The Quiller Memorandum

"He played the most dangerous game in Europe, and he played it alone."

1966 1h 44m EN

😐

5.9

MID

★5.9TMDB · 90

ThrillerDramaCrime

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

After two British Secret Intelligence Service agents are murdered at the hands of a cryptic neo-Nazi group known as Phoenix, the suave agent Quiller is sent to Berlin to investigate.

“He played the most dangerous game in Europe, and he played it alone.”

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Cast

George Segal
Quiller
Alec Guinness
Pol
Max von Sydow
Oktober
Senta Berger
Inge Lindt
George Sanders
Gibbs
Robert Helpmann
Weng
Robert Flemyng
Rushington
Peter Carsten
Hengel

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Michael Anderson
Writers: Harold Pinter
Languages: German, English
Countries: United Kingdom

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

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Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

60 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: German, English.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Michael Anderson, shot by Erwin Hillier. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by John Barry. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Frederick Wilson shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

George Segal and Alec Guinness and Max von Sydow carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "He played the most dangerous game in Europe, and he played it alone.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0060880 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Michael Anderson directs. Erwin Hillier behind the camera. John Barry scores. Frederick Wilson cuts. Produced in United Kingdom. Dialogue in German, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

160 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Dialogue crosses 2 languages: German, English.
3Directed by Michael Anderson, shot by Erwin Hillier. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by John Barry. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Frederick Wilson shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6George Segal and Alec Guinness and Max von Sydow carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "He played the most dangerous game in Europe, and he played it alone.".
8IMDB entry: tt0060880 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Only 90 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Erwin Hillier
Original score: John Barry
Editing: Frederick Wilson
Makeup / hair: Stella Rivers
Runtime: 104 min · 1h 44m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Box office: $1,500,000
Original language: EN
IMDB: The Quiller Memorandum (1966)

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Michael Anderson

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John Chard2016-03-27
★ 6/10
Oktober, and the trees are stripped bare. The Quiller Memorandum is directed by Michael Anderson and adapted to screenplay by Harold Pinter from the novel "The Berlin Memorandum" written by Elleston Trevor. It stars George Segal, Alec Guinness, Max von Sydow and Senta Berger. Music is by John Barry and cinematography by Erwin Hillier. There's no frills and graces about The Quiller Memorandum, it follows a straight spy drama narrative that pitches Segal (excellently cool) into Berlin to unearth the location of some Neo-Nazis. He gets involved with the sensual Berger whilst battling his wits with an insidious Sydow. Location photography is pleasing, as is the swirly score, but even though there's a nice ambiguity to the finale, there's a feeling of disappointment that actually not a great deal has happened in over an hour and half of film. Not dull exactly, and in fact there's enough interest to, well, hold the interest, but for every leanly written passage of play there also comes a yearning to have some espionage pizazz to thrill the senses. 6/10
CinemaSerf2024-09-02
★ 6/10
Unfortunately, time hasn't been very kind to this rather stilted cold war thriller. When two British agents are found dead in Berlin, it falls to "Quiller" (George Segal) to track down the elusive "Oktober" (Max von Sydow) before he gets his own comeuppance. The cat and mouse game is actually quite well executed - both sides desparate to find the location of the other's secret headquarters, and to establish whom is working for their enemies, but sadly Michael Anderson just can't quite elevate the film above a rather statically paced affair. Segal is efficient, but hardly charismatic and even Alec Guinness and the usually dependable George Sanders don't really inject much of a sense of menace. Too much of the jeopardy is just a little too contrived, and though it is does move along well enough, its just a little too hollow with nowhere near enough action to have it stand out. John Barry provided the score and the theme song "Wednesday's Child" (with Mack David), but there is little else here for us to remember.