6.8
Sly and dry intelligence agent Harry Palmer is tasked with investigating British Intelligence security, and is soon enmeshed in a world of double-dealing, kidnap and murder when he finds a traitor operating at the heart of the secret service.
Michael Caine
Harry Palmer
Nigel Green
Major Dalby
Guy Doleman
Colonel Ross
Sue Lloyd
Jean
Gordon Jackson
Carswell
Aubrey Richards
Radcliffe
Frank Gatliff
Bluejay
Thomas Baptiste
Barney
Oliver MacGreevy
Housemartin
Freda Bamford
Alice
Pauline Winter
Charlady
Anthony Blackshaw
Edwards
Barry Raymond
Gray
Peter Ashmore
Sir Robert
Stanley Meadows
Inspector Keightley
David Glover
Chilcott-Oakes
Mike Murray
Raid Inspector
Anthony Baird
Raid Sergeant
Tony Caunter
O.N.I Man
Charles Rea
Taylor
Ric Hutton
Records Officer
Douglas Blackwell
Murray
Richard Burrell
Operator
Glynn Edwards
Police Station Sergeant
Zsolt Vadaszffy
Prison Doctor
Josef Behrmann
Prison Guard
Max Faulkner
Prison Guard
Paul S. Chapman
Prison Guard
Richard Beale
Security Clerk
Director
Sidney J. Furie
Novel
Len Deighton
Screenplay
W.H. Canaway
Screenplay
James Doran
December 29, 2014
5
A scientist disappears from a train, a man dies. Harry Palmer (Michael Caine) is one of many investigators on the case, looking for a man named Grantby. He follows a lead to a library where he gets the feeling that something big is at stake here. After a fight with one of Grantby's goons, he returns to his captain with the bad news that he has been unsuccessful. The captain is for obvious reasons, not pleased.
In an abandoned warehouse, Palmer finds a small piece of tape with the name IPCRESS on, but at this point in the movie, has no idea what it means, if anything. Later on, though, he learns that it is an abbreviation of "Induction of Psychoneuroses by Conditioned Reflex Under Stress". When a scientist suddenly appears, with a strange memory loss, all the dots are about to get connected.
The Ipcress File is an old movie, but not so old that you are bored by the plot, dialogue or even images. It starts out with a mysterious disappearance from a train and a murder. Who did this and for what reasons? Then we meet a young Michael Caine, this time playing an agent called Harry Palmer, who is taken from his job on a stakeout, to investigating the murder and disappearance. He is no James Bond, and thank you very much for that. In Harry Palmer we meet a real person with real routines, real emotions and who can speak like a real person without a single one-liner. For these very reasons, this is a very satisfying movie.
I quite liked this movie, and while the colors are a bit faded and the dialogue a bit stiff, it actually felt contemporary, and the plot itself is as relevant today as it was back in 1965. The drama is not big car chases or rivers of blood, it is the drama between people, people that feel real and with real relationships. Also, the Harry Palmer character is not without humor, especially in the scenes with the young Jean (Sue Lloyd) who has been asked by her superior to learn more about Palmer.
_Last words... As far as agent movies go, this is one of the better that I have seen in a while. If you are thinking of seeing Skyfall… don't… go rent this movie instead. You'll be the better person for it._
Status:
Released
Original Language:
English
Budget:
$0.00
Revenue:
$0.00