26/04/2022
The Ipcress File: The rebel spy who is the anti-James Bond
Michael Caine's role in the film version of Len Deighton's 1960s spy novel made him an icon. As a TV remake premieres, Neil Armstrong looks at the creation of a unique secret agent.
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In 2006, an ordinary-looking pair of spectacles went on sale at Christie's, the London auction house. They were expected to fetch up to £3,000 ($4,088). In fact, they sold for £6,600 ($8,994), and the buyer had bought a little piece of movie history.
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The spectacles were worn by Michael Caine when he played Harry Palmer in the 1965 espionage thriller The Ipcress File. Palmer, a former soldier, is introduced in a scene in which he is woken by his alarm clock, and reaches for his glasses before he gets out of bed. He's as blind as a bat without them – just one way in which he was not your typical action hero, certainly not back in the 60s.
