims she turned in the teacher from the article, and points out the dilapidated Phoenix mansion. Required fields are marked *. 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 . Write by: It's not often that one wishes so much for a main character to get killed, especially by NAZI's. The only really interesting thing is the way we're left spoiler: click to read in the end. He also wroteacrossa number ofgenres. Blu-ray, color, 105 min., 1966. Thanks in advance. Quiller tells Inge that they got most, but clearly not all, of the neo-Nazis. 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. 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. Quiller: At the end of our conversation, he ordered them to kill me. The burning question for Quiller is, how close is too close? [5], According to Fox records, the film needed to earn $2,600,000 in rentals to break even and made $2,575,000, meaning it initially showed a marginal loss, but subsequent television and home video sales moved it into the black. 1 jamietre 8 mo. The story is ludicrous. My take was, he knows she's one of the bad guys, and same with the headmistress who he passes on the way out. 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. 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. Widescreen viewing is a must, if possible, if for no other reason than to fully glimpse the extraordinary stadium built by Hitler for the 1936 Olympic games. 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. 1 hr 45 mins. Or was she simply a lonely Samaritan who altruistically beds the socially awkward American spy to help prevent a Fourth Reich? 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). The Quiller Memorandum is the third Quiller novel that I have read, and it firmly establishes my opinion that Quiller is one of the finest series of espionage novels to have ever been written. 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). When Quiller returns to his hotel, a porter bumps Quiller's leg with a suitcase on the steps. Hall (also known as Elleston Trevor and several other pseudonyms) seemed really to hate the Germans, or at least his character did. 1966's The Quiller Memorandum is a low-key gem, a pared-down, existential spy caper that keeps the exoticism to a minimum. It is very rare that I find anyone else who is even aware of the Quiller books and yet they are as your reviewer mentions, absolutely first class. Sadly the Quiller novels have fallen out of favour with the apparentend of the Cold War. A man walks along a deserted Berlin street at night and enters an internally lit phone box. 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. . Is Quiller going to wind up dead too? Quiller, an agent working for British Intelligence, is sent to Berlin to meet with Pol, another operative. The film is ludicrous. This isn't your standard spy film with lots of gunplay, outrageous villains, and explosions. Segal plays a secret agent assigned to ferret out the headquarters of a Neo-Nazi movement in Berlin. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. 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. They are all members of Phoenix, led by the German aristocrat code-named Oktober. He believes this is explained early years like a priest, ending in this page numbers were both the end, bibi andersson and actor. 1966. The film was shot on location in West Berlin and in Pinewood . Thank God Segal is in it. In the process, he discovers a complex and malevolent plot, more dangerous to the world than any crime committed during the war. It's a more realistic or credible portrayal of how a single character copes with trying to get information in a dangerous environment. 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. Corrections? 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. Lindt (Berger) is a school teacher who meets Quiller to translate for him. 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. THE SITE FOR DIE HARD CRIME & THRILLER FANS. Variety is a part of Penske Media Corporation. Twist piles upon twist , as a British agent becomes involved in a fiendishly complicated operation to get a dangerous ringleader and his menacing hoodlums . There are long stretches of what may have seemed to Pinter like very lively and amusing dialogue (the torture scenes between October and George Segal), but they drag on interminably, and make one want to go to sleep. The ploy works as one, two or all three of those places were where the Nazis did learn about Quiller, who they kidnap. 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. 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. Cue the imposing Max Von Sydow as Nazi head honcho Oktober, whose Swedish accent is inflected with an Elmer Fudd-like speech impedimentthus achieving something like a serviceable German accent. Also contains one of the final appearences of George Sanders in a brief role, a classic in his own right! A highly unusual and stimulating approach that draws us into the story. Hall's truncated writing style contributes to this effect. The setting is Cold War-divided Berlinwhere Quillertackles a threat from a group ofneo-Nazis whocall themselves Phoenix. The British Secret Service sends agent Quiller to investigate. He calls Inge and arranges to meet. Hes lone wolf who lives or dies by his own actions a very clean and principled approach to espionage. The film ends with Quiller suspecting that Inge is more than an ordinary schoolteacher. Quiller admits to Inge that he is an "investigator" on the trail of neo-Nazis. For example operatives are referred to as ferrets, and thats what they are. 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. In addition to Pinters screenplay, the film was noted for its plot twists and the portrayal of Quiller as refreshingly vulnerable and occasionally inept. 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 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. 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. Just watched it. In the following chapter the events have moved on beyond the crisis, instantly creating a how? question in your mind. But how could she put up with the love scenes with the atrocious Segal? - BH. youtu.be/rQ4PA3H6pAw. 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. And will the world see a return of Nazi power? ago Just watched it. This film has special meaning for me as I was living in Berlin during the filming and, subsequent screening in the city. 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. 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. 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. They both go to the building, whereupon they are captured. 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. 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. He does this in a lone-wolf way, refusing to be hampered by bodyguards. All Rights Reserved. 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. 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.