With the success of the James Bond movies starting with Dr. No in 1962, it seemed inevitable that spy movies would be very popular with moviegoers during the 1960’s; in response to their success, some spy movies offered a reasonably more realistic alternative to the gadget oriented and suave Bond movies. One of these movies was The Quiller Memorandum, a twist filled story involving a real life menace: the rise of neo-Nazis in post-WWII Germany. Previously released on DVD by Fox, Twilight Time has licensed the movie for its Blu-ray debut.
The Production: 3.5/5
When a British spy is killed while on assignment in Berlin, an American colleague named Quiller (George Segal) is summoned to pick up where his predecessor left off. His job is to investigate a cell of neo-Nazis and locate their headquarters; however, it’ll soon become clear that Quiller will be stuck “in the gap” between his British handlers (George Sanders and Robert Helpmann) and the mysterious neo-Nazi cell he’s investigating. He’ll need his wits to get through this mission, because the motives of both sides are quite ambiguous…
Following in the footsteps of another “realistic” spy film – Martin Ritt’s fantastic The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965) – The Quiller Memorandum is an entertaining and twist filled little adventure into the spy world. Directing from a script by Harold Pinter, Michael Anderson fashions a world where the motives are ambiguous, and trust can be easily discarded as fast as it’s gained. Also, a huge plus is the location camerawork, serving as a reminder that the past – especially in context to this story – is always present and can resurface; the emergence of the neo-Nazi cell in this story serves as proof of this. The only issue with the film is that for all of its twists and ambiguity, one can easily get lost in all of its intricacies and can become just as disoriented like Quiller does in one key scene at the enemy headquarters. That aside, the movie is still a very well scripted, directed, and acted tale that does require multiple viewing to peel away the many layers and understand the serpentine plot.
As the eponymous Quiller, George Segal is very good as the cagey, yet quick witted operative caught up in the crossfire; it’s a very notable role for him, coming in the same year he received an Oscar nod for his work in the film version of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Alec Guinness casts a memorable impression as the intelligent – if somewhat cool – handler of Quiller; George Sanders and Robert Helpmann make the most of their screen time as the distant aristocratic handlers who don’t seem too interested in the spy world. Senta Berger is solid as the schoolteacher who becomes romantically involved with Quiller and who is caught up with him in the intrigue; Max von Sydow commands attention in every scene he’s in as the mysteriously sinister leader of the neo-Nazi cell. These five performers give the story its delights, thrills, and the pulse that drive it along.
Video: 4/5
3D Rating: NA
The film’s original 2:35:1 aspect ratio is preserved in this HD transfer. Film grain is organic and strong with fine details rendered faithfully along with a strong color palette; there’s very few cases of age-related artifacts present in this transfer, likely making this the best the film has looked on home video and an improvement over the previous Fox DVD.
Audio: 4/5
The film’s original mono soundtrack is presented in a DTS-HD Master Audio track for this release. Dialogue is strong and clear along with the sound effects, with solid ambiance given to John Barry’s moody score. There’s minimal instances of age-related issues, meaning that this is likely the best the movie has ever sounded on home video.
Special Features: 2.5/5
Isolated Score Track (with some effects) –Â John Barry’s score is presented as a standalone 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio track with a few sound effects heard in between music cues.
Commentary by film historians Eddy Friedfeld & Lee Pfeiffer –Â Carried over from the previous Fox DVD, the duo goes over the film as well as putting it in context to the Cold War.
Theatrical Trailer (3:21)
Booklet featuring a new essay by Julie Kirgo
Overall: 3.5/5
Crisply directed with many layers and twists throughout, The Quiller Memorandum has emerged as one of the better “realistic” spy thrillers of the 1960’s. Twilight Time has gone a great job in giving the movie a solid HD transfer and audio track for its Blu-ray debut, along with porting over the commentary from the previous Fox DVD. Recommended, but since there’s only a limited supply of 3,000 copies, pick up yours before they run out!
Mychal has been on the Home Theater Forum’s reviewing staff since 2018, with reviews numbering close to 300. During this time, he has also been working as an assistant manager at The Cotton Patch – his family’s fabric and quilting supplies business in Keizer, Oregon. When not working at reviewing movies or working at the family business, he enjoys exploring the Oregon Coast, playing video games and watching baseball in addition to his expansive collection of movies on DVD, Blu-ray and UHD, totalling over 3,000 movies.
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