MovieChat Forums > The Ipcress File (1965) Discussion > Why was Palmer never revisited?

Why was Palmer never revisited?

posted 16 years ago by fuzzout987
11 replies | jump to latest

With the Bourne movies and the reinvention of the Bond movies, why has Harry Palmer never been revisited? If other actors can step into Bond's role why not other actors step into Palmer's. The character would still be a perfect counterpoint to Bond, the spy who is only a spy to avoid prison, trapped in a mindless bureaucracy, and myopic. There is a lot they could do with the character. Besides with Hollywood doing bad remakes of all of Michael Caine's good movies It would be nice to see them do a good one. I'm not saying they would have to remake The Ipcress File, like Bond there are many other titles in Deighton's library.

[–] ukjf 16 years ago

Errr - Harry Palmer was revisited several times!

Funeral In Berlin (1966) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060437/
Billion Dollar Brain (1967) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061405/
Bullet To Beijing (1995) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113633/
Midnight In St Petersburg (1996) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113634/

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"You must have shot an awful lot of tigers, sir." "Yes - I used a machine gun."

[–] fuzzout987 16 years ago

I know and Bullet and Midnight aren't very good, I meant a modern update, a new actor, as blasphemous as that sounds. If they can take Bond into modern times they can take Palmer into the modern age and still keep the basics of the character intact. I was merely wondering why they hadn't they've done updates of every conceivable character possible, Batman, Star Trek. With the Craig Bond films it seems like Harry Palmer would still be a great counterpoint to Bond, a spy forced to work for the intelligence services and hates it and doesn't go anywhere glamorous. But if they did update the Palmer films the first thing the producers would want to do is set it in several exotic locales, Monte Carlo, Rio, Omaha(just kidding on the last one) and ruin everything that makes the Palmer films(Ipcress and Funeral), never like Billion Dollar Brain, unique.

[–] leopoldstotch911 16 years ago

Theyd prolly get Jude Law or someone with not nearly as much talents as Caine to do it.

Must get out of Alcatraz with all these men all over each other....Must get to San francisco...

[–] 1bilbo 16 years ago

Having seen what Hollywood did to Alfie do you believe for one moment
that there is a director who is capable of making a decent job? I don`t.

Check out Tinker Taylor Soldier spy - superb British spy thriller, again something that Hollywood would be incapable of producing.

[–] misbegotten 8 years ago

Funeral In Berlin (1966) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060437/
Billion Dollar Brain (1967) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061405/
Bullet To Beijing (1995) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113633/
Midnight In St Petersburg (1996) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113634/

There's also Blue Ice (1992) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103848/?ref_=ttmc_mc_tt

In that film, Michael Caine plays a retired British spy called 'Harry Anders'. Reportedly Blue Ice was intended to be a Harry Palmer movie, but the producers couldn't obtain the rights to the character, hence the slight name change. Blue Ice can be considered an unofficial entry in the Palmer series, the same way that Never Say Never Again is an unofficial Bond movie.

http://hexfan.proboards.com/

[–] DM-DAAN 16 years ago

"With the Bourne movies and the reinvention of the Bond movies, why has Harry Palmer never been revisited?"

Because The Ipcress File is everything Hollywood isn't making nowadays. There's nothing in it they can sell anno 2008; no carchases, no hot chicks, no gunfights, no hunky lead, only a tight story and a great actor in a raincoat.

You could easily make a really good remake out of this (James McAvoy as Palmer maybe), but no producer will touch it because you can't sell anything like this stuff nowadays. It's like you will never have a weird leftfield band like The Doors getting mainstream succes anymore; only generic stuff makes sh*tloads of money, stuff that avoids the beaten path is pushed into the margins.

[–] clivey6 12 years ago

Well, the recent Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is rather similar and goes for the same vibe. However, there's the sense that there's no point doing a remake of Ipcress File when it was done so well first time round. Plus, it's a star vehicle. You need Caine, or a Caine-a-like. Jarvis Cocker? Well he's a singer of course.

Also, that cockney insubordination has been drummed out of recent generations since Thatcher took over, it's not coveted so much.

Thirdly, there isn't a slew of Harry Palmer books to look into, you'd be starting from scratch again.

[–] wwestar 11 years ago

Did you enjoy Bullet to beijing?

[–] clivey6 11 years ago

Hi, delayed response, but never saw it. It was straight to DVD. Great title though!

[–] wwestar 9 years ago

Mission to Moscow???

[–] EtaoinShrdlu001 9 years ago

Fanmail from a Flounder???

If we hit that bull's-eye then the rest of the dominoes will fall like a house of cards...Checkmate.