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Spy film
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The spy film genre deals with the subject of fictional espionage, either in a realistic way or as a basis for fantasy. Many novels in the spy fiction genre have been adapted as films, although in many cases (such as James Bond) the overall tone is changed.
The spy film genre began in the silent era, with the paranoia of invasion literature and the start of the First World War. These produced the British 1914 'The German Spy Peril' (centred around a plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament) and 'O.H.M.S.' (standing for Our Helpless Millions Saved as well as On Her Majesty's Service, and introducing for the first time a strong female character who helps the hero).
In 1928, Fritz Lang made the film Spies which contained many tropes that became popular in later spy dramas, including secret headquarters, an agent known by a number, and the beautiful foreign agent who comes to love the hero.
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Encyclopedia
The spy film genre deals with the subject of fictional espionage, either in a realistic way or as a basis for fantasy. Many novels in the spy fiction genre have been adapted as films, although in many cases (such as James Bond) the overall tone is changed.
The spy film genre began in the silent era, with the paranoia of invasion literature and the start of the First World War. These produced the British 1914 'The German Spy Peril' (centred around a plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament) and 'O.H.M.S.' (standing for Our Helpless Millions Saved as well as On Her Majesty's Service, and introducing for the first time a strong female character who helps the hero).
In 1928, Fritz Lang made the film Spies which contained many tropes that became popular in later spy dramas, including secret headquarters, an agent known by a number, and the beautiful foreign agent who comes to love the hero. Lang's Dr. Mabuse films from the period also contain elements of spy thrillers, though the central character is a criminal mastermind only interested in espionage for profit. Additionally, several of Lang's American films, such as Hangmen Also Die, deal with spies during World War II.
Alfred Hitchcock did much to popularise the spy film in the 1930s with his influential thrillers The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934), The 39 Steps (1935), Sabotage (1937) and The Lady Vanishes (1938). These often involved innocent civilians being caught up in international conspiracies. Some, however, dealt with professional spies as in Hitchcock's Secret Agent (1936), based on W. Somerset Maugham's Ashenden stories.
In the 1940s and early 1950s there were several films made about the exploits of Allied agents in occupied Europe, which could probably be considered as a sub-genre. 13 Rue Madeleine and O.S.S. were fictional stories about American agents in German-occupied France, and there were a number of films based on the stories of real-life British S.O.E. agents, including Odette and Carve Her Name With Pride. A more recent fictional example is Charlotte Gray, based on the novel by Sebastian Faulks.
Also during the period, there were many detective films (The Thin Man Goes Home and Charlie Chan in the Secret Service for example) in which the mystery involved who stole the secret blue-prints, or who kidnapped the famous scientist.
The peak of popularity of the spy film is often considered to be the 1960s when Cold War fears meshed with a desire by audiences to see exciting and suspenseful films. The espionage film developed in two directions at this time. On the one hand, the realistic spy novels of Len Deighton and John le Carré were adapted into relatively serious Cold War thrillers which dealt with some of the realities of the espionage world. Some of these films included The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965), The Deadly Affair (1966), and the Harry Palmer series, based on the novels of Len Deighton.
At the same time, the James Bond novels by Ian Fleming were adapted into an increasingly fantastical series of tongue-in-cheek adventure films by producers Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Broccoli, with Sean Connery as the star. The phenomenal success of the Bond series lead to a deluge of imitators, such as the Eurospy genre and several from America. Among the best known examples were the two 'Derek Flint' films starring James Coburn, and the Matt Helm series with Dean Martin. Television also got into the act with series like The Man from U.N.C.L.E and I Spy in the U.S., and Danger Man and The Avengers in Britain. Spies have remained popular on TV to the present day with series such as Callan, Alias and Spooks.
Spy films also enjoyed something of a revival in the late 1990s, although these were often action films with espionage elements, or comedies like Austin Powers. Today, spy films have trended away from fantasy elements in favor of realism. This trend can be seen in Syriana, the Bourne film series and the more recent James Bond films Casino Royale (2006) and Quantum of Solace (2008).
Films
Some of the most popular films include:
- Mata Hari (1932), Greta Garbo plays the real-life WWI spy.
- British Agent (1934), based on the memoirs of Bruce-Lockhart, portraying the Russian Revolution
- The 39 Steps (1935)
- Secret Agent (1936)
- North by Northwest (1959)
- The Manchurian Candidate (1962) and (2004), a political thriller.
- The James Bond film series (from 1962 onwards)
- The Prize (1963), starring Paul Newman and Elke Sommer.
- That Man from Rio (1964), French spoof of Bond-type films starring Jean-Paul Belmondo.
- The Harry Palmer series - The IPCRESS File, Funeral in Berlin and Billion Dollar Brain (1965-1967).
- The Spy Who Came In from the Cold (1965)
- Where the Spies Are (1965), adventure-comedy with David Niven.
- The Quiller Memorandum (1966)
- Torn Curtain (1966), Hitchcock film starring Paul Newman.
- Arabesque (film) (1966) adventure-romance with Gregory Peck and Sophia Loren
- A Dandy in Aspic (1968)
- Army of Shadows (1968), WWII espionage about French Resistance agents.
- Where Eagles Dare (1968), WWII adventure from the Alistair MacLean novel.
- Topaz (1969), Hitchcock film starring John Forsythe.
- Subterfuge (1969), British espionage yarn with Gene Barry
- The Kremlin Letter (1970)
- Night Flight from Moscow (1972)
- Scorpio (1973), with Burt Lancaster
- The Mackintosh Man (1973), John Huston film with Paul Newman.
- The Black Windmill (1974)
- Three Days of the Condor (1975)
- The Eye of the Needle (1981), WWII espionage from the Ken Follett novel.
- The Falcon and the Snowman (1985), based on a true story.
- The Fourth Protocol (1987)
- Patriot Games (1992) and sequel Clear and Present Danger (1994) from the Tom Clancey novels.
- The Assignment (1997)
- Ronin (1998)
- Enemy of the State (1998)
- Enigma (2001 film)
- Spy Game (2001)
- The Bourne film series - The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy, and The Bourne Ultimatum (2002-2007)
- The Recruit (2003)
- Munich (2005), Steven Spielberg film based on real events.
- Syriana (2005), political thriller set in the Middle East.
- The Good Shepherd (2006)
- Body of Lies (2008)
Fantasy-oriented films and satire
Some of the popular films with fantasy or satirical elements include:
- Agent 8 3/4 (1964), British spy comedy with Dirk Bogarde.
- The Man from U.N.C.L.E (1965-1968) 8 spin-off films made from 2-part episodes and added footage.
- Second Best Secret Agent in the Whole Wide World (1965), British satire of the James Bond films.
- Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965) and Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs (1966) satirize the James Bond films, particularly Goldfinger.
- A Man Called Flintstone (1966), feature-length cartoon based on TV series parodies spy films.
- A Man Could Get Killed (1966), mistaken-identity spy spoof with James Garner.
- The Glass Bottom Boat (1966), Doris Day mistaken for a spy; Robert Vaughn cameo as Napoleon Solo.
- Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die (1966), campy Italian spoof of the Bond films.
- Our Man Flint and In Like Flint (1966-1967) with James Coburn as a Bond-like American agent.
- The Matt Helm series starring Dean Martin (1966-1969), serious spy novels "Martinized" into campy spoofs.
- Modesty Blaise (1966), partial satire based on comic strip about sexy female spy.
- The Last of the Secret Agents (1966), Allen & Rossi comedy with Nancy Sinatra
- Casino Royale (1967 film) campy parody of the James Bond series.
- Fathom (1967), comedic spy caper with Raquel Welch.
- The President's Analyst (1967) counterculture satire of spy films, Cold War politics, etc.
- Deadlier Than the Male (1967) and Some Girls Do (1969), Bulldog Drummond returns as Bond-like hero.
- Hammerhead (1968), one of many imitative James Bond knockoffs.
- Top Secret! (1984), slapstick espionage comedy.
- Spies Like Us (1985), comedy with Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd.
- Nikita aka La Femme Nikita (1990), French film inspired the TV series La Femme Nikita (1997-2001)
- If Looks Could Kill (1991), a mistaken-identity comedy.
- Point of No Return (1993) English-language remake of La Femme Nikita with Bridget Fonda.
- True Lies (1994), Arnold Schwarzenegger action-comedy.
- Spy Hard (1996), Leslie Nielsen spoofs James Bond and action films.
- Mission: Impossible film series (1996-2006), a remake of the TV series.
- Austin Powers series (1997-2002), spoofs '60s films like Casino Royale and the Matt Helm/Derek Flint series.
- The Man Who Knew Too Little (1997), mistaken-identity comedy with Bill Murray.
- The xXx film series (2002-2005) with Vin Diesel, Ice Cube, Samuel L. Jackson
- Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002)
- Cypher (2002)
- The Agent Cody Banks film series (2003)
- Johnny English (2003), a James Bond spoof with Rowan Atkinson.
- D.E.B.S. (2004), offbeat female-based spy spoof.
- Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), action-comedy about two undercover assassins.
- Aeon Flux (2005), Charlize Theron spy-fi film based on animated MTV mini-series.
- The Matador (2006), black comedy with former Bond actor Pierce Brosnan.
- The Spy Kids trilogy 2001-2003
- Stormbreaker (2006), aka Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker
- RSTC: Reserve Spy Training Corps (2006)
- Get Smart (2008) comedy based on the popular 1960s spy-spoof TV series.
- Burn After Reading (2008), Coen brothers farce about inept spies and blackmail.
(See also: Parodies of James Bond)
TV shows
- The Avengers (1961-1969), British Spy-fi with Patrick Macnee, Diana Rigg, Honor Blackman, Linda Thorson.
- Danger Man (1960-1962) and (1964-1966), aka Secret Agent in the U.S.
- The Saint (1962-1969), mystery series that became more Bond-like with future 007 Roger Moore.
- The Man from U.N.C.L.E (1964-1968), tongue-in-cheek spy adventure series.
- The Girl from U.N.C.L.E (1966-1967), campy spin-off series starring Stefanie Powers.
- Amos Burke, Secret Agent (1965-1966), Burke's Law revamped to join the spy trend
- I Spy (1965-1968), realistic drama with comedic touches.
- The Wild Wild West (1965-1969), unique hybrid of the spy, spy-fi, Western, and gothic horror genres.
- Get Smart (1965-1970), Mel Brooks parody of the spy genre.
- Mission: Impossible (1966-1973) and (1988-1990), experts of deception form sting-operation team.
- The Prisoner (1967), allegorical miniseries with Spy-fi elements
- Stawka wieksza niz zycie (1967-1968)
- Callan (1967-1972)
- It Takes a Thief (1968-70) suave cat burglar (Robert Wagner) forced to work for CIA-like agency.
- Search (TV series) (1972-73) Spy-fi series, agents implanted with hi-tech devices.
- Seventeen Moments of Spring (1973)
- The Sandbaggers (1978-1980), British Cold War drama.
- Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1979), British miniseries from John le Carré novel.
- Reilly, Ace of Spies (1980), PBS miniseries based on real events in Russia in 1918.
- Aeon Flux (1995), MTV animated Spy-fi mini-series made into feature film in 2005.
- Spy Game (TV series) (1997), failed attempt to revive the tongue-in-cheek spy concept
- La Femme Nikita (1997-2001), Peta Wilson series based on the film Nikita
- Alias (2001-2006), starring Jennifer Garner as an undercover agent.
- 24 (2001-present), real-time action drama with Kiefer Sutherland as government agent.
- Spooks (2002-present), aka MI-5 in the U.S. and Canada
- L/R: Licensed by Royalty (2003)
- Burn Notice (2007-present)
- Chuck (2007-present) comedy-adventure about average guy caught up in espionage.
- The Middleman (TV series) (2008), Spy-fi action-comedy about college girl recruited by a secret agency.
Spy films or television series that include elements of science fiction are sometimes called Spy-fi.
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