Harry Palmer

Harry Palmer is the name given to the anti-hero protagonist of several films based on spy novels written by Len Deighton, in which the main character is an unnamed intelligence officer. For convenience, the novels are also often referred to as the "Harry Palmer" novels.

Michael Caine played Harry Palmer in three films based on published novels featuring this character: The Ipcress File (1965), Funeral in Berlin (1966) and Billion Dollar Brain (1967). Caine also starred as this character in two other films not directly based on Deighton's novels.

The Times called Caine "the epitome of Sixties cool in his first outing as the secret agent Harry Palmer". A trailer for his second role as Palmer described him as possessing "horn rims, cockney wit and an iron fist". The character's thick horn-rimmed glasses, girls, and disregard for authority were cited by Mike Myers as an influence for Austin Powers; Caine would later star in Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002), with his portrayal of Nigel Powers, father of secret agent Austin Powers, a spoof of Palmer.

When developing the 1965 film The Ipcress File, based on Len Deighton's 1962 novel of the same name, the production team needed a name for the previously anonymous protagonist, a rough-edged, petty crook turned spy. They chose "Harry Palmer", because they wanted a mundane name, 'one that means absolutely nothing, a common name', to distance him from Ian Fleming's James Bond, the stereotypical sophisticated, swashbuckling spy. Caine stated at the time of filming that he knew a dull kid at school called "Palmer", with Harry Saltzman saying 'good, and what about a first name?', to which Caine innocently remarked "Harry", not realising his gaffe until seeing Saltzman's stare.

Len Deighton introduced the lead character in The IPCRESS File, his first novel, published in November 1962. In that first-person novel, the intelligence officer is anonymous, although at one point he is greeted by someone saying "Hello, Harry"; he later says, "Now my name isn't Harry, but in this business it's hard to remember whether it ever had been." Deighton's character is described as working class, living in a back street flat and seedy hotels, and shopping in supermarkets. He wears glasses, is hindered by bureaucracy, and craves a pay rise. It is revealed in passing that he is from Burnley, Lancashire, and that he was born in 1922 or 1923.

Further novels featuring this character followed, including Horse Under Water (1963), Funeral in Berlin (1964), Billion-Dollar Brain (1966), and An Expensive Place to Die (1967). Again, the lead character is never named, but they appear to be the same character in all of the books. In his 2009 afterword to Horse Under Water, Deighton noted "Now, writing a second book, I found it an advantage to have an anonymous hero. He might be the same man; or maybe not. I was able to make minor changes to him and his background...I realized that...identifying him as a northerner would make demands on my knowledge that I could not sustain. It would be more sensible to give him a background closer to my own."

From the first novel onwards, the narrator shows knowledge of fine food and drink, painting, classical and 20th-century music, jazz, military history, and Latin. In Horse Under Water, he is described as an expert on world currency.

In 1974, the novel Spy Story was published, followed by Yesterday's Spy (1975), and Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Spy (1976) (also known as Catch a Falling Spy in North America). As the protagonist also remains anonymous in these novels, it is still open to debate whether the narrator of these last three novels is the same as in the earlier books. There is conflicting evidence for either view. Despite this, and despite the lead protagonist being unnamed, all eight books have been unofficially called the Harry Palmer novels, based on the protagonist's name given in the subsequent film adaptations of The IPCRESS File and its sequels.