A truly great British film. Everything works - Michael Caine's spot on cockney spy Harry Palmer, a joker, insubordinate but clever and tough ; a roster of top notch character acting support, particularly Nigel Greene as Harry's unimpressed new boss ; John Barry's score and one of his very best, which adds so much atmosphere and menace; a fiendishly complex plot, with the requisite number of twists.
Produced by Harry Saltzman, who also co-produced the James Bond films, but was firmly pitched as the anti-Bond - realistic (well not really) and grubby. A film of the sixties certainly and has a lovely sense of the era, but has not dated and remains an absorbing and exciting watch.
Review of The Ipcress File
