IMDb RATING
5.9/10
6.3K
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British spy-turned-detective Harry Palmer stumbles upon an oil tycoon's plot to overthrow Communism using a supercomputer.British spy-turned-detective Harry Palmer stumbles upon an oil tycoon's plot to overthrow Communism using a supercomputer.British spy-turned-detective Harry Palmer stumbles upon an oil tycoon's plot to overthrow Communism using a supercomputer.
Françoise Dorléac
- Anya
- (as Francoise Dorleac)
Izabella Telezynska
- Latvian Gangster
- (as Iza Teller)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe voice of the computer is Donald Sutherland's.
- GoofsWhen Harry Palmer is being taken to the concert, he passes a sign in Russian that says "Mopchdt", which is a meaningless, unpronounceable misspelling of "Molchat" meaning "silence".
- Quotes
[Harry is shown a terminal of the Brain]
Harry Palmer: What does it do, tell fortunes?
Leo Newbigen: It *makes* fortunes: ours! Just a little toy, but it puts the MI5 and the CIA back into the Stone Age.
- Crazy creditsIn the opening credits, crew names are written in all uppercase letters, with the exception of Production Manager Eva Monley, whose name is written "eva monley".
- Alternate versionsThirty-one seconds of the original movie are missing on the MGM DVD release of 2004. The licensing rights of The Beatles song "A Hard Day's Night", which was heard in the scene where Harry meets Basil, were too expensive, so they cut the whole scene.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Caine Below Zero (1967)
- SoundtracksBillion Dollar Brain (Main Theme)
(uncredited)
Written and Arranged by Richard Rodney Bennett
Orchestra conducted by Marcus Dods
Featured review
A mad Texas general wants to start to overthrow parts of the satellite Eastern Block using his own private army and super computer. Reluctant secret agent - and former crooked army sergeant - Harry Palmer is given the job of trying to stop him before it is too late.
Last of the three HP films made for the cinema.
What a silly idea this film is based on. For a start the plot is far too James Bond for a series whose raison d'etre is to be anti James Bond and besides how can a basic Honeywell Computer (with punch cards) be worth a billion dollars? The thing had about as much power as a Sinclair Spectrum!
Star Caine looks bored to death with all this nonsense and chases around Finland looking like he would rather have been anywhere else but here - and I don't think it is all skilled acting. Director Ken Russell has his supporters and fans, although every passing years his supporters seemed less-and-less inclined to put their hands in their pocket for his product. He became a clapped out old duffer very early in life.
Danger, tension and silly are not easy bedfellows and even solid pros like Malden, Begley and Caine cannot breath much life in to this race-and-chase nonsense. Although Ed Begley chews up the set as a red-baiting Texan general gone mad in a bunker. Part Hitler, part Sterling Hayden in Doctor Strangelove.
Russian general Colonel Stock (Oskar Homolka) turns up again to reprise his role from Funeral in Berlin, even though it makes no sense to the plot - why would the enemy (in the cold war) help a British agent? Last thing on earth he would do unless he had gone stark raving mad or liked Gulag food.
Despite the series coming back much later as a made-for-TV double (made back-to-back) the show had clearly had its day. I could have lived without seeing this and you could too.
Last of the three HP films made for the cinema.
What a silly idea this film is based on. For a start the plot is far too James Bond for a series whose raison d'etre is to be anti James Bond and besides how can a basic Honeywell Computer (with punch cards) be worth a billion dollars? The thing had about as much power as a Sinclair Spectrum!
Star Caine looks bored to death with all this nonsense and chases around Finland looking like he would rather have been anywhere else but here - and I don't think it is all skilled acting. Director Ken Russell has his supporters and fans, although every passing years his supporters seemed less-and-less inclined to put their hands in their pocket for his product. He became a clapped out old duffer very early in life.
Danger, tension and silly are not easy bedfellows and even solid pros like Malden, Begley and Caine cannot breath much life in to this race-and-chase nonsense. Although Ed Begley chews up the set as a red-baiting Texan general gone mad in a bunker. Part Hitler, part Sterling Hayden in Doctor Strangelove.
Russian general Colonel Stock (Oskar Homolka) turns up again to reprise his role from Funeral in Berlin, even though it makes no sense to the plot - why would the enemy (in the cold war) help a British agent? Last thing on earth he would do unless he had gone stark raving mad or liked Gulag food.
Despite the series coming back much later as a made-for-TV double (made back-to-back) the show had clearly had its day. I could have lived without seeing this and you could too.
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- Billion Dollar Brain
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- $214
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By what name was Un cerveau d'un milliard de dollars (1967) officially released in India in English?
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