cover art for The Quiller Memorandum CD
cover art for the Quiller Memorandum LP (blue release)

The Quiller Memorandum

1966

Lyric by Mack David

LP: Columbia OS-3060
CD: Varese Sarabande VSED-5218
CD: Intrada Special Collection Vol. 201

  1. Main Theme (2:10)
  2. Quiller Caught- The Fight (2:48)
  3. The Barrel Organ (2:39)
  4. Oktober-Walk from the River (3:45)
  5. Downtown (2:20) [composed by Tony Hatch]
  6. Main Title Theme
  7. Wednesday's Child (2:35) [vocal by Matt Monroe]
  8. The Love Scene - The Old House (3:49)
  9. Autobahn March (2:43)
  10. He Knows the Way Out (2:16)
  11. Night Walk in Berlin (3:03)
  12. Quiller and the Bomb (2:33)
  13. Have You Heard of a Man called Jones? / End Theme (1:53)

The Movie

This is a spy thriller with George Segal as "Quiller," an agent who's investigating a neo-nazi group in Berlin. It's a bit of a throwback to pre-Bond British spy movies: it's more of a mystery than a thriller, and you really have to pay attention if you're going to follow the plot logically. And like a lot of British spy movies, it plays on the ruthlessness of the British spymasters vs. the ruthlessness of the bad guys, and Our Hero being ground-down in the middle.

Still, it features Senta Berger, and she's why I bought the DVD. I'm surprised she was never a Bond girl. She had beauty and class.


The Music

Like almost all of Barry's scores, it comes down to whether you like the title theme or not, because if you don't, you're screwed. I didn't like "Wednesday's Child," it grates on me. The instrumental isn't so bad, but only in comparison to the vocal. At least that's how I feel about it, so I never spent much time listening to this score.


Release Notes

The LP came out with the film. It was fairly hard to find and collectable when Varese finally released it on CD. I put two photos here of the LP: I've got the white cover edition (which was used for the CD). I have never seen the blue cover edition for sale.

Intrada released this in 2012 as a Special Collection Volume 201. The track listing is the same. If there is any difference, I do not know what it would be.


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