Billion Dollar Brain
Danvers Nettlefold
Posts: 20MI6 Agent
Couldn’t find a previous thread for this, but I was wondering whether anyone else has a soft spot for the third Harry Palmer film, directed in 1967 by none other than Ken Russell.
It seems that far more people prefer The Ipcress File, and BDB has been widely criticised for talking Palmer into Bondian territory - a comparison emphasised by the Maurice Binder title sequence.
However, I’m always happy to revisit BDB, what with Richard Rodney Bennett’s excellent, atmospheric music score, Russell’s more-disciplined-than-usual direction, Ed Begley’s enjoyably over-the-top General Midwinter (based on a real-life Texas oil mogul, apparently), Karl Malden’s duplicitous Leo Newbigen (a name everyone in the film seems to delight in enunciating), and good old Oscar Homolka, elevating the role of Russian colonel to archetypal status.
In fact, having read the source novel, I’d go so far as to suggest that, as with GF, the film improves upon it.
It seems that far more people prefer The Ipcress File, and BDB has been widely criticised for talking Palmer into Bondian territory - a comparison emphasised by the Maurice Binder title sequence.
However, I’m always happy to revisit BDB, what with Richard Rodney Bennett’s excellent, atmospheric music score, Russell’s more-disciplined-than-usual direction, Ed Begley’s enjoyably over-the-top General Midwinter (based on a real-life Texas oil mogul, apparently), Karl Malden’s duplicitous Leo Newbigen (a name everyone in the film seems to delight in enunciating), and good old Oscar Homolka, elevating the role of Russian colonel to archetypal status.
In fact, having read the source novel, I’d go so far as to suggest that, as with GF, the film improves upon it.
This discussion has been closed.
Comments
Funeral in Berlin is my favourite of the three: it's just got such a great plot. Ipcress is good, but the plot isn't quite as good and the direction gets a bit pretentious and irritating after a while!