The Ipcress File
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Template:Infobox Film 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 Harry Palmer.
The plot involves mind control: the acronym IPCRESS stands for "Induction of Psycho-neuroses by Conditioned Reflex under strESS". Along the way we visit an atoll for a US atomic bomb test and learn about Joe One, although these elements were not in the film version. Image:DSCN1488-ipcress-front masked 600x800.JPG In common with several of his other early novels, the chapter headings have a "feature". In The Ipcress File these take the form of each chapter being headed with a quote from a horoscope, which relates to the action in the chapter, though vaguely, as in most horoscopes.
The film version of The Ipcress File was intended as a downbeat alternative to the James Bond films, which were being made at the same time. Four prominent members of the production team -- producer Harry Saltzman, film editor Peter Hunt, composer John Barry and production designer Ken Adam -- also worked on the Bond series.
The film had two immediate sequels:
In 1996, Michael Caine returned to his Harry Palmer role in Bullet to Beijing and Midnight in St. Petersburg.