- 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.
Clicking the link and looking at the comic style posters and reading the following film notes, took me back to 1965, when I watched the film, having read the novel when it was published in 1962. The latter was after I watched Dr NO in 1962, and moved on then to spend a bit of time to watch then released Ipcress File, having read this novel in 1958 in my university days. This film provided a very good contrast to Dr NO, which I presume was what Harry Saltzman, the producer intended. His genius was to grasp quickly, reading excellent reviews about the novel of course for example, how it was so different from in many aspects to Ian Fleming’s Bond novels, and how its film version would have contrasting and yet memorable impact on the viewers. He was so right!
ReplyDelete“A more readily used reason is that it was simply a confection of Saltzman over lunch one day, Harry being the most working class name his lunch companion could think of, and Palmer the surname of a friend. Ambiguity in everything is the watchword. Like Deighton's original book, the film's plot is never clear cut and the exact relationship between the protagonists, and a degree of moral ambiguity, can make the film a little challenging to follow”
Agree with the above, except that it was reported then, was really a conjecture, believable in that the name Harry was picked because it was the first name of the Producer, Harry Saltzman- who was hardly a working class Canadian! Ambiguity was rightly stressed even then, and indeed this made the novel interesting reading, and the film watchable too.
“Stylistically, this film is a tour de force which screams sixties design and sentiment. It has elements of film noir throughout, like the use of distorting lenses, unusual angles and high contrast photography, but all set in 1960s swinging London. The camera is often out of focus, or shoots through objects, such as a pair of cymbals, lampshades, even a keyhole. It’s gritty and realistic look of the film - thanks to production designer Ken Adam - that matches the shift in the sixties away from the ‘fifties more staid sensibilities”
“The introduction of a male character who is equally happy in the supermarket and the kitchen as he is in the pub was revolutionary at the time”
I would further add to the above that rather than swinging 1960s London, every Londoner could relate to the film settings of the novel like Major Ross and Major Dalby strolling through St James's Park. No exotic locations and settings meant they appealed to the common cinema goers. The director Sidney Furie should be given due credit in the film success.
“Crucial to the film's atmosphere is John Barry's theme tune and incidental music, which are much more sparse than your typical bond film”
John Barry’s theme tune setting was perfect. The use of Hungarian percussion instrument cimbalom was a stroke of genius. A good review of the film’s soundtrack is found here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/ghf9