Michael Caine, Nigel Green and Guy Doleman, all three, have their own charm. The movie is not bad but it's boring and hard to digest. Sue Lloyd is a very enjoyable presence. The story is interesting, but it does not matter. I would make a great parody from a few scenes in the movie. John Barry's music is super cool, heavily heightens the value of the movie.

Just had myself a little Harry Palmer weekend, watching all three films in this classic trilogy starring Michael Caine as the Cockney thief turned secret agent. First up was 1965's "The Ipcress File," costarring Nigel Green and Guy Doleman as Harry's two superiors (both of them far more disagreeable than James Bond's M), as well as Sue Lloyd as the agent who Harry gets involved with. In this initial outing, Palmer is tasked with finding a British scientist who had recently been kidnapped, and discovering why so many other scientists have been turning up with their brains completely drained. Ultimately, Harry gets to the bottom of things, but not before he himself is subjected to some pretty harrowing mental torture. The film is directed in a very stylish manner by someone named Sidney J. Furie; most of the film's images are really something to look at, and off-kilter camera angles and bizarre camera setups abound. Like the Bond films, this Palmer outing was produced by Harry Saltzman (as were the following two); other elements that connect to the 007 franchise are Peter Hunt as editor, a wonderful score by John Barry, and set design by the great Ken Adam. But this is a far cry from the universe of 007; Palmer and his world are far more realistic and credible. Thus, we see Harry shopping in a supermarket, asking about his salary and so on. The Bond movies were pure escapism; the Palmer movies are set very much in our humdrum world, and the London settings are anything but glamorous, but rather drab and dingy. In all, an excellent opener for this trilogy, and challenging as well, as the viewer tries to keep up with all the plot complications and double crosses. In Harry's world, nobody, it seems, is what he or she seems, and everyone seems to have a secret agenda....

As someone who knows Caine mostly from the films made in the latter part of his life, it's great to see him as a leading man. In the Ipcress File he delivers a solid performance as, well, himself working as a spy. And that's one of this movie's best qualities: it's not a heroic tail of a spy facing constant danger - it's about a man doing his job. In some ways, it's like a Hitchcock picture, with a man getting caught up in a situation beyond his control. In other ways, it's a movie that replaces many cinematic thrills with realism. Paperwork, shopping at the supermarket, duties and hassles. The plot moves with a slow pace, and builds up to a neat (though a bit cliché) ending.It's not a flawless movie though. Some performances are subpar, and there are sequences that could have done with some trimming. I liked that they didn't go all-out with "the girl", though they could at least have her serve some purpose. Some times the editing confuses more than it clarifies. And there are many unanswered (or badly answered) questions that's not interesting enough to be left ambiguous.

A scientist disappears from a train, a man dies. Harry Palmer (Michael Caine) is one of many investigators on the case, looking for a man named Grantby. He follows a lead to a library where he gets the feeling that something big is at stake here. After a fight with one of Grantby's goons, he returns to his captain with the bad news that he has been unsuccessful. The captain is for obvious reasons, not pleased.In an abandoned warehouse, Palmer finds a small piece of tape with the name IPCRESS on, but at this point in the movie, has no idea what it means, if anything. Later on, though, he learns that it is an abbreviation of "Induction of Psychoneuroses by Conditioned Reflex Under Stress". When a scientist suddenly appears, with a strange memory loss, all the dots are about to get connected.The Ipcress File is an old movie, but not so old that you are bored by the plot, dialogue or even images. It starts out with a mysterious disappearance from a train and a murder. Who did this and for what reasons? Then we meet a young Michael Caine, this time playing an agent called Harry Palmer, who is taken from his job on a stakeout, to investigating the murder and disappearance. He is no James Bond, and thank you very much for that. In Harry Palmer we meet a real person with real routines, real emotions and who can speak like a real person without a single one-liner. For these very reasons, this is a very satisfying movie.I quite liked this movie, and while the colors are a bit faded and the dialogue a bit stiff, it actually felt contemporary, and the plot itself is as relevant today as it was back in 1965. The drama is not big car chases or rivers of blood, it is the drama between people, people that feel real and with real relationships. Also, the Harry Palmer character is not without humor, especially in the scenes with the young Jean (Sue Lloyd) who has been asked by her superior to learn more about Palmer.As far as agent movies go, this is one of the better that I have seen in a while. If you are thinking of seeing Skyfall… don't… go rent this movie instead. You'll be the better person for it.