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Is any one a fan of classic era spy cinema?

mikeninja008mikeninja008
edited February 2013 in General Movies & TV Posts: 90
I watched a very good cold war spy comedy with the wife today called Hot Enough for June. Its directed by Ralph Thomas who also directed the two 60's era Bulldog Drummond outings Deadlier Than the Male and Some Girls Do. The film stars Dirk Bogarde(Gabriel in Modesty Blaise )and Leo McKern(one of many #2s in the Prisoner) its is a smart thrilling comedy that never goes to parody well worth a look for fans of 60s era spy thrills
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Comments

  • JWESTBROOKJWESTBROOK
    edited February 2013 Posts: 5,745
    No reason you can't post this here.

    http://www.mi6community.com/index.php?p=/discussion/58/the-last-movie-you-saw/p1
  • mikeninja008mikeninja008
    Posts: 90
    my bad I thought a thread on a classic era spy film would be relevant
  • Samuel001Samuel001 Moderator
    edited February 2013 Posts: 13,356
    Retitle it. A classic era Spy themed thread may turn out to be very popular.
  • JWESTBROOKJWESTBROOK
    Posts: 5,745
    mikeninja008 wrote:
    my bad I thought a thread on a classic era spy film would be relevant

    Slightly. It's a comedy. It could be relevant, so I revoke my original comment, but it still fits better in my posted thread then in one by it's lonesome.
  • mikeninja008mikeninja008
    Posts: 90
    It has a very tense escape from behind the iron curtain ending
  • mikeninja008mikeninja008
    Posts: 90
    and is there a 60s era spy thread?
  • JWESTBROOKJWESTBROOK
    edited February 2013 Posts: 5,745
    mikeninja008 wrote:
    and is there a 60s era spy thread?

    No, but a 'last move I watched' thread. Your point?
  • JarrodJarrod
    Posts: 232
    Yes, big fan of early spy films/ eurospy films! "Hot Enough For June" is a great one! Also, the Bulldog Drummond series is great as well!
  • mikeninja008mikeninja008
    Posts: 90
    I really Like the Bulldog Drummond ones as well. Richard Johnson who played Drummond was on the list to play Bond in Dr No but he turned the part down.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,829
    JWESTBROOK wrote:
    No, but a 'last move I watched' thread. Your point?
    The point is that a classic spy-specific non-Bond thread is absolutely unique!
    =D>
  • JarrodJarrod
    Posts: 232
    The original french OSS 117 and german Kommissar X series are a lot of fun, and italian director Umberto Lenzi did some really cool ones as well.
  • mikeninja008mikeninja008
    Posts: 90
    I have not seen the orginal OSS !!7 just the two new remakes. I have a hand full of the Kommissar x dvds they are a lot of fun.
  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    Posts: 16,359
    All the "Harry Palmer" Movies are nice. I consider it a Bond Spinoff in a way. :)
  • mikeninja008mikeninja008
    Posts: 90
    Murdock wrote:
    All the "Harry Palmer" Movies are nice. I consider it a Bond Spinoff in a way. :)

    I like the first two "Palmer" films the third was a bit silly and I have not seen the last two yet. Michael Caine is a brilliant actor love him in Get Carter. And since Harry Saltzman produced the first ones with some of the Bond crew I have to agree
  • DB5DB5
    Posts: 408
    The only Bond film that is similar to the Harry Palmer films is "From Russia With Love." I saw "The Ipcress File" as a child when it was originally released, saw it again in 1991 on video. Haven't seen it since. Vaguely remember "Funeral in Berlin," I think Michael Caine becomes involved with a female Mossad agent.
  • JarrodJarrod
    Posts: 232
    I'm such a big collector of spy films, that I've got a youtube channel on tons of eurospy trailers and film credits, if anyone is interested. Some are pretty awesome!:




  • mikeninja008mikeninja008
    Posts: 90
    Jarrod wrote:
    I'm such a big collector of spy films, that I've got a youtube channel on tons of eurospy trailers and film credits, if anyone is interested. Some are pretty awesome!:




    Looks awesome will check it out in the morning!
  • JarrodJarrod
    Posts: 232
    These are some of the really good ones:

    The Danger Route with Richard Johnson and Barbara Bouchet is great!



    Assignment K is kinda got an O.H.M.S.S. vibe to me, and it's even before it!:



    Also, cult actor George Hilton as James Bond is strange.



    And this credit sequence is really cool:



  • thelivingroyalethelivingroyale
    edited February 2013 Posts: 12,837
    I like the Palmer movies. Haven't seen many other 60s spy films apart from Bond.
  • MajorDSmytheMajorDSmythe "I tolerate this century, but I don't enjoy it."Moderator
    Posts: 13,999
    It's nice to see the 60's Drummond films as well as Danger Route, which still has not had a DVD release *shakes fist*, get a mention. What makes Deadlier Than The Male so good is not just Johnson, but the casting of the gorgeous Elke Sommer as a villainess and the uber catchy title track. It's obsene just how Bondian DTTM is.

    Another good 60's spy film, is Sinatra's The Naked Runner. It's a slow burner, but the patient will be reward with one of the Chairman's very best performances.

    600x590px-LL-f4870571_NakedRunner1967-WB-six.jpeg
  • JarrodJarrod
    Posts: 232
    Yeah, I think Richard Johnson could have made a great Bond in his prime. Deadlier Than The Male is great, with an awesome Scott Walker theme. Besides the beautiful Elke Sommer, it also has the wonderful euro-starlet Sylva Koscina and the cute Virginia North who played Olympe in O.H.M.S.S.
  • mikeninja008mikeninja008
    Posts: 90
    Danger Route is streaming on netflix currently. I saw it for the first time last year. Richard Johnson makes for a very good spy
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    I love old spy cinema, and plan to get into it a lot more. I can't wait to get into Hitchcocks' espionage films and some of Fritz Lang's work.
    MajorDSmythe wrote:
    Another good 60's spy film, is Sinatra's The Naked Runner. It's a slow burner, but the patient will be reward with one of the Chairman's very best performances.

    600x590px-LL-f4870571_NakedRunner1967-WB-six.jpeg

    WHY HAVE I NEVER HEARD OF THIS FILM BEFORE?! :O
  • myworldisenoughmyworldisenough
    Posts: 1,143
    This is a great thread idea. I've not really had the opportunity yet to watch many 60's spy movies or know where to start but now I can read other comments and start to look out for some real gems. I will check out the suggestions above.
  • Villiers53Villiers53
    Posts: 802
    Murdock wrote:
    All the "Harry Palmer" Movies are nice. I consider it a Bond Spinoff in a way. :)

    No way was "Palmer" a Bond spin off!
    Len Deighton created his "spy with no name" as a complete antithesis to Bond. He was a working class anti-hero who had been coerced into working for military intelligence and Deighton's realistic, seedy spy world had much more in common with Le Carre than it ever did with Fleming.
    Deighton's first novel, "The Ipcress File" was published in 1962 before the release of "Dr.No" the movie and was filmed in 1965 starring Michael Caine (the anonymous spy was named Palmer for the movie).
    The movie was produced by Harry Saltzman who stated that he wanted to do something completely different to Bond and he did. The movie was an amazing critical and commercial success.It made Michael Caine and is, to this day, rated by the BFI as one of the top films of the last century.
    Although Ipcress the movie was brilliant and remains a must for spy afficianados, the films that followed were not. Fortunately the books (with the exception of "Billion Dollar Brain") retained their quality.
    A Bond spin off - never!

  • Villiers53Villiers53
    Posts: 802
    mikeninja008 wrote:
    Danger Route is streaming on netflix currently. I saw it for the first time last year. Richard Johnson makes for a very good spy

    Sadly I couldn't find it on netflixUK. I would have liked to have seen it as I missed this back in the day.
    It was based on a book by Andrew York called "The Eliminator". He went on to write a series and the first couple were pretty good. He created the first assassin who preferred to kill with his hands. Far from unique today (Quiller, Rain et all) but back then it was a first.
  • Villiers53Villiers53
    edited February 2013 Posts: 802
    Although not strictly from the '60s (it was released in 1972 ) "Innocent Bystanders" starring the late, great Stanley Baker is well worth a watch.
    Like many in the genre, it's from a book. This time by the Geordie writer, James Mitchell who writing as James Munro, created a spy called John Craig. The books were good particularly the first in the series, "The Man Who Sold Death".
    Mitchell also created the fabulous "Callan" and managed the two series in tandem.
    Craig was closer to Bond whilst Callan was more routed in the very realistic world of Deighton/Le Carre.
  • Matt_HelmMatt_Helm
    Posts: 908
    Villiers53 wrote:
    Although not strictly from the '60s (it was released in 1972 ) "Innocent Bystanders" starring the late, great Stanley Baker is well worth a watch.
    Like many in the genre, it's from a book. This time by the Geordie writer, James Mitchell who writing as James Munro, created a spy called John Craig. The books were good particularly the first in the series, "The Man Who Sold Death".
    Mitchell also created the fabulous "Callan" and managed the two series in tandem.
    Craig was closer to Bond whilst Callan was more routed in the very realistic world of Deighton/Le Carre.

    Speaking about LeCarre one should never forget "The Spy who came in from the Cold"! One of the very very few Spymovies (or Movies in general for that matter) that keeps really true to its "Parent Novel". It doesn't get ANY better than this,when it comes to serious clandestine Buisness!!! Buy,beg or borrow to see it, if you haven't! When it comes to Deighton i am very sad to say,that he NEVER EVER got an fair (i.e.witty and smart) Adaption of any of his Novels.
  • Villiers53Villiers53
    Posts: 802
    matt_Helm you are 100% correct regarding. TSWCIFTC is a brilliant movie and like all true classics it stands the test of time well. I think that Burton is brilliant as Leamus.
    As fare as Deighton is concerned, I think that Ipcress is good but it is the only one.
    I'd love somebody to have another go with the Samson saga. I did hear strangely enough that Tarantino was interested in doing it. That said, although he's talented, I don't think he's the man for that job.
  • JarrodJarrod
    Posts: 232
    @Villiers53 Just watched "Innocent Bystanders" about a week ago! Very cool film! Stanley Baker was awesome, as usual. Sadly, he died like 2 or 3 years later. Olive films just put out "Innocent Bystanders" recently. The film was a spy film that seemed to be inhabiting the world of Get Carter or something. Stanley could, at times, remind me of Connery a little bit. Both Connery, Baker and Patrick McGoohan were in a cool film called "Hell Drivers." Connery is super young in that!
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