Harry Palmer
Encyclopedia
Harry Palmer is the name of the protagonist
of a number of film
s based on the main character from the spy novels written by Len Deighton
. Michael Caine
played Harry Palmer in the films based on three of the first four of the published novels featuring this character, and also later in two films not based on Len Deighton's novels.
, his first novel, published in November 1962. However, in that first-person novel, the secret agent is anonymous, although at one point in he is greeted by someone saying "Hello, Harry"; he later says, "Now my name isn't Harry, but in this business it's hard to remember whether it ever had been."
Deighton's spy is described as working class
, living in a back street flat and seedy hotels, and shopping in supermarket
s. He wears glasses, is hindered by bureaucracy
, and craves a pay rise.
Further novels featuring this character quickly followed in Horse Under Water
(1963), Funeral in Berlin
(1964), and Billion-Dollar Brain
(1966). Again however the lead protagonist is never named at any point, although they are clearly the same character in all of the books.
was published, followed in 1976 by Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Spy (also known as Catch A Falling Spy in North America). As the protagonist also remains anonymous in both of these novels, it is open to debate whether or not 'Harry Palmer' is the same narrator of these last two novels as in the earlier books. There is conflicting evidence for either view.
Despite this, and despite the lead protagonist being unnamed, all six books have been unofficially called the Harry Palmer novels, based on the protagonist's name given in the subsequent film adaptations of The IPCRESS File and its sequels.
Additionally, he is reported to be in his late 30s, whereas the narrator of The IPCRESS File was born in 1922 or 1923 (making him in his 50s), and thus implying that this protagonist is different to that of the earlier novels.
A number of minor characters from the earlier novels also appear in Spy Story, further linking the books as connected.
It has been theorised that the protagonist in another of Deighton's spy novels, An Expensive Place to Die
(1967), also written in the first-person-anonymous narrative, is also 'Harry Palmer'; however, differences in characterisation and plotting indicate this is someone else other than Palmer.
The IPCRESS File novel came out just after the release of the first James Bond
film Dr. No
(1962). When the novel sold well, Eon
producers
Harry Saltzman
and Albert Broccoli
approached Deighton to write the script for the next 007 film after Dr. No, From Russia With Love
(1963); however, despite Deighton's efforts, little of his screenplay
was filmed. Saltzman instead decided to use The IPCRESS File, and its sequels, as the beginning of a new secret agent movie series. However, unlike the Bond films
, The IPCRESS File was designed to have a different, more down-beat, style, although Saltzman employed many Bond movie staff, including production designer
Ken Adam
, editor
Peter Hunt
, and composer
John Barry
; eventually, Michael Caine
was chosen to play the lead.
In the film version, Harry Palmer is a British army sergeant
forcibly drafted into the security services to work away a prison sentence for black marketeering. He worked first for Army Intelligence then the Foreign Office. He works for the brilliant but slightly duplicitous Colonel Ross
. Harry Palmer has much in common with Deighton, including passions for military history
(Harvey Newbegin complains about his bookshelf contents in Billion Dollar Brain), cooking
, and classical music.
secret agent, the production team chose "Harry Palmer", because they wanted a dull, unglamorous name to distance him from Ian Fleming
's James Bond, the stereotypical flamboyant, swashbuckling spy. In his memoirs, Michael Caine says producer Harry Saltzman thought up the surname "Palmer", and Caine innocently remarked that "Harry" was a dull name, realising his gaffe on seeing Saltzman's stare. Another story is that in a Len Feldman interview, Caine recalled "I made a rather bad social blunder, because, he said, 'What's the dullest name you can think of ?', and I said, 'Harry', and he said, 'Thanks very much.' And then he said, 'What's a dull surname ?', and the most boring boy in our school was called: 'Palmer', 'Tommy Palmer'. So, he said, 'All right, we'll call him Harry Palmer.'"
in 1965, Saltzman's production company made Funeral in Berlin
(1966), and Billion Dollar Brain
(1967), both starring Michael Caine. The second Harry Palmer novel, Horse Under Water
, was not used, rumour having it that, had the series continued, it would have been the next novel adapted. In 1976, Deighton's novel Spy Story
, was filmed, with Michael Petrovitch as 'Patrick Armstrong'; it is unrelated to Saltzman's Harry Palmer films.
In the mid-1990s, there appeared two Harry Palmer films with original screenplays and starring Michael Caine:
Despite sometimes being titled Len Deighton's Bullet to Beijing and Len Deighton's Midnight in St Petersburg, Len Deighton did not participate in these films.
Evidence of Michael Caine's popular identification as Harry Palmer is in the film Blue Ice
(1992), wherein the hero is an ex-spy named 'Harry' Anders, and who has many similarities to Harry Palmer. In Austin Powers in Goldmember
(2002), Caine's portrayal of Nigel Powers
, father of secret agent Austin Powers, spoof
s Harry Palmer. Caine also plays the spy character Finn McMissile in the 2011 film Cars 2
, though this is more in a smooth James Bond
style than Palmer's downbeat, 'ordinary' personality.
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
of a number of film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
s based on the main character from the spy novels written by Len Deighton
Len Deighton
Leonard Cyril Deighton is a British military historian, cookery writer, and novelist. He is perhaps most famous for his spy novel The IPCRESS File, which was made into a film starring Michael Caine....
. Michael Caine
Michael Caine
Sir Michael Caine, CBE is an English actor. He won Academy Awards for best supporting actor in both Hannah and Her Sisters and The Cider House Rules ....
played Harry Palmer in the films based on three of the first four of the published novels featuring this character, and also later in two films not based on Len Deighton's novels.
Early novels
Len Deighton introduced the lead character in The IPCRESS FileThe Ipcress File
The IPCRESS File was the first spy novel by Len Deighton, published in 1962.It was made into a film in 1965 produced by Harry Saltzman and directed by Sidney J. Furie, starring Michael Caine as the protagonist....
, his first novel, published in November 1962. However, in that first-person novel, the secret agent is anonymous, although at one point in he is greeted by someone saying "Hello, Harry"; he later says, "Now my name isn't Harry, but in this business it's hard to remember whether it ever had been."
Deighton's spy is described as working class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
, living in a back street flat and seedy hotels, and shopping in supermarket
Supermarket
A supermarket, a form of grocery store, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...
s. He wears glasses, is hindered by bureaucracy
Bureaucracy
A bureaucracy is an organization of non-elected officials of a governmental or organization who implement the rules, laws, and functions of their institution, and are occasionally characterized by officialism and red tape.-Weberian bureaucracy:...
, and craves a pay rise.
Further novels featuring this character quickly followed in Horse Under Water
Horse Under Water
Horse Under Water is the second of Len Deighton's spy novels featuring an anonymous British agent protagonist . It was followed by Funeral in Berlin.- Background :...
(1963), Funeral in Berlin
Funeral in Berlin
Funeral in Berlin is a spy novel by Len Deighton.- Plot :The protagonist, who is unnamed, travels to Berlin to arrange the defection of a Soviet scientist named Semitsa, this being brokered by Johnny Vulkan of the Berlin intelligence community...
(1964), and Billion-Dollar Brain
Billion-Dollar Brain
Billion-Dollar Brain is a Cold War spy novel by Len Deighton, and the fourth protagonised by an anonymous secret agent working for the British WOOC intelligence agency. It follows The IPCRESS File , Horse Under Water , and Funeral in Berlin...
(1966). Again however the lead protagonist is never named at any point, although they are clearly the same character in all of the books.
Later novels and discrepancies
In 1974, the novel Spy StorySpy Story (novel)
Spy Story is a 1974 spy novel by Len Deighton, which features minor characters from his earlier novels The IPCRESS File, Funeral in Berlin, Horse Under Water, and Billion Dollar Brain....
was published, followed in 1976 by Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Spy (also known as Catch A Falling Spy in North America). As the protagonist also remains anonymous in both of these novels, it is open to debate whether or not 'Harry Palmer' is the same narrator of these last two novels as in the earlier books. There is conflicting evidence for either view.
Despite this, and despite the lead protagonist being unnamed, all six books have been unofficially called the Harry Palmer novels, based on the protagonist's name given in the subsequent film adaptations of The IPCRESS File and its sequels.
Implying against
Evidence for this narrator being different from the earlier novels come from Deighton himself, who is quoted as saying that the narrator of Spy Story is not the same character as the narrator of The IPCRESS File; in fact, for most of Spy Story, the narrator is named and addressed as 'Patrick Armstrong' - although, as another character says, "We have so many different names".Additionally, he is reported to be in his late 30s, whereas the narrator of The IPCRESS File was born in 1922 or 1923 (making him in his 50s), and thus implying that this protagonist is different to that of the earlier novels.
Implying for
Encouraging the unitary concept - that the later novels feature 'Harry Palmer' - is the 1974 dust jacket to the Harcourt, Brace & Jovanovich American edition of Spy Story, in which the cover blurb writes: "He is back, after five long-years' absence, the insubordinate, decent, bespectacled English spy who fought, fumbled, and survived his outrageous way through the best-selling Horse Under Water, Funeral in Berlin, and the rest of those marvellous, celebrated Len Deighton spy thrillers". Likewise, on the 1976 edition dust jacket to Catch a Falling Spy, the novel features "Deighton's familiar hero, our bespectacled Englishman".A number of minor characters from the earlier novels also appear in Spy Story, further linking the books as connected.
Other novels
A related novel by Deighton, Yesterday's Spy (1975), also features some of the same characters that appeared in Spy Story, although 'Harry Palmer' is not apparently amongst them.It has been theorised that the protagonist in another of Deighton's spy novels, An Expensive Place to Die
An Expensive Place to Die
An Expensive Place to Die is a 1967 novel by Len Deighton. It is set initially in Paris and takes its title from an Oscar Wilde quotation about the said city...
(1967), also written in the first-person-anonymous narrative, is also 'Harry Palmer'; however, differences in characterisation and plotting indicate this is someone else other than Palmer.
The IPCRESS File
James Bond (character)
Royal Navy Commander James Bond, CMG, RNVR is a fictional character created by journalist and novelist Ian Fleming in 1953. He is the main protagonist of the James Bond series of novels, films, comics and video games...
film Dr. No
Dr. No (film)
Dr. No is a 1962 spy film, starring Sean Connery; it is the first James Bond film. Based on the 1958 Ian Fleming novel of the same name, it was adapted by Richard Maibaum, Johanna Harwood, and Berkely Mather and was directed by Terence Young. The film was produced by Harry Saltzman and Albert R...
(1962). When the novel sold well, Eon
EON Productions
Eon Productions is a film production company known for producing the James Bond film series. The company is based in London's Piccadilly and also operates from Pinewood Studios in the United Kingdom...
producers
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
Harry Saltzman
Harry Saltzman
Harry Saltzman was a Canadian theatre and film producer best known for his mega-gamble which resulted in his co-producing the James Bond film series with Albert R...
and Albert Broccoli
Albert R. Broccoli
Albert Romolo Broccoli, CBE , nicknamed "Cubby", was an American film producer, who made more than 40 motion pictures throughout his career, most of them in the United Kingdom, and often filmed at Pinewood Studios. Co-founder of Danjaq, LLC and EON Productions, Broccoli is most notable as the...
approached Deighton to write the script for the next 007 film after Dr. No, From Russia With Love
From Russia with Love (film)
From Russia with Love is the second in the James Bond spy film series, and the second to star Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Released in 1963, the film was produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, and directed by Terence Young. It is based on the 1957 novel of the...
(1963); however, despite Deighton's efforts, little of his screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
was filmed. Saltzman instead decided to use The IPCRESS File, and its sequels, as the beginning of a new secret agent movie series. However, unlike the Bond films
James Bond (film series)
The James Bond film series is a British series of motion pictures based on the fictional character of MI6 agent James Bond , who originally appeared in a series of books by Ian Fleming. Earlier films were based on Fleming's novels and short stories, followed later by films with original storylines...
, The IPCRESS File was designed to have a different, more down-beat, style, although Saltzman employed many Bond movie staff, including production designer
Production designer
In film and television, a production designer is the person responsible for the overall look of a filmed event such as films, TV programs, music videos or adverts. Production designers have one of the key creative roles in the creation of motion pictures and television. Working directly with the...
Ken Adam
Ken Adam
Sir Kenneth Adam, OBE, born Klaus Hugo Adam , is a motion picture production designer most famous for his set designs for the James Bond films of the 1960s and 1970s.-Childhood in Germany:...
, editor
Film editing
Film editing is part of the creative post-production process of filmmaking. It involves the selection and combining of shots into sequences, and ultimately creating a finished motion picture. It is an art of storytelling...
Peter Hunt
Peter R. Hunt
Peter R. Hunt was an English film editor, television producer and director. Hunt was known for his work on the James Bond films with his innovative editing style.-Career:...
, and composer
Film score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...
John Barry
John Barry (composer)
John Barry Prendergast, OBE was an English conductor and composer of film music. He is best known for composing the soundtracks for 12 of the James Bond films between 1962 and 1987...
; eventually, Michael Caine
Michael Caine
Sir Michael Caine, CBE is an English actor. He won Academy Awards for best supporting actor in both Hannah and Her Sisters and The Cider House Rules ....
was chosen to play the lead.
In the film version, Harry Palmer is a British army sergeant
Sergeant
Sergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....
forcibly drafted into the security services to work away a prison sentence for black marketeering. He worked first for Army Intelligence then the Foreign Office. He works for the brilliant but slightly duplicitous Colonel Ross
Colonel Ross
Colonel Ross is a fictional character in the Harry Palmer series of novels by Len Deighton and the film adaptations of the books where he was portrayed by New Zealand actor Guy Doleman. A senior officer in British military intelligence Ross oversees a department whose activities are similar to...
. Harry Palmer has much in common with Deighton, including passions for military history
Military history
Military history is a humanities discipline within the scope of general historical recording of armed conflict in the history of humanity, and its impact on the societies, their cultures, economies and changing intra and international relationships....
(Harvey Newbegin complains about his bookshelf contents in Billion Dollar Brain), cooking
Cooking
Cooking is the process of preparing food by use of heat. Cooking techniques and ingredients vary widely across the world, reflecting unique environmental, economic, and cultural traditions. Cooks themselves also vary widely in skill and training...
, and classical music.
Origin of the name
Needing to name the previously-anonymousAnonymity
Anonymity is derived from the Greek word ἀνωνυμία, anonymia, meaning "without a name" or "namelessness". In colloquial use, anonymity typically refers to the state of an individual's personal identity, or personally identifiable information, being publicly unknown.There are many reasons why a...
secret agent, the production team chose "Harry Palmer", because they wanted a dull, unglamorous name to distance him from Ian Fleming
Ian Fleming
Ian Lancaster Fleming was a British author, journalist and Naval Intelligence Officer.Fleming is best known for creating the fictional British spy James Bond and for a series of twelve novels and nine short stories about the character, one of the biggest-selling series of fictional books of...
's James Bond, the stereotypical flamboyant, swashbuckling spy. In his memoirs, Michael Caine says producer Harry Saltzman thought up the surname "Palmer", and Caine innocently remarked that "Harry" was a dull name, realising his gaffe on seeing Saltzman's stare. Another story is that in a Len Feldman interview, Caine recalled "I made a rather bad social blunder, because, he said, 'What's the dullest name you can think of ?', and I said, 'Harry', and he said, 'Thanks very much.' And then he said, 'What's a dull surname ?', and the most boring boy in our school was called: 'Palmer', 'Tommy Palmer'. So, he said, 'All right, we'll call him Harry Palmer.'"
Later films
After the release of The IPCRESS FileThe Ipcress File (film)
The Ipcress File is a 1965 British espionage film directed by Sidney J. Furie and starring Michael Caine, Guy Doleman, and Nigel Green. The screenplay by Bill Canaway and James Doran was based on Len Deighton's 1962 novel, The IPCRESS File. It has won critical acclaim and a BAFTA award for best...
in 1965, Saltzman's production company made Funeral in Berlin
Funeral in Berlin (film)
Funeral in Berlin is a 1966 British spy film based on the novel Funeral in Berlin by Len Deighton. It is the second of three 1960s films starring Michael Caine that followed the characters from the initial film, The Ipcress File ...
(1966), and Billion Dollar Brain
Billion Dollar Brain
Billion Dollar Brain is a 1967 British espionage film directed by Ken Russell and based on the novel Billion-Dollar Brain by Len Deighton. The film features Michael Caine as secret agent Harry Palmer, the anti-hero protagonist of the film versions of The IPCRESS File and Funeral in Berlin...
(1967), both starring Michael Caine. The second Harry Palmer novel, Horse Under Water
Horse Under Water
Horse Under Water is the second of Len Deighton's spy novels featuring an anonymous British agent protagonist . It was followed by Funeral in Berlin.- Background :...
, was not used, rumour having it that, had the series continued, it would have been the next novel adapted. In 1976, Deighton's novel Spy Story
Spy Story (novel)
Spy Story is a 1974 spy novel by Len Deighton, which features minor characters from his earlier novels The IPCRESS File, Funeral in Berlin, Horse Under Water, and Billion Dollar Brain....
, was filmed, with Michael Petrovitch as 'Patrick Armstrong'; it is unrelated to Saltzman's Harry Palmer films.
In the mid-1990s, there appeared two Harry Palmer films with original screenplays and starring Michael Caine:
- Bullet to BeijingBullet to BeijingBullet to Beijing is a 1995 made-for-television film that continues the adventures of the fictional spy Harry Palmer, who appeared in the 1960s films The Ipcress File, Funeral in Berlin, and Billion Dollar Brain, based on books by author Len Deighton...
(1995) - Midnight in Saint PetersburgMidnight in Saint PetersburgMidnight in Saint Petersburg is a 1996 thriller film starring Michael Caine for the fifth time as British secret agent Harry Palmer.It served as semi-sequel to Bullet to Beijing which had been released the year before, the two films having been shot back-to-back...
(1996)
Despite sometimes being titled Len Deighton's Bullet to Beijing and Len Deighton's Midnight in St Petersburg, Len Deighton did not participate in these films.
Evidence of Michael Caine's popular identification as Harry Palmer is in the film Blue Ice
Blue Ice (film)
Blue Ice is a 1992 film directed by Russell Mulcahy and stars Michael Caine and Sean Young. It is a crime thriller involving a former spy , who is presently a jazz-club owner, who becomes immersed again in the world of espionage and counter-intelligence.Caine plays Harry Anders, who according to...
(1992), wherein the hero is an ex-spy named 'Harry' Anders, and who has many similarities to Harry Palmer. In Austin Powers in Goldmember
Austin Powers in Goldmember
Austin Powers in Goldmember is a 2002 American spy comedy film and the third installment of the Austin Powers series starring Mike Myers in the title role. The movie was directed by Jay Roach, and co-written by Mike Myers and Michael McCullers. Myers also plays the roles of Dr. Evil, Goldmember,...
(2002), Caine's portrayal of Nigel Powers
Nigel Powers
Sir Nigel Powers is a character who appears in the third Austin Powers movie, Austin Powers in Goldmember. He is portrayed as the father of Austin Powers, Dr. Evil and Mini-Me. He currently resides in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania with his wife and eight sons.-Pre-Goldmember:When Austin and Dr...
, father of secret agent Austin Powers, spoof
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
s Harry Palmer. Caine also plays the spy character Finn McMissile in the 2011 film Cars 2
Cars 2
Cars 2 is a 2011 American computer-animated action film produced by Pixar, and it is the sequel to the 2006 film, Cars. In the film, race car Lightning McQueen and tow truck Mater head to Japan and Europe to compete in the World Grand Prix, but Mater becomes sidetracked with international espionage...
, though this is more in a smooth James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
style than Palmer's downbeat, 'ordinary' personality.