The spy film genre In film theory, genre refers to the method of film categorization based on similarities in the narrative elements from which films are constructed. Most theories of film genre are borrowed from literary genre criticism. As with genre in a literary context, there is a great deal of debate over how to define or categorize genres.[citation needed] deals with the subject of fictional espionage Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it is known that the information is in unauthorized, either in a realistic way or as a basis for fantasy. Many novels in the spy fiction Spy fiction, literature concerning the forms of espionage, was a sub-genre derived from the novel during the nineteenth century, which then evolved into a discrete genre before the First World War , when governments established modern intelligence agencies in the early twentieth century. As a genre, spy fiction is thematically related to the novel genre have been adapted as films, although in many cases (such as James Bond James Bond 007 is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. The character has also been used in the longest running and most financially successful English-language film franchise to date, starting in 1962 with Dr. No) the overall tone is changed.

The spy film genre began in the silent era A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially spoken dialogue. In entertainment silent films the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards. The idea of combining motion pictures with recorded sound is nearly as old as film itself, but because of the technical challenges involved,, with the paranoia of invasion literature Invasion literature was a historical literary genre most notable between 1871 and the First World War (1914). The genre first became recognizable starting in Britain in 1871 with The Battle of Dorking, a fictional account of an invasion of England by Germany. This short story was so popular it started a literary craze for tales that aroused and the start of the First World War World War I was a military conflict centered on Europe that began in the summer of 1914. The fighting ended in late 1918. This conflict involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Allies and the Central Powers. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilized in one of. 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.'^[1] (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 Friedrich "Fritz" Christian Anton Lang was an Austrian and later American filmmaker, screenwriter, and occasional film producer and actor. One of the best known émigrés from Germany's school of Expressionism, he was dubbed the "Master of Darkness" by the British Film Institute. His most famous films are the groundbreaking 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 Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was an English filmmaker and producer who pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in his native United Kingdom in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood. In 1956 he became an American citizen while retaining his British did much to popularise the spy film in the 1930s with his influential thrillers The Man Who Knew Too Much The Man Who Knew Too Much is a 1934 suspense film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and released by Gaumont British. It was one of the most successful and critically acclaimed films of Hitchcock's British period (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 William Somerset Maugham , CH (25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English playwright, novelist and short story writer. He was among the most popular writers of his era, and reputedly, the highest paid author during the 1930s'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. The Office of Strategic Services was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was the predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) 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 The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland[note 7] is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of the island of Ireland, and many small islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK with a land S.O.E. The Special Operations Executive (sometimes referred to as "the Baker Street Irregulars") was a World War II organisation of the United Kingdom. It was officially formed by Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton on 22 July 1940, to conduct warfare by means other than direct military engagement. Its agents, including Odette and Carve Her Name With Pride. A more recent fictional example is Charlotte Gray, based on the novel by Sebastian Faulks Sebastian Charles Faulks CBE FRSL is an a English novelist and journalist.

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 The Cold War was the continuing state of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition existing after World War II (1939–1945), primarily between the Soviet Union and its satellite states, and the powers of the Western world, particularly the United States. Although the primary participants' military forces never 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 Leonard Cyril Deighton is a British military historian, cookery writer, and novelist. He is perhaps most famous for his spy novel The IPCRESS File, which was made into a film starring Michael Caine and John le Carré David John Moore Cornwell , who writes under the name John le Carré, is an author of espionage novels. During the 1950s and the 1960s, Cornwell worked for MI5 and MI6, and began writing novels under the pseudonym "John le Carré". His third novel, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1963) was an international best-seller, and remains his were adapted into relatively serious Cold War The Cold War was the continuing state of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition existing after World War II (1939–1945), primarily between the Soviet Union and its satellite states, and the powers of the Western world, particularly the United States. Although the primary participants' military forces never 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 James Bond 007 is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. The character has also been used in the longest running and most financially successful English-language film franchise to date, starting in 1962 with Dr. No novels by Ian Fleming Ian Lancaster Fleming was a British author and journalist. Fleming is best remembered for creating the character of James Bond and chronicling Bond's adventures in twelve novels and nine short stories. With over 100 million copies sold worldwide, the Bond novels are in the list of best-selling book series Additionally, Fleming wrote the children's were adapted into an increasingly fantastical series of tongue-in-cheek adventure films by producers Harry Saltzman Harry Saltzman was a Canadian theatre and film producer best known for his mega-gamble which resulted in his co-producing the James Bond film series with Albert R. Broccoli. He lived most of his life in Denham, Buckinghamshire and Albert R. Broccoli Albert Romolo Broccoli, CBE (5 April 1909 – 27 June 1996), nicknamed "Cubby", was an Academy Award-winning American film producer, who made more than 40 motion pictures throughout his career, most of them in the United Kingdom, and often filmed at Pinewood Studios. Co-founder of Danjaq, LLC and EON Productions, Broccoli is most notable, with Sean Connery Sir Thomas Sean Connery , more commonly known as Sean Connery, is a retired Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards and three Golden Globes 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 James Harrison Coburn, Jr. was an American film and television actor who appeared in nearly 70 films and made over 100 television appearances during his 45-year career. He played a wide range of roles and won an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance in the film Affliction (1998), and the Matt Helm Matt Helm is a fictional character created by author Donald Hamilton. He is a U.S. government counter-agent—a man whose primary job is to kill or nullify enemy agents—not a spy or secret agent in the ordinary sense of the term as used in spy thrillers series with Dean Martin Dean Martin was an American singer, film actor and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "Mambo Italiano", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?". Nicknamed the "King of Cool", he. Television Television is a widely used telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images, either monochromatic ("black and white") or color, usually accompanied by sound. "Television" may also refer specifically to a television set, television programming or television transmission. The word is derived from mixed Latin also got into the act with series like The Man from U.N.C.L.E and I Spy I Spy is an American television secret agent adventure series. It ran for three seasons on NBC from 1965 to 1968 and teamed Robert Culp as international tennis player Kelly Robinson, and Bill Cosby as his trainer Alexander Scott. In reality, they were both top agents for the Pentagon and, while ostensibly traveling as "tennis bums" , in the U.S., and Danger Man and The Avengers The Avengers is a British television adventure series about secret agents in 1960s Britain. The programmes were made by TV company ABC Weekend Television , and created by its Head of Drama Sydney Newman. It was an early example of the spy-fi genre, often combining secret agent storylines with science fiction and fantasy elements, preceding the in Britain. Spies have remained popular on TV to the present day with series such as Callan, Alias Alias is an Emmy Award nominated American action television series created by J. J. Abrams which was broadcast on ABC for five seasons, from September 30, 2001 to May 22, 2006. It stars Jennifer Garner as Sydney Bristow, a CIA agent and Spooks Spooks is a BAFTA award-winning British television drama series produced by the independent production company Kudos for BBC One. The title is a popular colloquialism for spies, as the series follows the work of a group of MI5 intelligence officers based at the service's Thames House headquarters, in a highly secure suite of offices known as The.

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 Sir Austin Danger Powers, KBE, is a fictional character from the Austin Powers series of films. He first appeared in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery and is portrayed by Mike Myers. Today, spy films have trended away from fantasy elements in favor of realism. This trend can be seen in Syriana Syriana is a 2005 geopolitical thriller film written and directed by Stephen Gaghan, and executive produced by George Clooney, who also stars in the film with an ensemble cast. Gaghan's screenplay is loosely adapted from Robert Baer's memoir See No Evil. The film focuses on petroleum politics, and the global influence of the oil industry, whose, the Bourne film series and the more recent James Bond films Casino Royale Casino Royale is the twenty-first film in the British James Bond series; it was directed by Martin Campbell and the first to star Daniel Craig as MI6 agent James Bond and the first of the newly rebooted Bond timeline. Based on the 1953 novel of the same name by Ian Fleming, it was adapted by screenwriters Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, and Paul Haggis (2006) and Quantum of Solace (2008).

Films

Some of the most popular films include:

• Mata Hari Mata Hari is a 1931 pre-code film loosely based on the life of Mata Hari , an exotic dancer/courtesan executed for espionage during World War I. The film stars Greta Garbo in the title role. The film is credited with popularizing the legend of Mata Hari (1932), Greta Garbo Greta Garbo was a Swedish actress during Hollywood's silent film period and part of its Golden Age 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 North by Northwest is a 1959 American suspense film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason, and featuring Leo G. Carroll and Martin Landau. The screenplay was written by Ernest Lehman, who wanted to write "the Hitchcock picture to end all Hitchcock pictures" (1959)
• The Manchurian Candidate The Manchurian Candidate by Richard Condon, is a political thriller novel about the son of a prominent US political family who has been brainwashed into being an unwitting assassin for the Communist Party. The novel has twice been cinematically adapted, in 1962 and 2004 (1962) and (2004), a political thriller.
• The James Bond film series The James Bond film series are British spy films inspired by Ian Fleming's novels about the fictional MI6 agent James Bond . The franchise remains as one of the longest continually running film series in history, having been in ongoing production from 1962 to 2009 with a six-year hiatus between 1989 and 1995. In that time EON Productions has (from 1962 onwards)
• The Prize (1963), starring Paul Newman Paul Leonard Newman was an American actor, film director, entrepreneur, humanitarian, and auto racing enthusiast. He won numerous awards, including an Academy Award for best actor for his performance in the 1986 Martin Scorsese film The Color of Money and eight other nominations, three Golden Globe Awards, a BAFTA Award, a Screen Actors Guild and Elke Sommer.
• That Man from Rio (1964), French spoof of Bond-type films starring Jean-Paul Belmondo Born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, west of Paris, Belmondo did not perform well in school, but developed a passion for boxing and football.
• 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 James David Graham Niven , known as David Niven, was a British actor and novelist, best known for his roles as Phileas Fogg in Around the World in 80 Days and Sir Charles Litton, a.k.a. "the Phantom," in The Pink Panther. He was awarded the 1958 Academy Award for Best Actor in Separate Tables.
• The Deadly Affair (1966)
• The Quiller Memorandum (1966)
• Torn Curtain Torn Curtain is a political thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Paul Newman and Julie Andrews (1966), Hitchcock film starring Paul Newman.
• Arabesque (1966) adventure-romance with Gregory Peck One of 20th Century Fox's most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1960s, Peck continued to play important roles well into the 1990s. His notable performances include that of Atticus Finch in the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird, for which he won his Academy Award and Sophia Loren In 1962, she won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Two Women, becoming the first actress to win an Academy Award for a non-English-speaking performance. Loren has won 50 international awards, including two Oscars, five Golden Globe Awards, a Grammy Award and a BAFTA Award. Her other films include The Pride and the Passion ,
• A Dandy in Aspic (1968)
• Army of Shadows (1968), WWII espionage about French Resistance agents.
• Where Eagles Dare Where Eagles Dare is a 1968 World War II action-adventure spy film starring Richard Burton, Clint Eastwood, and Mary Ure. It was directed by Brian G. Hutton and shot on location in Austria and Bavaria (1968), WWII adventure from the Alistair MacLean novel.
• Topaz (1969), Hitchcock film starring John Forsythe John Forsythe , born John Lincoln Freund, was an American stage, television and film actor. Forsythe starred in three television series, spanning four decades and three genres: as single playboy father Bentley Gregg in the 1950s sitcom Bachelor Father (1957–1962); as the unseen millionaire Charles Townsend on the 1970s crime drama Charlie's.
• Subterfuge (1969), British espionage yarn with Gene Barry
• The Kremlin Letter (1970)
• Night Flight from Moscow (1972)
• Scorpio (1973), with Burt Lancaster Burton Stephen "Burt" Lancaster was an American film actor and star, noted for his athletic physique, distinct smile (which he called "The Grin") and, later, his willingness to play roles that went against his initial "tough guy" image. Initially dismissed as "Mr Muscles and Teeth", in the late 1950s
• The Mackintosh Man (1973), John Huston film with Paul Newman.
• The Black Windmill (1974)
• The Conversation The Conversation is a 1974 American thriller about audio surveillance, written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Allen Garfield, Cindy Williams and Frederic Forrest, and featuring Harrison Ford, Teri Garr and an uncredited appearance from Robert Duvall (1974)
• Three Days of the Condor (1975)
• The Eiger Sanction (1975)
• 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)
• The Russia House (1990), post-Cold War story from John le Carré novel
• Patriot Games (1992) and sequel Clear and Present Danger (1994) from the Tom Clancy novels.
• The Assignment (1997)
• Ronin (1998)
• Enemy of the State (1998)
• Enigma (2001)
• 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)
• Taken (2008)
• TRAITOR (2008)

Fantasy-oriented films and satire

Some of the popular films with fantasy or satirical elements include:

• My Favorite Spy (1951), Bob Hope in a mistaken-identity comedy.
• 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.
• The 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.
• The 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
• What's Up, Tiger Lily? (1966), Woody Allen comedy re-dubs the dialog of a low-budget Japanese spy film.
• 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 większa niż życie (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.
• A Man Called Sloane (1979-80), combination of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and The Wild Wild West
• 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
• The Agency (2001-2003)
• 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)
• The Company (2007), TV miniseries about the CIA during the Cold War from the Robert Littell book.
• 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.

References

1. ^ O.H.M.S. at the Internet Movie Database

Categories: Film genres | Spy fiction | Espionage by medium

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