Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

General

Double Feature Movie Show: SIXTIES BRITISH SPIES

American independence is a pretty big deal, I guess.

Last Friday was July 4th, so I thought I would write about some British spies.

Hey, we won our independence from England, so it kinda ties in, right?

The 60s were the height of the spy boom. Everybody wanted to know more about spies. After the Cuban Missile Crisis the Cold War really heated up and every country was spying on every other country. The public wanted to know more about these people…even if it was completely made up.

And, of course, it all was. Governments wouldn’t want the people knowing how spies really worked.

Two literary spies were huge throughout the 60s. They both showed a different side of spying. One of them became an international superstar.

Guess which one.

GOLDFINGER (1964)
Directed by Guy Hamilton
Written by Richard Maibaum/Paul Dehn
Based on a novel by Ian Fleming

So much has been written about James Bond that it’s hard to find anything new these days. So I probably won’t even try. You’ve most likely seen this movie, but that doesn’t stop it from being great. It may have dated a bit, but not enough to matter.

The third movie in the official series opens with Bond (Sean Connery) blowing up a heroin dealer’s lair, using a woman as a shield against a bullet and finding a reason to use the word “Shocking.” Then the adventure really begins.

Auric Goldfinger (Gert Frobe) is the baddie here and he’s all about the gold. His mission is to steal all of the gold in Fort Knox, but he has crotch pointed lasers and gold paint to get him there.

Goldfinger pretty much started the Bond series down the path to gadgets and explosions that we all know and love. There were gadgets in the two films before (shoes with knives in the toes, a briefcase with lots of cool stuff in it, etc…), but the filmmakers really took it to outrageous proportions here. Bond’s car (the Aston Martin DB5) was tricked out with bullet proofing, missiles, guns, revolving license plates, tire slashers and, of course, an ejector seat. And there was the matter of a certain bowler hat.

Then there were the women. Bond always had women, but never any like Pussy Galore (Honor Blackman) or Jill Masterson (Shirley Eaton), one who gets turned not only from bad to good, but from lesbian to not-so-lesbian and one who gets turned to gold. No Bond girl will ever live up to either of them.

This movie (and all of the Bond films) shows the romantic, exciting side of spying. The side that everyone wants so much to be true. Every man wanted to be Bond. (We still do. Let’s not lie.) Every woman wanted Bond. (They still do. Let’s not lie. Especially now that Daniel Craig has taken over the role.) Ian Fleming’s version may have been colder and less gadget driven, but he was no less exciting. Not really. He still hopped from bed to bed and country to country. He still killed with a gleam in his eye. He was just more broken. More alcoholic. Darker.

Let’s take a look at the other side of spying.

THE IPCRESS FILE (1965)
Directed by Sidney J Furie
Written by WH Canaway/James Doran
Based on a novel by Len Deighton

Harry Palmer (Michael Caine) is a young Army man who reluctantly goes into the spying business. He really wants out and does his best to insult everyone he can in order to get thrown out. Instead, he gets put on a top case to find some kidnapped scientists. The men are always returned, but they’ve been brainwashed and their science days are basically over.

Why would a man that the higher ups hate be put on such an important case? Harry is skeptical, but he eventually finds some clues…and accidentally kills a CIA agent.

Harry Palmer does a lot of the same things that James Bond does, but he does it with such a lackadaisical style that it’s easy to forget that he does them. The Ipcress File is basically an anti-Bond. We see a lot of bureaucracy that Harry is sick of. We see where he doesn’t always have the tools that he needs to get the job done. We see where he doesn’t always WANT to get the job done.

Not only that, but the ending is pretty harrowing. Palmer is put through the ringer and, really, not ever taken out of it, being told that “it’s all part of his job.” Basically, he’s a much more realistic spy than James Bond, but still not realistic enough to be boring. At all.

Palmer was very popular in the 60s (even starting a trend with his glasses), but he’s sort of been forgotten about by everyone but Mike Myers.

That’s sad because the Palmer films (the early ones, anyway) are all great fun and should be on anyone’s list of spy films to see.

I love 60s spy films, whether they’re realistic or fantastical. James Bond will always hold a special place in my heart, but Harry Palmer is right up there. Seek out all of the 60s spy films you can, but start with these two characters if you haven’t already.

A couple of connections between the two films: Harry Saltzman produced both and John Barry wrote the scores for both. Both men were involved with the Bond series for a decade or two. Also, the second Palmer film, Funeral In Berlin, was directed by frequent Bond director, Guy Hamilton. (The third, Billion Dollar Brain, was directed by crazy man Ken Russell.)

So, yeah. The two series were pretty intertwined behind the scenes.

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

DISCLAIMER

Forces of Geek is protected from liability under the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) and “Safe Harbor” provisions.

All posts are submitted by volunteer contributors who have agreed to our Code of Conduct.

FOG! will disable users who knowingly commit plagiarism, piracy, trademark or copyright infringement.

Please contact us for expeditious removal of copyrighted/trademarked content.

SOCIAL INFLUENCER POLICY

In many cases free copies of media and merchandise were provided in exchange for an unbiased and honest review. The opinions shared on Forces of Geek are those of the individual author.

You May Also Like

Movies

Despite the convenience of digital and streaming, any truly hardcore cinegeek knows the importance of physical media and having a personal collection of not...

Movies

As most horror fans will attest to, quality horrors in mainstream English language cinema can be few and far between, and any gore hound...

Movies

To many, 1984’s Ghostbusters was lightning in a bottle, and to some, it became a cornerstone of a lifelong dedication to the franchise that...

Movies

Religious and occult horror has always fascinated audiences, and this horror sub-genre has indeed delivered many classics such as Rosemary’s Baby, The Omen and...