Thanks for the memories!

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

As Good As It Gets

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Released in 1963, "The List of Adrian Messenger" was marketed with a gimmick; the cast included five top box office stars, who were disguised with heavy makeup, and the audience was challenged to guess who was who. Although the gimmick has faded in the half century since release, the tight, well-directed mystery at the film's core survives.An aristocratic writer named Adrian Messenger gives a typed list of 10 names to his friend, George C. Scott, and, without disclosing why, asks him to investigate whether or not these 10 men are still living at the addresses written beside their names. When Messenger soon perishes in a mysterious plane crash, Scott pursues the investigation and discovers that six of the men on the list have already died accidentally. The film follows Scott as he seeks to determine the connection between the men on the list, their suspicious deaths, and the motive for the apparent serial murders.Well written by Anthony Veiller from a story by Philip MacDonald, the engrossing film treads familiar Agatha Christie territory, but is solid entertainment in its own right. While not among John Huston's most famous films, "The List of Adrian Messenger" is a well directed work, enhanced by an appropriately eerie score by Jerry Goldsmith. Wisely the film was lensed in black and white by Joe MacDonald, which makes the often heavy, and some times obvious, makeup by Bud Westmore more convincing. The five now-legendary stars under the false noses, hair pieces, and rubber faces are Tony Curtis, Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster, Robert Mitchum, and Frank Sinatra; a couple are easy to identify behind the make-up, while others more difficult. George C. Scott, however, is the film's star and central character, and he is ably supported by the elegant Dana Wynter, as well as Clive Brook, Gladys Cooper, and Herbert Marshall.Marketing ploys come and go; some fail, others succeed. While "The List of Adrian Messenger" is a quality film that could stand on its own merits, the producers at the time felt the movie needed a boost to stand out at the box-office. Although still fun, the masquerade of five stars is little more than a curiosity and distraction today; however, the underlying mystery is sharp, well crafted, vastly entertaining, and more enduring than the film's advertising campaign.

THE LIST OF ADRIAN MESSENGER is an incredibly inventive murder mystery/thriller, made by John Huston and shot on his estate in Ireland. It's quite unlike any other film I've watched, the stark black-and-white shooting style accompanying the action quite nicely. It's one of those films where the mystery is deliciously ambiguous until around the halfway mark.I found the early scenes to be the best part of the film as you have no idea what's going to happen next. Evil Kirk Douglas proves a master of disguise as he goes around bumping people off and making it look like they were killed in accidents. George C. Scott is a delight as the amateur detective who gets drawn into the proceedings and Jacques Roux is even better as the warm-hearted Frenchman and Watson character.Eventually the story begins to make sense but it continues to engage anyway thanks to the strong performances. The latter half of the story gets bogged down a bit in the fox hunting scenes but it still picks up for a climax tying it all together nicely. One of the most interesting things about the production are the elaborate disguises worn by characters; the make-up which includes face masks and even false eyes is really something special. I found most of the celebrity cameos to be a bit of a distraction, but all of the winking and grinning at the end is irresistible.

After his bitter disappointment with The Red Badge Of Courage Huston began to lose interest in directing though he still, of course, needed to pay the rent which explains some of the assignments he accepted. In this case a re-jigging of Kind Hearts And Coronets in which Kirk Douglas like Richard the Third and Alec Guiness before him, systematically eliminates the line of succession standing between himself and an estate and title. In an effort to sweeten the air around this stale plot the film employs the gimmick of having four 'stars' in cameo roles but as each is heavily - and ridiculously - made up it could be - and probably was - anyone under the masks. No one from lead George C. Scott on down, seems remotely interested in the plot and I can't really blame them. To say ho hum is to give it the benefit of the doubt.

This film is really one of a kind and handled with such aplomb by Huston, taking elements of film noir and mixing it with off-beat comedy. Describing the film as unorthodox might be right but scary is way off the mark. It's not the sort of film that makes you feel uneasy. It's just strange. It's a straight laced murder mystery with some bizarre disguises and cameos. I think the most unsettling feature is the remarkable resemblance between most of Kirk Douglas' disguises and the Jigsaw Killer in the Saw movies. Maybe that was one source of inspiration for Saw's makers? And to top this all, you've got some of the greatest screen legends, the beautiful Dana Wynter and a superb Jerry Goldsmith soundtrack. What more could you ask for?