Billion Dollar Brain

1967
Approved
1h 51m

IMDb RATING

6.0/10

6.1K

YOUR RATING

A former British spy stumbles onto a plot to overthrow Communism with the help of a supercomputer. But who is working for whom?

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Political Thriller Spy Crime Drama Thriller

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.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.0/10

6.1K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Trivia
The voice of the computer is Donald Sutherland's.

Goofs
When 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 credits
In 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 versions
Thirty-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.

Connections
Featured in Caine Below Zero (1967)

Soundtracks
Billion Dollar Brain (Main Theme)
(uncredited)
Written and Arranged by Richard Rodney Bennett
Orchestra conducted by Marcus Dods

User reviews101

Review

Featured review

Weird - (if you are Finnish you must see this film)

Definitely an odd film, it is best to take it as a parody of the spy-film genre: as such it is enjoyable. Michael Caine is mostly sort of half bemused and half confused as the hapless Harry Palmer whose job is drawing him deeper into insanity and mayhem. And implausibility. The culminating scene is, well, pure symphony of the best (read:trash) special effects of the day. The plot is full of twists and double-crosses, and includes a Texan bent on taking over the world (how very now).

If you are Finnish, or have visited Finland, the experience is either heightened or or lowered: Billion Dollar Brain is one of the films where Finland stands as a location-double for the unaccessible Soviet Union. It is hard to concentrate on the plot, when first Helsinki is playing Helsinki, then Porvoo is in Russia, and Riga is again in Helsinki. The border is seemingly in Hameenlinna. One ends up wondering how Harry does not realize his train is going merely back and forth. Location-spotting can keep you amused as well, though.