David Guercio Posted April 15, 2019 Share Posted April 15, 2019 Hey. How’s it going everybody? I hope you all really enjoyed TCM’s 25th Anniversary celebration last night. I sure did. It was so much fun. Anybody know of any other Secret Agent/Spy films besides Bond and Austin Powers? Dean Martin’s Matt Helm counts doesn’t it and what else is there? Also. Let me know if I got Dean Martin’s Matt Helm right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slaytonf Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 In the spoofy vein, there's the Derek Flint movies, Our Man Flint (1966), and In Like Flint (1967). They are silly, and outdatedly sexist, but James Coburn plays the expert-at-everything, master-of-all-situations Flint so coolly, so self-composedly, that they end up being a lot of fun to watch. In the more serious vein, there are the Harry Palmer movies, The Ipcress File (1965), Funeral in Berlin (1966), and Billion Dollar Brain (1967). They are a serious response to the Bond-mainia of the time, with some really good anti-establishment themes running through the storylines. Except the last one goes over the top. Not a big surprise, as it was directed by Ken Russell. A one-off with George Segal, The Quiller Memorandum (1966) is also good. In the super-serious vein, you have something like The Spy Who Came in From the Cold (1966), starring Richard Burton and Claire Bloom. Based on a John le Carré novel, it's as much a downer as you get in spy stuff. Then there's the Eurospy genre. These were mostly shameless trashy rip-offs of the Bond movies, designed to capitalize on the frenzy generated by Sean Connery's on-screen machismo. They were made in all different countries, Italy, France, Germany, Britain, and are mostly not worth wasting the time it takes to watch the credits. There are some exceptions, including Some Girls Do (1969), Deadlier Than the Male (1967), and Danger Route (1967). A couple of TV series, both with Alec Guiness, and both from John le Carré, are also good: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1979), and Smiley's People (1982). 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cigarjoe Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 Our Man in Havana (1959)with Alec Guinness sort of a quasi serious film. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sepiatone Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 THE SAINT film series involves espionage, and too, OSS117 series of films beginning in the '50's (I think), Then too, there's THE FALCON films, MR. MOTO , and probably others that escape me now. Sepiatone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElCid Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 5 hours ago, Sepiatone said: THE SAINT film series involves espionage, and too, OSS117 series of films beginning in the '50's (I think), Then too, there's THE FALCON films, MR. MOTO , and probably others that escape me now. Sepiatone As a big fan of both The Saint and The Falcon movies, I don't think they would be considered as spy films. Both were pretty much mystery/detective movies. A couple of the movies may have somewhat involved espionage, but primarily from the mystery/detective viewpoint. Now, The Saint TV series with Roger Moore was a spy series, as I recall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoganman1 Posted April 17, 2019 Share Posted April 17, 2019 I agree that THE IPCRESS FILE and other Palmer movies were good. However, next to Sean Connery's Bond movies I really like the Matt Damon/Jason Bourne movies. I wish they would do one more before Damon ages out. Technically, Bourne is not a spy. He's an assassin, but he is (or was) in the CIA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cigarjoe Posted April 17, 2019 Share Posted April 17, 2019 Noir The Tall Target is essentially a period secret agent film. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brrrcold Posted April 17, 2019 Share Posted April 17, 2019 THE DAY OF THE JACKAL (1973) changes the balance by putting the viewer on the side of the bad guy. Excellent thriller - should be screened more frequently. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricJ Posted April 18, 2019 Share Posted April 18, 2019 On 4/15/2019 at 7:32 PM, David Guercio said: Hey. How’s it going everybody? (Peanut gallery: ) "HIIIII, David! " On 4/15/2019 at 9:12 PM, slaytonf said: In the more serious vein, there are the Harry Palmer movies, The Ipcress File (1965), Funeral in Berlin (1966), and Billion Dollar Brain (1967). They are a serious response to the Bond-mainia of the time, with some really good anti-establishment themes running through the storylines. Except the last one goes over the top. Not a big surprise, as it was directed by Ken Russell. A couple of TV series, both with Alec Guiness, and both from John le Carré, are also good: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1979), and Smiley's People (1982). Er, yeah: B$B was very much directed by Ken Russell. Ipcress gets a little too stylized, which is why I always found Funeral in Berlin the best "straightforward" Harry Palmer, for those who want their dose of snarky 60's-Michael-Caine-voice, although I'll have to watch it again to remember the plot. John le Carre' turned producer and got most of his own recent pseudo-spy novels onscreen. Probably best with Sean Connery and Michelle Pfeiffer (and a scene-stealing Ken Russell) in The Russia House (1990)--which you now can't throw a rock in any MGM Streaming Orphans direction without hitting--and Pierce Brosnan and Geoffrey Rush turning in a shaggy Spy-who-cried-wolf story in The Tailor of Panama (2001) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GGGGerald Posted April 18, 2019 Share Posted April 18, 2019 This is one genre that dear to me. I'll watch just about anything involving spies. Even the dreadful ones. 15 hours ago, Brrrcold said: THE DAY OF THE JACKAL (1973) changes the balance by putting the viewer on the side of the bad guy. Excellent thriller - should be screened more frequently. I like this one for the simple fact its straight forward. Most of what happens actually could happen. No crazy explosions, car chases or being shot one hundred times and never being hit. I love it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cinemaspeak59 Posted April 18, 2019 Share Posted April 18, 2019 I like The Mission Impossible films starring Tom Cruise. They have great action sequences, clever plot twists, and rely alot on old school espionage techniques. The latest one was Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeCinemaNerd Posted April 19, 2019 Share Posted April 19, 2019 Night Train to Munich has some Bond-ish elements. Not many gadgets but some good secret agent moments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricJ Posted April 19, 2019 Share Posted April 19, 2019 12 hours ago, cinemaspeak59 said: I like The Mission Impossible films starring Tom Cruise. They have great action sequences, clever plot twists, and rely alot on old school espionage techniques. The latest one was Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018). Except that it was only the FIRST one that bore any faint passing resemblance to the genius-cool clockwork-team plots of the 60's TV series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zRtOpW8gOs Anything after that was just an excuse for Tom Cruise to have fun indulging Scientologist-indestructible X-stunts on Paramount's nickel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GGGGerald Posted April 19, 2019 Share Posted April 19, 2019 13 hours ago, cinemaspeak59 said: I like The Mission Impossible films starring Tom Cruise. They have great action sequences, clever plot twists, and rely alot on old school espionage techniques. The latest one was Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018). I didn't care for them myself. Mission Impossible is supposed to be about a team working together. Cruise ruined all that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DougieB Posted April 19, 2019 Share Posted April 19, 2019 On the sillier side, there were two Thunderbirds films in 1968, based on a popular TV series done in "Supermarionation": Thunderbird 6 and Thunderbirds Are Go! They feature the five sons of a former astronaut who act as international "rescue" agents, assisted by British agent Lady Penelope in her flying pink Rolls. Lots of really stupid fun. The more recent Team America: World Police (2004) used roughly the same process with puppets, but with a decidedly more adult point of view. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pluton Posted April 19, 2019 Share Posted April 19, 2019 Here's one I'd like to see again: The Naked Runner, approx. 1967, d. Sidney J. Furie, w/ Frank Sinatra. Saw it upon original release, and previous TV versions seemed to be bad transfers , pan/scan, etc. East Berlin, gloomy overcast, lots of zoom shots, Techniscope. Atmosphere alternately tense and somber, somewhat reminiscent of The Quiller Memorandum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElCid Posted April 23, 2019 Share Posted April 23, 2019 If anyone is interested, the Matt Helm books are still being printed. Hamilton Booksellers carries most of them for about $4.00. I'm reading one and it is pretty good. Of course you have to cleanse your mind of Dean Martin and the parodies he made. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamradio Posted April 23, 2019 Share Posted April 23, 2019 Love this send up to spy movies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victor8 Posted May 13, 2019 Share Posted May 13, 2019 The Day of the Jackal The Saint Bridge of Spies Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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