Director: Jack Cardiff
Year: 1965
Rating: 4.0
This proved to be an enormously irritating film because of false expectations
on my part. Produced in the midst of the great spy films of the 1960's and
with a name like The Liquidator and starring Rod Taylor and Jill St. John,
I was expecting a solid action spy movie. It isn't really. The director Jack
Cardiff who was one of the great cinematographers of his time (Red Shoes,
Black Narcissus, The African Queen) swerves back and forth between a parody
of a spy film and a real spy film but with way too much farce for my taste.
This was strongly hinted at in the opening minute and I sort of groaned but
then Shirley Bassey kicks in with the theme song and Lalo Schfrin composes
the music and I thought OK - we are in Bond territory. But that doesn't last
for long.
Rod Taylor who is awful throughout as he does little but preen about and
act grouchy because he doesn't get laid enough is for reasons too silly to
go into hired by the British government to kill traitors. They train him,
rent him an Austin Powers like apartment and give him names to liquidate.
He finds out he can't and outsources it. That gives him more time to chase
after women, in particular the secretary of his boss, Trevor Howard. He then
kisses St. John constantly - OK I can't blame him for that - she looks spectacular
and this is six years before Diamonds are Forever. Still it isn't me kissing
her and it gets old fairly quickly because Taylor is an idiot and clueless
and I keep hoping this is going to turn into a semi-serious spy film but
it never does. Could have been so much better. The title The Liquidator sets
up high expectations of a serious assassin film that don't come close to
being met.
Based on a novel by John Gardner who took over the Bond franchise in the
1980's and coincidentally also wrote the book that The Stone Killers (which
I watched two days ago) is based on. This was his first novel (1964) and
he went on to write seven more books about the character that Taylor plays.
No further films though. Thankfully.
