People are voting emotionally.

Good movie but grossly overrated

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

I have just watched this movie for the first time and have to say it will also be my last. Please let this poor old movie rest in peace, and for heaven's sake don't encourage anyone else to watch it. Made in a time when TV was a youngster, the glamorous cinema tradition of spy vs spy was a sub genre the public must have craved. But today things have moved on... a classic? never. The interminable time it took to dial a telephone number, or to put a key in a lock, all in a fabulous Cinemascope closeup, is just plain boring now. Film noir this is not.We have seen it all before, and done much better than this laughable piece of sad memorabilia from the Sixties.I would have laughed a lot more if it hadn't have been for the acting chops of the great Gordon Jackson, but even so my chuckling and head shaking hurt, because I really expected the film to be better.Where do reviewers see the "hip" and "cool" in this movie, when all I see are hackneyed themes and melodramatic silences. I just do not want to watch an actor grind coffee beans and make a coffee in real time.Goodbye Ipcress File, I'll leave out the Do Not Disturb sign to warn the others!

The Ipcress File is perhaps one of Michael Caine's best films. The principal cast of the movie is gives a great performance. Guy Doleman and Nigel Green in particular are very impressive . The director gives them a considerable amount of screen time and crispy dialogue. The movie is linear and a classic thriller . The pace is easy on the mind and doesn't offend anyone. Many scenes prove that the movie has had a profound influence on 90's thrillers. The treatment of the story is very good as also the depiction of the espionage agencies. Rife with typical British sarcasm and wry humour , the movie never loses ground.To some, however, the climax may seem a trifle stretched out but in all fairness it is well made and directed.All in all a good and entertaining movie.

"The Ipcress File" was produced at the height of the James Bond craze. However, while also a British secret agent, The Ipcress File's Harry Palmer is entirely different sort of character altogether. An Army Sergeant convicted of racketeering, Palmer has been given the choice of working for British Intelligence or going to prison. He is a working-class James Bond with a cockney accent. Harry Palmer lives in a modest flat in London and, rather than driving around in an posh Aston Martin, one gets the distinct impression that he probably commutes to the grubby office from which he works on the bus.There is nothing glamorous about Palmer's associates, either. All are either civil-servant bureaucrats or stuffy military types. On the other hand, Harry Palmer is a wise-guy who is smart enough to carry out his assigned tasks efficiently but who also doesn't quite fit in.The Ipcress File is a rare type of film, a smart thriller. Don't expect massive explosions, spectacular car chases or eye-popping special effects. Instead, The Ipcress File is an intelligent film about intelligent people, none of whom can necessarily be trusted. In Harry Palmer's world, brains count far more than brawn. This is one spy thriller that is well worth going out of one's way to see.

A critical sequence takes place early in "The Ipcress File", one of the best spy movies of the 1960's. Michael Caine as Harry Palmer, a sergeant in army intelligence, gets out of bed, goes to the kitchen and makes his morning cup of coffee. The camera follows him as he grinds the beans, spoons out the coffee, and finally adds boiling water. Later in the film he makes an omelette, expertly breaking the eggs with one hand while chatting to a female colleague. These are important scenes in "The Ipcress File"; they establish the character's point of difference. Spy films proliferated in the 60's, inspired by the Cold War and the success of the James Bond films. Each new entry in the genre presented a bit of business that would help it stand out from the crowd. Bond may have had his Aston Martin and his debonair style but Harry Palmer had his horn-rimmed glasses and his domestic virtues. Harry Palmer is good at what he does but invariably rubs his superiors the wrong way. He is posted to British Counter-Intelligence to track down Dr. Radcliffe, a scientist who has been kidnapped by an international group of criminals who will try to sell him to the highest bidder – East or West. Palmer is under the command of Major Dalby played by Nigel Green, but finds his previous boss, the snobbish Colonel Ross, played by Guy Dolman, still hovering on the scene. Double agents and brainwashing were two of the favourite plot devices of movies from the period, and "The Ipcress File" ticks both items on the checklist. When the missing scientist is returned, it is discovered that he has been brainwashed. The claims for the effectiveness of brainwashing in movies have become more preposterous over time. Although the techniques on view in "The Ipcress File" are not the most far-fetched, they are nonetheless the least convincing aspects of the film. They consist of a high-pitched noise and cheap disco effects projected onto the subject strapped to a chair inside a metal container. Michael Caine plays Palmer with that same air of insolence that he brought to nearly all his roles in the first half of his career. The film also strips away any glamour espionage may have had. The operatives spend a great deal of time filling out forms – L101's and Motor Pool Requisitions. "Mostly it's just legwork", explains Jock, a colleague Palmer befriends played by Gordon Jackson.A noticeable feature of the film is the camera work. After nearly 50 years, this appears as eccentric rather than chic. Many scenes are shot with the view obscured by what appears to be the nearest piece of furniture. Other scenes are shot at gravity defying angles. Although these effects now seem quaint and overly self-conscious, "The Ipcress File" is still a sharply told tale. It seemed that no British spy movie of the period was complete without a John Barry score. Barry was very experimental during the 60's, and produced one brilliant score after another including this one for "The Ipcress File" with effective use of the cimbalom in the main theme.Even if "The Ipcress File" doesn't qualify for classic status, Caine is still a good reason to watch this film, he gave it a unique edge back then that still makes it easy to watch today.