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The Ipcress File is a 1965 British espionage film directed by Sidney J. Furie and starring Michael Caine, Guy Doleman, Nigel Green, Gordon Jackson and Sue Lloyd. The screenplay by Bill Canaway and James Doran was based on Len Deighton's 1962 novel, The IPCRESS File. It has won critical acclaim and a BAFTA award for best British film. In 1999 it was included at number 59 on the BFI list of the 100 best British films of the twentieth century.
[edit] PlotA scientist called Radcliffe (Aubrey Richards) is kidnapped on a train and his escort killed. A senior British intelligence officer, Colonel Ross (Guy Doleman), sends for Harry Palmer (Michael Caine), the film's protagonist, who up to that point has been engaged in a tedious stakeout. The protagonist of Deighton's novel was nameless, but in Chapter 5 he remarks, "My name isn't Harry, but in this business it's hard to remember whether it ever had been." In the opening scenes of the film, Palmer is shown to care little for authority, to indulge in quick repartee and to have an interest in good food. Newspaper cuttings shown in Palmer's kitchen are actually cookery articles written for The Observer by Deighton, an accomplished cook and cookery writer.[1][2] In a scene where Palmer prepares a meal, the hands in close-up are Deighton's. Ross tells Palmer that he is being transferred to a department headed by a Major Dalby (Nigel Green). "Dalby," says Ross, "doesn't have my sense of humour". "I shall miss that," says Palmer. Radcliffe's disappearance appears to be part of a brain drain, in which several scientists have unaccountably vanished. Ross introduces Palmer to Dalby as a good man but insubordinate. His file records that he had been court-martialed for black market activities but offered a job as a spy as an alternative to jail. Dalby tells Palmer that his criminal tendencies may be of use but that if he gives any trouble he will go straight to prison. At his first departmental meeting Palmer befriends a young woman, Jean Courtney (Sue Lloyd) and a Scotsman, Jock Carswell (Gordon Jackson). Dalby briefs his agents on the Radcliffe kidnapping, saying that they suspect an Albanian-born criminal known as Bluejay (Frank Gatliff). Palmer's unorthodox methods bring him quickly into contact with Radcliffe's captors. Palmer organises an expensive and unauthorised raid that yields nothing but a piece of audio tape, marked 'IPCRESS', that produces a meaningless noise when it is played, but one of Palmer's colleagues discovers that IPCRESS stands for "Induction of Psycho-neuroses by Conditioned Reflex under Stress". A file is opened on IPCRESS. Radcliffe is bought back from his captors but proves to have forgotten everything about his research and to be of no further use to the British government. Palmer is caught up in rivalry between Ross and Dalby and finds himself in conflict with local CIA operatives. He becomes involved with Courtney, but suspects that she is watching him for Ross. Carswell is killed and Palmer thinks there is an attempt to frame him for the murder. The IPCRESS file disappears from Palmer's desk. Palmer eventually discovers what IPCRESS is and unmasks the agent behind the disappearance and brainwashing of the scientists. The discovery is made at great cost to himself and he realizes that he was chosen for the job because he is expendable. [edit] Cast
[edit] ProductionThe film was intended as a less extravagant alternative to the James Bond films popular at that time. In contrast to Bond's public school background and playboy lifestyle, Palmer is a Cockney career soldier who lives in an East End flat and has to put up with red tape and inter-departmental rivalries. When appointed to a new post, one of his first questions is whether he will get a pay rise. (Bond's salary is hardly mentioned and he only goes to the best hotels, often using the Presidential suite.) In this respect, it is a tribute to the complexity and flexibility of the mind of Harry Saltzman, who was an acknowledged master of proposing "bigger and more extravagant ideas" for Bond films according to the MGM Home Entertainment documentary Harry Saltzman: Showman. Five prominent members of the production team - producer Harry Saltzman, executive producer- Charles Kasher (who also produced the sequel-"Funeral In Berlin", film editor Peter R. Hunt, composer John Barry and production designer Ken Adam - also worked on the James Bond film series, and projects like this ultimately led to Saltzman's departure from Eon Productions and his sale of Danjaq, LLC to United Artists in 1975. The film had two immediate sequels: Funeral in Berlin (1966) and Billion Dollar Brain (1967). Decades later Michael Caine returned to his Harry Palmer character in Harry Alan Towers' Bullet to Beijing (1995) and Midnight in Saint Petersburg (1996). [edit] Reception
[edit] Critical reception[edit] Box office[edit] AwardsWriters Bill Canaway and James Doran received a 1966 Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best Foreign Film Screenplay. The film won the BAFTA Award for Best British Film, and Ken Adam won the award for 'Best British Art Direction, Colour'.[3] The film was entered into the 1965 Cannes Film Festival.[4] [edit] References
[edit] External links
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