Le Liquidateur

"The Liquidator" was such an amusing film. I loved the fact that Shirley Bassey sang the theme song a la James Bond. It was great to see a spy whose hormones were far more potent than his efforts with a gun. A particularly funny part occurs when Trevor Howard is rescued by Boysie, as Paris is being liberated. Howard thinks that Boysie is a killing machine when, in fact, he is a hopelessly clumsy young man. Rod Taylor is deliciously sexy in the film and displays his flair for comedy.

One reviewer here wrote that this film was a poor excursion for the lead actor, Rod Taylor. I do honestly believe it to be one of his best comedy outings in his career. True, the film does lag a bit about two thirds of the way through, but its premise is solid.

One simply has to regard the film in the light of the the times it represents; which is the social environment of the late 1940's to the mid 1970's when the Cold War eventually ended. And one has to have some sense of how the Cold War era was, in itself, an exercise in the futility of bringing a major war to an end on a slow boil.

Therefore, I regard such claims as it not being humorous, or a lame attempt at such, being the inability of someone too young to have experienced the times.

Keep in mind that my generation (born in 1939) participated in 'take-cover' drills in our elementary classrooms, as serious protection from a nuclear bomb blast.

When given the signal, we kids were instructed to dive under our classroom desks, and to cover our heads with our hands until the all clear was given.

In reality, if the bomb was indeed dropped anywhere nearby, all 'take -cover would have accomplished was to yield - all gone! Yes, it was taken seriously by just about everyone.

Knowing this, it is easily understood why actual spy agencies on our side, and behind the Iron Curtain countries actually generated such extremes as history reveals of this era - as serious exercises.

Knowing this, simply sit back, relax your serious muscles, expose your humor muscles and enjoy this delightful film in the vein it was intended.

When I saw this film 56 years ago, I wondered: Is this serious? It actually almost grows quite serious gradually, but until clouds gather for a storm when everything seems to go wrong, it's great fun and a wonderful spying game comedy all the way, although the humour can be quite sinister and black - joking about death is not a thing you do for laughs. There are many wonderful actors here, and they are all excellent, it was surprising to see Eric Sykes as a professional murderer and quite snug about his profession, and David Tomlinson for once as a perfect villain. Trevor Howard dominates the film by his very sinister character behind a rather amused but perfect stiff upper lip, and Rod Taylor for once makes a great comic character as a genuine playboy falling by chance into the wrong profession, and almost getting burned for it. Wilfrid Hyde-White is a jovial spy-in-chief, and Akim Tamiroff has a wonderful although comically grotesque supporting role. There is naturally more fun in Monte Carlo than in London, but that's where the sinister chapter starts off. After that you will be on for a ride which no one, not even the players, can know how it will end, but even if it ends with any probable disaster, there will always be another beginning.

Okay, so The Liquidator could be described by purist fans of the James Bond franchise collection as a compliment to the previous years 1964 release of James Bond's "Goldfinger" right down to having the classy Shirley Bassey singing the introduction score of both films as only Shirley Bassey can.

But The Liquidator does more than an admirable job of standing the test of time over the past 52 years such that Rod Taylor and Jill St. John's performances should always be remembered for being the feature stars of this tongue in cheek ode to the spy genre.

I really enjoyed it and I will be sure to be purchasing a copy of this grand action and fun filled film for my personal viewing pleasure so that I don't have to wait a few more years for TCM to re-run a series of all the Rod Taylor classic films that were box office successes.

Rod Taylor plays something of a combination of a poor man's James Bond who enjoys romancing a variety of beautiful women and even a funnier man's Inspector Clouseau with both charm and candor and a whole lot of gullibility. This film provides for fans of Rod Taylor why this Australian born actor could not be stereotyped as just a leading man, or as a dramatic actor in suspenseful roles as in THE BIRDS, or as a captain of a spaceship or as a cowboy. No, Rod Taylor is much like a chameleon who can change color or acting style as the film requires of him.

Ann-Margret also does an excellent job playing Iris MacIntosh, the administrative assistant to the Colonel Mostyn, played by Trevor Howard. The film is filled to the brim and overflowing with plot, romance, action and most importantly much humor and wit by Rod Taylor.

I liked The Liquidator and I believe you will too. I give this 52 year old film a very strong 8 out of 10 rating and I for one will be sure to be watching it again as this spy genre spoof has held up very well thank you.

Rod Taylor is "The Liquidator" -- well, his superiors think he is, anyway -- in this 1965 spoof of the spy genre, directed by Jack Cardiff.

The '60s was certainly an interesting time for films - spy films, spoofs of spy films, caper films, big historical films, and sex comedies. Here we have a spoof of the James Bond films, with Rod Taylor playing Boys Oaks, a war acquaintance of Colonel Mostyn (Trevor Howard). The British Security Services is frustrated and embarrassed as they have a number of spies in their midst. It's time to liquidate them, so The Chief (Wilfrid Hyde-White) orders Mostyn to find someone.

Mostyn remembers Boys and his impressive actions during the war and drafts him. Of course, he doesn't exactly tell Boys what he wants. He offers him a gorgeous apartment, beautiful women who hang around, a nice car, and after Boys signs his life away, Mostyn drops the bomb. Boys tries but he fails in his first assignment and instead saves the subject from the train tracks he was just about to throw her onto. The other thing is all the travel - Boys really doesn't like to travel. So Boyd has to come up with a solution or lose the perks.

I thought this was an okay comedy, nothing special. Jill St. John plays Mostyn's beautiful, sexy secretary, Wilfrid Hyde-White plays the bureau chief; the film also features Akim Tamiroff. There are some funny moments and I like the premise. Entertaining.