Pick this up along with the milk and bread if you're in Waitrose this weekend ...

Waitrose supermarket's Waitrose Weekend newsletter (circ. 400,000) has gone into the shops this weekend featuring a nice two page feature on The Ipcress File film, focusing particular on the food themes in that film and Len's other life as a cook and food writer.

Worth checking out (hat-tip to Edward Milward-Oliver).

#ipcress50

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Overseas readers - I've three spare copies I picked up. Happy to send them overseas to readers who want them, and can pay the post.

Happy Birthday Ipcress File the film ....

Fifty years ago today the film of Len Deighton's The Ipcress File was premiered in Leicester Square. To celebrate, Deighton's biographer - and friend of the Deighton Dossier - Edward Milward-Oliver has, together with designer Brillo, created a lovely movie infographic about the film including some new insights never before shared.

Check out the moviegraphic here and share your thoughts on Twitter using the #ipcress50 hashtag.

Brillo's also produced some little postcards which can be shared on Twitter and are reproduced below.

Tell us - why does The Ipcress File stand the test of time?

On the trail of the Funeral in Berlin ...

I was contacted this week by a correspondent who has discovered some items that are going into the Penguin archives relating to the marketing of Funeral in Berlin. We're hoping at some point to meet up in London so I can take a full set of photos of the marketing material and examine it more fully. 

It's a set of ephemera produce for booksellers and reviews to market the sale of Funeral in Berlin (in much the say way that ephemera was set out to publicise the fourth book in the series). This is extremely rare but an item I've been trying to track down for a while, as a fascinating piece of collateral associated with this third book in the series, following the standout success of the first two Harry Palmer novels.

Authenticity and a 'secret dossier' feel look to be the hallmarks of this. Has anyone else seen a copy or this or own one? These two initial photos are intriguing and leave me keen to learn more...

Happy Birthday, Mr Deighton .....

Today is Len Deighton's 86th birthday. On behalf of readers of this blog and fans of his spy and other fiction, we wish him an enjoyable birthday with his family and many more birthdays to come.

I understand from Len he'll be celebrating with a cheesecake from his local bakery. Well deserved.

A certain Mr L.C. Deighton makes an appearance in a new detective novel ....

Author and friend of the Deighton Dossier Mike Ripley - editor of the Getting Away with Murder column on Shotsmag, the online resource for fans of crime and thriller fiction - has paid tribute to his friend and fellow author Len Deighton in his new novel.

Mike, the author of the Angel series of detective novels and supremo behind Ostara Publishing - which is resurrecting lost thrillers and spy novels, book by book - has written the new Albert Campion novel - Mr Campion's Fox - starring the detective character created by Margery Allingham.

The first novel in this new series, Mr Campion's Farewell, was based on a fragment of a manuscript started by the author's widower, Youngman Carter, which Ripley completed to resurrect this detective.

This new novel, the second in the revamped series, Mr Campion's Fox, is a new story created by Ripley for the character.

The crime fiction in thebook takes place in the fictional Suffolk coastal village of Gapton.  Here's the summary of the plot from the book's publicity material:

'The Danish Ambassador has requested Albert Campion's help on 'a delicate family matter'. He's very concerned about his eighteen-year-old daughter, who has formed an attachment to an unsuitable young man. Recruiting his unemployed actor son, Rupert, to keep an eye on Frank Tate, the young man in question, Mr Campion notes some decidedly odd behaviour on the part of the up-and-coming photographer. 

Before he can act on the matter, however, both the Ambassador's daughter and her beau disappear without trace. Then a body is discovered in a lagoon. With appearances from all of Margery Allingham's regular characters, from Campion's former manservant Lugg, to his wife Lady Amanda Fitton and others, this witty and elegant mystery is sure to delight Allingham's many fans. The dialogue is sharp and witty, the observation keen, and the climax is thrilling and eerily atmospheric.'

In the Campion books, Albert Campion worked on and off for British Intelligence, usually just referred to as ‘Security’. The Head of Security (capital S, nothing to do with Sandyman’s Brewery...), who retired in one of the Youngman Carter books, was L. C. Corkran, known as “Elsie” from his initials “L.C.”

In Ripley's new book, as it involves East German spies, he sought a replacement “Elsie” and the thought came to him: who did he know with those initials? So, Ripley invented “Major” L.C. Deighton as the new “Elsie”. Here's an excerpt from the text:

"My name’s not Corkran, though – that would be rather incestuous – it’s Deighton, actually.’

‘Like the writer of those clever spy stories?’ Campion asked innocently.

‘Who?’

‘Never mind.’ Campion turned to the man closer to his own age and took his proffered hand. ‘Delighted to meet you, Mr Sandyman; speaking as a grateful customer.’"

Len's initials are, of course, L.C - Leonard Cyril Deighton. Nice tribute! The book is available on Amazon here.

Heir to the throne?.....

Insufficiently posh

This review in The Guardian of the new Matthew Vaughn film Kingsman draws a line between this modern spy action movie and the spies of past decades of British cinema, including, of course, Harry Palmer.

This being The Guardian, the article is all about class - are we still obsessed by 'posh' spies, given that one of the main characters in this new movie wears Savile Row seats, speaks RP and is part of an elite?

Spy fiction on film has been the preserve of the heroic posh Brit (Harry Palmer aside), writes Stuart Jeffries, but in reality many of the UK's poshest spies have proved their worst, such as Donald McLean and of course Kim Philly.

You can read too much into one movie, of course. The main lesson from the trailer seems to be that the film (like the graphic novel) should be a lot of fun. And that's the point.

Pinterest page set up

I've now created a PINTEREST page for the Deighton Dossier, on which I'll feature some of the images from the main website and link to some other interesting images relating to Len Deighton, his works and other connected items of interest.

You'll find the page here. If you want to pin anything to it, go ahead.

How to save money on your film production .... part 1

A short anecdote from my recent lunch with Len in London.

We had discussed the production of The Ipcress File and how it was kept to budget.

He recalled that on the call sheets for each days production that the white MGB that Nigel Greene drives in the film was his own; the Jaguar that Gordon Jackson drives was his own too; the Zodiac driven by Michael Caine was owned by a ‘Mrs Moss’; and the limo in which Dr Radcliffe is driven to Marylebone Station at the beginning of the film was Alex Paal’s Bentley (Alex Paal was a Hungarian producer and former stills photographer once married to Eva Bartok, a friend of Alex Korda and of Harry Saltzman)

That's a good trick for budding producers to learn. Don't money wasted on hired ‘action vehicles’ - use the cast's or friends'.

Whole load of videos now up on the main site

I've linked to embedded YouTube videos where they are available for all the film pages on the film section of the main Deighton Dossier website. Thought it was worthwhile collating these all together on the website so that interested readers could check them out. They include:

• A Yorkshire TV promo for Game, Set & Match
• Ray Hawkey's title sequence for Oh! What a Lovely War
• The trailer for The Ipcress File and opening sequence for same
• The trailer for Billion Dollar Brain
• A trailer for Only When I Larf, among others

Enjoy. If you know of any others which should be linked to, add them in the comments. Hope to be adding soon snippets from 'The Truth About Len Deighton' and maybe some key scenes from G, S & M.

New additions to the main Deighton Dossier website

Hawkey's SS-GB stamps

I've been busy over the Christmas period adding new information and galleries of pictures to the main Deighton Dossier website which I hope will interest readers. Do check out:

• A whole new section on what collectors of Len Deighton's books should know (incomplete)
• A new gallery of rare Ipcress File film posters
• A new gallery with rare examples of Len Deighton's work as an illustrator
• More background information on Deighton's connection to the world of Bond, including a .pdf of his Warship script which transformed into Never Say Never Again
• A new section on the music associated with the films of Deighton's works
• Galleries of some rare items of interest to collectors:
• The Assassination of President Kennedy
• Pictures of the rare 'Hitler stamps' designed by Ray Hawkey for SS-GB
• The contents of the secret dossier laid in with An Expensive Place to Die

There's plenty more that's been updated and improved - hope readers find it interesting.

New interview with Len Deighton on the web ... and Happy New Year!

I've just been emailed by Remy Dean, co-editor of Scrawl, the literary website, who's advised that he has just put up a short interview with Len Deighton up on their website, which covers a range of themes about the authors career.

You can catch the interview here.

To anyone's who's read the Deighton Dossier blog and website in 2014, a Happy New Year!

Suited and booted ...

On my wanderings across the Internet I found this very interesting - and specific - site relating to James Bond and the different suits he has worn in the cinema since the sixties.

As well as fulsome identification of the styles, cut and cloth associated with each different James Bond, the site - run by US designer Matt Speiser - has a fun blog post about the suits that Michael Caine wore as Harry Palmer. If you want to know the cuff style, suit fabric and pocket designs that make up the Harry Palmer look, this is the page to check out.

Wonderful images: the Berlin Wall Then & Now, courtesy of The Guardian

The way things were

I've just discovered on The Guardian's website this lovely photographic essay of the Berlin Wall, looking at classic images and then superimposing on them the exact same view as it exists today. Very interesting and well-designed piece, with commentaries, which shows just how utterly transformed the city is from its days as the fulcrum of the Cold War.

Really worth investigating.

Winding back the clock - cookstrips are back in The Observer

Readers who enjoy the feel and simplicity of Len Deighton's cookstrips - which first emerged as serialised items in The Observer between 1962 and 1966 are to appear in this Sunday's edition of The Observer magazine, and thereafter monthly in the magazine. The cookstrips of course subsequently morphed into the Action Cook Book, and famously appear in the coffee making scene in The Ipcress File!

The interview can be found here (hat-tip to Terry).

It features a great reproduction of the famous photo of Len showing Michael Caine as Harry Palmer how to make an omelette in a production still from The Ipcress File. Many of the anecdotes are familiar but there's plenty new in the article of interest to readers, such as the fact Len kept terrapins in his airing cupboard (!).

Here's an extract from the article by Robin Stummer:

'In the film, as Harry nonchalantly cracks eggs into a bowl with one hand while the woman pours out two large whiskies, you can see a cluster of newspaper cuttings pinned up near the copper pans and string of garlic. They are from the Observer’s food section. Not words, but drawings – like prison-cell treasure maps dotted with arrows, numbers and scraps of staccato text veering, slightly insanely, into bold and italic. Those cuttings are some of Deighton’s famous “cookstrips”'.

Immortalised in fabric ....

Discovered this on the Internet recently. Len Deighton is available as a collectible figure. As are a host of other literary personalities.

Very odd. But compellingly so!