Producer Saltzman had just seen Caine in a supporting role in Zulu (1964) and sensed his potential as an actor. Interestingly, Caine was not the first choice for the role of Harry Palmer that honor went to Christopher Plummer, but he turned the offer down to star in The Sound of Music (1965). His performance earned him numerous critical accolades and he followed The Ipcress File with an even greater success - his portrayal of a predatory playboy in Alfie (1966) it won him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor. Harry is a thinking man's Bond a meticulous professional who uses his wits to get the job done, regardless of his personal feelings about his line of work.Īs Harry Palmer - a complex and cerebral character - Caine delivers a terrific performance in his first major starring role, one that showcases his subtle wit and cynical nature. Unlike Bond, Palmer doesn't battle superhuman villains nor does he have a set of fancy gadgets to help him out of trouble. Producers Harry Saltzman and Albert "Cubby" Broccoli, the team behind the James Bond films, decided to move away from the escapist nature of the O07 series and create a more realistic espionage agent with Harry Palmer. This complicates matters further, forcing Palmer to locate and expose the kidnappers while trying to comply with the secret agenda of his superiors. Although he succeeds in rescuing the abducted scientist, the victim appears to have been brainwashed. Harry's job is to locate the kidnappers and cut a deal with them to release their prisoner. Choosing the former, our hero finds himself assigned to a case involving a missing scientist. A talented thief, Palmer was caught stealing and offered a position as an undercover espionage agent, or face a stint in prison. It stars Michael Caine as Harry Palmer, a spy who was railroaded into his profession against his will. There Dalby reveals himself to be a traitor and is killed.Ī first-rate British spy thriller directed by Sidney Furie, The Ipcress File (1965) is based upon a novel by Len Deighton (the first and best of the spy films based on his novels the others being Funeral in Berlin (1966) and Billion Dollar Brain (1967). He escapes and calls Dalby and Ross to the factory for a disclosure. Before he can do so, however, he is abducted and brought to the factory to be brainwashed. Then one of Dalby's unit apparently penetrates the Ipcress mystery and is strangely murdered and when yet another civil intelligence agent is killed under circumstances implicating Palmer, Dalby suggests that Palmer go into hiding. Meanwhile, Dalby makes a deal with Bluejay to exchange the brainwashed scientist for £25,000 in cash. When this trail begins to fade, another clue prompts Palmer to raid a deserted London factory and he discovers a piece of recording tape on which the perforated word "Ipcress" appears. A number of scientists have been disappearing mysteriously, then reappearing with curious "brain drains." Radcliffe is especially wanted by the intelligence authorities because of a secret file in his possession, and Palmer investigates Bluejay, a crook who deals in the sort of merchandise represented by Radcliffe. Radcliffe, a scientist, after the murder of his bodyguard. After being transferred to Dalby's civil intelligence unit from Major Ross's military unit, Harry Palmer is assigned to investigate the abduction of Dr.
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