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The Ipcress File (1965)

Posted By: Efgrapha

Date: 6 Nov 2014 15:56:08

Michael Caine made his first appearance as novelist Len Deighton's bespectacled British-spy Harry Palmer in The Ipcress File. Palmer has no real love of espionage, but he doesn't really know any other life. With studied insolence, he takes on the case of locating missing doctor Radcliffe (Aubrey Richards), who has in his possession a valuable file that would prove injurious to the Free World should it fall in the wrong hands. The government also fears that Radcliffe will be brainwashed by the enemy, as has happened to two previous British scientists. While Palmer is off doing everyone else's dirty work, his superior, Nigel Green, is making a deal with duplicitous information "broker" Frank Gatliff to win Radcliffe's release. The price for this would seem to be Palmer, who is captured by the enemy and subjected to a grueling brainwashing session. Palmer escapes, whereupon he confronts a traitor in his midst in the climactic exchange of gunfire. Advertised as "The Thinking Man's Goldfinger, The Ipcress File offered a far more realistic view of the morally ambivalent world of espionage than did the like-vintage James Bond films.

Synopsis by Hal Erickson, Allmovie.com

Advertised as "The Thinking Man's Goldfinger," The Ipcress File (1965) was widely considered one of the best Cold War spy films. Based on the novel of the same name by best-selling author Len Deighton, the film's plot was a ludicrous mishmash involving psychedelic brainwashing of the U.K.'s top scientists. Just as in the long-running series of James Bond spy thrillers, however, what set The Ipcress File apart were top-notch production values (particularly director Sidney J. Furie's magnificent use of the extreme widescreen properties of Techniscope) and a riveting central character. Michael Caine became an international movie star on the basis of three performances in only three years, in Zulu (1964), The Ipcress File (1965), and Alfie (1966). It's easy to see why Caine's portrayal of reluctant sleuth Harry Palmer so captivated audiences, as Caine played him with a reserved elegance that barely masked Palmer's lower-class Cockney roots and seething anti-authority attitude. The comparisons to Bond didn't end with the marketing of The Ipcress File. The film was brought to the screen by Bond co-producer Harry Saltzman, and many long-time Bond regulars did fine work on The Ipcress File, including composer John Barry and editor Peter Hunt, who cut the first three Bond features and eventually went on to direct On Her Majesty's Secret Service. The opening sequence of The Ipcress File was an extended, tongue-in-cheek reference to Bond, setting up Palmer as an anti- 007 "common man" who woke up alone, was nearly blind as a bat, and needed coffee to wake up in the morning. The Ipcress File was quickly followed by two sequels, Funeral in Berlin (1966) and Billion Dollar Brain (1967). Caine returned to play Palmer once again in 1995 with two made-for-American-television movies, Bullet to Beijing and Midnight in St. Petersburg.

Review by Karl Williams, Allmovie.com

IMDB 7,4/10 from 8 133 users

Wiki

Director: Sidney J. Furie

Writers: W.H. Canaway (screenplay), James Doran (screenplay), Len Deighton (novel)

Cast: Michael Caine, Nigel Green, Guy Doleman and other