Michael Caine's 5-Movie Spy Series Was The Anti-James Bond We Needed, But Could Never Replicate 007's Success (2024)

The producers of the James Bond series cast Michael Caine as secret agent Harry Palmer in the hope of launching a separate spy franchise, but it didn’t exactly pan out. Len Deighton published his first spy novel, The Ipcress File, shortly after the blockbuster success of the very first Bond movie, Dr. No. When The Ipcress File became a bestseller, Bond producers Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Broccoli tapped Deighton to pen the script for the sequel, From Russia with Love. Not much of his screenplay made it to the final film, but the producers enjoyed working with Deighton.

Saltzman decided to adapt The Ipcress File for the screen in the hope of launching a second spy movie franchise that could run alongside the Bond films. He cast Caine to play the lead role of Palmer, with the aim of bringing him back for an endless string of sequels. The Ipcress File was conceived as the polar opposite of the Bond films, with a naturalistic style drawing from the world of kitchen-sink drama. It seemed like a sure-fire path to success, but the Palmer movies never reached the same blockbuster heights as the Bond movies.

Michael Caine's Harry Palmer Movies Were The Antithesis Of James Bond (Despite Having The Same Producers)

The Harry Palmer Movies Were More Grounded & Realistic

With the Palmer movies, Saltzman was hoping to kickstart Bond 2.0. The plan was to have another long-running spy series pumping out new entries every couple of years alongside the Bond films. Saltzman recruited a bunch of crew members who had previously worked on Bond movies, like editor Peter Hunt, composer John Barry, and production designer Ken Adam. But Palmer and Bond couldn’t have less in common. They’re both suave British secret agents, but the similarities end there. Their personalities and the tone of their respective movies are completely different.

Palmer’s stories are the opposite of Bond’s in every way. Whereas the Bond movies offered lighthearted escapism, the Palmer movies offered gritty realism. Whereas Bond is characterized as posh and upper-class, Palmer is a working-class hero. Whereas the Bond films carried an optimistic message about good triumphing over evil and maintaining the world order, the Palmer films took a bleaker and more pessimistic approach to their storytelling. The cynical tone and grounded, naturalistic style of the Palmer movies had more in common with John le Carré’s espionage stories than 007’s globetrotting adventures.

The Harry Palmer Movies Had The Potential To Become A Long-Standing Spy Franchise

Len Deighton Wrote A Bunch Of Harry Palmer Novels

With their uniquely gritty tone and Caine’s iconic performance, the Palmer movies had the potential to become a long-running franchise like the Bond series. The movie adaptation depicted Palmer as a British Army sergeant who was forced to work as a secret agent instead of going to prison for black marketeering. This is a great setup for a cinematic antihero, and could’ve sent him on an indefinite number of dangerous missions to work off his sentence. His begrudging mentorship from the smart but suspicious Colonel Ross formed the basis for a great episodic format, like Bond’s work with M.

After The Ipcress File, Saltzman produced two more movies centered around Palmer: Funeral in Berlin in 1966 and Billion Dollar Brain in 1967, both with Caine returning. These movies weren’t complete failures — they were pretty successful — but they didn’t take off at the worldwide box office like the Bond movies did. And it’s a shame, because the Palmer series had so much potential beyond that initial trilogy. Saltzman never used the second Palmer novel, Horse Under Water, and there were other spy novels by Deighton, like Spy Story, that could’ve been repurposed for Palmer movies.

In the ‘90s, Caine reprised his role as Palmer in two more made-for-TV sequels: Bullet to Beijing in 1995 and Midnight in Saint Petersburg in 1996. These were based on original screenplays, not Deighton’s novels (although Deighton’s name is sometimes included in their titles), proving the Palmer series could’ve continued even after they ran out of source material to work from. The Bond franchise has continued to tell original stories long after running out of suitable Ian Fleming stories to adapt for the screen. If the Palmer series had been more successful, it could’ve done the same.

Why Harry Palmer Failed Where James Bond Succeeded

The Palmer movies fell short of Bond’s success because Palmer’s adventures didn’t have the same broad appeal as Bond’s adventures. Just about any moviegoer anywhere in the world could wander in off the street and find something to enjoy in a Bond movie like Goldfinger or Thunderball, from the exotic locations to the amusing one-liners to the fun-filled action sequences. But the Palmer movies had a more niche appeal. Moviegoers who enjoy gritty, grounded spy movies ate them up, but that audience is nowhere near as big as the blockbuster audience of the Bond franchise.

For long-time spy genre fans, the Palmer movies were a breath of fresh air after a handful of Bond movies full of goofy gadgets and megalomaniacal villains. But for a global blockbuster audience that was just seeking escapist entertainment, the Palmer films were too dreary and grounded. Palmer’s movies reflected a cruel and unfair world, but most audiences go to the movies to escape from the cruel, unfair world, not be reminded of it. Bond’s globetrotting exploits with fast cars, far-fetched gadgets, and absurd villain hideouts had universal appeal that Palmer’s realistic outings didn’t.

Later Attempts To Adapt Harry Palmer Had Mixed Results

Joe Cole Was Miscast In The Ipcress File TV Series

Since Caine’s five movies, other producers have tried to bring Palmer to the screen, but they all have the same problem: no Caine. Joe Cole is a fine actor, but he was woefully miscast in the 2022 TV adaptation of The Ipcress File, failing to recapture any of Caine’s charisma. Whereas Bond has been played by a grand total of six actors, and they’ve all been great in their own way, subsequent portrayals of Palmer have proven that the character’s success was intrinsically tied to Caine’s performance.

The most successful recent Palmer movies have been unofficial adaptations with Caine reprising the role under a different name. The 1992 thriller Blue Ice cast Caine as an ex-spy named Harry Anders, who shared all of Palmer’s defining characteristics. The title character in Caine’s late-career 2009 actioner Harry Brown is essentially a retired Palmer. Austin Powers’ father, Nigel Powers, was a parody of Palmer, and Michael Caine did a great job of satirizing his own performance. The James Bond series’ longevity can be attributed to the recastability of the role; the Harry Palmer series didn’t have that.

Michael Caine

Birthdate

March 14, 1933

Birthplace

London, England, United Kingdom

Professions

Actor , Author