The newspapers were full of headlines of Prince Harry off to war in the snow of Scandinavia to take on the nasty Russians but really, he is only off with 1000 marines for war games. Has I laughed at the over the top headlines the film the “Billion-Dollar Brain” came into my mind and I decided to revisit and review the last Harry Palmer film starring Michael Caine the third and final outing in the series.
There are two more films starring Caine but not based on a Len Deighton novel. They when straight to home entertainment and were made-for-television first “Bullet to Beijing” and the same with sequel “Midnight in Saint Petersburg”.
I regard this film the weakest in the series the others being 'The Ipcress File' and 'Funeral in Berlin' I call them anti-Bond films were all the gadgets, location, flash and brassy are one of the main features of Bond films. Palmer films portray the spying game as mundane, shadowy, and unglamorous. Would you see Bond sitting on a London bus or cooking for a woman to slide her into bed? No but Roger Moore as Bond drove a bus in Live and Let Die while just ‘I am James Bond’ works on the woman-bedding front.
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| Michael Caine/Harry Palmer |
However, the 'Billion Dollar Brain' maverick director Ken Russell presents the audience with an outlandish plot and large futuristic sets, which seem at odds with the style of its predecessors. The result is that the film appears to be aping Bond, and as such, the character of Palmer is less effective.
When ex-agent Harry Palmer yes he had slipped away from his slimy boss Col. Ross and now works as a private investigator, receives a mysterious request to deliver a flask to Finland in return for a sizable fee he takes the job. Ever the nosey parker he wants to know what is in the flask and at an airport X-ray machine; Palmer sees that it has a number of eggs in it and later we find out the eggs are full of a deadly virus.
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| The nut job Gen. Midwinter |
Unfortunate for him that interests his former boss Col. Ross who forcibly re-employs him back into British Army Intelligence. Palmer is ordered to proceed to Finland with the flask has he was told by the mysterious customer who turns out to be an old acquaintance of Palmer’s, Leo Newbigen who works for Texan oil billionaire Gen. Midwinter. Under the instructions by Col. Ross, he is told to infiltrate Midwinter’s organisation of who is believed to be behind an anti-Soviet plot of some kind.
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| The eye candy |
From here, the plot line becomes a mish mash of rubbish and drier acting, here comes the Americans. Palmer’s old friend Leo Newbigen, Karl Malden, was playing Gen. Midwinter telling him Latvia were ready to revolt against their Soviet oppressors. The simple reason is money as he syphons it into his bank account. Palmer is sent to Riga, where he is visited by his former nemesis and Soviet intelligence officer Col. Stok, Oskar Homoka, who warns him not to meet up with these revolutionaries saying that his life would be in danger if he did. The group of Latvian freedom fighters turn out to be nothing but a bunch of criminal chancers who decide Palmer must be executed as a Soviet spy but just in time Col. Stok's NKGB men save him. I loved the scene of the Latvians in there hideout listening to a black market copy of Hard Day’s Night album.
The former General and Texan billionaire and is good-old-boy army of redneck cowboys hope to be the catalyst in bringing down communism. The eye candy is proper eye candy the stunningly beautiful French leading lady Francoise Dorleac.
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| The Lovers |
The billionaire's invasion force gather and ready themselves for the attack across the iced lake. Been a Texan billionaire oilman how would transport your troops, in cased in an oil tanker, I can see a problems there. As the attack begins, the Russia’s bomb the ice in front of them and they sunk to the bottom of the lake most trapped in the oil tankers. Only one figure left lying on the ice and it's - guess who - 'Arry Palmer with Col. Stok again to his rescue.
He (Stok) gives the eggs to Harry tell him they don’t need them they have their own. Back in London, Harry delivers the eggs to Colonel Ross, who agrees to reward Harry with a promotion. However, when he opens the package to inspect the eggs, he finds they have hatched and the box is full of baby chicks.
I know I said this film was worst of the three it was still a good film.
My Rating
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