The Ipcress File

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.

Slow but still engaging British spy thriller that is almost completely carried by Michael Caine more so than the story. Still, well directed by Sidney J. Furie and now interested in checking out the other Harry Palmer films with Caine. 3.5/5

"Harry Palmer" (Michael Caine) has a reputation with his boss "Ross" (Guy Doleman) of being a bit of a pain in the neck. It comes as as source of great delight, then, when he gets to redeploy him into the department of "Dalby" (Nigel Green). His task? Well it seems that there's quite a sophisticated operation going on to kidnap and brainwash some of the top scientists of the day. "Palmer" is a bit sceptical about the whole thing - not least because he thinks he's been chosen in the hope that he won't come out alive... Anyway, as his investigation progresses he starts to smell quite a large rat in his organisation and realises that neither his old nor his new boss entirely trust one another! Can he stay alive long enough to solve the puzzle? This is quite a compelling adaptation of Len Deighton's novel with Caine on top form as the almost recalcitrant man determined to discover who's the cat and who's the mouse. Nigel Green also delivers well here and once the template has been set out, this proves to be an engaging political thriller offering more than a decent indication at just how human torture can work - overtly and subliminally. It's maybe just a little too slow out of the blocks, but once it's going it's a good watch and no matter how many times I watch it - I never quite remember what happens at the end!