The Ipcress File
Categories: 1962 books | 1965 films | British films | Cold War films
The Ipcress File was the first spy novel by Len Deighton, published in 1962.
It was made into a film in 1965 produced by Harry Saltzman and directed by Sidney J. Furie, starring Michael Caine as Harry Palmer.
The Ipcress File was a downbeat alternative to the James Bond movies, which were being made at the same time. Three members of the production team -- the producer Harry Saltzman, film editor Peter Hunt and the composer John Barry -- also worked on the Bond movies.
The plot involves mind control: the acronym IPCRESS stands for "Induction of Psycho-neuroses by Conditioned Reflex under strESS". Along the way we visit an atoll for a US atomic bomb test and learn about Joe One.
In common with several of his other early novels, the chapter headings have a "feature". In The Ipcress File these take the form of each chapter being headed with a quote from a horoscope, which relates to the action in the chapter, though vaguely, as in most horoscopes.
The soundtrack music is by John Barry - also responsible for many other soundtracks including a large number of Bond films.
The movie had two immediate sequels:
- the 2nd film was Funeral in Berlin
- the 3rd film Billion Dollar Brain
In 1997, Michael Caine returned to his Harry Palmer role in Bullet to Beijing and Midnight in St. Petersburg.