Simply A Masterpiece

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Two actors not known for comedy, Rod Taylor and Trevor Howard, lead a cast of British comic stalwarts in this sometimes clever, sometimes dopey, James Bond spoof. Taylor takes the part of "L" (the Liquidator) who actually is what Bond pretends to be: an assassin paid by the British government (i.e., taxpayers). The catch? Taylor's character (curiously named Boysie Oakes) can shoot pretty well (trained in WW2) but he can't kill a fly. So he hires a hit-man (Eric Sykes) to do all his murderous handiwork. Then he takes off for the weekend with the boss' secretary (the Miss Moneypenny role, here called Iris--Jill St. John, who never looked lovelier) and all heck breaks loose.Fine supporting work by Akim Tamiroff, the always watchable Wilfred Hyde-White, and David Tomlinson (not long off "Mary Poppins") playing . . . well, more or less against type. Though the laughs are few and far between the movie never takes itself seriously, and it starts off with Shirley Bassey belting out a ridiculous theme song over the credits, sounding suspiciously like "Goldfinger" only more so.So why didn't Taylor make more comedies? Well, watch "The Glass Bottom Boat" and you'll see. His humor is pretty ham-handed, and he himself gets nary a smile until the airplane-flying climax. Still, it's worth a peek for anyone obsessed with Bond and its many duplicates. That's what the sixties was really all about: spies, spies, and more spies, on tv and the big screen.

All the elements seem to be in place to make The Liquidator a success: a witty script, a strong cast, an over-the-top Shirley Bassey theme song, crisp cinematography in glorious 1960s Technicolor. But having said that, the whole package doesn't quite come off.The basic idea is a clever one: to take the familiar secret agent movie premise and subvert it by making the central character a reluctant assassin who "wouldn't hurt a fly". The problem is, Rod Taylor is just too "straight" for the role. Like the Royal Air Force's new top secret spy plane, Taylor often seems to be running on automatic pilot.The comic elements here should have been exploited for much greater effect. Comparisons with Connery's James Bond are wide of the mark, since this film does not aspire to match the serious thrill quotient of a Bond movie. But it does contain some delicious irony, and a couple of neat twists that even surpass the usual formula at times. The scene in which Taylor, imprisoned in a cellar with his captor's floozy, is openly encouraged to escape, is neatly handled - until the poor girl is needlessly gunned down by another member of the gang to "silence" her. This provokes a cliff-top chase that culminates in a dangling moment of rare high tension, evoking the original Italian Job.Younger fans of the Austin Powers series may enjoy seeing what actual swinging '60s films were really like. But where Mike Myers' films take the tiniest germ of a funny idea and magnify it over and over, The Liquidator does the reverse: a potentially promising humorous situation tends just to be left hanging in the air.For connoisseurs of British pictures of the period, there are little treats on offer too, in the appearance of familiar faces like Trevor Howard, Eric Sykes, Wilfred Hyde White and Richard Wattis - although again, their talent is mostly wasted. The delightful Jill St. John (who would go on to do the "real thing" in Diamonds Are Forever) is eminently watchable throughout, and her performance raises the whole tone; indeed she and Howard are the best things on view here.Overall then, whilst The Liquidator is certainly an enjoyable film, with the right leading actor, or perhaps a director with a keener eye for comic possibilities, it could have been a much funnier romp through contemporary spy film clichés. So while it must go down as something of a missed opportunity, for me it's better fun than Casino Royale - either the new version or the 1967 one.

'The Liquidator' was based on the first published novel by John Gardner, whom years later continued the literary James Bond saga. Embarrassed by a number of high-profile spy scandals, 'The Chief' ( Wilfrid Hyde-White ) of the Department of Special Security orders his second-in-command 'Mostyn' ( Trevor Howard ) to recruit a new agent - to be codenamed 'L' ( guess what that stands for? ) - to eliminate potential security risks. The man Mostyn selects is ex-army sergeant 'Brian Ian Oakes', who goes by the bizarre nickname of 'Boysie' ( Rod Taylor ). Boysie enjoys the high living and lots of pretty girls cross his bedroom floor, but he is not a cold-blooded killer and has to hire a cheap hit-man - 'Charlie Griffin' ( Eric Sykes ) to do the killing for him. Directed by cinematographer Jack Cardiff, this is a lot of fun, and benefits from good location shooting in Nice as well as a top-notch cast. Future 007 girl Jill St.John is 'Iris Macintosh', Mostyn's secretary, whom Boysie tempts overseas for a dirty weekend, thereby breaching Department guidelines. It is a far more interesting character than 'Tiffany Case', the one she played in 'Diamonds Are Forever'. John is given strong competition in the glamour department from sultry Gabriella Licudi, who plays 'Corale', the girl intended to lure Oakes into a trap. Villainy is provided by Akim Tamiroff and John Le Mesurier. The always reliable David Tomlinson appears in the role of 'Quadrant'. In smaller roles are familiar faces of the calibre of Colin Gordon, Derek Nimmo, Alexandra Bastedo ( of 'The Champions' ), Vernon Dobtcheff, and Ronald Leigh-Hunt. Peter Yeldham's script is faithful to the novel, and the film as a whole does not make the mistake of trying to be a pseudo-Bond clone. You will not find any hollowed-out volcanoes or gadget-ridden cars here. As Boysie, Taylor gives a likable, amusing performance ( I disagree with those who claim he was miscast ). The powerful title song performed by Shirley Bassey would not have disgraced a real Bond movie. It is a shame that there were no sequels ( 'Understrike' and 'Amber Nine' were both crying out for celluloid ). Like 'Where The Spies Are' starring David Niven, this was to be a one-off big screen outing for its leading character.

"The Liquidator" was such an amusing film. I loved the fact that Shirley Bassey sang the theme song a la James Bond. It was great to see a spy whose hormones were far more potent than his efforts with a gun. A particularly funny part occurs when Trevor Howard is rescued by Boysie, as Paris is being liberated. Howard thinks that Boysie is a killing machine when, in fact, he is a hopelessly clumsy young man. Rod Taylor is deliciously sexy in the film and displays his flair for comedy.