The Quiller Memorandum
Encyclopedia
The Quiller Memorandum is a film adaptation of the 1965 spy novel The Berlin Memorandum, by Trevor Dudley-Smith
under the name "Adam Hall", screenplay by Harold Pinter
, directed by Michael Anderson
, featuring George Segal
, Max von Sydow
, Senta Berger
and Alec Guinness
. The film was shot on location in West Berlin
and in Pinewood Studios
, England. The film was nominated for 3 BAFTA Awards, while Pinter was nominated for an Edgar Award
for the script.
The film is a spy-thriller situated to 1960s Cold War
-era West Berlin, where agent Quiller is sent to investigate a neo-Nazi organisation.
street. He enters a phone booth, but as he dials a number, he is shot dead by an unseen sniper.
Jones was the second British Secret Intelligence Service
(SIS) operative to be murdered in Berlin by a secret neo-Nazi organisation, Phoenix. SIS send Quiller
(George Segal
) to Berlin where, at the Nazis' 1936 Olympia Stadium
, his controller Pol (Alec Guinness
) quietly explains that "a new generation of Nazis has grown up, difficult to recognise because they don't wear uniforms anymore", and orders him to find the Phoenix HQ. Pol's SIS superiors in London, Gibbs (George Sanders
) and Rushington (Robert Flemyng
), are occasionally seen directing the operation from their gentlemen's club
.
Back in Berlin, Quiller shakes off someone following him, then confronts the tail in a pub, only to discover that the man is his SIS minder, Hengel (Peter Carsten
). Hengel gives him a bowling alley ticket, a swimming-pool ticket and a newscutting, all found on Jones's body. Quiller asks after Jones at the bowling alley without success; the swimming pool manager Hassler (Günter Meisner
) also sends him packing. Pretending to be a reporter, Quiller visits the school featured in the newscutting, where a teacher had recently been unmasked as a Nazi war criminal. The headmistress introduces him to teacher Inge Lindt (Senta Berger
), who is fluent in English and whom he interviews about her colleagues, before then driving her back to her home and briefly stopping at her flat for a drink.
On leaving, Quiller confronts a man who seems to be following him. Having earlier told Hengel that he understands no German, Quiller is revealed to be able to speak it fluently. The man strenuously denies following him and other men intervene in the discussion, before Quiller returns to his hotel. Outside the hotel, a porter bumps into his leg with a heavy suitcase. Quiller drives off, managing to shake his minder Hengel, but other cars appear to still be following him. Soon he becomes drowsy, and then semi-conscious while stopped at some traffic lights, where a car stops alongside him a man steps into the driving seat, pushes Quiller over, and kidnaps him.
He wakes in a chair in a palatial room, surrounded by many of the previous incidental characters, who are all Phoenix members led by a German aristocrat, Oktober (Max von Sydow
). Quiller refuses to answer Oktober's questions about the SIS operation and how much they know about Phoenix, and makes a dash to escape from the room but is easily overpowered. A doctor injects Quiller with a truth serum
, but although in his delirium he utters a few clues Quiller is just able to deflect Oktober's questions. Oktober orders Quiller to be killed.
Quiller comes round lying somewhere in the city beside the river. He hails a cab and steals it, evading a pursuing Mercedes before booking himself into a dingy hotel. He telephones Inge from the hall and they arrange to meet the following evening. Pol also arranges another meeting with Quiller, where his handler explains that each side is trying to discover and annihilate the other's base: Quiller alone is in a position to know both.
After sleeping with Quiller, Inge admits that she has a friend who might know the location of Phoenix's HQ. Inge takes Quiller to the swimming pool manager, Hassler, who is now much more friendly. He drives Quiller, Inge and Inge's headmistress to a dilapidated old building. Quiller wants to investigate the house on his own; Inge says she will wait for Quiller, and the pool manager and headteacher leave the car for Quiller to drive Inge home. When they are finally alone together in the car Inge tells him she loves him.
The street is the same one on which Quiller's predecessor was murdered at the start of the film. Quiller enters the house, which appears deserted, until he notices Oktober's henchmen standing all around him. They take Quiller into the same room where he was held captive and walk Quiller down to the cellar, where removal men are organising the move to a new HQ for the organisation. Quiller is horrified to see that Inge has been brought there too. Oktober offers Quiller an ultimatum: either he reveals where the SIS base is by dawn, or both of them will be killed. Quiller is released back onto the dark streets to walk and ponder, surrounded by Oktober's armed men, who - while they keep their silent distance - make it impossible for him to evade them, or use any public telephone to call his controller.
As dawn breaks, he returns to his hotel, while Oktober's men stand guard outside in the street. The hall phone has already been destroyed to prevent him using it, but he escapes into a courtyard of lock-up garages. Noticing a piece of wire on the ground, he finds that the car has been booby-trapped in case he attempted this method of escape. He leaves the engine running to explode the bomb, and Oktober's men assume that he has been killed in the explosion. Quiller reports to the SIS office with the location of Phoenix's centre of operations. Pol appears calmly indifferent as he arranges to round up the gang; they are all arrested, yet Inge turns out not to be among them.
Later, Quiller walks into Inge's classroom. Inge explains that she "was lucky they let me go", but Quiller appears to have concluded that she is not who she seems. He says that if ever he comes to Berlin again he will call her. He then walks away from the school building, as Inge watches him depart before returning to her schoolchildren.
in the "Best Motion Picture" category, but also didn't win.
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes
reported that 86% of critics gave the film a positive rating, based on 7 reviews, with an average
score of 7.1/10. Variety magazine commented that "it relies on a straight narrative storyline, simple but holding, literate dialog and well-drawn characters." Ian Nathan of Empire Magazine described the film as "daft, dated and outright confusing most of the time, but it undeniably fun" and rated it with 3/5 stars.
was released by Columbia in 1966. Performed by Ray Conniff
, "Wednesday's Child" was released also as a single.
Elleston Trevor
Elleston Trevor was the pseudonym, and eventually legal name, of the British novelist Trevor Dudley-Smith , who also wrote as Adam Hall, Simon Rattray, Howard North, Roger Fitzalan, Mansell Black, Trevor Burgess, Warwick Scott, Caesar Smith and Lesley Stone...
under the name "Adam Hall", screenplay by Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter, CH, CBE was a Nobel Prize–winning English playwright and screenwriter. One of the most influential modern British dramatists, his writing career spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party , The Homecoming , and Betrayal , each of which he adapted to...
, directed by Michael Anderson
Michael Anderson (director)
Michael Joseph Anderson, Sr. is an English film director, best known for directing The Dam Busters , Around the World in 80 Days and Logan's Run .-Early life:...
, featuring George Segal
George Segal
George Segal is an American film, stage and television actor.-Early life:George Segal, Jr. was born in 1934 Great Neck, Long Island, New York, the son of Fannie Blanche and George Segal, Sr. He was educated at George School, a private Quaker preparatory boarding school near Newtown, Bucks County,...
, Max von Sydow
Max von Sydow
Max von Sydow is a Swedish actor. He has also held French citizenship since 2002. He has starred in many films and had supporting roles in dozens more...
, Senta Berger
Senta Berger
Senta Berger is an Austrian film, stage and television actress, producer and author.Regarded by critics as one of the greatest actresses of the post-war period, and frequently named as one of the leading German-speaking actresses in polls, Berger has received many award nominations for her acting...
and Alec Guinness
Alec Guinness
Sir Alec Guinness, CH, CBE was an English actor. He was featured in several of the Ealing Comedies, including Kind Hearts and Coronets in which he played eight different characters. He later won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Colonel Nicholson in The Bridge on the River Kwai...
. The film was shot on location in West Berlin
West Berlin
West Berlin was a political exclave that existed between 1949 and 1990. It comprised the western regions of Berlin, which were bordered by East Berlin and parts of East Germany. West Berlin consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors, which had been established in 1945...
and in Pinewood Studios
Pinewood Studios
Pinewood Studios is a major British film studio situated in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, approximately west of central London. The studios have played host to many productions over the years from huge blockbuster films to television shows to commercials to pop promos.The purchase of Shepperton...
, England. The film was nominated for 3 BAFTA Awards, while Pinter was nominated for an Edgar Award
Edgar Award
The Edgar Allan Poe Awards , named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America...
for the script.
The film is a spy-thriller situated to 1960s Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
-era West Berlin, where agent Quiller is sent to investigate a neo-Nazi organisation.
Plot summary
In the dead of the night a man walks down a deserted BerlinBerlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
street. He enters a phone booth, but as he dials a number, he is shot dead by an unseen sniper.
Jones was the second British Secret Intelligence Service
Secret Intelligence Service
The Secret Intelligence Service is responsible for supplying the British Government with foreign intelligence. Alongside the internal Security Service , the Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence Intelligence , it operates under the formal direction of the Joint Intelligence...
(SIS) operative to be murdered in Berlin by a secret neo-Nazi organisation, Phoenix. SIS send Quiller
Quiller
Quiller is the alias of a fictional spy created by English novelist Elleston Trevor and featured in a series of Cold War thrillers written under the pseudonym "Adam Hall".The series focuses on a solitary, highly capable spy...
(George Segal
George Segal
George Segal is an American film, stage and television actor.-Early life:George Segal, Jr. was born in 1934 Great Neck, Long Island, New York, the son of Fannie Blanche and George Segal, Sr. He was educated at George School, a private Quaker preparatory boarding school near Newtown, Bucks County,...
) to Berlin where, at the Nazis' 1936 Olympia Stadium
Olympic Stadium (Berlin)
The Olympiastadion is a sports stadium in Berlin, Germany. There have been two stadiums on the site: the present facility, and one that is called the Deutsches Stadion which was built for the aborted 1916 Summer Olympics. Both were designed by members of the same family, the first by Otto March...
, his controller Pol (Alec Guinness
Alec Guinness
Sir Alec Guinness, CH, CBE was an English actor. He was featured in several of the Ealing Comedies, including Kind Hearts and Coronets in which he played eight different characters. He later won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Colonel Nicholson in The Bridge on the River Kwai...
) quietly explains that "a new generation of Nazis has grown up, difficult to recognise because they don't wear uniforms anymore", and orders him to find the Phoenix HQ. Pol's SIS superiors in London, Gibbs (George Sanders
George Sanders
George Sanders was a British actor.George Sanders may also refer to:*George Sanders , Victoria Cross recipient in World War I...
) and Rushington (Robert Flemyng
Robert Flemyng
Robert Flemyng OBE, MC was a British film and stage actor.Flemyng was born in Liverpool, the son of a doctor, and was educated at Haileybury. He began his career as a medical student before abandoning medicine to become an actor. Flemyng made his stage debut in the early 1930s, and worked steadily...
), are occasionally seen directing the operation from their gentlemen's club
Gentlemen's club
A gentlemen's club is a members-only private club of a type originally set up by and for British upper class men in the eighteenth century, and popularised by English upper-middle class men and women in the late nineteenth century. Today, some are more open about the gender and social status of...
.
Back in Berlin, Quiller shakes off someone following him, then confronts the tail in a pub, only to discover that the man is his SIS minder, Hengel (Peter Carsten
Peter Carsten
Peter Carsten is a German actor and film producer. He appeared in 90 films between 1953 and 1999.-Selected filmography:* Sand, Love and Salt * Under Ten Flags * Time of the Innocent...
). Hengel gives him a bowling alley ticket, a swimming-pool ticket and a newscutting, all found on Jones's body. Quiller asks after Jones at the bowling alley without success; the swimming pool manager Hassler (Günter Meisner
Günter Meisner
Günter Meisner was a German actor. He is best remembered for his several cinematic portrayals of Adolf Hitler....
) also sends him packing. Pretending to be a reporter, Quiller visits the school featured in the newscutting, where a teacher had recently been unmasked as a Nazi war criminal. The headmistress introduces him to teacher Inge Lindt (Senta Berger
Senta Berger
Senta Berger is an Austrian film, stage and television actress, producer and author.Regarded by critics as one of the greatest actresses of the post-war period, and frequently named as one of the leading German-speaking actresses in polls, Berger has received many award nominations for her acting...
), who is fluent in English and whom he interviews about her colleagues, before then driving her back to her home and briefly stopping at her flat for a drink.
On leaving, Quiller confronts a man who seems to be following him. Having earlier told Hengel that he understands no German, Quiller is revealed to be able to speak it fluently. The man strenuously denies following him and other men intervene in the discussion, before Quiller returns to his hotel. Outside the hotel, a porter bumps into his leg with a heavy suitcase. Quiller drives off, managing to shake his minder Hengel, but other cars appear to still be following him. Soon he becomes drowsy, and then semi-conscious while stopped at some traffic lights, where a car stops alongside him a man steps into the driving seat, pushes Quiller over, and kidnaps him.
He wakes in a chair in a palatial room, surrounded by many of the previous incidental characters, who are all Phoenix members led by a German aristocrat, Oktober (Max von Sydow
Max von Sydow
Max von Sydow is a Swedish actor. He has also held French citizenship since 2002. He has starred in many films and had supporting roles in dozens more...
). Quiller refuses to answer Oktober's questions about the SIS operation and how much they know about Phoenix, and makes a dash to escape from the room but is easily overpowered. A doctor injects Quiller with a truth serum
Truth Serum
Truth Serum is an independent comic book series created, written and drawn by author Jon Adams.-Overview:Originally published as a mini comic in 2001 and given away for free, it appeared as a three-issue mini series published by Slave Labor Graphics in 2002...
, but although in his delirium he utters a few clues Quiller is just able to deflect Oktober's questions. Oktober orders Quiller to be killed.
Quiller comes round lying somewhere in the city beside the river. He hails a cab and steals it, evading a pursuing Mercedes before booking himself into a dingy hotel. He telephones Inge from the hall and they arrange to meet the following evening. Pol also arranges another meeting with Quiller, where his handler explains that each side is trying to discover and annihilate the other's base: Quiller alone is in a position to know both.
After sleeping with Quiller, Inge admits that she has a friend who might know the location of Phoenix's HQ. Inge takes Quiller to the swimming pool manager, Hassler, who is now much more friendly. He drives Quiller, Inge and Inge's headmistress to a dilapidated old building. Quiller wants to investigate the house on his own; Inge says she will wait for Quiller, and the pool manager and headteacher leave the car for Quiller to drive Inge home. When they are finally alone together in the car Inge tells him she loves him.
The street is the same one on which Quiller's predecessor was murdered at the start of the film. Quiller enters the house, which appears deserted, until he notices Oktober's henchmen standing all around him. They take Quiller into the same room where he was held captive and walk Quiller down to the cellar, where removal men are organising the move to a new HQ for the organisation. Quiller is horrified to see that Inge has been brought there too. Oktober offers Quiller an ultimatum: either he reveals where the SIS base is by dawn, or both of them will be killed. Quiller is released back onto the dark streets to walk and ponder, surrounded by Oktober's armed men, who - while they keep their silent distance - make it impossible for him to evade them, or use any public telephone to call his controller.
As dawn breaks, he returns to his hotel, while Oktober's men stand guard outside in the street. The hall phone has already been destroyed to prevent him using it, but he escapes into a courtyard of lock-up garages. Noticing a piece of wire on the ground, he finds that the car has been booby-trapped in case he attempted this method of escape. He leaves the engine running to explode the bomb, and Oktober's men assume that he has been killed in the explosion. Quiller reports to the SIS office with the location of Phoenix's centre of operations. Pol appears calmly indifferent as he arranges to round up the gang; they are all arrested, yet Inge turns out not to be among them.
Later, Quiller walks into Inge's classroom. Inge explains that she "was lucky they let me go", but Quiller appears to have concluded that she is not who she seems. He says that if ever he comes to Berlin again he will call her. He then walks away from the school building, as Inge watches him depart before returning to her schoolchildren.
Cast
The following are the cast members in the film and their roles:- George SegalGeorge SegalGeorge Segal is an American film, stage and television actor.-Early life:George Segal, Jr. was born in 1934 Great Neck, Long Island, New York, the son of Fannie Blanche and George Segal, Sr. He was educated at George School, a private Quaker preparatory boarding school near Newtown, Bucks County,...
as QuillerQuillerQuiller is the alias of a fictional spy created by English novelist Elleston Trevor and featured in a series of Cold War thrillers written under the pseudonym "Adam Hall".The series focuses on a solitary, highly capable spy... - Alec GuinnessAlec GuinnessSir Alec Guinness, CH, CBE was an English actor. He was featured in several of the Ealing Comedies, including Kind Hearts and Coronets in which he played eight different characters. He later won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Colonel Nicholson in The Bridge on the River Kwai...
as Pol - Max von SydowMax von SydowMax von Sydow is a Swedish actor. He has also held French citizenship since 2002. He has starred in many films and had supporting roles in dozens more...
as Oktober - Senta BergerSenta BergerSenta Berger is an Austrian film, stage and television actress, producer and author.Regarded by critics as one of the greatest actresses of the post-war period, and frequently named as one of the leading German-speaking actresses in polls, Berger has received many award nominations for her acting...
as Inge Lindt - George SandersGeorge SandersGeorge Sanders was a British actor.George Sanders may also refer to:*George Sanders , Victoria Cross recipient in World War I...
as Gibbs - Robert HelpmannRobert HelpmannSir Robert Helpmann CBE was an Australian dancer, actor, theatre director and choreographer.-Early years:He was born Robert Murray Helpman in Mount Gambier, South Australia and also boarded at Prince Alfred College in Adelaide. From childhood, Helpman had a strong desire to be a dancer...
as Weng - Robert FlemyngRobert FlemyngRobert Flemyng OBE, MC was a British film and stage actor.Flemyng was born in Liverpool, the son of a doctor, and was educated at Haileybury. He began his career as a medical student before abandoning medicine to become an actor. Flemyng made his stage debut in the early 1930s, and worked steadily...
as Rushington - Peter CarstenPeter CarstenPeter Carsten is a German actor and film producer. He appeared in 90 films between 1953 and 1999.-Selected filmography:* Sand, Love and Salt * Under Ten Flags * Time of the Innocent...
as Hengel - Edith Schneider as Headmistress
- Günter MeisnerGünter MeisnerGünter Meisner was a German actor. He is best remembered for his several cinematic portrayals of Adolf Hitler....
as Hassler - Ernst Walder as Grauber
Awards and critical reception
At the 1967 BAFTA Awards the film had nominations in the best "Art Direction", "Film Editing" and "Screenplay" categories, but didn't win. Harold Pinter was nominated for an Edgar AwardEdgar Award
The Edgar Allan Poe Awards , named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America...
in the "Best Motion Picture" category, but also didn't win.
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reported that 86% of critics gave the film a positive rating, based on 7 reviews, with an average
Weighted mean
The weighted mean is similar to an arithmetic mean , where instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others...
score of 7.1/10. Variety magazine commented that "it relies on a straight narrative storyline, simple but holding, literate dialog and well-drawn characters." Ian Nathan of Empire Magazine described the film as "daft, dated and outright confusing most of the time, but it undeniably fun" and rated it with 3/5 stars.
Score and soundtrack
The mainly orchestral atmospheric soundtrack composed by John BarryJohn Barry (composer)
John Barry Prendergast, OBE was an English conductor and composer of film music. He is best known for composing the soundtracks for 12 of the James Bond films between 1962 and 1987...
was released by Columbia in 1966. Performed by Ray Conniff
Ray Conniff
Joseph Raymond Conniff was an American bandleader and arranger best known for his Ray Conniff Singers during the 1960s.-Biography:...
, "Wednesday's Child" was released also as a single.
- "Wednesday's Child" – Main Theme (Instrumental)
- "Quiller Caught" – The Fight
- "The Barrel Organ"
- "Oktober" – Walk from the River
- "Downtown" (composed by Tony Hatch)
- "Main Title Theme"
- "Wednesday's Child" – Vocal Version (Lyrics: Mack David / Vocals: Matt Monro)
- "The Love Scene" – The Old House
- "Autobahn March"
- "He Knows The Way Out"
- "Night Walk in Berlin"
- "Quiller and the Bomb"
- "Have You Heard of a Man Called Jones?" – Closing Theme