FUNERAL IN BERLIN

This is the follow-up to ‘The Ipcress File’, in which secret agent Harry Palmer is again played memorably by Michael Caine.

The critics regard this as somewhat inferior to its predecessor but I thought it was pretty much on the same level.

This film may lack a little of the style of the original but at least we do get a more down-to-earth plot (no brainwashing this time). 

What initially appears to be the main plot about a Colonel Stok (well played by Oskar Homolka) defecting turns out to be a bit of misdirection; the real story centres on an ex-Nazi who is trying to get his hands on some documents which would give him access a fortune in a Swiss bank account.

Admittedly the plot does get quite convoluted by the end, and keeping track of the two sets of documents (one genuine, one fake) kept me on my toes, but overall I enjoyed it.

I was pleased to see Colonel Ross return to try to keep Harry on the straight and narrow, but the German actress who is Harry’s love interest as well as a Mossad agent makes little impact (compared with the terrific Sue Lloyd in ‘The Ipcress File’).

Anyhow this is a decent enough sequel which warranted another film in the series, which turned out to be ‘Billion Dollar Brain’, directed by Ken Russell of all people and which is not highly regarded.

RATING: ✓ If You've Nothing Better To Do