The List of Adrian Messenger

Infobox_Film
name = The List of Adrian Messenger |
| caption = VHS cover for "The List of Adrian Messenger"| director = John Huston| writer = Anthony Veiller (screenplay) | starring = George C Scott
Dana Wynter
Jacques Roux
John Merivale | producer = | Edward Lewis| music = Jerry Goldsmith
distributor = Universal International Pictures | released = 1963 | runtime = | 98 min. | language = English | amg_id = 1:29469
imdb_id = 0057254|

"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.

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.

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.

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. [ [http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/ead-idx?c=shs&id=uw-whs-us0102an Personal papers of Kirk Douglas at the Wisconsin Historical Society] ]
*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). [ [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057254/ Internet Movie Database entry] ]
*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). [ [http://www.bmonster.com/aug2005.shtml Profile of Jan Merlin on "The Astounding B-Monster" website] ]
*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.

References

External links

*imdb title|id=0057254
* [http://www.mrqe.com/lookup?^The%20List%20of%20Adrian%20Messenger Movie Review Query Engine]