Customer Reviews
"Messenger... Messenger... Messenger..." - By: The News Hound, 21 Mar 2008 
Fun, intriguing, a bit eerie, & a little bit silly, "The List of Adrian Messenger" was, in 1963, a bit of a throwback to 1940s-style British mysteries, with some added promotional gimmickry prevalent in late-'50s & early-'60s pop cinema.
I first saw this film on TV as a child & was fascinated (and a little creeped out) by the disguises -- particularly by the removal of a false eye early in the film. (Sorry for the spoiler.) Being a young movie fan I was familiar with alll the Hollywood "guest stars" purported to be littered throughout the film in disguise, & had fun trying to spot them (I say "purported," since their presence is disputed -- read on).
Another look at "Adrian Messenger" with a bit more mature eye confirms it to be an enjoyable ersatz-Christie thriller, with pleasing performances, atmospheric photography (mostly on sound stages, but with some terrific Irish location work), & a not-quite-leakproof plot. The wonderful music score by Jerry Goldsmith is as much a character in this movie as lead detective George C. Scott (whose Brit accent is shaky but serviceable).
Perhaps the biggest mystery of the film is this: why did John Huston -- he of "The Maltese Falcon" & "Key Largo" -- direct this curious, gimmicky whodunit? He may have been a director-for-hire (employed by Kirk Douglas' Joel Productions), with enough employee clout to shoot a goodly chunk near the Huston estate in Ireland (subbing for the English countryside in the nifty fox-hunting sequences).
An equallly big mystery concerns the questionable veracity of the movie's advertising campaign, as relates to the "five great stars" who "challlenge you to guess the disguised roles they play!" Character actor Jan Merlin has since claimed to be the "man behind the mask" for nearly alll of Kirk Douglas' disguised appearances (he even turned his peculiar experiences on "Messenger" into a thriller novel, "Shooting Montezuma"). Repeated viewings & careful inspection of the false faces may lead you to doubt the balllyhoo, too, but it won't spoil the fun of it alll.
"Messenger... Messenger... clean sweep... only one broom left!"
