Das Quiller Memorandum - Gefahr aus dem Dunkel

Languid, some might say ponderous mid-60's British-made cold-war drama (it could scarcely be called a thriller, more "The Spy Who Came In From The Cold" than, say "Thunderball") that for all its longueurs, does have some redeeming features. 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. George Segal, plays the edgy American-abroad new CI5 recruit (looking unnervingly at times like a young George W Bush!) before he started doing "genial" and reminds us that his previous part was in the heavyweight "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf". Try as he might though, he can't quite carry the lead here, lacking as he does the magnetism of Connery or the cynicism of Caine. Alec Guinness gets to play a Smiley prototype but brings too much Noel Coward to the table. Max Van Sydow is better as the neo-Nazi leader, veiled by the veneer of respectability as he cracks his knuckles and swings a golf club all the time he's injecting Segal with massive doses of truth serum, while Senta Berger is pleasant, but slight, as the pretty young teacher who apparently leads our man initially to the "other side", but whose escape at the end from capture and certain death at the hands of the "baddies" might lead one to suspect her true proclivities. 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. I also expected just a little more from the interrogation scenes from the man who wrote "The Birthday Party". Watchable and intriguing as it occasionally is, enigmatic is perhaps the most apposite adjective you could use to describe the "action" within. 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.

This film has special meaning for me as I was living in Berlin during the filming and, subsequent screening in the city. Mind you, in 1966-67 the Wall was there, East German border guards and a definite (cold war) cloud hanging over the city. 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. Very eerie film score, I believe John Barry did it but, I'm not sure. George Segal was good at digging for information without gadgets. A bit too sardonic at times, I think his character wanted to be elsewhere, clashing with KGB agents instead of ferreting out neo-nazis. I feel this film much more typified real counter espionage in the 60's as opposed to the early Bond flicks (which I love, by the way). Senta Berger was gorgeous! And, the final scene (with her and Segal) is done extremely well (won't spoil it for those who still wish to see it...it fully sums up the film, the tension filled times and cold war-era Germany). Also contains one of the final appearences of George Sanders in a brief role, a classic in his own right!

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. George Segal provides us with a lead character who is somewhat quirky in his demeanor, yet nonetheless effective in his role as an agent. His dry but quick Yiddish humor shines through on many occasions, providing diversions that masquerade his underlying desire to expose the antagonists' machinations. His romantic interest is Senta Berger, whose understated and laconic dialog provides the perfect counterpoint to Segal's character. Alec Guiness and George Sanders have brief roles as Segal's Control and Home Office head, respectively, and both rather coldly and matter-of-factly pooh-pooh over the grisly death of Segal's agent predecessor. In typically British mordant fashion, George Sanders and a fellow staffer in Britain are lunching in London on pheasant, more concerned with the quality of their repast than with the loss of their man in the field!

That said, the story moves along in a neo-noirish, eerie fashion as Segal continues his search for and exposure of the Nazi cadre. Great job by Max von Sydow who articulately plays his villainous role to the fullest. The remaining cast, mostly German actors, fulfill the demands of their roles more than adequately. Nice plot twist at the end, especially for those who disdain trite endings. Good period piece!

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. 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. 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. 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. 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.

Harold Pinter's screenplay, adapted from a novel by Trevor Dudley Smith, is "oh so serious" and perhaps too cerebral to be entertaining, at least without a charismatic star to carry the film. Among the few elements of humor are the scenes between George Sanders and Michael Helpmann, who dryly discuss the recent murders and their luncheon choices with an equal lack of interest. However, Sanders, Helpmann, and Alec Guinness as Pol, Quiller's contact in Berlin, appear too briefly to save the film. However, Max Von Sydow makes a strong impression as Oktober, leader of the neo-Nazi group; his performance is strong, authoritative, and genuinely menacing. Senta Berger appears in an ambiguous role as a teacher, who worked at a school where a neo-Nazi had also been employed. Quiller's lead in finding the neo-Nazi headquarters, Berger is the film's intended love interest, but her cool blank expressions fail to ignite any sparks between her and Segal, and the romance only exists as empty words in the script.

Michael Anderson's direction is pedestrian, and the few car chases are perfunctory at best. In the 1960's, spy films both serious and light were the vogue and many fine examples come to mind, like the aforementioned "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold," "From Russia with Love," and "The Ipcress File," among others. Unfortunately, "The Quiller Memorandum" does not merit mention alongside them.

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). This is one of the better examples of the talky thrillers. Not that the movie is boring... there is lots of good, cat-and-mouse dialogue courtesy of playwright Harold Pinter. George Segal plays the hero, an undercover spy who goes to West Berlin to find out who killed his predecessor... who was on the trail of modern-day Nazis. Segal has surprisingly little difficulty in finding himself right in the thick of things... being captured and drugged by the baddies... and even having time for a romance with a German schoolteacher who may know more than she lets on. Parts of the movie reminded me a lot of the classic "The Third Man"... which I think the director was trying to emulate at times. Well, this is not quite a classic of that caliber but it is a very well-written and smoothly-paced "old school" thriller. Segal makes a very cool lead... witty and sarcastic, yet with a vulnerable side, too.