01
Funeral in Berlin
Why this pick
Harry Palmer’s preceding case has the same dry, unglamorous Cold War tradecraft, Michael Caine’s wary antihero, and a maze-like Berlin mission built on shifting loyalties.
A FILM WORTH A CLOSER LOOKTHE FEATURE PRESENTATION
MOVIE1967 1h 51m GBR
IF THIS ONE STAYED WITH YOU
Movies like
Billion Dollar Brain
Thriller
CINEHUNCH / THE NEXT FRAME
Keep the feeling.
SIMILAR PICKS / A PERSONAL CONNECTION
If you loved Billion Dollar Brain, try these.
01
02
The Ipcress File
Why this pick
The first Harry Palmer film pairs its sardonic working-class spy with oppressive modernist visuals, institutional paranoia, and an intricate investigation rather than glamorous espionage.
03
The Quiller Memorandum
Why this pick
A chilly, intelligent Berlin espionage thriller: its lone operative, ambiguous contacts, and mounting sense of surveillance closely suit Billion Dollar Brain’s suspicious Cold War mood.
04
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
Why this pick
Its bleak, unsentimental espionage world and emotionally guarded agent make a strong match for Harry Palmer’s cynical Cold War atmosphere, with tension rooted in uncertainty and divided allegiances.
05
The Kremlin Letter
Why this pick
For the more elaborate side of Billion Dollar Brain, this is a dense, globe-spanning intelligence puzzle full of codes, disguises, competing agendas, and a deliberately hard-edged worldview.
Finding the atmosphere, tension and little details that made this one stay with you.
Our curator needs a little longer. Please come back shortly.
No confident matches yet. Try our personal film finder.
01 / THE STORY
A little about the film.
Harry Palmer (Michael Caine), who has left MI5 to work as a private investigator, is told by a mechanical voice on the phone to take a package to Helsinki. The package contains six virus-laden eggs that have been stolen from the British government's research facility at Porton Down. In Helsinki, he is met by Anya (Françoise Dorléac) who takes him to meet her handler, Harry's old friend Leo Newbigen (Karl Malden). Leo is in love with Anya, but Harry knows that she is only pretending to reciprocate. Leo takes Harry to a secret room where a computer issues daily instructions to Leo and Anya. The computer speaks in the same voice as the one which summoned Harry to Helsinki.
Showing saved details. Some information may be out of date.
02 / FACES IN THE FRAME
The people who bring it to life.
Oskar Homolka
General Stok
Milo Sperber
Basil
Susan George
russian girl on train
Jill Mai Meredith
russian girl on train
Michael Caine
Harry Palmer
Ed Begley
General Midwinter
Guy Doleman
Colonel Ross
Vladek Sheybal
Dr. Eiwort