The Liquidator (1965)

Director:

Jack Cardiff

Writers:

John Gardner (novel)
Peter Yeldham (written by)

Release Date:

28 October 1966 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Thriller | Crime | Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

Right between the eyes is where it hits you . . . Boysie Oakes is DEADLIER than the most dangerous spy !

Plot:

Colonel Mostyn is the chief of a section of the British Security Services when they are embarrassed by the number of spies and defections...

Plot Keywords:

Spy | Agent | Aviation | Assassination | Beautiful Woman

Cast

Rod Taylor	...	Boysie Oakes
Trevor Howard	...	Mostyn
Jill St. John	...	Iris
Wilfrid Hyde-White	...	Chief (as Wilfrid Hyde White)
David Tomlinson	...	Quadrant
Akim Tamiroff	...	Sheriek
Eric Sykes	...	Griffen
Gabriella Licudi	...	Corale
John Le Mesurier	...	Chekhov
Derek Nimmo	...	Fly
Jeremy Lloyd	...	Young Man
Jennifer Jayne	...	Janice Benedict
Heller Toren	...	Assistant
Betty McDowall	...	Frances Anne
Jo Rowbottom	...	Betty

Runtime:

USA:105 min | Argentina:105 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Finland:K-16 | Norway:15 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG (video rating) | UK:A (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Edgwarebury Hotel, Barnet Lane, Elstree, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Based on the first of the 'Boysie Oakes' novels by John Gardner, published in 1964. There were seven more: Understrike (1965), Amber Nine (1966), Madrigal (1968) Founder Member (1969), The Airline Pirates (1970), Traitor's Exit (1970) and Killer for a Song (1975). After that Gardner took over writing the James Bond series from the late Ian Fleming.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Boysie and Iris leave the Colonel's empty office she turns off the lights, but as we see them exit from the other side the room is not dark.

Quotes:

'Boysie' Oakes: Good evening Colonel, you caught me lying down.
Colonel Mostyn: Who with?

Soundtrack:

THE LIQUIDATOR

Bond spoof gets a double-ZERO

Vapid spy-stuff with tongue-in-check and brain-in-neutral. Rod Taylor (handsome and game, as usual) plays an accidental hero who becomes a secret agent for the British. Begins well (with an amusingly melodramatic Shirley Bassey theme song and clever credits sequence), but film then goes downhill while trying--and failing--to formulate a plot. The funniest line is when Taylor's boss cries out, "They've got us by the short 'n curlies!", which I thought was a little risqué for 1965. Jack Cardiff directs, in his usual impersonal style; he seems to know very little about the spy genre, and approaches the material in a by-the-numbers fashion. Peter Yeldham sketchily adapted John Gardner's book. *1/2 from ****