CommentsXp Best movie ever!

Peereddi I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.

mraculeated The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

Jenni Devyn Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

chriswright1969 It's almost a pity that The List of Adrian Messenger is a good film. Otherwise you could have fun with the title and call it The Mess of Adrian's List. In fact, an episode of Get Smart does this (to be exact, the episode is called The Mess of Adrian Listenger). But under the direction of the legendary John Huston, this old style English whodunit is a fun murder mystery. With the excellent George C. Scott in the lead speaking with a British accent.A writer named Adrian Messenger believes a series of apparently unrelated accidental deaths are linked murders. He asks his friend, a recently retired member from MI5, to help clear up the mystery.Spoilers ahead: The real fun of The List of Adrian Messenger and what makes this film still unique is that then famous movie stars play cameos in disguise. Frank Sinatra, Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis and Robert Mitchum all appear in heavy makeup. Robert Mitchum is the most recognizable and the only one who uses his own voice. He certainly gives the best performance of the star cameo's (he has two scenes), but he does not give a typical Mitchum performance. He is the only one we can be sure of, because there have been claims that some of these stars just appeared in the revealing epilogue and that their scenes in the film were done by stand ins.The other actor we can also be sure of is Kirk Douglass who takes on different disguises. Douglass makes himself recognizable early in the film when he changes masks in the restroom of an airport. But his part is not a cameo, it is the second male lead and in the last act he appears without a disguise. The fact that Kirk Douglass is so recognizable does not make it much of a whodunit, but it doesn't really matter. It's still a fun guessing game why he is doing all the killings. The director John Huston himself makes a cameo at the end, although not in disguise.

tomsview 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.

kmoh-1 There has been much discussion about the accents in the movie. For the record, George C. Scott's English is nearly OK but very variable - no Englishman would say 'dah-ta' for 'data'. Jacques Roux is barely comprehensible. But the worst performance is that of Tony Huston, his first and mercifully final film performance, as Derek. No English nobleman would be called Derek - even Kevin or Trevor would be more plausible names. And his attempt at English is lamentable; it makes Dick van Dyke in Mary Poppins seem like Sir C. Aubrey Smith. Young Derek is possibly the most murderable child actor in the history of cinema.But strangely, the duff Englishisms add to the film's sense of an end-of-term pantomime. It is great fun, not serious, and not worth taking seriously.

Petri Pelkonen The List of Adrian Messenger is a John Huston film from 1963.It's a movie filled with fantastic stars.Some of them are hard to recognize because they have disguised themselves.Your job is to guess which is which.You can discover Tony Curtis, Burt Lancaster, Robert Mitchum and Frank Sinatra.Your job is not easy for some of them are pretty unrecognizable.The brilliant Kirk Douglas is among the stars you can recognize, even though he is seen in many masks.It's always great to see this now 90 year old actor in a movie.The fine actor George C. Scott plays Anthony Gethryn.Dana Wynter is Lady Jocelyn Bruttenholm while director's son Tony Huston plays the role of Derek Bruttenholm.The outstanding Jerry Goldsmith is behind the music.This film is fascinating, most fascinating.