The Quiller Memorandum

George Segal as Quiller.

When two of its agents are murdered in Berlin, the British intelligence agency MI-6 employs an American spy to locate the headquarters of a 1960s Nazi organization. Known only as Quiller (George Segal), the American follows his own rules--much to the dismay of his British handlers. Instead of pursuing an undercover investigation, Quiller makes his presence known to anyone who might be affiliated with the Nazis. 

He is quickly captured, injected with truth serum, and grilled about the location of the British headquarters. He divulges nothing of interest, but is mysteriously discarded rather than murdered. This is the first indication that Quiller is engaged in a cat-and-mouse game with his query.

Made in 1966, The Quiller Memorandum is one of several serious spy dramas made in the wake of the decade's hugely successful James Bond films. However, despite an impressive pedigree, including an all-star cast and an award-winning screenwriter, The Quiller Memorandum comes across as lightweight compared to The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965), The Ipcress File (1965), and The Deadly Affair (1967).

Senta Berger...as a spy?

Part of the problem lies with the simplistic plot, which serves only as a frame for an overdose of dialogue-driven scenes. Nothing much happens in The Quiller Memorandum. Its protagonist walks the streets of Berlin, chats with people, and gets interrogated under the influence of drugs. There's a short feeble car chase and an explosion at the climax, but there's nothing that drives the story nor injects it with any sense of urgency.

Screenwriter Harold Pinter, who adapted the novel The Berlin Memorandum, presents characters with less depth than cardboard cut-outs. Perhaps, his point is that spies lie so much to everyone that their "real" lives cease to exist. However, the end results of his efforts are characters without any character. Quiller is an cartoonish smart aleck who tosses off quips as he sits strapped in a chair facing torture or death. His attitude might work in a Bond knock-off, but obviously The Quiller Memorandum was intended as an anti-Bond spy film.

On the plus side, director Michael Anderson paints a haunting, noirish portrait of Berlin in the mid-1960s--from the crumbling buildings to the late night streets filled with lonely people. The gloom-ridden atmosphere is augmented by John Barry's dour score, which features Matt Monro singing "Wednesday's Child" (Mack David's lyrics include lines like "I am Wednesday's child, born to be alone").

Fans of Alec Guinness, Max Von Sydow, and Senta Berger may be interested in seeking out The Quiller Memorandum. However, if you're in the mood for a good 1960 spy drama, stick with The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, The Ipcress File, or Funeral in Berlin.

Even Elsa's Cute Cubs Can't Redeem an Unnecessary Sequel

Elsa and Joy (Susan Hampshire)

Although Joy Adamson's book Born Free topped the bestseller charts in 1960, no one anticipated that the 1966 film adaptation would become a huge hit. With a British cast mostly unfamiliar to American audiences, the movie captured the hearts of moviegoers worldwide with its true-life tale of how Adamson and her husband raised a female lion cub and set her free. Adamson followed her book with several sequels about Elsa the Lioness and her cubs--so it was inevitable that a follow-up film would be made, too.

Released in 1972, Living Free opens with a lengthy recap of what happened in the first film (and even incorporates snippets of John Barry's Oscar-winning score). Born Free ended with the Adamsons successfully releasing the domesticated Elsa into the wilds of Africa. A year later, when they returned to the spot where they last saw Elsa, she introduced them to her three cubs.

Two of Elsa's cubs.

That happy ending, though, gives way to sadness in Living Free when Elsa dies unexpectedly due to an illness. Her hungry orphaned cubs--Jespah, Gop, and Little Elsa--start killing livestock belonging to the local tribes. George finds an animal preserve willing to take the cubs, but first he and Joy have to capture them. Their efforts to do that comprise the strongest scenes in Living Free.

As a sequel to Born Free, Living Free leaves a lot to be desired. Elsa's frisky cubs are adorable, but one never gets to know them. In the first film, we see Elsa grow up, bond with the Adamsons, and struggle to adapt to the wild. She was a full-fledged character whereas Jespah, Gop, and Little Elsa are just cute animals.

I can only think of one reason for the lengthy recap of Born Free at the beginning of Living Free: Without it, the 90-minute running time would not have been sufficient for a feature film. It adds nothing to the narrative and I think it's safe to assume that the majority of people who went to see Living Free knew the story of Elsa.

Composer John Barry won Oscars for his score for Born Free and for the title song with lyrics by Don Black. Apparently, he was too expensive or unavailable for the sequel. As a result, viewers have to listen to the cringe-worthy Living Free title song performed by Julie Budd. I had never hear of her, but she is still performing live shows as of 2018; here's a link to her web site.

Susan Hampshire as Joy Adamson.

The two human stars of Living Free, Susan Hampshire and Nigel Davenport, do what they can with their underwritten parts. I became a Susan Hampshire admirer fan after watching her fierce performances in the miniseries The Pallisers and The First Churchills. Alas, she seems miscast as Joy Adamson, whose steely determination to do right by Elsa dominated the original film.

Incidentally, the plot to Living Free is not from Adamson's book of the same name, but rather her third book Forever Free. There have been several other films about the Adamsons, to include To Walk With Lions (1999), starring Richard Harris as George. Diana Muldaur and Gary Collins played the Adamsons in a short-lived Born Free TV series in 1974.

The Five Best John Barry Film Scores

It's fortunate that John Barry had a modest career as a British pop star with his band, the John Barry Seven. Otherwise, he might never have become one of the most successful film composers in the history of cinema. Despite writing some of the screen's most memorable scores, he won only five Oscars: Best Song for Born Free and Best Original Score for Born Free, The Lion in Winter, Out of Africa, and Dances with Wolves. Today, we rank our picks for the five best John Barry scores:

1. Body Heat. Barry's haunting, sax-infused music sets the perfect tone for Lawrence Kasdan's stylish 1981 film noir. In his book Neo-Noir, Ronald Schwartz calls Barry's score "ravishing...it belongs in the canon of great noir and neo-noir film music. Barry's score punctuated the visuals with lyrical sensuality." Interestingly, the initial soundtrack album was remixed without Barry's approval. His original soundtrack recording was unavailable until Film Score Monthly released a deluxe two-disc set in 2012.

 2. Out of Africa. John Barry won the fourth of his five Oscars with this sweeping, romantic score. The American Film Institute ranked it No. 15 on its 2005 list of the top 25 film scores (AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores). Incredibly, it's the only Barry soundtrack on the list, although all five scores on this list were included as AFI nominees. As a stand-alone musical composition, Out of Africa may be my favorite among Barry's works.

3. Somewhere in Time. I've been a fan of this time travel romance since I saw it theatrically in 1980. Although it was neither a critical nor boxoffice hit in the U.S., Somewhere in Time has become a cult favorite (and a huge success in Japan). Much of the film's impact can be attributed to Barry's score which incorporates the 18th variation of Rachmaninoff's "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini," performed as a piano solo by Chet Swiatkowski with a string accompaniment. Barry's enchanting title theme is equally beautiful. In fact, the only reasonable explanation for this score being ignored at the Oscars is that perhaps it wasn't deemed "original" based on Barry's use of the Rachmaninoff piece.

4.  Born Free. The title song won a 1966 Oscar (beating Alfie and Georgy Girl) and pianist Roger Williams' recording went to No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. That makes it John Barry's most successful song. However, the lovely title tune (with lyrics by Don Black) was part of a superb soundtrack that's alternately playful and majestic. Like Body Heat, the music plays an integral role in this fact-based tale of a couple in Africa who raised a lion cub and later set her free.

5. Goldfinger. Shirley Bassey's bold, brassy live rendition of "Goldfinger" was the highlight of the 2013 Oscars, which is a tribute to both the song and Ms. Bassey. It was the biggest hit from a Sean Connery 007 film, peaking at No. 8 in Billboard. John Barry composed the scores for twelve James Bond movies from Dr. No (1962) to The Living Daylights (1987). In 1997, the Sunday Times published an article alleging that John Barry also composed the famous "James Bond Theme," which is credited to Monty Norman in the closing credits of each film. Norman subsequently won a libel suit against the Times.

Honorable Mentions:  Dances With Wolves; The Lion in Winter; and Midnight Cowboy.

Michele Monro Talks with the Cafe about "The Singer's Singer: The Life and Music of Matt Monro"

Michele Monro, daughter of British singer Matt Monro, sat down recently to chat with the Cafe about her new biography of her father. Famous for 1960s hit records such as "Portrait of My Love" and "My Kind of Girl," Matt Monro was also widely known for singing on the soundtracks to films like Born Free, From Russia With Love, and The Quiller Memorandum.

Cafe:  Your father was born Terence Edward Parsons  How did Terry Parsons come to be known as Matt Monro?

Michele Monro:  Less than six weeks after signing his recording contract, Terry was booked in at the studios to cut his debut album Blue and Sentimental with The Malcolm Lockyer Orchestra.  Decca Records soon decided Terence Edward Parsons needed a different name for his recording career and it took a matter of minutes to choose. ‘Matt’, taken from Matt White, an Australian Fleet Street journalist who worked for the Daily Sketch at the time and had written a centre-page spread of adulation about the singing bus driver, and ‘Monro’, from pianist Winnie Atwell’s father, Monro Atwell. Matt Monro was born. In later years, Matt’s name was legally changed, but the constant misspelling came to irk him; it was either spelled Munro, Monroe or even Munrowe, sometimes as many as three different ways within the same article.

Cafe:  Most film fans remember Don Black as the lyricist of classic  movie songs like "Born Free" and "Diamonds Are Forever." What  different job did he perform for Matt Monro?

Michele:  Don Black met Matt Monro while working as a music plugger in Tin Pan Alley and they immediately became firm friends. Matt encouraged his friend to write at every opportunity and even recorded a plethora of the budding lyricist’s songs in order to give him a boost. When Matt hit it big with "Portrait of My Love," he asked Don to leave his job and come on board as his manager. It was a successful relationship and the job role gave Don ample opportunity to continue writing.

Cafe:  What role did Peter Sellers and producer George Martin (of  Beatles fame) play in Matt's career?

Matt Monro in concert.

Michele:  In autumn 1959, George Martin rang Matt’s wife  Mickie and told her about a small job he had which would require the singer to record a take-off of Frank Sinatra. A song had been written for the opening track on the second Peter Sellers album he was working on and the intention was that Sellers should sing it with a voice as near as possible to Sinatra’s. Although Peter couldn’t sing terribly well, it was thought he could use his great powers of mimicry so that it would actually sound like someone doing an impression of Sinatra, adding comic significance to the title of the LP, Songs for Swingin’ Sellers. However, Sellers was doubtful that he could pull off the task, admitting that he could manage ordinary impressions but not vocal ones. Although he wanted to phrase it like Sinatra would, he didn’t know how to achieve the effect. George’s solution was to look for someone who had a voice like Sinatra--he didn’t want an impression but to hear it sung the way that Sinatra might sing it.

Matt did the job and he did it well and upon hearing the recording, Sellers--a master of impersonation--admitted he could never approach Sinatra’s style so accurately or do such justice to the song. He thought the test number was great and suggested they use Matt’s version as the opening track on the album under the guise of a pseudonym – Fred Flange. Released at the end of 1959 with the memorable album cover featuring a body hanging from a tree, it caused something of a furor in professional circles. Parlophone Records was besieged with phone calls and letters, with record buyers and press wanting to know who the mystery singer was. Once the true identity of the impersonator got out, the industry tabloids were awash with admiration and offers to give Monro work flooded in.

Cafe:  Matt met a dozens of other big stars during his frequent television  appearances on television series like The Ed Sullivan Show. Who were some  of his favorite singers?

Tom Jones and Matt Monro.

Michele:  Matt adored working with his mentor Winnie Atwell. She had a certain  funk going on that he loved and of course Tony Bennett and Sammy Davis ranked highly on his list. He loved them as people and to him that was important because they gave their music heart and soul. He would have given his right arm towork with Sinatra, but something always conspired to get in the way. He actually had the opportunity of  signing with Reprise and he would have jumped at the chance had it not been for his advisors. They read more into it that just an innocent  offer--had my father signed with the company they could in fact have prevented him from recording at all. Some thought they wanted this so Sinatra had no competition--but like so many rumors--they were without substance.

Cafe:  The Oscar-winning song "Born Free"--written by John  Barry & Don Black and sung by Matt-- was cut from the movie at one point. What's the story behind that?

Michele:  Matt’s first single for Capitol was one of the songs he will forever be associated with. Producer Carl Foreman had partnered with Columbia to film Born Free, a simple tale about lions in captivity and John Barry and Don Black were chosen to compose the music

Foreman disliked the finished song immensely, feeling the lyrics should centre around and encompass the lions themselves. However, Barry somehow persuaded the producer to stick with his vision. It should have gone smoothly from then on, but Foreman kept changing his mind on whether the film should even have a title song and thought Don’s lyrics were too much of a social comment.  Barry and Black fought their for corner vigorously and thought they had won the battle with the producer, but they were in for an unpleasant surprise.

Matt attended the Royal première of Born Free at London’s Odeon Leicester Square and it wasn’t long before Don received an anguished call from the singer telling him they’d cut the song from the final cut of the movie.  Carl Foreman had approached Matt in the lobby after the film’s closing credits and apologised for the omission. He explained that they’d dropped the first reel of the movie and fractured the film so the soundtrack couldn't be used. But the truth was that he thought it was in the film’s best interest to drop the song and he’d gone back into the cutting room and re-edited the film, removing the song and replacing it with an orchestral version for the opening.

The trio were apoplectic, but Foreman was adamant that his decision wouldn’t be reversed. However, as it transpired "Born Free" had rocketed up the American charts and the Roger Williams orchestral version, complete with backing choir, was now sitting in the number one position. Carl Foreman couldn’t justify his decision any longer--he had to reverse it. For a song to be eligible for an Academy Award, it had to be featured in every print of the film. The heads of Columbia, the publishers, Screen Gems and the producers all clamoured to reclaim every piece of celluloid that had been distributed, so as to put the song back in, spending vast sums of money on an Oscar campaign to promote the new version. In 1966, both the song "Born Free" and John Barry’s score won Academy Awards.

Part 2 of this interview will be published on Wednesday.

Black & white photos are from The Singer’s Singer: The Life and Music of Matt Monro © 2012 Michele Monro. Titan Books provided a review copy to the Classic Film & TV Cafe.