Nazis, Texas oil barons… Is there really that much of a difference?
Even as far back as 1967 we were convinced computers would one day rule the world. Of course, back then computers took up whole rooms - and the computational monstrosity that programs and plans revolutions in Billion Dollar Brain takes up an entire gymnasium. Now most of what that computer was programmed for can be achieved in your average iPhone. That’s what the past never takes into account: the wonders of the future are always achievable - they just wind up far more mediocre than we expect.
Harry Palmer (Michael Caine) is a former member of MI5 now working as a private investigator operating out of an impossibly messy office in London. In a pretty stunning first-person opening sequence, Palmer’s former employer tries to woo him back, but the former agent will have none of it. Instead he receives a mysterious call, where an inhuman voice instructs him to cart an odd canister to Helsinki. Palmer accepts, and while there discovers he’s delivering the canister to his old friend Leo Newbie (Karl Malden), who’s involved in some international revolutionary group who receive their orders from a computer far away. In over his head, Palmer agrees to work for MI5 once more and go undercover to find out just what his old friend is up to.
Billion Dollar Brain was the third movie in the Harry Palmer series, adapted form the books by Len Deighton. Started by Bond producer Harry Saltzman as a more down-to-earth spy series, Billion Dollar Brain mostly eschews the gritty style of the previous films for a far more satirical, absurd take, thanks in large part to director Ken Russell‘s manic brand of filmmaking. Russell had just begun his career as a film director, working most of the decade for the BBC, and here shows an avant-garde eye that was quite unlike any other British movies of the time, and really ahead of his time - predating the MTV-editing, shaky handheld camerawork that would be in vogue twenty years later. Russell and screenwriter John McGrath keep the plot twisty and turn-y, never letting the film settle into any predictable rhythm for very long - which could be extremely disorienting, but Russell’s active camerawork and the performances keep the film clipping along at a nice rate, all up to a third act that is as batshit insane as they come - and I mean that in the best possible way.
Michael Caine returns as Harry Palmer, still playing the character as a working stiff trying to get by. The Palmer movies were a bit of a reaction to James Bond, with Harry Palmer himself the complete antithesis of the more famous super-spy. Where Bond jet-setted about the globe, drinking the finest wine and schmoozing exotic ladies, Palmer was just a guy doing a job. He didn’t have money, he didn’t have much of a sense of style, and while he fought for Queen and Country, he was no true-blue patriot like Bond and his ilk - Palmer would need a raise if that were in the job description. Caine is pretty hard not to like in the role, bringing with him a sense of humor and vulnerability that keeps the movie grounded and the character human, no matter how wild the movie around him gets as it races towards its ending.
Karl Malden plays Harry’s long lost friend Leo Newbigen, a character who changes sides so much he could be mistaken for a Rubix cube. We never truly get a firm grasp on who Leo is or where his true allegiances lie - one minute he’s seems like the film’s main heavy, the next he’s Palmer’s sidekick. Malden milks the character’s ambiguity for all its worth, having him be calm and collected and charming one minute, and twitchy and menacing the next. In between Leo and Harry is Anya, played by actress Franciose Dorleac in her last film role (she died tragically in an automobile accident before the film saw release). Anya herself is an interesting character, one who’s true colors aren’t shown until the very end - Dorleac adds yet another dynamic to a twisty film, constantly pulling herself back to reveal another layer beneath.
When Harry and Leo go to Texas to meet the backer of the “billion dollar brain” computer that gives Leo his orders, the film almost travels to another reality - one more akin to Dr. Strangelove than a swinging spy movie. In Texas they meet oil baron “General” Midwinter, played with vigor by Ed Begley who’s taken his millions and fashioned a secret, international army devoted to one and only one cause: the eradication of communism in all its forms. Midwinter is so pleased with Leo’s progress in Latvia that he’s ramped up his schedule and plans to send his private army to begin the revolution against Soviet Russia. The only problem is that Leo’s been lying and pocketing Midwinter’s money, meaning that the invasion will so little more than kickstart World War III between the US and the Soviets. The various scenes of Midwinter giving speeches to thousands amidst burning piles of books strongly evoke Adolf Hitler, and the whole garb of his secret army is strongly reminiscent of the Nazi party, with eagle banners and a swastika-esque logo of an X. Midwinter and his cronies really aren’t that different from the Nazis - just replace Jews with communists and they’re virtually indistinguishable.
With Russell’s exciting direction and a cast of wonderful performers, Billion Dollar Brain is one of the best spy movies in an era that consistently put out the best in the genre.
*According to the end credits, Donald Sutherland makes an appearance as one of the technicians working on the billion dollar brain, although I don’t recall seeing him. Susan George also has one of her first onscreen appearances, as a passenger sitting next to Harry on a train.
No comments:
Post a Comment