Billion Dollar Brain

Infobox Film | name =Billion Dollar Brain


caption =original film poster
director = Ken Russell
producer = Harry Saltzman
writer =Len Deighton (novel)
John McGrath
starring =Michael Caine
Françoise Dorléac
Karl Malden
Ed Begley
Oscar Homolka
cinematography =
music =
editing =
distributor = United Artists
released = December 20, 1967 U.S. release
runtime = 111 min
budget =
imdb_id = 0061405

"Billion Dollar Brain" is a 1967 Ken Russell film based on the novel "Billion-Dollar Brain" by Len Deighton. The film features Michael Caine as secret agent 'Harry Palmer', the anti-heroic protagonist of the cinematic versions of "The IPCRESS File" (1964) and "Funeral in Berlin" (1965).The movie was filmed in Helsinki and also in Finland including Turku. The Riga sceens where filmed in Porvoo 50 km east from Helsinki.

Movie details

In the cinematic "Billion Dollar Brain" (1967), Harry Palmer, working as a private investigator, is paid to take a package to Helsinki. He does not know that he is about to encounter his old acquaintance Leo Newbiggin (Karl Malden) -- nor that the package contains virus-filled eggs that have been stolen from the British government's research facility at Porton Down. Later, he is coerced into working once more for the British secret service. He must become a member of the 'Crusade for Freedom' organisation (an ultra-right-wing group led by maniacal oil-billionaire 'General' Midwinter) and thwart its planned attempt at liberating Latvia from Soviet domination, which would cause a worldwide conflict; he must also recover the stolen virus for the British.

The film's plot relies heavily upon the sophisticated 'brain' (computer) [The computer consoles in the film are Honeywell 200 mainframe consoles.] with which the FFF controls its worldwide anti-Soviet spy network. The film directly refers to the ice battle in Alexander Nevsky (1938), by Sergei Eisenstein. [ [http://www.timeout.com/film/reviews/67824/Billion_Dollar_Brain.html/ "Billion Dollar Brain", Time Out, London, Film Guide] . Accessed: 03-08-2008.] "Billion Dollar Brain" is the third of the Harry Palmer film series, preceded by "The Ipcress File" (1964) and "Funeral in Berlin" (1965). It is the only film in which Ken Russell worked as a mainstream 'director-for-hire', and the last film to feature actress Françoise Dorléac.

oundtrack

The score is by Richard Rodney Bennett. In order to create a relentless, harsh mood, he left out sweet-sounding instruments like violins and flutes and relied mainly on brass and percussion [Interview on Film Score Monthly, quoted [http://filmscoremonthly.com/board/posts.cfm?threadID=30786&forumID=1&archive=1 here] .] including three pianos, which are featured prominently in the main theme, and later, together with the percussion, create sonorities similar to Stravinsky's "Les Noces". The score is basically monothematic, constantly varying the main theme. For more romantic moods, it features the ondes Martenot, an early electronic instruments, played here by it's most prominent soloist, Jeanne Loriod. Thus, even the tender moments have an eerie undertone.

Later on, Harry Palmer attends the end of a symphony concert, which is supposed to feature Dmitri Shostakovich's "Leningrad" Symphony, written in 1941 during the siege of Leningrad by German troops. What we hear, however, is the end of Shostakovich's 11th Symphony "The Year 1905". Yet, music from the "Leningrad" symphony is featured later on during Midwinter's speech to his soldiers in Finland and during the final battle on the ice.

References

External links

*imdb title|id=0061405|title=Billion Dollar Brain
* [http://caine-home.narod.ru/60-22/60-22.html "Billion Dollar Brain" photos] – From Michael Caine fansite in Russia