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"Harry Palmer" Films (The Thinking Man's James Bond)

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In the sixties, (Cashing in on the Bond / Spy craze) three of these films starring Michael Caine were made by James Bond co Producer Harry Saltzman's production company, and other production people used on the early Bond films (Such as Ken Adam, John Barry, Guy Hamilton).



The IPCRESS File (1965)
Funeral in Berlin (1966)
Billion Dollar Brain (1967)

In later years three more films had been made but not by Saltzman.
The non-Saltzman films are:

Spy Story(1976) (This film featured Michael Petrovitch, not Michael Caine playing the lead)
Bullet to Beijing (1995) (with Michael Caine returning)
Midnight in St Petersburg (1996) (with Michael Caine)

They all seem to be out of print in the U.S.A., and I would like to know if any of you have seen them. Are they worth seeking out at the high price imports and used out-of-print DVD's go for? I'm a huge Bond fan of the books and films, and very much would like to know more.

“First feel fear, then get angry. Then go with your life into the fight.” - Bill Mollison

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Well, I've seen 'The Ipcress File' and 'Funeral In Berlin' but none of the other titles you listed. I own TIF on VHS and I absolutely love it. FIB I've only seen on TV once, so I won't comment on that one.

TIF is a superb spy thriller which benefits from being as un-"Bond" as possible. The spies work from shabby, nondescript offices and dress cheaply. They spend their time twiddling their thumbs on stakeouts, following up leads and doing paperwork. This humdrum way of life is punctuated, however, by kidnappings and murders and by sudden leaps forward in their investigations. TIF is a very refreshing change to Bond, which was taking off as a franchise at that time ('Thunderball' was out the same year).

You could imagine that Harry Palmer was stuck in London doing this while the more dashing, talented, higher ranked and downright dangerous James Bond was off in the Caribbean making love to beautiful women and saving the world from peril. The pay-off is that Palmer is such a great character in his own right, played to perfection by Michael Caine, and that the possible consequenses of failure could be equally world-threatening.

What I, personally, love about TIF is that it is so quintessentially English. The spies and their masters are all ex-army, the officers being thoroughly upper class. There are some absolutely brilliant scenes of dialogue between Nigel Green (Palmer's new boss) and Guy Doleman (Palmer's ex-boss (or is he??!!!!)) where they talk about lunching at their club and so on but the subtext of suspicion and danger can be felt in every word and gesture.

I love the way it's shot, with lots of key people and events seen at extreme angles and through glass or narrow gaps which very much ties in with how the plot works itself out. All the performances are good and the script is cracking, with plenty of wit and pace. The theme and music are provided by the great John Barry and the theme for this film is one of my favourite ever pieces of film music.

In short, FanFiltration: watch it! You will not regret it!!
Don't you call me a mindless philosopher...!
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I saw the first 2 but not the 3rd. Good films though. Michael Caine is THE MAN.
I'd like a qui-gon jinn please with an Obi-Wan to go.

Red heads ROCK. Blondes do not rock. Nuff said.

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Yes they are great!

I saw the first two this week, after I found them on a torrent site. Very good films. The end of The IPCRESS File was very much like the plot of the old AVENGERS T.V. show in a way.

“First feel fear, then get angry. Then go with your life into the fight.” - Bill Mollison

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Not to be confused with Hairy Palmer?
I am fluent in over six million forms of procrastination.
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Originally posted by: Zion
So did the Bourne films rip off of these or no?

No, I'd say Ludlum was going for a different thing. You could compare them in terms of their "anti-Bond" aesthetics but, as far as Jason Bourne and Hairy (thanks, ADM! ) Palmer go, they are very different. Hairy is no superman. He's an ex-squaddie who was moved into the secret service because he was just too shifty (and, often, lazy!) for the regular army! In many ways, he is the antithesis of Jason Bourne.
Don't you call me a mindless philosopher...!
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Originally posted by: ADigitalMan
Not to be confused with Hairy Palmer?


I think you are thinking of Orville Bedandrockher.
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I love these films. And because they were produced by the Bond team their production values etc. are fantastic. Ipcress is still probably the best spy film ever made. (and features one of John Barry's best scores.) FIB is a good 60's spy film that isn't campy. Billion Dollar Brain is Palmer on acid. (it has some surprising staying power though.)

Haven't seen the 70's film, but the two from the 90's are interesting curios. They aren't that good however. There are versions floating around online and they were recently released together in region 2. Worth it for serious Palmer fans only.

Michael Caine is the man. No one can touch Harry Palmer or Jack Carter.

VADER!? WHERE THE HELL IS MY MOCHA LATTE? -Palpy on a very bad day.
“George didn’t think there was any future in dead Han toys.”-Harrison Ford
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