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The Liquidator (1965 film)

January 01, 1970

The Liquidator is a 1965 British thriller film directed by Jack Cardiff and starring Rod Taylor, Trevor Howard, and Jill St. John.[3] It was based on The Liquidator (1964) the first of a series of Boysie Oakes novels by John Gardner.

The Liquidator
Original UK quad cinema poster featuring Richard Willams artwork
Directed byJack Cardiff
Written byPeter Yeldham
Based onThe Liquidator by John Gardner
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyEdward Scaife
Edited byErnest Walter
Music byLalo Schifrin
Production
company
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Distributed byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer (1965, original) Warner Bros. (2012, DVD)
Release date
  • November 1965 (1965-11) (UK)
Running time
105 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Box office$1,175,000 (est. US/ Canada rentals)[1]
23,498 admissions (France)[2]

Plot edit

In 1944 during World War II, American tank corps Sergeant "Boysie" Oakes stumbles and unwittingly shoots and kills two men attempting to assassinate British Intelligence Major Mostyn in Paris. Mostyn mistakenly believes Oakes was lethal on purpose.

Twenty-one years later, Mostyn (now a colonel in British Intelligence) and his boss are in trouble due to a series of embarrassing security disasters. To save his job, the chief orders Mostyn to hire an assassin to illegally eliminate security leaks without official authorisation. Mostyn recruits Boysie, now living in England, into the Secret Service without first telling him what his employment will entail, luring him in with a lavish apartment and a fancy car. After Boysie passes a training course, Mostyn informs him that his code name is "L", and that it stands for liquidator. Unable to resign and not a killer himself, Boysie secretly hires a freelance professional assassin named Griffin to do the dirty work.

Things go well until Oakes persuades Mostyn's secretary Iris to spend the weekend with him on the Côte d'Azur, though Mostyn has warned him that any contact between spies and civilian employees is a serious criminal offence. Boysie is captured by enemy agents led by Sheriek, who firmly believes he is on assignment and wants to know who his target is. However, Sheriek's superior, Chekhov, is coldly furious that he has gone beyond his orders to merely watch Boysie, thus endangering a much more important operation. He has Sheriek arrange for Boysie to escape.

Then Quadrant (David Tomlinson) arrives with a new mission for Boysie. He is to stage a fake assassination attempt on the Duke of Edinburgh, when he visits a Royal Air Force base, to test the security. Boysie finds that he has been duped: Quadrant is actually an enemy agent, and the bullets in his sniper rifle are real. Mostyn shows up in the duke's place and is able to locate Boysie, but while they are distracted, Quadrant and a pilot steal the real target: the Vulture, an advanced new aircraft which the duke was to inspect. Boysie manages to shoot Quadrant and board the plane as it is taking off. To his surprise, the pilot is none other than Iris, who informs him that she is the coordinator of the operation. He is able to overpower her and, with radio help, return the aircraft to the base, dumping the aircraft into the grass by accident.

Cast edit

Production edit

Producer Jon Pennington brought Australian screenwriter Peter Yeldham to the project after both had cooperated on The Comedy Man (1963). Yeldham recalled that Pennington acquired the novel, read it on an airplane and set the film into production in four or five months. As with the first of a projected Jason Love series Where the Spies Are (1966), also filmed in MGM-British Studios, MGM planned a Boysie Oakes film series. Producer Sydney Box spoke to Yeldham and wished him to write two more scripts in the projected series.[4]

Richard Harris was initially approached for the role but after negotiations chose to do The Heroes of Telemark (1965) instead.[5] Taylor insisted on playing the role with an American accent because he was more comfortable with it by that stage in his career.[6]

The film opens with animated titles by the Richard Williams studio.

The Liquidator was also filmed in MGM-British Studios. Cardiff recalled that the censors made them delete one of Taylor's lines: "it smells like a Turkish wrestler's jockstrap".[7]

Soundtrack edit

Main article: The Liquidator (soundtrack)

The original score was composed by Lalo Schifrin and includes a driving main title vocal theme and a soft end title theme ("My Liquidator"), both sung by Shirley Bassey. Other than the "Goldfinger"-type title song, Lalo Schifrin deliberately avoided the John Barry James Bond style of music.[8][9]

Release edit

Release of the film was held up a number of months due to a legal conflict between producer Leslie Elliot and MGM. Jack Cardiff thought this hurt the final box office result of the film, which was disappointing.[10]

Critical reception edit

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "After a promising beginning, with a gravel-voiced Trevor Howard putting his private executioner through the niceties of his assassination programme, it is not long before this further sortie into sub-Bondian territory begins to look like a very poor relative. The cast make what they can of a script that strives after witty effect and ends up looking only like a pastiche of the spy film formula. Rod Taylor looks a little flabby as the reluctant assassin, but he does manage to make the character appealing, and Trevor Howard wickedly proves how dialogue can be made to sound better than it is; and there is an amusing interlude in the shape of Akim Tamiroff as a blundering torturer doing his best to look villainous. But these are the only flashes of light in a generally gloomy film."[11]

Home media edit

The Liquidator was released to DVD by Warner Home Video on 6 September 2012 via the Warner Archive DVD-on-demand service.

References edit

  1. ^ "Big Rental Pictures of 1966", Variety, 4 January 1967 p 8
  2. ^ French box office for 1967 at Box Office Story
  3. ^ "The Liquidator". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  4. ^ p.31 Taylor, Tadhg Peter Yeldham Interview in Masters of the Shoot-'Em-Up: Conversations with Directors, Actors and Writers of Vintage Action Movies and Television Shows' McFarland, 14 Oct. 2015
  5. ^ p.152 Callan, Michael Feeney Richard Harris: Sex, Death & The Movies Robson, 30 November 2004
  6. ^ Vagg, Stephen (2010). Rod Taylor: An Aussie in Hollywood. Bear Manor Media. p. 115. ISBN 978-1-59393-511-5.
  7. ^ Bowyer, Justin (2003). Conversations with Jack Cardiff. Batsford. p. 190. ISBN 0-7134-8855-7.
  8. ^ "The Liquidator soundtrack liner notes". Film Score Monthly. 9 (16). Lukas Kendall. November 2006.
  9. ^ Spencer, Kristpher (2008). Film and Television Scores, 1950–1979: A Critical Survey by Genre. McFarland & Co. pp. 72–73. ISBN 978-0-7864-3682-8.
  10. ^ Stephen Vagg, Rod Taylor: An Aussie in Hollywood (Bear Manor Media, 2010) p118
  11. ^ "The Liquidator". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 33 (384): 154. 1 January 1966 – via ProQuest.

External links edit

  • The Liquidator at IMDb  
  • The Liquidator at the TCM Movie Database
  • The Liquidator at AllMovie
  • The Liquidator then-and-now location photographs at ReelStreets

January 01, 1970
liquidator, 1965, film, liquidator, 1965, british, thriller, film, directed, jack, cardiff, starring, taylor, trevor, howard, jill, john, based, liquidator, 1964, first, series, boysie, oakes, novels, john, gardner, liquidatororiginal, quad, cinema, poster, fe. The Liquidator is a 1965 British thriller film directed by Jack Cardiff and starring Rod Taylor Trevor Howard and Jill St John 3 It was based on The Liquidator 1964 the first of a series of Boysie Oakes novels by John Gardner The LiquidatorOriginal UK quad cinema poster featuring Richard Willams artworkDirected byJack CardiffWritten byPeter YeldhamBased onThe Liquidator by John GardnerProduced byLeslie ElliotJon PenningtonStarringRod TaylorTrevor HowardJill St JohnJohn Le MesurierAkim TamiroffCinematographyEdward ScaifeEdited byErnest WalterMusic byLalo SchifrinProductioncompanyMetro Goldwyn MayerDistributed byMetro Goldwyn Mayer 1965 original Warner Bros 2012 DVD Release dateNovember 1965 1965 11 UK Running time105 minutesCountryUnited KingdomLanguageEnglishBox office 1 175 000 est US Canada rentals 1 23 498 admissions France 2 Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Production 4 Soundtrack 5 Release 6 Critical reception 7 Home media 8 References 9 External linksPlot editIn 1944 during World War II American tank corps Sergeant Boysie Oakes stumbles and unwittingly shoots and kills two men attempting to assassinate British Intelligence Major Mostyn in Paris Mostyn mistakenly believes Oakes was lethal on purpose Twenty one years later Mostyn now a colonel in British Intelligence and his boss are in trouble due to a series of embarrassing security disasters To save his job the chief orders Mostyn to hire an assassin to illegally eliminate security leaks without official authorisation Mostyn recruits Boysie now living in England into the Secret Service without first telling him what his employment will entail luring him in with a lavish apartment and a fancy car After Boysie passes a training course Mostyn informs him that his code name is L and that it stands for liquidator Unable to resign and not a killer himself Boysie secretly hires a freelance professional assassin named Griffin to do the dirty work Things go well until Oakes persuades Mostyn s secretary Iris to spend the weekend with him on the Cote d Azur though Mostyn has warned him that any contact between spies and civilian employees is a serious criminal offence Boysie is captured by enemy agents led by Sheriek who firmly believes he is on assignment and wants to know who his target is However Sheriek s superior Chekhov is coldly furious that he has gone beyond his orders to merely watch Boysie thus endangering a much more important operation He has Sheriek arrange for Boysie to escape Then Quadrant David Tomlinson arrives with a new mission for Boysie He is to stage a fake assassination attempt on the Duke of Edinburgh when he visits a Royal Air Force base to test the security Boysie finds that he has been duped Quadrant is actually an enemy agent and the bullets in his sniper rifle are real Mostyn shows up in the duke s place and is able to locate Boysie but while they are distracted Quadrant and a pilot steal the real target the Vulture an advanced new aircraft which the duke was to inspect Boysie manages to shoot Quadrant and board the plane as it is taking off To his surprise the pilot is none other than Iris who informs him that she is the coordinator of the operation He is able to overpower her and with radio help return the aircraft to the base dumping the aircraft into the grass by accident Cast editRod Taylor as Boysie Oakes Trevor Howard as Major Colonel Mostyn Jill St John as Iris Wilfrid Hyde White as Chief as Wilfrid Hyde White David Tomlinson as Quadrant Akim Tamiroff as Sheriek Eric Sykes as Griffin Gabriella Licudi as Corale Sheriek s girlfriend and the bait used to lure Boysie into Sheriek s hands John Le Mesurier as Chekhov Derek Nimmo as Fly one of Mostyn s agents Jeremy Lloyd as young man Jennifer Jayne as Janice Benedict Heller Toren as assistant Betty McDowall as Frances Anne Boysie s first assigned victim Jo Rowbottom as Betty Colin Gordon as Vicar Mostyn s agent on the Cote d Azur Louise Dunn as Jessie Henri Cogan as Yakov one of Sheriek s henchmen Daniel Emilfork as Gregory the other Sheriek henchman Scott Finch as operations officer as Scot Finch Ronald Leigh Hunt as Mac Richard Wattis as flying instructor David Langton as station commander Tony Wright as flying control Suzy Kendall as Judith Mostyn s new secretaryProduction editProducer Jon Pennington brought Australian screenwriter Peter Yeldham to the project after both had cooperated on The Comedy Man 1963 Yeldham recalled that Pennington acquired the novel read it on an airplane and set the film into production in four or five months As with the first of a projected Jason Love series Where the Spies Are 1966 also filmed in MGM British Studios MGM planned a Boysie Oakes film series Producer Sydney Box spoke to Yeldham and wished him to write two more scripts in the projected series 4 Richard Harris was initially approached for the role but after negotiations chose to do The Heroes of Telemark 1965 instead 5 Taylor insisted on playing the role with an American accent because he was more comfortable with it by that stage in his career 6 The film opens with animated titles by the Richard Williams studio The Liquidator was also filmed in MGM British Studios Cardiff recalled that the censors made them delete one of Taylor s lines it smells like a Turkish wrestler s jockstrap 7 Soundtrack editMain article The Liquidator soundtrack The original score was composed by Lalo Schifrin and includes a driving main title vocal theme and a soft end title theme My Liquidator both sung by Shirley Bassey Other than the Goldfinger type title song Lalo Schifrin deliberately avoided the John Barry James Bond style of music 8 9 Release editRelease of the film was held up a number of months due to a legal conflict between producer Leslie Elliot and MGM Jack Cardiff thought this hurt the final box office result of the film which was disappointing 10 Critical reception editThe Monthly Film Bulletin wrote After a promising beginning with a gravel voiced Trevor Howard putting his private executioner through the niceties of his assassination programme it is not long before this further sortie into sub Bondian territory begins to look like a very poor relative The cast make what they can of a script that strives after witty effect and ends up looking only like a pastiche of the spy film formula Rod Taylor looks a little flabby as the reluctant assassin but he does manage to make the character appealing and Trevor Howard wickedly proves how dialogue can be made to sound better than it is and there is an amusing interlude in the shape of Akim Tamiroff as a blundering torturer doing his best to look villainous But these are the only flashes of light in a generally gloomy film 11 Home media editThe Liquidator was released to DVD by Warner Home Video on 6 September 2012 via the Warner Archive DVD on demand service References edit Big Rental Pictures of 1966 Variety 4 January 1967 p 8 French box office for 1967 at Box Office Story The Liquidator British Film Institute Collections Search Retrieved 11 January 2024 p 31 Taylor Tadhg Peter Yeldham Interview in Masters of the Shoot Em Up Conversations with Directors Actors and Writers of Vintage Action Movies and Television Shows McFarland 14 Oct 2015 p 152 Callan Michael Feeney Richard Harris Sex Death amp The Movies Robson 30 November 2004 Vagg Stephen 2010 Rod Taylor An Aussie in Hollywood Bear Manor Media p 115 ISBN 978 1 59393 511 5 Bowyer Justin 2003 Conversations with Jack Cardiff Batsford p 190 ISBN 0 7134 8855 7 The Liquidator soundtrack liner notes Film Score Monthly 9 16 Lukas Kendall November 2006 Spencer Kristpher 2008 Film and Television Scores 1950 1979 A Critical Survey by Genre McFarland amp Co pp 72 73 ISBN 978 0 7864 3682 8 Stephen Vagg Rod Taylor An Aussie in Hollywood Bear Manor Media 2010 p118 The Liquidator The Monthly Film Bulletin 33 384 154 1 January 1966 via ProQuest External links editThe Liquidator at IMDb nbsp The Liquidator at the TCM Movie Database The Liquidator at AllMovie The Liquidator then and now location photographs at ReelStreets Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Liquidator 1965 film amp oldid 1197009579, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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