Funeral in Berlin (1966)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Guy Hamilton

Writers:

Len Deighton (novel)
Evan Jones (screenplay)

Release Date:

24 February 1967 (Finland)

Genre:

Thriller | Drama | Action

Tagline:

It was going to be a lovely funeral. Harry Palmer just hoped it wouldn't be his...

Plot:

A British agent is sent to Berlin to receive a Communist defector, but the true situation turns out to be rather more complicated.

Plot Keywords:

Berlin | British | Berlin Wall | Cold War | Sequel

Cast

Michael Caine	...	Harry Palmer
Paul Hubschmid	...	Johnny Vulkan
Oskar Homolka	...	Colonel Stok
Eva Renzi	...	Samantha Steel
Guy Doleman	...	Ross
Hugh Burden	...	Hallam
Heinz Schubert	...	Aaron Levine
Wolfgang Völz	...	Werner
Thomas Holtzmann	...	Reinhardt
Günter Meisner	...	Kreutzman
Herbert Fux	...	Artur
Rainer Brandt	...	Benjamin
Rachel Gurney	...	Mrs. Ross
John Abineri	...	Rukel
David Glover	...	Chico

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | German

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | West Germany:16 | Australia:M | Ireland:PG | Spain:18 | Singapore:PG | UK:PG (video rating) | UK:A (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Airport, Tempelhof, Berlin, Germany

Company:

Jovera S.A.

Trivia:

Trade screened to exhibitors on 15 November 1966.

Quotes:

Colonel Stok: If there is a mistake, the KRAPOs will be shooting at me.
Harry Palmer: That'll be nice: you'll find out what it's like to be an East German.
Colonel Stok: You are insolent! Do you think this job, this loathsome Wall, is all I've done for Communism? Does Smolensk mean anything to you, or Stalingrad?
[chuckles]
Colonel Stok: I look at your stupid face and I think you mean what you say. I like you, you're good at your job. You need only one thing.
Harry Palmer: What's that?
Colonel Stok: A reason for doing it.
Harry Palmer: I get paid.
Colonel Stok: £30 a week? Is it worth it - to be a tool of the generals? A tool for making trouble? Trouble makes arms, arms make money...
Harry Palmer: When you get to England, we'll give you a soapbox. You sure you want to defect tomorrow?
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Harry Saltzman: Showman (2000) (V)

Top notch thriller

based on Len Deighton's outstanding novel, this sequel to "The Ipcress File" features Michael Caine once again as the the anti-James Bond British spy, Harry Palmer. Palmer wears thick glasses, dresses in a cheap rain-coat, has a cockney-accent, and cultivates an aura of being not too bright. Of course, he is the only one who can keep track of the double-, triple-, and quadruple crosses in a Berlin where Brits, Americans, Israelis, Russians, and East Germans are all pursuing different goals. Even Palmer's superiors in the Secret Service are pursuing different goals. The plot is complex, but rewards close attention. Caine is pitch-perfect as Palmer, and spy stories just don't get any more bleak and cynical. A very superior movie.