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The Ipcress File | Year: 1965 Classification: Drama Directed: - Sidney J. Furie Actors/Actresses: - Michael Caine - Nigel Green The Anti-Bond, If You Will... Michael Caine's Harry Palmer -- the character is nameless in the Len Deighton novels; as he is also the first-person narrator, this works, but for this film, (third-person all the way) it was felt that he needed a name -- is just as escapist a fantasy as Connery's Bond, but in a different manner. Deliberately deglamorised and *presented* as just a relatively ordinary man, if of a somewhat dubious moral character, doing his best to keep out of trouble, Palmer nonetheless is, underneath, a bit more. Blackmailed into espionage with the threat of well-earned prison time, Palmer is a useful foot-soldier in the sordid, quiet war of espionage and counter-espionage, set to unmask a traitor -- but who *is* the traitor -- is there anyone at all that he can trust? Michael Caine (this was the first film in which i had seen him) inhabits the role of Harry Palmer and makes it totally his, a man of contradictions -- a working class man, but one who genuinely loves and appreciates the finer things, unlike Fleming's (and, to some extent, the Bond movies') Bond, an amoral thug who apes the manners and tastes of his betters. The apparently-realistic dreary grey London streets and settings add to this film's apparently-realistic approach, all the better to persuade the viewer to suspend his disbelief and accept the rather complex plot, especially when we get to the brainwashing parts... First of three films, this was a series that *could* have rivalled Bond but fizzled out in the end. All three, however, are well worth your time. The IPCRESS File - Michael Caine The Ipcress File is without a doubt the best of the Hollywood action spy thrillers of the 60's. It is what the James Bond series started out to be and never quite became. Michael Cane in neither a tough guy nor a slick CIA/KGB type. He is a foot soldier, literally in this case, in the cold war. His opinions are neither sought nor listened too. He is only sent in when the situation becomes too clouded for the professional intelligence officers to unravel. An army sergeant convicted of shady dealings and condemned to one prison or the other, Harry Palmer (Michael Cane) chooses the one without walls, but great danger. The problem for Harry isn't to solve the mystery; it is to figure out just what the mystery is. Everyone about him is so stiff upper lipped and bowler-hated that it is difficult to see any movement, and as a good foot soldier, Harry Palmer knows that you can't shoot until someone moves and gives away their position. Finally the story plays out in a London back-alley where the street savvy, uneducated but intelligent Palmer is called upon to make the right choice. With a plot that is slightly too fanciful and a hero slightly too suave for reality, this is none the less a very believable film, beautifully photographed and edited. Watch The IPCRESS File in a triple bill with the much grittier and more realistic 1965 B/W film, The Spy Who Came In Form The Cold starring Richard Burton and the 1962 B/W film The Manchurian Candidate starring Frank Sinatra and Lawrence Harvey if you want to know what Hollywood's view of the Cold War was at the dawn of the Viet Man War. A LIttle Contrasting POV I got this film with memories of the tight plot and the cataclysmic twist at the end. Thirty years has dulled considerably the enjoyment I once felt. Everyone else finds Caine's performance riveting. I found it silly and stilted. I never bought in, never experienced anything other than an actor saying his lines, and not especially good lines at that. The other characters are all minor actors who fulfilled the stereotypes required for this film. But spy films live and die on plot, and this one is pretty lame. The ease with which Palmer locates his prey, and the anvil like clues about who is the good guy and who is the bad guy, did a good job at diminishing whatever suspense it created. The big conclusion left me laughing....was I really supposed to see a choice here? Never doubted for a moment. Anti-climax implies climax. This was just silly. This was not bad, but an uncharismatic Caine and a predictable plot combined to create a mediocre experience. And DVD extras were quite nominal. Buy The Ipcress File at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on The Ipcress File Search with the Priority Search Engine on The Ipcress File This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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