BILLION DOLLAR BRAIN
This 1967 spy thriller was the third in as many years in the franchise starring Michael Caine as Harry Palmer. Whereas the two previous films were anchored closer to le Carré's dour reality than to Fleming's sex-and-gadgets fantasy world, this one veers very much towards the latter. But it lacks the stunts and budget to compete with the Bond films, and in fact at times (especially the opening credits) seems more like a spoof. For whatever reason it was a commercial and critical flop, and killed the franchise. Who is to blame? Is it the screenwriter John McGrath, a playwright who used his plays to promote socialism? Judging from his short Wikipedia entry this might have been the only screenplay he wrote. Or is it the director, Ken Russell, not anyone's first choice to direct a gritty espionage thriller? At this early stage in his career he had worked mainly in TV, but was recommended for this assignment by Caine himself, who lat...