Probably the most famous example of a solid American type playing an Englishman is Clark Gable from Mutiny On The Bounty. No one really cared that Gable did not even attempt an English accent the film was that good. But George Segal just doesn't cut it as a British secret agent in The Quiller Memorandum.
The film is not a bad one for a spy yarn and I do like the fact that Segal relies on his own wits as opposed to a bunch of James Bond like gadgets to do his job and extricate himself from tight spots. But he is just to darn American to be convincing.
Segal's mission is to infiltrate and possibly destroy a nest of neo- Nazis in West Berlin of Willy Brandt years. His handler is the bloodless Alec Guinness and Guinness's opposite number is Max Von Sydow playing the head neo-Nazi. Von Sydow is the best thing in the film, he's a gentlemanly but dangerous adversary. And of course there's the beauteous Senta Berger who was breaking into the international market in those years with Cast A Giant Shadow and Major Dundee as well as The Quiller Memorandum.
Segal spoils it though. His part was perfect for Albert Finney. Wonder what Finney was doing at the time?
The film is not a bad one for a spy yarn and I do like the fact that Segal relies on his own wits as opposed to a bunch of James Bond like gadgets to do his job and extricate himself from tight spots. But he is just to darn American to be convincing.
Segal's mission is to infiltrate and possibly destroy a nest of neo- Nazis in West Berlin of Willy Brandt years. His handler is the bloodless Alec Guinness and Guinness's opposite number is Max Von Sydow playing the head neo-Nazi. Von Sydow is the best thing in the film, he's a gentlemanly but dangerous adversary. And of course there's the beauteous Senta Berger who was breaking into the international market in those years with Cast A Giant Shadow and Major Dundee as well as The Quiller Memorandum.
Segal spoils it though. His part was perfect for Albert Finney. Wonder what Finney was doing at the time?