Michael made three Harry Palmer films in the 1960s, starting with "The Ipcress File". Then, rather out of the blue, two more in the 1990s. It's a shame he didn't make more in the 60s and 70s as they were very good films--ones that left me far more satisfied than most of the James Bond movies--though I would not say that about the later films in the series. Why? Because even the most outlandish one of these films ("The Billion Dollar Brain") was far more realistic than Bond films. There were no gadgets, Palmer was smart but no superman and when a woman threw herself at him, he immediately suspected her motives. After all, he was just a guy who wore glasses and seemed anything but glamorous. Now I cannot comment about how closely this character and these plots were to the original Len Deighton novels (where Harry was NOT blackmailed into working for the service), as I've never read them, but the films are wonderfully entertaining.
In "The Ipcress File", Harry has apparently made a mess of his military career and instead of sending him to prison, the government has decided to make him a spy--as he IS resourceful...though also a bit disdainful of authority. However, his boss, the Colonel, has decided to reassign him to work for the Major. Why? Well, this becomes apparent late in the film.
It seems that Harry's assignment is to discover what is happening to so many important agents and scientists. Eventually, they find one of these missing folks--and his mind has been wiped clean! What happened? Who did this and how? Apparently the word 'Ipcress' is the key. I could easily say more but want you to just see it for yourself. As I mentioned above, the Palmer character seems real. Part of this is the writing and part of it is the nice characterization by Michael Caine. Regardless, the film has lots of originality and style. Well worth seeing.
In "The Ipcress File", Harry has apparently made a mess of his military career and instead of sending him to prison, the government has decided to make him a spy--as he IS resourceful...though also a bit disdainful of authority. However, his boss, the Colonel, has decided to reassign him to work for the Major. Why? Well, this becomes apparent late in the film.
It seems that Harry's assignment is to discover what is happening to so many important agents and scientists. Eventually, they find one of these missing folks--and his mind has been wiped clean! What happened? Who did this and how? Apparently the word 'Ipcress' is the key. I could easily say more but want you to just see it for yourself. As I mentioned above, the Palmer character seems real. Part of this is the writing and part of it is the nice characterization by Michael Caine. Regardless, the film has lots of originality and style. Well worth seeing.