10 Best Spy Films That AREN'T James Bond

It's no surprise that the various adaptations of John Le Carré's novels emerged as the most notable antidote to Bond, cut as they were from a more contemporary political context, but what is interesting is that another 007 challenger emerged from within its own home.

The Harry Palmer films, adapted from a series of novels by Len Deighton, emerged under the eye of Bond producer Harry Saltzman following Deighton's involvement with From Russia with Love and also brought in the likes of Bond alumni Peter R. Hunt, Guy Hamilton and John Barry. However, even with all that Bond DNA coursing through its veins, Palmer emerged as his own distinct force, featuring in three films from 1965 to 1967, the first of which, The Ipcress File, is surely one of the best British films of the decade.

Directed by Sidney J. Furie, shot by Otto Heller, and edited by Hunt (whose frenetic editing techniques defined the early Bond films and resulted in him directing the series' near-best installment, On Her Majesty's Secret Service), Ipcress was like Le Carré on an acid trip, combining Manchurian Candidate psychedelia with Cold War paranoia, kitchen sink instincts, and sixties gloss to deliver something uniquely stylish and gripping.

Centred around Michael Caine's Palmer - a working-class cockney crook pressed into the employ of the intelligence services - Ipcress' story unfolds like origami, each revelation forcing a reevaluation of the events immediately preceding until finally the truth is revealed. A mind-bendingly good classic that features Caine in one of his finest roles.