Movies - The List of Adrian Messenger

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	Movies - The List of Adrian Messenger

The List of Adrian Messenger is a thriller about a retired British colonel Anthony Gethryn(George C. Scott) who is on the trail of a traitor who has mysteriously been killing off former Japanese POWs. When a writer named Adrian Messenger (John Merivale) stumbles upon this plot, he asks Gethryn to help clear up the mystery. Later Gethryn's old World War II French counterpart Le Bourg (Jacques Roux) becomes involved as well. More deaths follow, but no bloodshed. The murderer is always one step ahead of the sleuths until near the end.

Commentary

The List of Adrian Messenger is a modern day ( for the time) Sherlock Holmes type mystery with a gimmick. Several prominent Hollywood actors are disguised and one of them is the real murderer.The rest are red herrings. While the mystery is very compelling and satisfying, the gimmick was really unnecessary. The disguised actors were Tony Curtis, Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster, Frank Sinatra, and Robert Mitchum.

Trivia

The role of Derek Bruttenholm is played by Anthony Huston, the son of the film's director John Huston
.

Elizabeth Taylor
was offered a disguise role but turned it down because the make-up was uncomfortable.
Famous voiceover artist and actor Paul Frees
did the voices for several of the characters including Frank Sinatra
.

John Merivale
who plays Adrian Messenger was the nephew of Gladys Cooper
who also appears in a small role as Mrs. Karoudjian. They share no scenes.
''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.

Director

John Huston

Screenwriter

Anthony Veiller

Producer

Edward Lewis

Editors

Terry O. Morse
Hugh S. Fowler

Directors of Photography

Joseph MacDonald Ted Scaife

Music

Jerry Goldsmith

Critical Consensus

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