Review of The Quiller Memorandum (1966) by Richard D — 03 Feb 2013

Quite the odd film. I have apparently seen it before, but I have no recollection of it. I'm not surprised since it's hardly the most memorable film. For the first hour, I was quite convinced I didn't like it at all.

A very spare plot is established ... George Segal as an American spy brought to Berlin to investigate a group of neo-Nazis ... and then characters talk to each other for an hour. It's not particularly gripping dialogue either, but it's highly literate as one would expect from a Harold Pinter script.

Even when Segal is captured by the leader of the Nazis (Max Von Sydow), they have a calm, lengthy conversation. In the last half hour, I wouldn't say it really picked up, but it got very interesting.

In the end, I found myself really liking it without being able to articulate exactly why. I would say that the degree to which one would like this is probably tied directly to how much one enjoyed the recent adaptation of "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy".

The tone and pace are very similar. Alec Guiness is quite wonderful as Segal's contact with the agency.