The List of Adrian Messenger (1963)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

John Huston

Writers:

Philip MacDonald (story)
Anthony Veiller (writer)

Release Date:

29 May 1963 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Mystery | Drama

Tagline:

5 Great Stars Challenge You to Guess the Disguised Roles they Play!

Plot:

Messenger asks a friend to check into a list of names before leaving on a trip. When his plane is blown out of the sky...

Plot Keywords:

Fox Hunting | Serial Killer | Disguise | War Veteran | Family Relationships

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Tony Curtis	...	Cameo
Kirk Douglas	...	George Brougham / Vicar Atlee / Mr. Pythian / Arthur Henderson
Burt Lancaster	...	Cameo
Robert Mitchum	...	Cameo
Frank Sinatra	...	Cameo
George C. Scott	...	Anthony Gethryn
Dana Wynter	...	Lady Jocelyn Bruttenholm
Clive Brook	...	Marquis of Gleneyre
Gladys Cooper	...	Mrs. Karoudjian
Herbert Marshall	...	Sir Wilfrid Lucas
Jacques Roux	...	Raoul Le Borg
John Merivale	...	Adrian Messenger
Marcel Dalio	...	Max Karoudjian
Bernard Archard	...	Insp. Pike
Tony Huston	...	Derek Bruttenholm (as Walter Anthony Huston)

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Norway:16 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Norway:15 | Sweden:15 | Argentina:13 | West Germany:12 (nf)

Filming Locations:

County Wicklow, Ireland

Company:

Joel Productions

Trivia:

According to some reports, Frank Sinatra's heavily disguised cameo appearance in film was actually the work of facially similar actor Dave Willock; Sinatra only appeared at end of the film in unmasking sequence where he peeled off makeup.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: Gwendolynne La Doll's address is shown on the manuscript as being on Fulham Road, London S.W.8., and later dialogue describing the location as "the Fulham Road" makes it clear that this means the main street of that name. But this runs from Fulham to Brompton, whereas the SW8 postal district lies across the Thames in districts such as Battersea and Wandsworth.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Immoral Mr. Phillips (2004) (V)

A gem

Because of that gimmick with Curtis, Mitchum, Sinatra and Lancaster people seem to regard this film as a sort of spot-the-star contest. But it is much more than that. Excellent acting (especially Douglas in what must be his best role since Paths of Glory), superb music (Jerry Goldsmith) and brilliant direction of John Huston more than make up for occasional lapses in the story.

The story is quite simple, but the less said the better. The 'list' in question is a list of 10 names of people from all over the UK, who seem to have nothing in common except...well just see the movie.

And spotting the stars is quite fun too.