Funeral in Berlin **** (1966, Michael Caine, Oskar Homolka, Paul Hubschmid, Eva Renzi) – Classic Movie Review 2419

Michael Caine returns for his second spy thriller in the Sixties Harry Palmer film trilogy, with Bond director Guy Hamilton at the helm, in 1966’s Funeral in Berlin. 

Michael Caine returns for his second spy thriller in the Sixties Harry Palmer espionage trilogy with Bond director Guy Hamilton at the helm in 1966’s Funeral in Berlin, following Caine’s big hit The Ipcress File (1965) the previous year.

This time the bespectacled Cockney secret agent Harry Palmer becomes the British man sent to Berlin to help the defecting Russian colonel Stok (Oscar Homolka). Stok is a Soviet intelligence officer responsible for security at the Berlin Wall who asks the British to handle his defection and specifically for Palmer to smuggle him out of East Germany. 

Michael Caine as Harry Palmer in Funeral in Berlin (1966).

It is a classic spy situation that cannot help be compelling but untidy direction by Hamilton produces a rambling, convoluted film. But then, to be fair, Len Deighton’s complex and involved source material is deliberately not exactly straightforward.

The two stars and the German co-stars score strongly, and the Berlin locations make an irresistible impression, filmed by cinematographer Otto Heller in Technicolor and Panavision. So spy movie and Caine fans will certainly not be disappointed, even though the film ends up being not quite as good as the original film The Ipcress File (1965). Guy Doleman also re-appears from the original as Colonel Ross.

Funeral in Berlin also stars Eva Renzi and Paul Hubschmid. Also in the cast are Rachel Gurne, Hugh Burden, Heinz Schubert, Wolfgang Völz, Thomas Holtzman, Günther Meisner, John Albineri, David Glover, Sarah Brackett, Marthe Keller.

Caine, Homolka and Doleman all return for the sequel, Billion Dollar Brain, in 1967. Caine belatedly resurrected his character in the Nineties for a couple of revivals: Midnight in St Petersburg and Bullet to Beijing (1995 and 1996).

Michael Caine turned 90 on 14 March 2023.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 2419

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