Watch The Liquidator For Free
The Liquidator
Spy spoof about Boysie Oakes, a British secret agent who specialises in Liquidating. In actual fact he contracts out the work and pretends it was himself. This leads to complications.
Release : | 1966 |
Rating : | 5.9 |
Studio : | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer British Studios, |
Crew : | Art Direction, Opening Title Sequence, |
Cast : | Rod Taylor Trevor Howard Jill St. John Wilfrid Hyde-White Eric Sykes |
Genre : | Drama Action Comedy Thriller Crime |
Watch Trailer
Cast List
Related Movies
Reviews
Memorable, crazy movie
I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.
This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.
There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.
I read the other 17 reviews and was thankful that someone noticed that Eric Sykes was in the movie. It is massively disappointing to read reviews by people who have no inkling about the quality of the cast as well as pathos and irony ...if you had seen Sykes in The Plank you might have some idea of his talent. Though I must admit that Brit humour is often beyond some of our contributors. In his autobiography Eric said that Tony Curtis was the biggest plonker he met in Hollywood and that got my attention (The Great Race).He certainly got my attention again in this movie. I do like Rod Taylor and was taken aback by how well he underplayed this role and of course a cinema legend like Trevor Howard sending himself up was an utter joy . Please watch some of their movies (Clouded Yellow for Trevor) and maybe (No-one Runs for Ever for a rustic Rod)you will see much more in this comedy.
Terrible film with Rod Taylor, Trevor Howard and Jill St. John thrown into an awful script.The British secret service needs someone to start knocking off people within their own ranks who appear to have become problems. Rod Taylor is brought to do this.Taylor is not an exactly James Bond type. Even his running is done in a dainty manner. He doesn't possess that macho appeal. Instead, this film often becomes comical. Jill St. John isn't exactly that innocent secretary she is made out to be.Falling for fake bullets seems to be par for the course for Taylor in this ridiculous farce. Bad film, a Jack Cardiff bomb.
Rod Taylor is always a likable actor, with his curled-up ears, big rolling eyes, and cocky demeanor. Like Cary Grant or Sean Connery, he's a little hard to take seriously. And there's a good supporting cast in this spy spoof as well -- Wilfred Hyde-White, Trevor Howard, David Tomlinson, the succulent Jill St. John.Taylor is recruited as a temporary James Bond figure, so outside the usual frame of spyhood that he must be trained from the start. Certainly no one would suspect him of anything except hustling young ladies.There's an amusing scene at the climax with a terrified Taylor all alone at the controls of a British bomber, knowing nothing of flying, and being talked down by a droll Richard Wattis. It was all directed by Jack Cardiff too.Yet it fails. Maybe it seemed still fresh in 1964. But there have been so MANY send ups of James Bond since the early 60s, and after all, with Sean Connery as the central figure, the series was bound to be a spoof of itself. Some of the imitations were relatively earnest and were entertaining in themselves, like Charles Vine in "The Second Best Secret Agent In The Whole Wide World." But then there was an argosy of others like "Our Man Flint." By 1967, the genre seemed to have run its course and the green-lighters gave up and came out with the frankly absurd and sometimes hilarious "Casino Royale," with a dozen different Bonds. The original franchise continues to gasp and lurch unsteadily forward, a marathon runner out of steam, refreshed by the occasional draught of viewers too young and too incurious to know they're watching the spectacle of a living corpse.I like Rod Taylor, but this just isn't worth it.
This has always been one of my favorite movies. I always loved James Bond spoofs such as the Derrick Flint and Matt Helm movies, and "The Liquidator" stands above those.Rod Taylor plays Boysie Oakes, a hapless tank commander at the end of WWII, who accidentally saves Colonel Mostyn (Trevor Howard) from two rival spies. Years later, when Britain's spy network is inundated with embarrassing counter-spies, Mostyn remembers Oakes and hires him as "Agent L" (Liquidator) to neatly get rid of these embarrassments. Unable to carry out these liquidations, Oakes hires a private contractor, Griffen (Eric Sykes). Oakes keeps this to himself as he loves the playboy lifestyle that he now lives. Taylor has the unique ability to seem inept at being a spy, while at the same time showing skills above and beyond those around him, and making it all perfectly believable.The subtle comedy and all of the twists and turns (likely and unlikely) make this a very enjoyable and engrossing film. Jill St. John as Iris is great eye-candy and plays the part to the hilt. Her acting complements Taylor's without upstaging him.I highly recommend this film and wish it to be released on DVD.