Harry Palmer Files — 023 — COBRAS agents review The Ipcress File
Through July, or at least until I run out of things about which to talk, we’ll be looking at the Harry Palmer series of novels (in which the character doesn’t actually have a name), their author — Len Deighton, the films based on them, the star of those films — Michael Caine, and the television movies that followed. I will be re-reading the whole series of novels, re-watching the films, and giving my thoughts on all I encounter. I’ll inevitably be drawing heavily on the collection of Kees Stam, author of The Harry Palmer Movie Site, and Rob Mallows, creator of the Deighton Dossier, and other odds and ends that I’ve turned up over the years.
If you’re new to reading Mister 8, you might not be aware of the super secret organization that this website is a member of — COBRAS, or the Coalition of Bloggers wRiting About Spies — and our roster is comprised of some of the best espionage fiction experts and authors in the blogosphere.
I thought it might be interesting as we approach each movie to also look at the reviews of my fellow COBRAS agents. Surprisingly, I think more have covered the later Palmer films than the originator, The IPCRESS File. Here’s a sample of what David Foster @ Permission to Kill had to say (click through for a full review):
Imagine James Bond, heading up a team of ninjas, who are standing on the lip of a hollowed out volcano which houses the lair of an evil mastermind. But instead of storming the complex, Bond and the ninjas have to wait for their L101 form to be processed, and they have to receive TX82 clearance from headquarters. Obviously the worlds that James Bond and Harry Palmer inhabit are very different. Bond’s is one of action and instinct, whereas Palmer’s is one of rules, bureaucracy and paperwork. Despite this less glamourous world, The IPCRESS File is an excellent film, and Harry Palmer is an intriguing hero.
David also has an interesting observation about promotion / packaging of the film — it looks sort of drab on the shelf next to the Bond flicks, Matt Helm, Derek Flint, etc. And yet, isn’t that the point?
Jason Whiton @ Spy Vibe also discussed IPCRESS. Here’s a sample of his review:
The combination of stylish cinematography by Otto Heller (Peeping Tom, Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb), John Barry’s score, and the quasi-sci fi nature of the film’s use of electronic sounds and lighting as Brainwashing technology all combine to give The IPCRESS File a wonderful Spy Vibe Style.
Jason’s discussion of IPCRESS here is short, but he and guest writers explored it more in-depth later in a series on set design. We’ll be coming back to those posts in a later discussion of Ken Adams.
Wesley Britton touches on The IPCRESS File in his listing of Indispensables: The 30 Best Spy Films of All Time. Bookmark that link, because it’s something we’ll be coming back to later as well.
…IPCRESS remains the best of the trilogy as it established Harry Palmer as the antithesis to Bond, an irreverent, ironic, working-class agent who is coerced into government service because of his criminal skills. He’d prefer cooking to spying, doesn’t want to spy on weekends, and would prefer not to carry a gun. Director Sidney Furie used experimental techniques to illustrate the eavesdropping nature of espionage including camera angles from under cars and through lampshades. In addition, the scene in which Palmer thinks he’s being brain-washed in Albania while actually still being in London set the stage for the formula for mission: Impossible.
Please check out these reviews, and when you’re done, explore the rest of the sites on which they’re hosted. My fellow COBRAS agents have created a cornucopia of spy-fic information.
Do any of you Mister 8 readers have reviews of The IPCRESS File you’d like me to excerpt / link to? Let me know in the comments!
