Billion Dollar Brain

[Colonel Blimp]

Richard Rodney Bennett's music for this film is wonderful. (I seem to be the only person who loves this film ... !)

[julian_craster]

I agree.....

[Steve Crook]

name='Colonel Blimp']Richard Rodney Bennett's music for this film is wonderful. (I seem to be the only person who loves this film ... !)

I thought it had had other mentions here, not just for the music. But the built in search can't find many examples. Ah, Google finds quite a few other mentions of it



Steve

[christoph404]

name='Colonel Blimp']Richard Rodney Bennett's music for this film is wonderful. (I seem to be the only person who loves this film ... !)

I like it! And I agree the music is wonderful. Its been mentioned in relation to the other Harry Palmer films here on the forum and is considered the odd one out of the three films (Ipcress File and Funeral in Berlin) It is very different in style from the first two films of the series and veers more towards the glossy style and unreal world of James Bond whereas the first two movies were unique in the way they promoted the down at heal reality of the spy world. I think Palmer finally gets to be "Rock Hunter" in Billion Dollar Brain rather than "Edmund Dorff". I just view it as a film in its own right rather than a disappointing finale to the Harry Palmer series which is how it seems generally perceived.

[Andy H]

I'm afraid I've always seen it that way, Christoph. The Ipcress File is a wonderful film and I often feel the urge to watch it. Less so Funeral in Berlin and even less Billion Dolar Brain. It has some pretty nifty touches and the music is good, but it just seems faintly ridiculous to me.

[Steve Crook]

name='Andy H']I'm afraid I've always seen it that way, Christoph. The Ipcress File is a wonderful film and I often feel the urge to watch it. Less so Funeral in Berlin and even less Billion Dolar Brain. It has some pretty nifty touches and the music is good, but it just seems faintly ridiculous to me.

Totally ridiculous. I mean, imagine the chances of some crazy person from Texas with a load of money from oil who gets a real bee in his bonnet about some imagined enemy and he sets his own private army onto them. Ridiculous ... or is it?



I like it as a comedy



Steve

[christoph404]

Oh yes I agree it is ridiculous and as I mentioned, without the gritty realism as the first two films but it is fun to watch and the ice battle at the end is done very well, with a nod to "Alexander Nevsky"

Trivia: Female lead Francois Dorleac died in a car crash on her way to Nice airport to travel to London to complete work on "Billion Dollar Brain", apparently she was rushing to the airport and crashed into a lamp post.

[HUGHJAMPTON]

Can anyone remind me, what was the Beatles song that was used in BDB? as my DVD copy has been severely cut at the point Harry P meets the Latvian resistance. I'm pretty sure it was from Rubber Soul.

[vincenzo]

A Hard Day's Night

[HUGHJAMPTON]

Thanks for that Vincenzo. Don't know where I got the Rubber Soul idea from?

[vincenzo]

name='HUGHJAMPTON']Don't know where I got the Rubber Soul idea from?

Maybe it was just bouncing around.

[HUGHJAMPTON]

Very witty