Review: The Ipcress File (1965)
It's difficult to talk about The Ipcress File without making comparisons to James Bond. After all, the film was produced by Harry Saltzman, who co-produced the first nine Bond outings. The music was created by John Barry, the man behind eleven Bond scores and who was also the arranger the iconic "James Bond Theme," with its twangy guitars and bombastic brass horns, for the very first Bond film, Dr. No . But if Bond's world is one of excitement, adventure, globe-trekking travel, and rendezvous with the world's most beautiful women, Harry Palmer is the other side of the coin. Created by novelist Len Deighton and never named in the novel that inspired this film adaptation, Harry Palmer comes to life as a cockney everyman, a secret agent who spends just as much time filling out paperwork at an office desk as he does on stakeouts and surveillance. It's a deliberate choice, and one that lends far more realism to the world of espionage than the high-speed thrills...
