Funeral in Berlin
Directed by Guy Hamilton
Written by Evan Jones from a novel by Len Deighton
1966/UK
Jovera Pictures AG/SA/Lowndes Productions Limited
First viewing/Amazon Instant
[box] Harry Palmer: We get plenty of Russians. It’s a pity you’re not Chinese.[/box]
Some snappy dialogue and the gorgeous young Michael Caine make this a fairly entertaining mid-sixties spy movie.
Harry Palmer (Caine) is a thief turned British secret service agent. He is assigned to help retiring East German official Col. Stok (Oskar Homolka) defect to the West across the Wall. Palmer doubts the Colonel’s sincerity as he carries on with the task at hand. Will he become caught up in a deadly game? Of course he will.
This aims for kind of a middle ground between the Bond films and The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and but lacks the excitement of the former and the tension of the latter. It’s OK entertainment though and I could happily watch this era Caine in much worse films than this. Such a treat to see Homolka still up to his old tricks!
