Billion Dollar Brain (1967)

An ex-secret agent (Michael Caine) is blackmailed into working for MI5 again. His mission: go to Poland to retrieve some stolen eggs which contain a virus that can potentially destroy millions of people. Based on the novel by Len Deighton and directed by Ken Russell (WOMEN IN LOVE). This was Caine's third film playing secret agent Harry Palmer (the antithesis of James Bond) following the success of THE IPCRESS FILE and FUNERAL IN BERLIN. I found the film rather confusing in the beginning and for a moment, I thought possibly the reels got mixed up but it finally starts to make sense. This was strictly a paycheck job for Ken Russell and there's none of the loopy craziness that would show up in some of his later films where he had more control. Visually, it's a great looking film thanks to Billy Williams' (GANDHI) cinematography but as a spy thriller, it's flat. There's a marvelous score by Richard Rodney Bennett that helps the film considerably. With Karl Malden, Oscar Homolka, Ed Begley (ludicrously overacting), Donald Sutherland, Susan George, Guy Doleman and in her final film role, Francoise Dorleac.