The List of Adrian Messenger (1963)

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

A different way of telling a story

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Blistering performances.

This film has the trappings of Doyle but the aura of Christie,all wrapped up in a blanket of Hustonian braggadacio. One of the medium's most idiosyncratic directors and hammiest actors(in a good way),Mr Huston apparently lost interest in many of his projects almost as soon as they started to bear fruit. This is not detectable on screen during "The List of Adrian Messenger" except in the denouement involving his "hidden stars" which proceeds with a haste that is almost rude. Whether or not it was his idea in the first place I don't know,but clearly he was anxious to get it over with before it could be revealed as a Maguffin to rival any of Hitchcock's. The story is intriguing despite Mr Scott's English accent which may have ben a template for Mr van Dyke's efforts a little later that year. Sitting in the three and nines in the "Odeon" in Brighton's West St, I pencilled in my diary the parts I thought were being played by the Big Stars. The first name I wrote was Kirk Douglas playing George C.Scott's role. In my defence there did seem to be a close similarity. Apart from Mr Lancaster who clearly was not playing the Hunt Follower,the others were easy. Mr Scott - later to play Sherlock Holme - ,was cool and dogged,trying hard to take the rather convoluted plot seriously. The icily beautiful Miss D.Wynter was perfectly cast,the locations well - chosen and the whole thing crisply shot in startling black and white. The English aristos are everything you might expect a man who owned Estates in Ireland to sincerely believe. None of this stops "The List" from being an atypical Huston film for that stage of his career. He lifts his foot from the testosterone pedal despite a predominantly male cast and lets his cinematographer's imagination predominate. The Hunt scenes - regardless of your taste or otherwise for Foxhunting,are bravura film - making. Best seen I'm afraid,on the big screen where the interiors and exteriors may distract you from the unlikeliness of it all. Overall great fun and a worthy example of a Film Craftsman's oeuvre.

John Huston's "The List of Adrian Messenger" has a quirky charm and an interesting story, but is derailed by a badly executed gimmick. The film is an oddity amongst Huston's films and was made after the heavy-going "Freud". This film is as light as a soufflé in comparison; "The List of Adrian Messenger" is Huston on holidays.Top-billed Kirk Douglas plays George Brougham, distant heir to the Bruttenholme estate in England who eliminates a list of people who know a secret that would prevent him claiming his inheritance. He also attempts to eliminate the members of his family who are next in line for the estate including his young nephew.George C. Scott is Anthony Gethryn, a policeman who solves the crime with the help of Raoul Le Berg played by Jacques Roux, a survivor of a plane crash caused by Brougham.Gethryn and Le Berg are virtually Huston's take on Holmes and Watson; together they track down the clues and the suspects. Although "The List of Adrian Messenger" is set in 1963 – when it was made – the whole production has a decidedly Victorian flavour.Scott turns in an engaging performance despite the odd slip with his otherwise passable British accent. Although Gethryn, like Sherlock Holmes seems a confirmed bachelor , Le Berg on the other hand begins an affair with the recently widowed wife of Adrian Messenger, played by the gorgeous Dana Wynter. However, "List" has a gimmick, central to the plot that does not come off. A number of well-known actors play characters in heavy disguise. Although Burt Lancaster, Robert Mitchum and Tony Curtis play cameos, it is Kirk Douglas who occupies a large amount of screen time in a number of disguises. Unfortunately, their features are rendered so immobile they look like victims of excessive botoxing. The makeup was designed by Bud Westmore who had once worked on the makeup for "Bud Abbott and Lou Costello meet Frankenstein" with the results in "The List of Adrian Messenger" not much above that level. The actors are unrecognisable – except for Kirk Douglas whose distinctive chin and jaw were impossible to disguise no matter the amount of putty employed. Likewise for Mitchum's voice. John Huston lived on a country estate in Ireland when he made this movie, and his love for fox hunting inspired the final scenes of the film with the countryside of Ireland beautifully photographed. Also a big plus for the film was Jerry Goldsmith's offbeat but jaunty score that announces the light nature of the film from the opening bars."The List of Adrian Messenger" did well at the box office despite being out-of-step with the more "modern" movies of the early 1960's. With its black and white photography and studio-bound depictions of London, the film had a certain quality that almost, but not quite, overcame the self-conscious gimmick.

I haven't had a chance to read all the comments here but, for those who suspect the stars are not always under the makeup until the end of the film, you are right.The full story of the actors who REALLY were under the makeup in several scenes is told in an issue of Video Watchdog. You can locate a reference to it at the Video Watchdog website.Actor Jan Merlin substituted for Kirk Douglas in several of the scenes. And other actors sometimes stood in under the makeup for some of the other stars, too.Hard to believe these big stars went along with such a silly scheme and that it was undiscovered by the public for so long. But I think a lot of suspected something when the stars in makeup at the end didn't look much like the same character seen in the rest of the film.

For those who live in the UK,or Europe and for those who have region free DVD players in Canada and the US,this title has been released on DVD and can be purchase from several online shops in the UK. My favourite,Sendit.com. They do not overcharge on postage and they have just about every DVD that is available in the UK for sale. The story line of this film,George C Scott,retired MI-5 agent is requested by Adrian Messenger to check into the wherebouts of a groups of individuals,related to a wealthy family. Are these individuals still alive,after this request,Adrian Messenger boards an airplane for Montreal,the plane is blown up,in order to eliminate Adrain,and now the mystery begins. Several well known male actors appear in cameo roles. kirk Douglas,Dana Wynter and George C Scott are the main actors.Highly recommended.