Funerale a Berlino

In my second Harry Palmer film of the weekend, "Funeral in Berlin" (1966), Michael Caine, as Cockney thief turned secret agent Palmer, is given the mission of smuggling a Russian defector (Oscar Homolka, playing Colonel Stok) out of East Berlin. Guy Doleman appears again as Harry's obnoxious boss, and once in Berlin, Harry is aided by an old wartime friend, Vulkan (Paul Hubschmid, who you might better know as Paul Christian, star of "The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms"). Palmer also gets involved with an Israeli secret agent in this film, played by the beautiful Eva Renzi, who, in real life, was Paul Hubschmid's wife. As might be expected, the smuggling of Col. Stok does not go quite as planned, and once again, plot complications ensue to the point that the viewer can just barely keep up with all the double crosses and secret agendas of all the players. And yet again, the ties to the Bond franchise are there, what with Harry Saltzman's production, Guy "Goldfinger" Hamilton's direction, and Ken Adam's sets. In all, a highly pleasing affair, with fascinating background scenery of the dreary Berlin environs, but only if you are willing to really pay attention and keep up!