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The Liquidator

1966 1h 44m Mystery & Thriller Crime Drama Action List
Tomatometer 1 Reviews 56% Popcornmeter 50+ Ratings
The head of a British Secret Service division, Mostyn (Trevor Howard), decides to hire his old army pal Boysie Oakes (Rod Taylor) to liquidate rogue spies who are causing problems for the agency. The only problem is that Oakes has a phobia about flying and no appetite for violence, and is in every way the wrong man for the job. The solution Oakes comes up with is to subcontract the work to an underling, which works fine -- until he has to get his own hands dirty.
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The Liquidator

Critics Reviews

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Eddie Harrison film-authority.com ...doesn’t quite work, and the airborne finale is underwhelming, but aficionados of the Bond genre may well appreciate the size and tone of the production; it feels like a misguided cousin of the Eon franchise... Rated: 3/5 Jan 9, 2024 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Audience Member I watched this movie because I heard the Lalo Schifrin score and loved it. The movie was just as good. I can see myself watching it a million times. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/22/23 Full Review Tom M One of the better Bond parodies of the 60's. Good mix of action and comedy and Jill St. John provides the sexy. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/18/21 Full Review Frances H Cute spy spoof of the JamesBond films. Always liked Rod Taylor. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/18/21 Full Review Audience Member I wasn't quite sure if this film was trying to be a James Bond spoof, like the Flint films, or if it was trying to be a straight spy picture like the Bond pictures (well, straight but cartoony). Either way, it's a pretty enjoyable spy yarn and it certainly helps that the film was directed by ace cinematographer Jack Cardiff, so the film has a terrific look to it. The story revolves around Robert Taylor as an American recruited into the British secret service to suss out a leak in the organization. The film is based on a novel by John Gardner who'd actually go on to take over writing the James Bond novels after Ian Flemming died. The film also stars Trevor Howard, Wilfrid Hyde-White, and future Bond girl Jill St. John. Lalo Schifrin provides a solid score for the film, which was very different from the Bond John Barry scores, although the film does have it's theme song sung by Shirley Bassey, who sand "Goldfinger," "Diamonds are Forever" and "Moonraker." So overall, compared to the Bond pictures, it's nowhere as good as the best Bond pictures, but it's also far better than the worst of the Bond pictures (and that worst Bond picture would be "The World Is Not Enough" [you know, the one where Denise Richards plays a nuclear scientist]), although even that film is still watchable. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Strange mix of humor and violence tries for a 007 feeling and while not always successful is an enjoyable actioner. The presence of future Bond girl Jill St. John and having the theme song sung by Shirley Bassey only adds even more to the connection. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Audience Member Wish this had been more of a success as it could have been the start of a series. Based on the first of 8 Boysie Oakes novels by John Gardner, who later took on the James Bond series, they were suspenseful and hilarious at the same time. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/30/23 Full Review Read all reviews
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Cast & Crew

Movie Info

Synopsis The head of a British Secret Service division, Mostyn (Trevor Howard), decides to hire his old army pal Boysie Oakes (Rod Taylor) to liquidate rogue spies who are causing problems for the agency. The only problem is that Oakes has a phobia about flying and no appetite for violence, and is in every way the wrong man for the job. The solution Oakes comes up with is to subcontract the work to an underling, which works fine -- until he has to get his own hands dirty.
Director
Jack Cardiff
Producer
Jon Penington
Screenwriter
John Gardner, Peter Yeldham
Production Co
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Genre
Mystery & Thriller, Crime, Drama, Action
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Jun 28, 2016
Runtime
1h 44m
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