Assassinato por Encomenda

Unfortunately his back was turned when Trevor Howard was helped out of a bad jackpot during the liberation of Paris by Rod Taylor. If he had actually seen just how Taylor saved his life, he might never have thought of him as a perfect candidate for being The Liquidator.

It's what British Secret Service needs as Wilfrid Hyde-White tells his number 2 who is now Howard and 20 years later after the end of World War II. At that time the British government was getting embarrassed routinely with the number of defections and the number of spies caught. The answer is forget those democratic trivialities like due process. When you have a suspect, just shoot them, no questions asked. And Howard thinks is wartime savior is the perfect candidate for the job.

Not that Taylor is all that hip to the idea. He's a bar owner in some rural part of the United Kingdom. But he reads those James Bond novels and sees those movies and he knows what perks come with being an operator. Certainly Howard knows them too and he provides generously even overlooking the fact that his secretary Jill St. John is being tapped by Taylor.

Taylor finds an interesting way of subcontracting the work which I won't go into. But in the end he finds he's being beautifully set up for a major score by the other side. If the bad guys succeed the United Kingdom will really learn what embarrassment is all about.

In the James Bond tradition with title song sung by Shirley Bassey, The Liquidator is an amusing spy spoof. Howard does a nasty slow burn in the tradition of Edgar Kennedy. Jill St. John who is also a Bond girl in good standing is just as beautiful with a role a lot more substantive.

Folks who like the espionage genre should like The Liquidator.

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.

Not serious enough to be an action movie, not funny enough to be a comedy. Apparently they were going for a James Bond-type spy movie and missed spectacularly. I'm not sure if there is a plot, if there is, it isn't interesting enough to make the viewer care. Rod Taylor has all the intrigue of a mall shoe salesman. Watching this movie is sheer tedium. I recorded it on Turner Classic Movies and tried three times before I was able to complete it. Save yourself 119 minutes and avoid it at all costs. At least it answers the question, "What would James Bond be like if he was a dullard?". Of course, this probaly means Hollywood is working on a remake but it's hard to imagine it could be even worse.

"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.