The Ipcress File (1965)
Country: GB
Technical: Techniscope 109m
Director: Sidney J. Furie
Cast: Michael Caine, Nigel Green, Guy Doleman, Sue Lloyd
Synopsis:
Harry Palmer is assigned to Major Dalby and finds himself investigating the disappearance of a scientist. However, he is actually being used to expose a double agent.
Review:
The first of the Palmers, a middle class antidote to Bond (the Caine accent is still softened), and in design terms a film which stands as a fascinating example of 60s cinematic tricksiness: virtually every shot is either angled or obscured. Together with The Spy Who Came in from the Cold the following year, it also marked the beginning of the 'realistic', hence often difficult to follow, espionage sub-genre. John Barry's music perfectly evokes an atmosphere of downtrodden malaise, with just a touch of exoticism in the use of an electrically enhanced cimbalom, adding to the echoes of The Third Man in the direction. The film was conceived by producer Saltzman as a sort of thinking man's Bond, and he employed several of the Bond technical team on it. It brings the class system and sixties paranoia to the espionage genre, and the acting is in a class well above the 007 franchise. Full of great lines and memorable scenes, it remains a major British movie.
Country: GB
Technical: Techniscope 109m
Director: Sidney J. Furie
Cast: Michael Caine, Nigel Green, Guy Doleman, Sue Lloyd
Synopsis:
Harry Palmer is assigned to Major Dalby and finds himself investigating the disappearance of a scientist. However, he is actually being used to expose a double agent.
Review:
The first of the Palmers, a middle class antidote to Bond (the Caine accent is still softened), and in design terms a film which stands as a fascinating example of 60s cinematic tricksiness: virtually every shot is either angled or obscured. Together with The Spy Who Came in from the Cold the following year, it also marked the beginning of the 'realistic', hence often difficult to follow, espionage sub-genre. John Barry's music perfectly evokes an atmosphere of downtrodden malaise, with just a touch of exoticism in the use of an electrically enhanced cimbalom, adding to the echoes of The Third Man in the direction. The film was conceived by producer Saltzman as a sort of thinking man's Bond, and he employed several of the Bond technical team on it. It brings the class system and sixties paranoia to the espionage genre, and the acting is in a class well above the 007 franchise. Full of great lines and memorable scenes, it remains a major British movie.
Country: GB
Technical: Techniscope 109m
Director: Sidney J. Furie
Cast: Michael Caine, Nigel Green, Guy Doleman, Sue Lloyd
Synopsis:
Harry Palmer is assigned to Major Dalby and finds himself investigating the disappearance of a scientist. However, he is actually being used to expose a double agent.
Review:
The first of the Palmers, a middle class antidote to Bond (the Caine accent is still softened), and in design terms a film which stands as a fascinating example of 60s cinematic tricksiness: virtually every shot is either angled or obscured. Together with The Spy Who Came in from the Cold the following year, it also marked the beginning of the 'realistic', hence often difficult to follow, espionage sub-genre. John Barry's music perfectly evokes an atmosphere of downtrodden malaise, with just a touch of exoticism in the use of an electrically enhanced cimbalom, adding to the echoes of The Third Man in the direction. The film was conceived by producer Saltzman as a sort of thinking man's Bond, and he employed several of the Bond technical team on it. It brings the class system and sixties paranoia to the espionage genre, and the acting is in a class well above the 007 franchise. Full of great lines and memorable scenes, it remains a major British movie.