This is a blog about the books, film and world of British thriller and spy novel author Len Deighton, writer of The Ipcress File, Funeral in Berlin, SS-GB, Bomber, Berlin Game and many other books. This blog also covers the spy thriller genre and the Cold War more widely.
It is a companion website to the main Deighton Dossier archive (link on the right).
It is the only website + blog endorsed by the author himself!
Content (c) Rob Mallows 2008-22 unless otherwise stated.
All five are great movies, each is on my Top 100 of all time, all categories. I was tempted though to argue that A James Bond movie doesn't fit - too tongue in cheek, too many gimmicks, too much od a cliche with the protracted opening scenes of impossible special effects.....but FRWL was only the 2nd Bond movie and was played a lot straighter than subsequent ones, so I'm ok with it on the list. I also had a problem with The Manchurian Candidate, a film I never get tired of seeing. So many great scenes, but not a spy movie ala Deighton and Le Carre, and no spy agency fighting the bad guys is anywhere to be seen. But I just like it too much to give it a thumbs down. I would order them: 1. The Spy Who, 2. Ipcress, 3. FRWL, 4. Manchurian, 5. Condor. I hope the new TTSS is good enough to knock Condor off the list, which had a great opening, a great middle with the mailman fight, but a dull, confusing ending.
All five are great movies, each is on my Top 100 of all time, all categories. I was tempted though to argue that A James Bond movie doesn't fit - too tongue in cheek, too many gimmicks, too much od a cliche with the protracted opening scenes of impossible special effects.....but FRWL was only the 2nd Bond movie and was played a lot straighter than subsequent ones, so I'm ok with it on the list. I also had a problem with The Manchurian Candidate, a film I never get tired of seeing. So many great scenes, but not a spy movie ala Deighton and Le Carre, and no spy agency fighting the bad guys is anywhere to be seen. But I just like it too much to give it a thumbs down. I would order them: 1. The Spy Who, 2. Ipcress, 3. FRWL, 4. Manchurian, 5. Condor. I hope the new TTSS is good enough to knock Condor off the list, which had a great opening, a great middle with the mailman fight, but a dull, confusing ending.
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