Review: The Quiller Memorandum

George Segal stars as Quiller, an MI6 agent (yes, with an American accent) sent by his gentlemanly handler Pol (Sir Alec Guinness) to Berlin to investigate a potential underground group of Neo-Nazis on the rise, and the murder of two British agents. Senta Berger plays Inge, a simple school teacher whom Segal takes a fancy to, whilst Max von Sydow is Oktober, the aristocratic head of the Nazi organisation, who at one point captures Quiller, and drugs him in a bid to prise vital information out of him. Peter Carsten, Sir Robert Helpmann, Robert Flemyng, and George Sanders play a collection of characters on the fringes of the story, whilst Gunter Meissner plays a swimming instructor who has some vital information to Quiller’s investigation.

 

Directed by Michael Anderson (“Around the World in 80 Days”, “Operation Crossbow”, “Logan’s Run”) and scripted by playwright Harold Pinter (“The Last Tycoon”) from a Elleston Trevor (“Flight of the Phoenix”) novel, this 1966 film is one of the better spy flicks in the cold, anti-Bond tradition. An increasingly tired and irritable George Segal is surprisingly good in the lead, but the film is taken from him by scene-stealing turns from gentlemanly villain Max von Sydow and old pro Sir Alec Guinness (who didn’t like his work here, but he’s the only one). The interrogation scene between Segal and von Sydow is particularly riveting and harrowing. Interesting to see perennial Nazi Gunter Meissner (Mr. Slugworth to a generation of kids) playing a relatively non-villainous swimming coach, and Aussie ex-pat dancer/actor Sir Robert Helpmann in a shadowy part, whilst George Sanders gets sweet bugger all to do in a cameo as an upper-crust, elder statesman spy who is happy to send others to do the dirty work. He has pretty much one scene and that’s all.

 

Overall, it’s a good, tension-filled yarn (especially any scene involving von Sydow), only mildly spoiled by one poor supporting performance I won’t spoil here, but they’re so bad they kinda give the ending away. Meanwhile, I couldn’t decide which was more headache-inducing, the way overdone soft focus that renders all of Senta Berger’s scenes foggy, or that ghastly tweed jacket Guinness wears near the end. My TV screen absolutely did not like that wardrobe choice at all. The amazing, ominous set design by Arthur Taksen (“Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines”) is alone worth seeing (especially von Sydow’s bizarre hideout), whilst the music score by veteran Bond composer John Barry (“Robin and Marian”, “Dances With Wolves”) is also excellent. This is a must for grim spy story lovers, it’s definitely one of the best of the 60s (along with “The Spy Who Came in From the Cold” and “The Deadly Affair”).

 

Rating: B