The Quiller Memorandum
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Movie Reviews of The Quiller Memorandum
Movie Review: "Have you ever heard of a man called Jones?"
Summary: 4 Stars
The Quiller Memorandum was originally intended by the Rank Organisation to launch a series to replace the Harry Palmer films after Harry Saltzman took them to Paramount and subsequently United Artists after both studios dropped out of Saltzman's Battle of Britain. It got off to a good start at the box-office but never caught on outside the big cities, although the BBC did resurrect the character for a short-lived series with Michael Jayston in the 70s. Ironically not only filming but also some locations overlapped with Funeral in Berlin, resulting in at least one bizarre photo-opportunity of the two jaded spies happily swapping notes.
The battleground is political ideologies again, but unlike other sixties spies and despite being set in West Berlin, Quiller isn't concerned with cold war politics or communist spy rings (you don't even see the Berlin Wall) but instead with the far right. Well, unless you saw it in Germany on its original release, that is, where Max Von Sydow's cabal of neo-Nazis became communists in the dubbing process. Its use of locations is exemplary, the Nazi focus on healthy minds and healthy bodies working its way into the choice of settings, from swimming pools to schools, and the influence and flow of history illustrated by the die-hard neo-Nazis hiding in the bombed out ruins of the old Germany while the next generation of fascists work out of gleaming modern buildings that are part of the rebuilt Germany. George Segal's Quiller is even briefed in the Olympic stadium Hitler had built for the 1936 Games by Alec Guinness's ever so slightly camp salami-munching cockney.
Perhaps alone among spy thrillers, this is the one where everyone knows the screenwriter's name but virtually no-one remembers the director's. Harold Pinter's often sadistically playful script is without doubt a cut above, preferring unspoken deceptions and more insidious mind games to action scenes. Indeed, the first interrogation scene between a drugged Segal and a quick-thinking Von Sydow is a particularly smart and convincing bit of wordplay as the one tries to steer the questions away from the subject with thoughts of sex only for the other to use them to lead the cross-examination back to the point, while the rematch at the end of the film sets the spy a far more effective moral conundrum. Certainly as Michael Anderson's reputation has diminished and Pinter's grown it's become one of the few films where all credit has gone to the screenwriter, but Anderson's direction is surprisingly strong, particularly if you see the film in its original Scope ratio. John Barry's score is quietly impressive too, eschewing the downbeat jazz of The Ipcress File and the boldness of his Bond scores for a haunting loneliness that helps set Quiller apart from his more popular predecessors.
Fox's region 1 DVD shows willing on the extras with an audio commentary, US trailer, booklet and trailers for Our Man Flint, In Like Flint, The Chairman, Deadfall, The Magus and "Peeper, but is outshone by the recent remastered UK PAL DVD from Network that offers 35-minutes of on-location interviews with Segal, Von Sydow, Guinness, Senta Berger, Anderson and producer Ivan Foxwell, stills gallery and the UK theatrical trailer (although the UK transfer of the feature does have a lack of detail, with some shots appearing out of focus and faces tending to be flattened).
Movie Review: Seen an advance copy of the DVD and it's a real treat
Summary: 4 Stars
Based on the best selling 1965 novel by Adam Hall, this movie starring the likes of George Segal, Alec Guinness, Max Von Sydow and Senta Berger remains fairly faithful to the source novel except in the miscasting of Segal in the lead role. In the novel Quiller is British, but here Segal plays him as an American agent - and it doesn't work as well as it might. There is for example no explanation given as to why Quiller is working for the British and reporting to a British handler. Still, the movie is an intelligent and tautly constructed thriller as Segal scours through Berlin looking for the ringleaders of a shadowy neo-Nazi organization.
The lead special feature for "The Quiller Memorandum" is an audio commentary conducted by film historians Eddie Friedfeld and Lee Pfeiffer. The two are obviously good friends (both being professors at NYU) and the commentary is very academic in tone, but still engaging. They begin by framing the movie in the context of the Cold War. Other key points in the commentary include discussions on the symbolism in the movie and standards of the spy genre. They go on to discuss how "The Quiller Memorandum" fits in perfectly with a rash of espionage movies of the mid- to late-sixties. At that time a series of "anti-Bond" movies were being released from the Harry Palmer series through to "Quiller." They featured a reluctant, cynical hero with even more reluctant, cynical bosses. This allowed these movies to capitalize on the 007 phenomenon, but with a more realistic view of the world.
An interesting collectible booklet accompanies the DVD, which is actually quite in-depth. It includes discussion on the development of the story; the adaptation by acclaimed Harold Pinter, the tremendous cast, the help afforded the production during its German shoot and how the villains were changed from Neo-Nazis to communists when the feature was released in Germany.
Both "Quiller" and "The Chairman" (also being released by Fox on Nov. 7) contains trailers for several other movies, of varying quality. The trailers for "The Quiller Memorandum" for example include not just the one for the feature, but also for "Our Man Flint," "In Like Flint," "The Chairman," "Deadfall," "The Magus" and "Peeper." As might be expected however the trailers do show their age, and not always gracefully.
Movie Review: Uniquely low-key spy film, written by Harold Pinter, with Alec Guinness. Enough said!
Summary: 4 Stars
Well, almost....
I had never seen this before yesterday, and having lived in Berlin in the 1990s, I love seeing that town on film in any period. It's mostly West Berlin here, and it's a treat to see; few films use this much of their home city, and if you like that incomparable town you'll love watching it in Quiller.
I found Segal to be better than usual, less glib and more appealingly serious at points, and Senta Berger a fine romantic foil (and just plain fine). Guinness is superb as always, as is Max Von Sydow (what a great bad guy he was!), the direction is unforced, and the story itself is a refreshingly low-key spy tale, pointing out that Bond was the anomaly/fantasy in a world of cold war info gathering and slogging leg work. But what I really loved here was Pinter's script.
In typically Pinteresque fashion, we are given little backstory on the characters, which lends a slightly odd feel to the proceedings, and it works to perfection in this anti-Bond vehicle. The rather bad narration on the dvd by two NYC film school profs misses Pinter's genius almost entirely; are these the best guys the studio could find?
Pinter was brought in to be Pinter, no doubt, and the idea of letting him loose on Trevor Dudley-Smith's novel works splendidly. There's an off-kilter menacing vibe throughout and it meshes perfectly with the plot itself. The dialogue is also oft classic, notably the British upper caste asides; few were ever as quietly withering in their social critiques as Mr. Pinter.
Not a shoot-'em-up at all, and that's one of Quiller's main strengths.
All brains and no guns make for a most interesting and unique thriller indeed.
Movie Review: Great Period and Character Piece
Summary: 4 Stars
I was 16 years old when I first saw this film. It introduced me to Max von Sydow and George Segal not to mention the lovely Senta Berger. I was stunned by the film. I have since seen it many times incidentally on various TV channels. Now I want my own copy. The film had all the requisite suspense that I expected as a kid who had a WW II Dad and went through the whole of the Cold War and all the stuff we were fed then. But this film was so different; it showed a distinct image that contrasted with the 2-dimensional James Bond portrayal of the spy (which I also liked); Segal's wasa more European, more nuanced and, as usual, more subtly sardonic/humorous. Max von Sydow, as always is a brilliant actor. He plays both "good" and "bad" characters with complete credibility. He is an awesome actor.Movie Review: Unusually smart secret agent film
Summary: 4 Stars
This splits the difference between James Bond and John LeCarre. A secret agent film actually written
by the great dramatist Harold Pinter (!).
George Segal is surprisingly good in the lead, Max Von Sydow (as always) makes
a terrific villain, and Alec Guinness is juicy as Seagal's cold-as-ice boss. The ending
is nicely dark too.
But there are some big logic holes and contrivances that work
against the intelligence of the writing and performances.
Fun and worth seeing if you don't get too picky about its admitted faults.