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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Len Deighton (novel)
John McGrath (screenplay)
Release Date:
20 December 1967 (USA) more
Tagline:
Pow . . . Power . . . Brainpower
Plot:
A former British spy stumbles into in a plot to overthrow Communism with the help of a supercomputer. But who is working for whom? full summary | add synopsis
NewsDesk:
Caine Keen To Bring Agent Palmer Back
(From WENN. 14 September 2009, 1:06 AM, PDT)
User Comments:
Imaginative and unfairly maligned sixties classic more (52 total)
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| Michael Caine | ... | Harry Palmer | |
| Karl Malden | ... | Leo Newbigen | |
| Ed Begley | ... | General Midwinter | |
| Oskar Homolka | ... | Colonel Stok (as Oscar Homolka) | |
| Françoise Dorléac | ... | Anya (as Francoise Dorleac) | |
| Guy Doleman | ... | Colonel Ross | |
| Vladek Sheybal | ... | Dr. Eiwort | |
| Milo Sperber | ... | Basil | |
| Janos Kurutz | ... | Latvian gangster | |
| Alexei Jawdokimov | ... | Latvian gangster | |
| Paul Tamarin | ... | Latvian gangster | |
| Iza Teller | ... | Latvian gangster | |
| Mark Elwes | ... | Birkenshaw | |
| Stanley Caine | ... | G.P.O. special delivery boy | |
| Gregg Palmer | ... | 1st Dutch business man |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
111 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (as De Luxe)
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | West Germany:16
Filming Locations:
297 Pentonville Road, King's Cross, London, England, UK more
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
Ken Russell was contractually obligated to direct the film. He did not want to do it, but according to him "it was shoved down my throat". more
Goofs:
Continuity: When Palmer first meets Anya beside the lake, there are shadows on the frozen lake in the long shots. In the close shot, the lake is in full sunshine. more
Quotes:
Col.Ross: [to Harry Palmer] You know, it's an extraordinary thing but I have the feeling you don't like working for me. more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Harry Saltzman: Showman (2000) (V) more
Soundtrack:
A Hard Day's Night more
FAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (52 total)
Message Boards
Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Billion Dollar Brain (1967)| Recent Posts (updated daily) | User |
|---|---|
| DVD | Matt12 |
| Wide screen version on TCM | JadeJaguar |
| Newbigen discovers Anya's treachery early on but.. | MrSqwubbsy |
| April 2-4, 2006 in L.A. | cestsibon |
Recommendations
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| From Russia with Love | On Her Majesty's Secret Service | Goldfinger | The World Is Not Enough | Casino Royale |
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Related Links
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I'm baffled by the dislike afforded this enjoyable sixties romp. The charge that it is less realistic than the previous films is groundless because the others weren't the real world either. The first featured some daft business with a psychedelic torture chamber and the second some far fetched romps around the Berlin wall. Of course, the events in 'Brain' are no less credible. The kremlin wouldn't allow a top Colonel to be chums with a British spy, let alone allow him to wander around Latvia taking photographs. The real purpose is to open the plot and make it more colourful, and also the opportunity to satirise entrenched positions and the madness of humanity. Recent events in Russia, especially under Yeltsin, prove that truth is definitely stranger than fiction. The score is terrific and the breath-neck direction may be enough to make it accessible to young, contemporary film fans.
The cast is superb. Guy Doleman is brilliant again as the supercilious Colonel Ross. The scene where he spills the cereals and refuses to move his feet while Palmer sweeps them up is priceless. The Russian spy Anya gives a hilarious speech of ennui about her father on the boat with Palmer and Oskar Homolka as Colonel Stock gives a short, classic lament on the ice flow written by John McGrath who does a great job here, especially in his cutting swipes at blinkered thinking. "The air in Texas is pure. That's why I haven't set foot outside of Texas in twenty five years" yells the batty General Midwinter. But the most chilling and truthful exchange occurs between Palmer and amoral spy Leo Newbigen. "When he gets between five miles of the Latvian border, every alarm in the world is gonna blow and four minutes later no one is going to be around." - "You want your money, don't you?"
Ken Russell began his career doing documentaries about classical composers and his experience pays off here in his use of sound with image. Anyone bored with current fair and hasn't seen this trilogy could do worse in giving them a go. This one was the best, in my opinion.