Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

I haven’t seen very many films in the spy genre. I haven’t even seen an entire Bond film, for crying out loud! (Pretty shameful, I must say -- I should have at least seen the Connery Bonds) But, in my thankless quest to rent at least a few of those banged-up old video titles at our local video store, I did manage to find a good spy thriller from the old-school of thriller film-making.

The Ipcress File is a 1965 British thriller starring Michael Caine in one of his earliest roles, before Hollywood stardom truly set in. He plays Harry Palmer, a slightly unscrupulous man who came into this line of work only to get out of spending time in military prison for unethical behavior, involving the scamming German soldiers. He lives in a tiny, run-down bachelor apartment, but he has fairly sophisticated tastes -- he’s a good cook, listens to Bach and Mozart, and, his most favorite of all, as he says to one gal, he likes women, as well, of course.

Palmer is suddenly taken away from his boring assignment (sitting in an upstairs apartment spying on someone across the street), and send by his boss to another spy organization. The old boss says dourly that the new guy doesn’t have his sense of humor, and the new boss harshly tells Palmer that if he messes up, he’ll bite him so hard that he’ll be sent back to where he came from... i.e. military prison. The new boss is made aware of Palmer’s smart-alecky and generally insubordinate behavior, and occasionally gives Palmer a bit of a rough time.

The assignment this time is to catch up with a guy who has been responsible for a “brain drain” amongst Britain's science community -- nearly 20 guys have dropped out of the business without a single plausible explanation, but suddenly lost complete and total interest. The government is quite suspicious of this trend, and it is when the next scientist is actually kidnapped that the intelligence agencies are able to credibly do something about the situation. The agency has pegged the suspect, and it is up to the spies to find him, and to try to get the scientist back.

Interesting, it doesn’t take very long to find the bad guy. Palmer catches up to him immediately at the library. Palmer makes an offer for the scientist, hoping that the kidnapper will take the bait -- but the guy tricks him, and Palmer loses the trail. Later on, however, a few interesting things are found -- not least of which is a tape, with the word “Ipcress” printed on it. And things get even more hairy when Palmer himself is kidnapped by the villain, and subjected to lengthy psychological torture.

The espionage game is clearly a complicated trade. You never know who to trust, or what the truth is. The espionage industry itself is supposed to private and undercover -- the two agencies depicted in this movie use ordinary buildings, supposedly housing TV production facilities, as cover. And some of the people involved may be covering up stuff on their own, and hiding it from other spies. The most obvious suspect, in Palmer’s view, is a woman, one of the spies in the new agency, who has broken into his apartment, supposedly because the boss wants to keep up on any new recruits. But is that really why she is there? Palmer vocally suggests possibilities -- but since girls are his favorite thing, he’s more interested in charming her than kicking her out.

The Ipcress File is very fun to watch. It’s kind of amusing to watch all of the surprises, double-crosses, and absurd plot developments. The whole notion of the “brain drain” is quite amusing -- it seems to be connected to the potential for selling secrets to the Russians, although that Cold War aspect isn’t a major factor of the plot. In fact, the entire movie itself is like that -- unlike a Hollywood film, The Ipcress File doesn’t go over-the-top with the storyline, even though the plot is something that would be just fine in a wild American thriller. The movie is low-budget and low-key -- and it’s probably better that way.

Michael Caine is pretty dry and cool here -- he rarely pumps up any strong emotion, but rather stays cool and detached. His early roles seem to be played in a similar vein - he was equally dry and cool, added with a lot more viciousness and violence, in the original version of Get Carter. Some viewers may think that Caine is a little too detached, but I thought he was still fun, as the rebellious spy who likes to do things his way. Overall, while The Ipcress File may be too old-fashioned, low-key and laid-back for some, I’m happy that I watched it.

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV