The List of Adrian Messenger

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The List of Adrian Messenger

1963

1h 38m

Mystery & Thriller

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

64%

Tomatometer

14 Reviews

66%

Popcornmeter

500+ Ratings

British army Col. Anthony Gethryn (George C. Scott) is contacted by his old friend, Adrian Messenger (John Merivale), to investigate 11 men, whose names Messenger provides. After a plane carrying Messenger is blown up by a mysterious perpetrator, Gethryn determines that the men on the list had been prisoners of war in Burma during World War II -- and that someone connected to a minor British aristocrat (Clive Brook) is methodically murdering each man on the list.

Variety Staff

Variety

02/05/2008

An even more damaging miscue is the utilization of stars who are hidden behind facial disguises in fundamentally inconsequential roles.

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Tom Milne

Time Out

02/09/2006

Saddled with an incredibly creaky whodunit plot, this thriller should really have been set in Victorian times to accommodate its villain with a passion for disguises, its Holmesian detective in a bowler hat, its murder in a fog-bound Limehouse.

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Sergio Benítez

Espinof

09/04/2019

A 'smaller' film from John Huston still serves to give lessons in planning, execution and narration, and 'The List of Adrian Messenger' is no exception. [Full Review in Spanish]

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Dwight MacDonald

Esquire Magazine

08/12/2019

If one takes the film straight, it's hard to believe that the man who made The Maltese Falcon also set this turkey waddling.

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TV Guide

02/05/2008

3.5/4

Convoluted but absorbing.

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Jake Euker

F5 (Wichita, KS)

02/18/2007

3/5

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Steve D

01/26/2024

Effective thriller with a great cast.

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delysid d

03/23/2022

a confusing but wholesome movie with kirk douglas and george c scott

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Matthew D

08/15/2021

Big stars are cast for the sake of casting them. Most of them are in cameo rolls where they don't get to do anything. The movie itself wasn't very satisfying either.

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@MilloTPue 02/28/2021

Entertaining, but it doesn't captivate you.

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deana p

11/27/2020

great movie dunno why it's rated so low

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@TMProofreader 02/01/2019

The best mystery movie ever made!

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John Huston

Director

George C. Scott

Anthony Gethryn

Dana Wynter

Lady Jocelyn Bruttenholm

Clive Brook

Marquis of Gleneyre

Gladys Cooper

Mrs. Karoudjian

Herbert Marshall

Sir Wilfrid Lucas

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Synopsis

British army Col. Anthony Gethryn (George C. Scott) is contacted by his old friend, Adrian Messenger (John Merivale), to investigate 11 men, whose names Messenger provides. After a plane carrying Messenger is blown up by a mysterious perpetrator, Gethryn determines that the men on the list had been prisoners of war in Burma during World War II -- and that someone connected to a minor British aristocrat (Clive Brook) is methodically murdering each man on the list.

Director: John Huston
Producer: Edward Lewis
Screenwriter: Philip MacDonald, Anthony Veiller
Distributor: Universal Pictures, MCA/Universal Pictures [us], Universal International Pictures
Production Co: Universal/Universal Int
Genre: Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): May 29, 1963, Original
Release Date (DVD): Jan 11, 2010
Runtime: 1h 38m
Sound Mix: Mono
Aspect Ratio: 35mm, 1.66:1