Dir: Michael Anderson
1966
***
Often lazily and unfairly compared to the Bond films, The Quiller Memorandum is a very different kind of Spy film. Twenty years after the end of the Second World War, Elleston Trevor's novel suggests the Nazis are attempting a come back although this time they are integrated deep in society and no longer wave flags or wear uniforms. The phrase 'Trust no one' is overused now but back in 1966 it was still a fresh concept but one can't help but look back on this film in retrospect and guess immediately who should and shouldn't be trusted. So it's a little dated, the villains do have a whiff of 'Bond villainy' about them and it's a bit predictable but George Segal, Alec Guinness and Max Von Sydow are all brilliant in their roles and it is still refreshing to see a spy who isn't either jumping off trains or wrestling sharks, indeed Quiller doesn't once fire a gun, giving this an instant intelligent feel about it that all spy films should probably have.
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