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The List of Adrian Messenger

The List of Adrian Messenger

Mystery · Thriller · 1963

Adrian Messenger, a famous writer, asks his friend Anthony Gethryn, a former British agent, to help him investigate the whereabouts of the people who appear on a list, without asking him the reason why he should do so.

Movie details

The List of Adrian Messenger

“The most bizarre murder mystery ever conceived!”

1963 Mystery · Thriller 1h 39m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

6.8 / 10

6K votes

Rotten Tomatoes

64 %

Tomatometer

TMDB

6.7 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

Adrian Messenger, a famous writer, asks his friend Anthony Gethryn, a former British agent, to help him investigate the whereabouts of the people who appear on a list, without asking him the reason why he should do so.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The List of Adrian Messenger?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

John Huston

Written by

Anthony Veiller · Philip MacDonald

George C. Scott

George C. Scott

Anthony Gethryn

Kirk Douglas

Kirk Douglas

George Brougham / Vicar Atlee / Mr. Pythian / Arthur Henderson

Dana Wynter

Dana Wynter

Lady Jocelyn Bruttenholm

Clive Brook

Clive Brook

Marquis of Gleneyre

Gladys Cooper

Gladys Cooper

Mrs. Karoudjian

Herbert Marshall

Herbert Marshall

Sir Wilfrid Lucas

Jacques Roux

Jacques Roux

Raoul Le Borg

Court is in session

Put The List of Adrian Messenger on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Big-Idea Head

“Form is the argument.”

Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Technique in search of a pulse.”

Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.