The List of Adrian Messenger
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| The List of Adrian Messenger | |
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 VHS cover for The List of Adrian Messenger |
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| Directed by | John Huston |
| Written by | Anthony Veiller (screenplay) |
| Starring | George C Scott Dana Wynter Jacques Roux John Merivale |
| Music by | Jerry Goldsmith |
| Distributed by | Universal International Pictures |
| Release date(s) | 1963 |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
The List of Adrian Messenger (1963) is a black and white thriller about a retired British colonel (George C. Scott) investigating a series of apparently unrelated deaths. The film is based on the 1961 novel of the same title by Philip MacDonald.
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[edit] Plot
When a writer named Adrian Messenger (John Merivale) stumbles upon a series of apparently unrelated deaths, he asks his friend, Anthony Gethryn (George C. Scott), who is retired from MI5, to help clear up the mystery. Later Gethryn's old World War II French counterpart Raoul Le Borg (Jacques Roux) becomes involved as well. Following Messenger's list of names, they eliminate possible suspects to identify the killer and the motive behind the murders. The murderer is always one step ahead of them until near the end.
[edit] Commentary
The List of Adrian Messenger is a relatively modern-day Golden Age type of mystery with an additional gimmick of its own. A number of prominent Hollywood actors are advertised to appear in the film heavily disguised in makeup: Tony Curtis, Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster, Frank Sinatra, and Robert Mitchum.
[edit] Production Notes
- There were several screenplay drafts written -- one by Vertigo co-writer Alec Coppel -- prior to the final draft by Anthony Veiller, who receives sole screen credit.[1]
- The role of Derek Bruttenholm is played by Walter Anthony Huston, the son of the film's director, John Huston (who also puts in a cameo appearance as a member of the fox hunt). [2]
- Elizabeth Taylor was offered a disguised role but turned it down because the make-up would be uncomfortable.
- John Merivale, who plays Adrian Messenger, was the stepson of Gladys Cooper who also appears in a small role as Mrs. Karoudjian. They share no scenes.
- Character actor Jan Merlin portrays several of the disguised roles in the film, despite attribution to stars such as Kirk Douglas. Merlin later incorporated his experiences working on this production into a thriller novel, Shooting Montezuma (ISBN 1-4010-2823-3). [3]
- Famous voice-over artist and actor Paul Frees performed lines of dialogue for several of the characters, including the disguised role attributed to Frank Sinatra.
- Several plot points in the film are similar to The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle. These include the references to hounds, the motive of the killer, the references to Canada, and the unmasking of the killer by means of a ruse.
- Get Smart did a 1970 parody of this movie called "The Mess of Adrian Listenger" starring Pat Paulsen ake Adrian Listenger alias Ace Weems.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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