The Liquidator (1965)

Colonel Mostyn of the British Intelligence Service suspects there is a leak in his department and hires an American expatriate to eliminate various targets working for the Soviets.

Director:

Jack Cardiff

Writers:

John Gardner (novel), Peter Yeldham

Stars:

Rod Taylor, Trevor Howard, Jill St. John

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rod Taylor	...	Boysie Oakes
Trevor Howard	...	Colonel Mostyn
Jill St. John	...	Iris MacIntosh
Wilfrid Hyde-White	...	The 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	...	Male Secretary
Jennifer Jayne	...	Janice Benedict
Heller Toren	...	Benedict's Assistant
Betty McDowall	...	Frances Anne Chandler
Jo Rowbottom	...	Betty

Storyline

Colonel Mostyn is the chief of a section of the British Security Services when they are embarrassed by the number of spies and defections. The Chief tells him to do something about it so he hires Boys Oaks as Agent L - The Liquidator, to assassinate people about to cause trouble. Although Boys likes the cars and the girls that his new position attracts he's not any good at it. He's also got a phobia about flying that makes jetting off to exotic places a bit of an embarrassment.

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Plot Keywords:

spy adventure | european adventure | espionage | spy | spying | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Action | Thriller | Crime | Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 October 1966 (USA)

Also Known As:

A felszámoló

Filming Locations:

Nice Cote d'Azur Airport, NIce, Alpes-Maritimes, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Trevor Howard's spy chief character Mostyn evoked his equivalent character 'M' in the James Bond movie franchise due to Mostyn having the same first 'M' letter in his name.

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Goofs

When Boysie is in the harness shooting at targets, he is using a six-shot revolver, but fires eleven shots without time to reload, or is seen doing so. He then empties the cylinder, is seen reloading two rounds, and then fires off three more shots.

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Quotes

Corale White: Wait a minute something's wrong: he left the key in the door!
'Boysie' Oakes: Camel Face has goofed!

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Crazy Credits

A figure in a coat and hat stumbles through the opening credits.

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Connections

References Laughter from the Whitehall (1963)

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Soundtracks

RAF March Past
(uncredited)
Music by H. Walford Davies

User Reviews

Taylor knows the perks and he subcontracts the work

Unfortunately his back was turned when Trevor Howard was helped out of a bad jackpot during the liberation of Paris by Rod Taylor. If he had actually seen just how Taylor saved his life, he might never have thought of him as a perfect candidate for being The Liquidator.

It's what British Secret Service needs as Wilfrid Hyde-White tells his number 2 who is now Howard and 20 years later after the end of World War II. At that time the British government was getting embarrassed routinely with the number of defections and the number of spies caught. The answer is forget those democratic trivialities like due process. When you have a suspect, just shoot them, no questions asked. And Howard thinks is wartime savior is the perfect candidate for the job.

Not that Taylor is all that hip to the idea. He's a bar owner in some rural part of the United Kingdom. But he reads those James Bond novels and sees those movies and he knows what perks come with being an operator. Certainly Howard knows them too and he provides generously even overlooking the fact that his secretary Jill St. John is being tapped by Taylor.

Taylor finds an interesting way of subcontracting the work which I won't go into. But in the end he finds he's being beautifully set up for a major score by the other side. If the bad guys succeed the United Kingdom will really learn what embarrassment is all about.

In the James Bond tradition with title song sung by Shirley Bassey, The Liquidator is an amusing spy spoof. Howard does a nasty slow burn in the tradition of Edgar Kennedy. Jill St. John who is also a Bond girl in good standing is just as beautiful with a role a lot more substantive.

Folks who like the espionage genre should like The Liquidator.