Spy: 166

The spy film The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) is the ninth installment in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions. Starring Roger Moore as the iconic MI6 agent, it loosely adapts Ian Fleming’s posthumously published novel of the same name. In this thrilling tale, an American gangster named Rodney seeks out renowned hitman Francisco Scaramanga with a bounty on his head. However, his attempted assassination takes a turn when he is led into a funhouse section of Scaramanga’s estate and falls victim to the hitman’s golden gun. Meanwhile, ...

The film The Mackintosh Man (1973), directed by John Huston and written by Walter Hill, is a Cold War espionage tale based on Desmond Bagley’s book The Freedom Trap. Joseph Rearden, a former criminal now working for British intelligence, meets with MI5 agent Mackintosh and his assistant Mrs. Smith in London. They reveal a plan for Rearden to steal diamonds being transported through the postal service to avoid detection. Rearden successfully executes the heist by attacking a postman and escaping with the ...

Live and Let Die (1973), the eighth film in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions, stars Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent. Based on Ian Fleming’s 1954 novel of the same name, it follows James Bond, Agent 007, as he investigates a string of mysterious deaths of three MI6 agents within 24 hours. The killings occurred at locations around the world including the United Nations headquarters in New York City, New Orleans, and a small Caribbean nation called San Monique. While monitoring the operations of the island’s dictator, Dr. Kananga, ...

The  spy film Diamonds Are Forever (1971) is the seventh installment in the James Bond series, produced by Eon Productions. It is based on Ian Fleming’s novel of the same name and was directed by Guy Hamilton, making it the second of four Bond films he directed. Agent 007, James Bond, is on a mission to capture Ernst Stavro Blofeld, who is creating look-alikes through plastic surgery. Bond eliminates one of Blofeld’s test subjects and eventually takes down the real Blofeld by drowning him in a pool of superheated mud. Meanwhile, as diamond ...

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969) is the sixth installment in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions. The film is an adaptation of Ian Fleming’s 1963 novel. While at a beach, Bond intervenes when he sees a woman attempting to drown herself. Later on, he meets her again at a casino. This woman, Contessa Teresa ‘Tracy’ di Vicenzo, expresses her gratitude by inviting Bond to her hotel room. However, upon his arrival, an unknown man attacks him. After overcoming the attacker, Bond returns to his own room where he finds Tracy waiting for him. She claims she was unaware of the ...

Directed by Gordon Douglas, In Like Flint (1967) is an American spy fi comedy film. After witnessing the launch of a new space platform, Z.O.W.I.E. Chief Lloyd C. Cramden and President Trent take a break from their golf game. However, their leisure is cut short by the Fabulous Face organization, who attack Cramden and capture the president. The group’s plan is to control the world with a team of women in charge, starting with taking over a US space facility in the Virgin Islands. To do so, they set up a spa as a front for their activities. Using hair dryers equipped with tape recorders, they aim to brainwash their ...

Billion Dollar Brain (1967), a British spy film helmed by Ken Russell, is based on Len Deighton’s novel of the same name published in 1966. The protagonist, Harry Palmer, has recently left MI5 to take up work as a private detective. He receives a call from an artificial voice instructing him to deliver a package to Helsinki. Inside are six virus-infected eggs which have been stolen from a top-secret research facility in Porton Down. In Helsinki, he is greeted by Anya who then introduces him to Leo Newbigen, an old friend of Harry’s and Anya’s handler. ...

The film The Deadly Affair (1967) is a British spy movie based on John le Carré’s debut novel, Call for the Dead. Set in 1960s London, it follows MI5 agent Charles Dobbs as he investigates the supposed suicide of Samuel Fennan, a former Communist working for the Foreign Office. After Fennan’s death, Dobbs visits his widow and becomes suspicious about the circumstances of her husband’s passing. While at their home, Dobbs uncovers that Elsa lied about a wake-up call meant for her. As a Holocaust survivor, Elsa may hold valuable information about her husband’s death. Despite pressure from ...

You Only Live Twice (1967) is the fifth installment in the James Bond series, produced by Eon Productions. Starring Sean Connery as the iconic MI6 agent, this film marks the directorial debut of Lewis Gilbert. When an unidentified spaceship hijacks American NASA spacecraft Jupiter 16 from orbit, tensions rise between the United States and Soviet Union. However, due to the spacecraft’s landing in the Sea of Japan, British intelligence suspects Japanese involvement. To further investigate, James Bond is sent to Tokyo under a new identity after faking his own ...

The American spy political thriller film, Torn Curtain (1966), was directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It follows the story of Michael Armstrong, a US physicist and rocket scientist, as he travels to Copenhagen for a conference with his assistant and fiancée, Sarah Sherman. During the trip, Armstrong receives a radiogram instructing him to pick up a book in Copenhagen. The book contains a message that reads ‘Contact π in case of emergency’. Despite telling Sherman he is heading to Stockholm, she discovers he is actually flying to East Berlin and decides to follow him. When they arrive, Armstrong is greeted by ...

Our Man Flint (1966) is a humorous take on the popular James Bond film series. The director behind this spy-fi comedy was Daniel Mann. The protagonist, Derek Flint, is a former member of Z.O.W.I.E., or the Zonal Organization World Intelligence Espionage. He is called back into action when a global organization known as Galaxy, led by three deranged scientists (Doctor Krupov, Doctor Wu, and Doctor Schneider), threatens the world. These scientists are fed up with the state of world governments and demand that all nations surrender to Galaxy. In order to make their point clear, they use their climate-control technology to ...

Funeral in Berlin (1966), a British spy film directed by Guy Hamilton, is based on the novel of the same name by Len Deighton. It follows British secret agent Harry Palmer, who is sent to Berlin by his superior Colonel Ross to facilitate the defection of Colonel Stok, a prominent Soviet intelligence officer. To aid him in his mission, Palmer reconnects with an old friend and former criminal associate Johnny Vulkan, who now works for British intelligence in Berlin. Despite his initial skepticism, Palmer finds Stok to be eccentric and likeable when they meet in the Soviet ...

The British spy film, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965), is based on John le Carré’s novel of the same name. MI6’s West Berlin office, headed by station chief Alec Leamas, has decreased in effectiveness. After one of his operatives dies, Leamas is called back to London and appears to be rejected from the agency. However, Control, the chief of MI6, has carefully orchestrated a transformation for Leamas. He takes on a new identity as an assistant at a local library and develops a relationship with Nan Perry, his co-worker and a member of the British Communist Party. Due to spending most of his salary on ...

The Ipcress File (1965), a British spy film directed by Sidney J. Furie and starring Michael Caine, is based on Len Deighton’s novel of the same name (1962). It received a BAFTA award for Best British film. A scientist named Radcliffe is taken from a train as his security escort is killed. Harry Palmer, a former British Army sergeant with a rebellious history and criminal background, currently works for the Ministry of Defence. His superior Colonel Ross summons him and assigns him to Major Dalby’s department. ...

Get Smart (1965–1970), an American comedy TV series, was created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry. The show premiered on NBC on September 18, 1965, as a parody of the popular secret agent genre that had been brought to fame by the James Bond films in the early 1960s. Starring Don Adams as agent Maxwell Smart (Agent 86), Barbara Feldon as Agent 99, and Edward Platt as Thaddeus the Chief, the show’s concept was conceived at the ...

Thunderball (1965) is the fourth installment in the James Bond series by Eon Productions. Starring Sean Connery as MI6 agent James Bond, the film is an adaptation of Ian Fleming’s 1961 novel of the same name. Emilio Largo, a SPECTRE operative, hatches a plan to hold NATO for ransom by stealing two atomic bombs during a training exercise involving a Royal Air Force Avro Vulcan jet bomber. To aid his scheme, Largo enlists the help of Count Lippe and Angelo Palazzi. In order to blend in with the French Air Force pilot François Derval who is involved in the ...

Goldfinger (1964), the third film in the James Bond series, sees Sean Connery reprising his role as MI6 agent James Bond. Based on Ian Fleming’s novel of the same name published in 1959, the film follows Bond on a mission to Latin America where he destroys a drug laboratory and defeats an unnamed adversary by electrocuting them in a bathtub. From there, Bond travels to Miami Beach where his boss M has him observe bullion dealer Auric Goldfinger at a hotel. While spying on Goldfinger, Bond catches him cheating at gin rummy with the help of his employee Jill ...

The spy film, From Russia with Love (1963), is the second in the James Bond series created by Eon Productions. This movie features Sean Connery as MI6 agent 007, a role he previously played in Dr. No. Seeking revenge for the death of their agent in Jamaica, SPECTRE, an international criminal organization, hatches a plan to lure Bond into a trap by promising him access to a Lektor cryptography device from the Soviet Union’s consulate in Istanbul. The mastermind behind this scheme is Czechoslovak chess grandmaster Kronsteen and SPECTRE operative Rosa Klebb is appointed to oversee the mission. She ...

Terence Young’s spy film, Dr. No (1962), marks the beginning of the iconic James Bond series. Following the murder of MI6 Station Chief John Strangways and his secretary Mary in Jamaica, M assigns James Bond to investigate their deaths and determine if they are linked to Strangways’ work with the CIA. Bond faces danger right away when an enemy agent posing as a chauffeur attempts to kill him upon his arrival in Jamaica. Though Bond manages to turn the tables, the agent kills himself before he can be interrogated. Seeking answers, Bond meets with government officials, including principal secretary ...

The British thriller film, The 39 Steps (1959), was directed by Ralph Thomas and stars Kenneth More and Taina Elg. After witnessing a nanny almost being killed in a failed hit-and-run attempt, Richard Hannay decides to help her. He is taken aback when he realizes there is no baby in the pram. Intrigued, Hannay meets her at the Palace Music Hall where they watch the performance of Mr Memory. Afterwards, they go back to Hannay’s flat where she confides in him that she works for British Intelligence and is on a mission ...