Michael Caine Hopes To Revive Harry Palmer One More Time

The ultimate online resource on all things pertaining to the Harry Palmer films, the aptly named Harry Palmer Movie Site, has uncovered an extremely exciting story: Michael Caine wants to revive Palmer, one of his most famous characters, who he portrayed in The Ipcress File, Funeral In Berlin and Billion Dollar Brain back in the Sixties. All three films were produced by James Bond co-producer Harry Saltzman. Caine already reprised the role twice in the mid-Nineties, in two subpar Harry Alan Towers productions, Bullet To Beijing and Midnight In St. Petersburg. Towers sadly passed away last month, and obviously wouldn't be involved in a potential new film. It appears that Caine himself may now control the rights to the character from certain statements he's been making to the press lately. According to The Canadian Press:

"There's a script which I like very much, which is called Cold War Requiem," said Caine, adding that Susan Sarandon was interested in playing his wife in the film.

"It's about an old spy from the '60s in the Cold War, who's now retired - just like me, an old guy. And his enemies come back to kill him because of what he did in those days. ... It's a very good thriller. it might get done, it might not."

He went into a few more details for WENN, confirming that this was indeed a Harry Palmer project:

"I have a script called Cold War Requiem, which is Harry retired and he's living out his fantasy in some middle class area in London and the guys who he screwed have now got rich and they've decided to come and kill him. I would like to get that done but we haven't got that financed yet."

"Harry Palmer" was a name invented for the movie versions of Len Deighton's bestselling novels about an unnamed agent. The novel Spy Story, about the same character, was filmed in 1976 by Lindsay Shonteff featuring a hero called Pat Armstrong (not played by Caine). Caine played a very Palmer-like character named "Harry Anders" in the 1992 HBO film Blue Ice. It's possible that Cold War Requiem might follow the pattern of Blue Ice and slightly change the protagonist's name, but I hope not. The name Harry Palmer carries a lot of weight for spy fans, and I would love to see Caine return to the role once more for a really good final entry, even if it's not based on a Deighton novel. I'd also love to see some of the author's other "Palmer" books like Horse Under Water and An Expensive Place To Die filmed as period pieces set in the Sixties, but that seems less likely and obviously couldn't star Caine.

Caine will next appear in the old guy revenge movie Harry Brown (for which I cannot wait!) and then play a small supporting role in Christopher Nolan's Inception.

Ipcress File Blu-Ray Review At DVD Trash

I've been meaning to post this for a while. DVD Trash has one of the only reviews I've seen for last year's UK Blu-Ray release of The Ipcress File. Reviewer Nick Frame says that the picture on this high-def transfer is "probably as good as The Ipcress File will ever look" and that "the colours are strong and vibrant with high levels of detail not previously seen." So far there is no imminent U.S. Blu-Ray release for The Ipcress File (or even an in-print DVD at the moment), so it should come as a relief to American Harry Palmer fans that the ITV Blu-Ray is region-free. It's also pretty much special feature-free, so Nick seems to indicate that you need both the loaded Network special edition DVD for extras, and the ITV Blu-Ray for picture. Not bad. Read the whole review here.

And speaking of Harry Palmer, if you're a devotee of either Len Deighton's nameless agent of the novels or Michael Caine's bespectacled film incarnation, you're doubtless already following Armstrong Sabian's truly exhaustive coverage of every possible facet of the character at COBRAS site Mister 8. But if you're not, be sure to check it out! The latest post examines ads that ran in the New York Times for The Ipcress File upon its initial release. (I told you the coverage was exhaustive!)

Read my review of the third Harry Palmer film, Billion Dollar Brain, here.

Upcoming Los Angeles Spy Screenings: The President's Analyst And John Barry

Popular revival house The New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles is currently running a film festival curated by director Joe Dante. Dante (who directed Patrick Macnee in The Howling) has hand-picked some of his favorite films to screen, and he will be introducing certain nights in person. One of my own very favorite spy movies, James Coburn's post-Flint satire The President's Analyst, will play on a double bill with Cold Turkey on August 11 and 12; Dante will be there to introduce the films on Tuesday, August 11. Theodore Flicker's 1967 film casts Coburn as a shrink selected to be the President's personal analyst, but having all those secrets suddenly in his head (and being on constant call) starts to make Coburn a tad paranoid. Of course, it's easy to be paranoid when spies from all the world's intelligence services (even Canada's) really are out to get you! The film is a brilliant mixture of smart satire and expertly-orchestrated slapstick–the same blend that makes the OSS 117 parodies so successful today. Even though the movie is firmly rooted in the 1960s counterculture, its satire–for better or for worse–is just as applicable today. Coburn is brilliant in the very best role of his career, and Godfrey Cambridge and Severn Darden both turn in standout supporting performances.

On Thursday, August 12, Dante will host another screening of interest to spy fans. The movies aren't spy movies, but they are a tribute to one of the key personnel behind James Bond's screen success. It's a John Barry double feature of The Last Valley (1970, starring Michael Caine) and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1972, starring future Bond Girl Fiona Fullerton and featuring Peter Sellers as the March Hare). "The composer has written many more celebrated music scores than these," writes Dante in his description on the New Beverly's webpage, "but to my mind these haven't received the attention they deserve, probably because both were major boxoffice flops." While James Clavell's The Last Valley is available on DVD from MGM (though not anamophically), Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is only available in a poor-quality, pan-and-scan public domain version. Dante promises a rare opportunity to see the movie in its original 2.35:1 aspect ration–if in a slightly faded scope print. Frequent James Bond lyricist Don Black collaborated with Barry on this musical version of Lewis Carroll's classic story.

Dante discusses the festival an a lengthy and awesome interview at the blog Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule. The New Beverly does not sell advance tickets, so you'll need to line up early to be assured a seat.

Movie Review: Billion Dollar Brain (1967)

Movie Review: Billion Dollar Brain (1967)

Want more men versus machines? How about the greatest man/machine throwdown of all time? To quote the poster (which may or may not have been created by Don King), it’s "Caine vs. Brain!" The titular brain, of course, is a rather pricey supercomputer. And the Caine in question (needless to say) is the inimitable Michael (now Sir), reprising the role that not only made him world-famous, but also launched an incredibly prolific career in spy films.

I love all three original Harry Palmer movies, but Billion Dollar Brain is my favorite. In fact, it’s one of my favorite spy movies ever. (Hence the banner above.) Sometimes purists make accusations that this movie brought Palmer, originally envisioned as the anti-Bond in a film series produced by Bond producer Harry Saltzman, too far into 007 territory. This simply isn’t the case. It’s true that Billion Dollar Brain has a bit more action and a much broader scope than its predecessors, The Ipcress File and Funeral In Berlin, but Palmer is still very much his own animal. The character (named in the films but unnamed in Len Deighton’s novels on which they’re based) remains steadfastly cynical about his work and in a way that the Bond of the movies never was, and defiantly insubordinate in the face of his snobby, hopelessly bureaucratic spymasters, men he knows place no value on his life. Yes, the character remains unchanged, but the film itself is decidedly different than those that went before it, thanks largely to director Ken Russell. I can only imagine that its detractors would have preferred another dose of the exact same thing, a rehash of what went on before. I would posit that the trilogy’s excellence lies in the fact that it never resorts to that. Each film has a distinctly unique feel, and the cycle never repeats itself. Granted, that’s an easier feat to accomplish in just three films than twenty-two, but it’s impressive nonetheless. And by the end of the Sixties, the same thing couldn’t be said for the Bond films. (Don’t get me wrong; I love the repetitious elements of 007, but they wouldn’t have been appropriate for Palmer.) James Bond movies (by this point) ended with a large-scale, explosion-filled battle every time. For Harry Palmer, that was unique to this movie and a change from what went before. Therefore, it was not Bond-like, and entirely appropriate to the Caine series.

At the beginning of Billion Dollar Brain, Palmer is attempting to live a civilian life as a private detective. But he simply cannot escape the life into which he’s been forced. It comes to find him this time in the form of his intolerable boss, Ross (Guy Doleman), who breaks into Palmer’s flat. (Of course, he’s filled out all the proper forms authorizing him to do so with impunity.) Harry walks in on him and pulls a gun (for which he assures his former superior he has a license), and Ross calmly puts his hands up, in which he’s holding one of Harry’s boxes of cornflakes. Ross lets the cornflakes spill all over the floor. In a hilarious bit of business, Harry sweeps up the cornflakes around Ross’s feet as the spook attempts to lure him back for another mission. It’s a great scene that sets the proper tone for a Harry Palmer movie.

Palmer rebuffs Ross’s advances for the time being, but Ross isn’t the only one with a job for him. Soon he gets a phone call from a computerized voice demanding, "Is. This. Palmer. Private. Detective. Of. London. Confirm." When he eventually does so, he’s instructed to courier a package (a thermos) from London to Helsinki. A London cabbie asks him where to, and Harry answers, "Helsinki"... and suddenly we’re there. It’s the first of the film’s many unique and abrupt edits, and it works wonderfully. Most spy movies in the Sixties still included the obligatory shots of the airport terminals and the BOAC jets; Russell sets the breakneck pace and disorienting tone of Billion Dollar Brain by cutting directly from the speeding London taxi to moving trams in snowy Finland.

Equally disorienting is Harry’s rendezvous with his Helsinki contact. The computer has instructed him that the password will be "Now is the winter of our discontent." We see Harry waiting in a beautiful, almost surreal snow-covered landscape, then flash to an abrupt closeup of Françoise Dorléac’s equally beautiful face as she utters the phrase. Her sensual delivery is the antithesis of the mechanical recitation we’ve heard from the computer, but both seem equally strange–off–for the Bard’s famous line. As soon as the line is delivered, we cut back from the closeup to the wide shot. What the hell just happened? Is it a dream? No, it isn’t, but the effect of Russell’s shrewd, almost experimental editing is that we’re as disoriented as Harry. He’s been plunged into an alien world at the bidding of a disembodied machine voice, and has no idea what’s going to happen next or who to trust. Neither do we. Russell’s discombobulating direction literalizes the themes of betrayal and dislocation in the totally solid but rather conventional script. Its one of the most interesting interpretations of the world of espionage I’ve ever seen on film. The first two Palmer movies had similarly byzantine plots and double-crosses, but we were outside observers. Now we’re as baffled as Harry is at every turn.

Russell maintains his vision of Finland as a weird, alien landscape, inside and out. Not only is Helsinki a terrific spy setting, but its so different from other European locations that it suits the director’s purposes perfectly. The outside is full of strange sculptures, unique architecture and interesting shapes, all blanketed in white snow. The interiors are equally bizarre, whether they’re steam rooms that hiss out warm air as you open the door or residences paneled in life-size artwork of nude women. Russell uses the artwork of his locations to punctuate the story he’s telling with great effect. Whether it’s the juxtaposition of beautiful, two-dimensional nudes cut in with quick shots of a grotesque, brutally murdered body, or the sudden appearance of the painted Finnish deity Väinämöinen serving as a stern reminder that men, in the world of espionage, are but pawns of larger, unfathomable entities, the ever-present wall art plays a crucial role in Russell’s storytelling.

Camera angles are important, too, as evidenced on Harry’s snowmobile ride to meet his next contact. Handheld shots and jarring angles collude with Richard Rodney Bennett’s remarkable, haunting score to further disorient Harry–and us. The first time I ever saw Billion Dollar Brain was on a terribly panned and scanned VHS, and it looked like a sloppy student film where the director had no idea where to place the camera. What a disservice that cropping did to Russell’s compositions! Years later, I was able to see the movie in its proper aspect ratio on the bigscreen (and eventually on DVD), and I was astounded at how different my reaction was. All of Russell’s angles and movements are meticulous, designed to evoke a very specific reaction in the viewer. In widescreen, it works brilliantly. In pan-and-scan, not at all. I actually had a similar experience with the first Harry Palmer movie, The Ipcress File, as well. Both films are masterpieces of widescreen composition that must be seen that way in order to be properly appreciated.

In Helsinki, Harry meets several other crucial characters. His first contact is Anya, played by Dorléac, whose ethereal beauty fits right in with the snowy landscape and haunting music. She’s like a figure from Nordic myth herself. (Dorléac, the sister of Catherine Deneuve, promised to be an extremely interesting talent, but her life was tragically cut short far too young when she was killed in a car accident shortly after filming Billion Dollar Brain.) Anya leads Harry to another contact, who’s revealed amidst the swirling steam of a sauna to be Harry’s old friend, Leo Newbigen (Karl Malden). Newbigen boasts that Harry is "the only real friend" he has in the whole world, but it’s clear from Harry’s reaction that even that status doesn’t earn his trust. Nor should it. In the course of his adventures, I think Harry Palmer is double-crossed at least once by just about everyone he ever meets. That’s certainly the case in this movie, but it doesn’t give anything away to know that. The real question is who is going to triple-cross or quadruple-cross who? Allegiances shift many times over the course of the film, and Harry knows he can’t rely on anyone but himself in order to survive.

Ross also turns up in Helsinki, and pulls Harry back into his service after all. Poor Harry could have had a raise, but instead he ends up blackmailed into serving his country once again. Returned to active duty as an agent of MI5, Harry is sworn in in the backseat of a moving limousine. Ross then proceeds to brief him as the car speeds along the icy streets. It’s another example of how Russell keeps the plot moving along–quite literally–at breakneck speed. (This scene prefigures M’s briefing of Bond in Tomorrow Never Dies nearly three decades later. Since that movie was so action-packed–even for 007–it was necessary to keep even the traditionally calm M and Moneypenny interactions as breakneck as possible, and director Roger Spottiswoode achieved the effect in the same manner as Russell, brilliantly keeping them on the move and setting the formulaic briefing in a speeding limo as opposed to a stationary office.)

As he careens along, Harry is resigned to his fate, but remains as flippant, cynical and insubordinate as ever. It’s a lot of fun to witness the horrible way that Ross treats him and that he treats Ross right back. Despite the gruffness on the surface, M harbors a paternal (or maternal, as the case may be) care for 007. Ross and Palmer, however, outright hate each other, and therein lies the fun of their interactions. At the end of the briefing, Ross gets the last jab in when he deposits Harry in the middle of nowhere, in the snow, suggesting that he can walk back from here and explaining that he has a plane to catch. Harry is very literally "in the cold," in one of many long shots of isolated figures on desolate white landscapes.

Leo takes Harry to "meet the boss," where Harry encounters a surprisingly small computer (for its day) in the middle of a very large, very empty room. It’s a Ken Adamish set, but actually designed by fellow Bond vet Syd Cain. We get more fantastically bizarre edits and disassociated audio: a conversation between Harry and Anya about some games being "more dangerous than others" occurs over violent footage of a hockey game; we then slam cut from one of the hockey confrontations to an extreme close-up of a virus culture in a microscope. The virus is what Harry unknowingly transported to Helsinki to begin with, and he can see it's part of a much larger plot, but can’t get a grasp on what that plot is.

The orders of the brain take Harry first across the border into Latvia, and then to Texas. In Latvia he encounters strange sights like Soviet soldiers on horseback charging through the woods in the light of a flare and peasants packed into a small house watching listening to the Beatles (the shots with Beatles music have unfortunately been cut from all DVD editions due to copyright issues, but can be watched on the Harry Palmer Movie Site) and eccentric characters. There’s the boisterous Col. Stok (Oscar Homolka, returning from Funeral In Berlin, jovial but still untrustworthy) and the nefarious Dr. Eiwort (From Russia With Love’s Vladek Shleybal, as slimy as ever). But nothing in Russia can prepare Harry for the even stranger sights and more eccentric characters he’ll encounter in Texas.

Gone are the wide shots of open scenery that characterized Finland; in Russell’s Texas everything is shot tightly, and all the exteriors take place at night. Sure, this is partly to mask the fact that they actually shot in Finland and clearly not in Texas, but it also creates a marked contrast between the two locations. Texas is claustrophobic, because whatever trap Harry’s gotten himself into, it’s clearly tightening on him there. Most of the Texan scenes take place inside the brain’s command center, where the giant, room-filling supercomputer spits out its orders. These interior locations add to the claustrophobia.

Leo is part of an anti-Communist group called the Crusade For Freedom Organization, run from America by a mad Texan general named Midwinter. Everyone is clad in cowboy duds and dances crazy line dances in a seemingly constant celebration on Midwinter’s ranch that falls somewhere between a ho-down and a Nazi rally. (The Nazi symbolism is unmistakable.) It would all play as wildly exaggerated if it were even possible to exaggerate Texas. But it’s not, and Ed Begley’s amazing, over-the-top performance (he could have just stepped out of Dr. Strangelove) is just the right degree of over-the-top for a fanatical Texan. The actor chews into long, entertaining monologues as he shares with Harry his deeply held personal convictions and burning hatred for Communism. Midwinter plans to invade Latvia with a vast private army with the ultimate goal of liberating the country from the Soviets. He believes, thanks to Leo, that there is a network of agents comprising a Latvian underground who will help in this operation. Harry’s not so sure. Is there such a network, or has Leo simply been pocketing all the cash Midwinter’s supplied for all of these supposed assets?

Midwinter’s plan, of course (though calculated by a billion dollar computer system) will have the same effect as Blofeld’s best: it will lead to WWIII. But unlike Blofeld, Midwinter is acting based on fanatical conviction, and truly believes that he is doing the right thing.

The action–and Harry–return to Finland where everything builds up to a truly impressive large scale climax. As I mentioned earlier, no Palmer movie before had ever gotten this big. The previous ones were small, more personal spy stories of traitors and defectors. But Billion Dollar Brain culminates in a whole army clad in white snow camouflage moving across the ice in white snow vehicles and a fleet of white troop transports disguised as tanker trucks. (They even have gun turrets on the top.) Things get very large indeed, and the fate of the world hangs in the balance. It may be a Bondian situation, but it doesn’t play out in a Bondian course. It’s just another unwanted assignment for Harry Palmer–one that’s gotten way, way out of hand.

We never do get that promised throwdown between Caine and the brain (although Malden proves adept at reprogramming it by shuffling around its carefully-ordered programming cards), but everything really comes together in this movie. The impressive locations (particularly the Finnish ones) are inexorably tied in to the unique camera movements, editing, score and sound design. And they’re all spot-on. Richard Rodney Bennet turns in one of his very best scores, ideally complimenting Russell’s cold, alien landscapes. Everything about this Cold War is cold, even the sex. Dorléac plays the icy temptress to the hilt, Malden shines in the most morally complex role, Begley lends the presence necessary to make a small part cast a large shadow and Caine navigates it all in his inimitable, cynical way. He’s not a James Bond. He’s not on top of things. Throughout the whole movie, he’s never on top of the situation. He’s an everyman spy and we share his perplexion as he does his best just to keep his head above water. The story plausibly builds from the small scale of the previous Palmers up to the grandiosity of James Bond via Dr. Strangelove, but Caine keeps things grounded the entire time.

This is a spy movie that takes its audience on a ride along with the hero, and it’s a ride well worth taking. Watching Billion Dollar Brain is an exhilarating, incredible experience, and credit for that experience must go not only to Russell and Caine, but also Bennett, cinematographer Billy Williams, editor Alan Osbiston and sound editor Ted Mason. All of their crafts converge perfectly to create a truly unique, must-see spy film.

Be sure to check out all the cool video that Kees has put up for this movie on The Harry Palmer Movie Site, including a vintage making-of featurette!

Upcoming Spy DVDs: '90s Harry Palmer Collection In UK

Kees from the web's definitive Harry Palmer Movie Site has alerted me to a new release in England of the two 90s, Harry Alan Towers-produced Harry Palmer sequels. On April 20, Starz Home Entertainment will release The Harry Palmer Double Bill including Midnight in St. Petersburg and Bullet to Beijing, both starring Michael Caine and Jason Connery. While it was definitely cool to see Caine return to this wonderful character three decades later, the movies are pale imitations of the originals. It's the difference between, well, a Harry Saltzman production and a Harry Alan towers one. But they've got good casts (including Michael Gambon and Sue Lloyd) and completists will definitely want to pick them up. Furthermore, this looks like the highest quality release in an English-speaking country of these titles. (In America, all we've gotten are inferior bargain basement releases.) The artwork reflects the Swedish art.

Be sure to swing by Kees' site, as he's given it an attractive overhaul recently. On top of that, it's a great resource for any and all things Harry Palmer.

REMINDER: Funeral In Berlin Screening TONIGHT In L.A.!

Saturday, February 21, 2009

As previously reported, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art will screen Funeral In Berlin in their fantastic theater on Saturday, February 21 (that's tonight!) at 9:15PM as part of their series "Torn Curtain: The Two Germanys on Film" examining films set in Cold War Germany. The Guy Hamilton-directed middle installment in the Sixties Harry Palmer trilogy will be paired with Robert Siodmak's Escape From East Berlin. (That one starts at 7:30.) I haven't seen the latter, but it doesn't appear to be a spy movie. Nevertheless, the 1962 movie (which concerns twenty-nine East Germans who fled Communist rule by tunneling under the Berlin Wall) does sound pretty cool! The whole film series ties in with the museum's current exhibit "The Art of Two Germanys/Cold War Cultures." That's a good exhibit, and well worth checking out if you're interested in the Cold War.

LACMA's got a great screen, so if you're in the area tonight I definitely recommend taking advantage of this opportunity!

Thanks to my friend Phil for first alerting me to this screening!

Upcoming Spy Screenings: Harry Palmer In Los Angeles

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art will screen Funeral In Berlin on Saturday, February 21 at 9:15PM as part of their series "Torn Curtain: The Two Germanys on Film" examining films set in Cold War Germany. The Guy Hamilton-directed middle installment in the Sixties Harry Palmer trilogy will be paired with Robert Siodmak's Escape From East Berlin. I haven't seen the latter, but while it does sound cool, it doesn't appear to be a spy movie. The 1962 movie concerns twenty-nine East Germans who fled Communist rule by tunneling under the Berlin Wall. The whole film series ties in with the museum's current exhibit "The Art of Two Germanys/Cold War Cultures." That's a good exhibit, and LACMA's got a great screen, so if you're in the area I definitely recommend taking advantage of this opportunity!

I started out intending to showcase relevant spy screenings all over, but it became tough to keep track. I apologize to all the non-LA readers for focusing as a result on Los Angeles screenings, but they're certainly foremost on my mind being based here. I will try to start covering screenings in other cities more often.

Network Offers Free Ipcress File Poster

Network's "Deal of the Week" this week is a pretty good one! The British DVD company is offering their two-disc Special Edition of The Ipcress File (that's the Region 2 PAL one that comes with the Len Deighton book and the John Barry soundtrack CD as well as loads of special features) for the greatly reduced price of just £12.99... and bundled with a special, limited-edition quad poster from the film's 2006 British theatrical re-release! Sure, it's a couple bucks more than it was during their big clearance sale last week, but it's still a great bargain–and that poster's mighty nice! The poster will come shipped separately, rolled in a sturdy mailing tube. Among the many extra features included on the DVD are: an exclusive interview with Michael Caine, a new exclusive interview with the great production designer Ken Adam, an audio commentary with director Sidney Furie and editor Peter Hunt, some sort of "comedy sketch" starring Phil Cornwell (huh?), a 1969 documentary called "Candid Caine," featuring star Caine talking frankly about his career, the original theatrical trailer, US radio commercials, a stills gallery Len Deighton's original novel, the soundtrack CD by John Barry, a dual-sided mini movie poster (separate from the full-size quad you'll get with this offer) and an introductory booklet by the author of Michael Caine: A Class Act. Whew!

Remember, you need a DVD play capable of playing Region 2 PAL discs to play this.

Swedish Harry Palmer DVDs

While exploring the Fin de Siecle website last week when I ordered my Secret Agent Fireball DVD, I came across some eye-catching Harry Palmer DVDs.* Swedish company Atlantic Film produces a three-film Harry Palmer box set called "The Ultimate Harry Palmer"... but it's not really that ultimate. You see, the other two films besides The Ipcress File are not the equally excellent legitimate sequels Funeral In Berlin and Billion Dollar Brain, but the mediocre, made-for-TV Nineties revivals Bullet To Beijing and Midnight In St. Petersburg. Still, the individual discs have some pretty cool cover art! (Certainly much cooler than the out-of-print budget North American DVDs.) And if you're a Harry Palmer completist who doesn't yet have these titles (but does have a multi-region player), you can pick them up dirt cheap from Fin de Siecle. I particularly love that Midnight In St. Petersberg cover that boldly states "CAINE" and "CONNERY" across the top without revealing that the Connery in question is actually Jason, son of Sean. I feel sorry for unsuspecting Swedes who thought they were getting a Man Who Would Be King rematch... In keeping with that gleeful spirit of false advertising, the covers for both Midnight and Bullet appear to promise viewers films based on Len Deighton novels, when the author had nothing to do with these productions, and didn't write any such books. Finally, both covers manage to convey a good deal more excitement than the movies do, too!
*Of course, if I'd fully explored every nook and cranny of Kees' Harry Palmer Movie Site, I would have already seen these covers--along with plentiful others, from all around the world. Check 'em out!

Ipcress On Blu-Ray

Reader Kees Stam, keeper of the web's definitive Harry Palmer site, has alerted me to a crucial DVD release I missed before Christmas: The Ipcress File has been released on Blu-Ray in Great Britain! This is great news for videophiles. Who wouldn't want to own what's arguably one of the best looking spy movies of the Sixties (boasting truly ingenious widescreen composition) in the best looking format on the market? This is a PAL disc, but supposedly all-region. (I confess, I'm not quite sure myself how regions work on Blu-Ray.) Sadly, none of the fabulous extras from Network's DVD release (or Anchor Bay's long out-of-print Region 1 disc) are carried over, so even if you buy the Blu-Ray for the ultimate in picture quality, you'll need to hang onto your old copies for supplemental features. Right now, Amazon.co.uk has the Ipcress Blu-Ray for half price!

Billion Dollar Brain Sound-track On CD

Richard Rodney Bennett's fantastic score to Billion Dollar Brain, my personal favorite of the excellent Harry Palmer trilogy, is finally getting a legit CD release courtesy of Film Score Monthly. The catch is... it's only available as part of a giant set called The MGM Soundtrack Treasury (1959-1983), and the set costs a lot of money: $129.99, to be exact. But for twenty highly sought-after scores, however, it's not much at all; it works out to be less than $6.50 a soundtrack if my math is correct. For spy fans, though, it is a lot to pay for Billion Dollar Brain alone. The Treasury came about as a sort of catch-all for rare scores demanding remastered CD releases, but that didn't really make sense on their own, often because of their brevity. Billion Dollar Brain, for instance, ran just under thirty-two minutes on the United Artists Records album master, the only surviving source for the recording. That was too short to justify a solo release, but the folks at FSM had trouble thinking of a suitable companion. While going through all the possibilities, they realized they had enough loose ends to create this amazing-sounding box set, so they did.

In order to keep the cost of the set down, they didn't print their usual super-detailed liner notes as a book; instead they made them all available online for free. The good news there is that it means everyone can read their excellent, typically comprehensive liner notes for Billion Dollar Brain here, and learn a lot about the movie and the score!

I'm pretty sure this is the first legit CD release this fine score has ever had. I have a CD containing it and John Barry's The Ipcress File together which I got at Tower Records way back when, but despite that respectable place of purchase, I'm fairly certain it's a bootleg. I really wish I could afford this set, because it's got a lot of great stuff in it (including Lalo Schiffrin's full score for Pussycat, Pussycat, I Love You, a favorite guilty pleasure of mine), but I don't even have FSM's Superman box set yet, so I'll have to hold off for now. But for spy music aficionados with deep pockets, I'd say Bennett's amazing score is worth the steep price!

Michael Caine To Be Honored In Hollywood

Sir Michael Caine, star of countless spy movies over the decades (including the fantastic Harry Palmer series from the Sixties), will be honored in a hand and footprint ceremony at the famous Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood tomorrow morning. Angelenos take note: the ceremony will occur at 11:30 AM on Friday, July 11, in recognition of Caine's upcoming role as Alfred in The Dark Knight as well as a career's worth of brilliant performances. I really, really wish I could go (the Roger Moore star ceremony was a lot of fun), but I don't think I can swing it on such short notice this time. If anyone does go, please send some pictures! Some of Caine's many notable spy movies include The Ipcress File, Funeral in Berlin, Billion Dollar Brain (my personal favorite), The Fourth Protocol, The Holcroft Covenant, The Jigsaw Man, Blue Ice, Austin Powers in Goldmember and The Quiet American. (Not that I need to remind anyone who reads this blog, I'm sure!)

All the details on the ceremony can be found at Reuters.

Random Intelligence Dispatches For March 8, 2008

(Young) James Bond Will Return In...

By Royal Command. That's the title of Charlie Higson's fifth and (for now, anyway) final "Young Bond" novel, according to the source for news on the series, Young Bond Dossier. The Dossier also confirms that Higson has finished the novel. By Royal Command doesn't conform as neatly to the rigid Bond title formula Ian Fleming Publications have previously adhered to (SilverFin, Blood Fever, Double or Die, Hurricane Gold), but it does evoke what turned out to be one of Fleming's most resonant titles, On Her Majesty's Secret Service. And it seems like an appropriate title for the final novel in the series (aimed at young adult readers, but offering plenty of enjoyment for adult Bond fans), as it seems to foreshadow James' ultimate career path and dedication to Queen and Country. By Royal Command comes out in hardcover in England September 4.

Jack Bauer Will Return In...

...a 24 TV movie this fall, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The movie, like Sci-Fi Channel's Battlestar Gallactica TV movie last year, will bridge the extraordinarily long gap between seasons, serving as a prequel to Season 7, now set for broadcast in January 2009, minus creator/showrunner Joel Surnow. And it should serve to keep Kiefer Sutherland's dour mug in the public conscience, lest Jack Bauer be forgotten. The article says producers are trying to secure the whole cast, but doesn't go into specifics. It's unknown whether the TV movie will follow the show's trademark real time formula, or if it will take advantage in the break from routine to utilise a more traditional narrative structure. That would definitely be cool to see (as the show sometimes becomes a slave to its gimmick), but I was pretty excited for the oft-mooted 24 theatrical movie to be the first instance we see Jack Bauer out of real time. There's also something to be said for a real time mission that takes only 120 minutes to crack rather than a whole day. There could be a lot of urgency in that, and hopefully it would work out better than when Johnny Depp tried it in Nick of Time... Presumably, Fox Home Entertainment will push for a quick sell-through on DVD for the feature, probably in December so as to suitably whet the public's appetite for Season 7.

Michael Caine Returns

... to Sixties heist movies this month! It may not be a new spy film, but fans of the Ipcress File actor will likely be as excited as I am about his return not only to heist flicks, but to one set in the Sixties, recalling his iconic roles in movies like Gambit and The Italian Job (1969)! Caine teams up with star/producer Demi Moore (who also produced the Austin Powers movies, of which Caine was in a particularly awful example) for a diamond heist tale set in what the press materials refer to as "Swinging London," but the trailer tells us is actually 1960, still several years before London started to swing. Still, it's Michael Caine, it's the Sixties and it's a heist. I'm there. And if you don't want to wait until March 28 to trek to the theater, Flawless will premiere earlier as video on demand on HDNet Ultra. In fact, it already has! If you get that service, you can go ahead and check it out now.

Random Intelligence Dispatches For August 12, 2007

New Patrick McGoohan Biography

Amazon.co.uk lists a new biography of Secret Agent star Patrick McGoohan as having been released in England last month. Patrick McGoohan: Danger Man Or Prisoner? promises to "explain the enigma that is McGoohan!" Not having read it, I can't say if it manages to do that, but it does have a catchy cover! Amazon lists an October U.S. release date (and offers a pretty good discount on the rather hefty price tag), so I'll probably wait till then to pick it up.

Sir Michael Caine To Release Album

All of us who have been waiting decades for many-time spy star Michael Caine to put out a CD can now breathe a collective sigh of relief.... The album we didn't even know we had to have is on its way! Well, sort of. Sir Michael isn't actually recording anything, but he's curating a compilation of "chill-out music" called - wait for it - Cained. The Playlist points the way to a London Times article on the subject, which drops quite a few references to the espionage side of his career. "Michael Caine was the personification of icy cool as secret agent Harry Palmer in The Ipcress File, but it wasn't until he wowed Elton John with his knowledge of downtempo ambient music that he realised he was a chill-out expert. Now the Alfie actor, 74, has announced the name of his new chill-out album - Cained - a selection of his favourite mellow tracks." So there you have it. Amazon.co.uk lists a September 3 release date, and a tracklist that includes Delerium, Nina Simone and Felix Da Housecat, Magnet's "Lay Lady Lay" and, appropriately, a track by Roy Budd. Now just keep your fingers crossed for that Roger Moore electroclash compilation...

Funeral In Berlin DVD Back In Print

This may be old news for most readers, but it had slipped by me, so perhaps it slipped by others who are interested as well. Paramount's Region 1 Funeral In Berlin DVD, which had been out of print for a number of years and commanding high prices on Ebay (I know; I sold an extra copy there myself!) has quietly crept back into print some time in the last year. I'm not sure when, because Amazon still lists the original 2001 release date, but it's currently in stock at both Amazon (for $26.99) and DeepDiscount, where you could use that coupon and take it home for just over eleven bucks! (And I still see this priced at sixty in some used disc shops.) For the uninitiated, Funeral In Berlin is the second in the superb trilogy of Harry Palmer spy movies from the 1960s starring Michael Caine. Based on Len Deighton's books (wherein the hero went unnamed) and produced by Harry Saltzman as the antithesis to his other spy franchise hero, all three Palmer movies are absolute essentials for connoisseurs of the genre. The original, The Ipcress File, remains out of print in the United States and fetches upwards of $70. The last (that's right, I'm not counting the lacklustre '90s revivals), Billion Dollar Brain, finally became available a few years ago, albeit slightly edited; it's missing a brief snippet containing Beatles music due to famously exorbitant licensing fees. Still well worth it though!