In
case you are
looking for more serious spydrama, films or tv series 'Palmer style', I
have compiled a list with titles that might be of interest to you. In
case you have additions, please mail me or leave it on the messageboard.
With Michael
Caine:
The
Fourth
Protocol (1987)
Well
made, no
frills, spythriller. A lot of Harry Palmer elements come back in this
film. The Fourth Protocol is a secret agreement between America,
Britain and Russia to stop smuggling nuclear weapons into their
respective countries. This helps the schemes of several rogue spies,
who hope to destroy NATO by embarking on just such a smuggling
operation. Russian agent Valeri Petrofsky played by Bond 4 Pierce
Brosnan is ordered to stage a nuclear accident in England, then arrange
the evidence to point to the Americans. British intelligence agent John
Preston, played by Michael Caine, starts wondering why such
nuclear-weapon ingredients like lithium are showing up in strange
places.**recommended.
Trailer
The Fourth Protocol
Blue
Ice
(1993)
The
Harry Palmer
series have most certainly inspired this one, although it is not a
great movie. Michael Caine is now Harry Anders (yes, just a slight
change of name). The spyfilm has its moments but lacks chemistry
between the actors. It is better than than Bullet or Midnight though.
The story revolves around a secret agent-turned-jazzclub owner, who
gets involved in another case when a beautiful girl crashes into his
car. The story gets larger when several friends from his espionage days
are mysteriously killed. 'Anders' investigates on his own, which brings
him in very close proximity with the mysterious consul's wife played by
Sean Young.
Behind the screens clip
Blue Ice c
The
Whistle
Blower (1986)
Superpatriot
Michael Caine hears from his son Nigel Havers, a Russian translator
with Government Communications Headquarters, that the CIA might have
ordered the deaths of some GCH employees to avoid any security leaks.
When Havers mentions that he's thinking about blowing the whistle on
the sordid goings-on, Caine, convinced that whatever the CIA is doing
is for the greatest good, begs his son to keep quiet. Soon afterward,
son Havers is found murdered.
Trailer
The Whistle Blower
Without Michael
Caine:
Spy
Story
(1976)
Spy
Story,
sometimes called the 'unofficial fourth Harry Palmer film', is another
Len Deighton story with the so-called unnamed spy. This lowbudget
production wasn't made by the Harry Saltzman team and doesn't contain
Michael Caine. The main character is called Pat Armstrong in this
movie. Funny enough, the IMBD called the main character Harry Palmer
for a long time (this has now been corrected). The main character works
in wargaming, using the latest intelligence about the Soviet military
force. When his car breaks down at night and he can't find a phone, he
uses a key he still has to let himself into his old apartment to make
the call from there - only to find he has apparently continued to live
there. He is clearly at the centre of an elaborate plot of some kind...
To
give you a glimpse
of what the Spy Story film is like, below you can watch the trailer.
Yes, 'Harry Palmer' has dark hair and the guy with the blondish/reddish
beard is Colonel Stok.
Spy
Story Trailer
The
Sandbaggers (1978/1980 TV drama)
The
"Sandbaggers"
is a nickname for the Special Section of the British SIS (Secret
Service), a team of special agents who are deployed undercover in
hostile situations at a time when the cold war was at its height. The
series was written and created by Ian MacKintosh, himself an
ex-military man with alleged ties to British Security. His death during
the making of the series has always been viewed with suspicion. The
Sandbaggers was reviewed in 2003 by the New York Times as being "the
best spy series in television history". **recommended.
A
mild mannered CIA
researcher (played by Robert Redford), who reads and checks books in
which secret messages might be hidden, returns from lunch to find all
of his colleagues assassinated. "Condor" (his codename) must find out
who did this and get in from the cold before the hitmen get him.
**recommended
Trailer
Three Days of the Condor
Tinker,
Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1979)
In
this seven-part
BBC adaptation, Smiley returns from his enforced 'retirement' to lead a
mole hunt that is loosely based on the circumstances surrounding
Philby's identification as a Russian spy at the heart of the British
Secret Service.
**recommended
Tinker,
Tailor, Soldier, Spy - Trailer
The
Spy Who
Came In From The Cold (1965)
Very
dark, grim spymovie in black&white, starring Richard Burton. It
tells the story of Alec Leamas, an English spy, who resigns from the
British Secret Service and defects to East Germany. Leamas is actually
being manipulated by the director of the Secret Service, as part of an
elaborate plot to discredit an effective East German spymaster and
protect a British double agent in the East German Secret Service from
discovery. **recommended.
Scene
from The Spy who came in from the Cold
The
Quiller
Memorandum (1966)
The
other Berlin
spymovie. Although not as good as Funeral in Berlin, the
Berlin-atmosphere is captured well. A British spy is killed in Berlin.
Quiller takes over his assignment: he has to find an underground neo
Nazi organization. He meets Inge, a young school teacher, who can help
him find the organisation but he is kidnapped by a man called Oktober.
A game of cat and mouse starts, each trying to discover each other’s
base
Trailer
The Quiller Memorandum
The
Day of the Jackal (1973)
Not
strictly a spymovie but it sure feels like one. An English professional
killer is hired by former French generals to kill Charles de Gaulle
while a dedicated agent follows the assassin's trail in this political
thriller. The film uses the perspectives of the professional assassin
as he prepares his work and that of clever French detective as he
follows the assasin.
**recommended
Trailer
of The Day of the Jackal
Where
The Spies Are (1965)
One
of the 'Eurospy' kind of movies, this one is not recommended viewing
but mentioned here because Francoise Dorleac played a leading role in
it before she did Billion Dollar Brain.
Trailer
of Where The Spies Are
The
Deadly Affair (1966)
A
movie about a British secret agent investigating the apparent suicide
of a Foreign Office official. A nice 'no frills' spy movie, starring
James Mason and based on a John Le Carre story, mostly filmed in
London. Great music by Quincy Jones.
Titles
and beginning of the movie
The
Kremlin Letter (1969)
A
network of spies recruits an intelligence officer with a
photographic memory to accompany them on a mission inside Russia. They
must try to get a letter back written by the CIA that promises American
assistance to Russia if China gets the atomic bomb. A confusing spy
film but interesting because it was also filmed in Finland and uses
some of the same locations as Billion Dollar Brain. With Ipcress' Nigel
Green and a big startcast.
Agents
Secrets / Spy Bound (2004)
Trailer
(in French) of the French spymovie Agents Secrets, released with
English subtitles under the name 'Spy Bound'. A team of secret agents
is assigned to sink a cargo vessel in Casablanca. The ship is
transporting weapons. They are advised by an American agent
to
abort their mission, but their superiors order them to ignore. Critics
butchered the movie but I don't think it is that bad...
Trailer
(in French)
The
Bourne Identity/Supremacy/Ultimatum (2002/2004/2007)
Of
all the contemporary 'action' spymovies I prefer the Bourne series.
Although I like the first one -The Bourne Identity- the best, The
Bourne Ultimatum is already a classic in the action-genre.Although I
still prefer the 'thinking' kind of spy movies, Ultimatum is a must-see
spymovie which will leave you breathless in your seat. **recommended.
Page
Eight (2011)
David
Hare’s first directorial outing for twenty years, a potent political
thriller, cast with British acting heavyweights.Centre stage is Bill
Nighy’s Johnny Worricker, a long serving and suffering MI5 officer.
When his boss and best friend suddenly dies, he is left to navigate
what soon reveals itself to be a treacherous tangle of intrigue,
winding right to the very top of the British political establishment. **recommended.
Ørnen
(The Eagle) (2004 - 2006)
Ørnen
('Eagle') is an Icelandic inspector in a Danish secret task force to
help solve international crime. With a team of talented and diverse
investigators he handles explosive and complex cases with all available
means. Very good Danish television series, great characters and acting,
highly realistic series. Won an Emmy Award. Only available in Australia
with English subtitles, e.g. here: ABC The Eagle Video collection
Only the title tune is available on Youtube.**recommended.
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (2011)
remake
Smiley returns from his enforced 'retirement' to
lead a
mole hunt that is loosely based on the circumstances surrounding
Philby's identification as a Russian spy at the heart of the British
Secret Service.
Very stylish remake from the BBC television series of 1979.
**recommended
