The Quiller Memorandum (1966) - IMDb This was the first book, and I liked it. What Adam Hall did extremely wellwas toget us readers inside the mind of an undercover operative. 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. They are all members of Phoenix, led by the German aristocrat code-named Oktober. 1 hr 45 mins. Have read a half dozen or so other "Quiller" books, so when I saw that Hoopla had this first story, I figured I should give it a listen to see how Quiller got started. The latter reveals a local teacher has been unmasked as a Nazi. The movie made productive use of the West German locations. The film ends with Quiller suspecting that Inge is more than an ordinary schoolteacher. The thugs believe him dead when they see the burning wreckage. What a difference to the ludicrous James Helm/Matt Bond (or is it the other way round?) 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. This was evidently the first of a very long series featuring the spy Quiller. The film is ludicrous. 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. 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!). This isachievedviaQuillers first person perspective. The Quiller Memorandum by Adam Hall | Goodreads 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. 1966's The Quiller Memorandum is a low-key gem, a pared-down, existential spy caper that keeps the exoticism to a minimum. Senta Berger was gorgeous! His virtual army of nearly silent, oddball henchmen add to the flavor of paranoia and nervousness. "[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. When drug-induced questioning fails to produce results, Segal is booted to the river, but he isn't quite ready to give in yet. They are not just sympathisers though. When Quiller returns to his hotel, a porter bumps Quiller's leg with a suitcase on the steps. My take was, he knows she's one of the bad guys, and same with the headmistress who he passes on the way out. 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. 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. Once Quiller becomes extra-friendly with Ingewhich happens preternaturally quicklyits clear someone on the other side is getting nervous. Quiller (played by George Segal) is an American secret agent assigned to work with British MI6 chief Pol (Alec Guinness) in West Berlin. The Quiller Memorandum Cineaste Magazine 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. The British Secret Service sends agent Quiller to investigate. Quiller is surprised to learn that no women were found. See for instance DANDY IN ASPIC too, sooo complex and fascinating in the same time. The setting is the most shadowy "post WWII Berlin" with the master players lined up against each other - The Brits and The Nazi Heirs. Quiller, a British agent who works without gun, cover or contacts, takes on a neo-Nazi underground organization and its war criminal leader. Segal is a very young man in this, with that flippant, relaxed quality that made him so popular. En route he has some edgy adventures. - BH. 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! Sadly the Quiller novels have fallen out of favour with the apparentend of the Cold War. Quiller is eventually kidnapped and tortured by Oktober (Max von Sydow), the leader of Phoenix. before he started doing "genial" and reminds us that his previous part was in the heavyweight "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf". THE SITE FOR DIE HARD CRIME & THRILLER FANS. Quiller admits to Inge that he is an "investigator" on the trail of neo-Nazis. 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. Much quieter and understated than most spy flicks. 1966's The Quiller Memorandum is a low-key gem, a pared-down existential spy caper that keeps the exoticism to a minimum. Visually, the film was rather stunning, but the magical soft focus that appears every time Inga is in the frame is silly. The screenwriter, Harold Pinter, no less, received an Edgar nomination. 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. 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. His Oktober does, however, serve as a one-man master class in hyperironic cordiality: Ah, Quiller! 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. From the latest Scandinavian serial killer to Golden Age detective stories, we love our crime novels! The novel was titled The Berlin Memorandum and at its centre was the protagonist and faceless spy, Quiller. Pol tells Quiller the fascist underground is far more organized and powerful in Germany than people believe. I can't NOT begin by saying, "This Is A MUST Read For Every Fan Of The Espionage Genre". Dril several holes in it, the size of a pin, one the size of a small coin. In the mid-Sixties, the subgenre of the James Bond backlash film was becoming a crowded market. 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. A Twilight Time release. The shooting on location in Berlin makes it that much more thrilling. BFI Screenonline: Quiller Memorandum, The (1966) Synopsis The film was shot on location in West Berlin and in Pinewood Studios, England. From that point of view, the film should be seen by social, architectural, and urban landscape historians. The Phoenix group descend and take Quiller, torturing him to find out what he knows. He steals a taxi, evades a pursuing vehicle and books himself into a squalid hotel. The Quiller character is constantly making terrible decisions, and refuses to use a gun, and he's certainly no John Steed. In the process, he discovers a complex and malevolent plot, more dangerous to the world than any crime committed during the war. 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. Quiller, a British agent who works without gun, cover or contacts, takes on a neo-Nazi underground organization and its war criminal leader. Harold Pinter was nominated for an Edgar Award in the Best Motion Picture category, but also didn't win. Having just read the novel, it's impossible to watch this without its influence and I found the screen version incredibly disappointing. 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. Fairly interesting spy movie, but doesn't make much sense under close scrutiny. Inge tells him she loves him, and he tells her a phone number to call if he is not back in 20 minutes. As other reviewers have suggested, this Cold War Neo-Nazi intrigue is more concerned with subtle, low-key plot evolution than the James Bond in-your-face-gadgetry genre that was prevalent during the 60's-70's. Get help and learn more about the design. It was written by Harold Pinter, but despite his talent for writing plays, he certainly had no cinematic sense whatever. First isthe protagonist himself. Corrections? In the 60's, in Berlin, two British agents that are investigating a Neonazi ring are murdered. 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. It was from the quiller memorandum ending of the item, a failed nuclear weapons of Personalized Map Search. Published chrismass61 Aug 21 2013 The friend proves to be Hassler, who is now much more friendly. 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). 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. 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). 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. Don't start thinking you missed something: it's the screenplay who did ! And of course, no spy-spoof conversation would be complete without mentioning 1967s David Niven-led piss-take on the Bond films, Casino Royale. They both go to the building, whereupon they are captured. 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. 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. The Quiller Memorandum - Movie Reviews and Movie Ratings - TV Guide But Quiller gets closer to the action when he visits a supposedly progressive West Berlin middle school on a tip about an alleged Nazi war criminal who once taught there. Be the first to contribute. Your name is Quiller. Very eerie film score, I believe John Barry did it but, I'm not sure. My take was, he knows she's one of the bad guys, and same with the headmistress who he passes on the way out. Quiller's assignment: to discover the location of the neo-Nazi . Two British agents are murdered by a mysterious Neo-Nazi organization in West Berlin. It was nominated for three BAFTA Awards,[2] while Pinter was nominated for an Edgar Award for the script.