The Ipcress File News

PROFILE MICHAEL Caine has a phrase that he used as a mantra with his children: "Use the difficulty". It neatly encapsulates his attitude to a life in which he spent the first 30 years overcoming war, his lowly station in life and a poor family; three anchors that continually conspired to drag the archetypal Cockney geezer back into the south London ...

Sir Michael Caine is a veteran of more than 100 films spanning more than 50 years, but his latest outing, in the grimy, hard-hitting "urban western" Harry Brown is one of his most personal projects yet.

Harry Brown sees Caine back on his old stomping ground. Will Connery and co follow his lead? Gun for hire: Michael Caine, back to sort out Blighty in Harry Brown.

Sir Michael Caine has long been a friend of the Mirror - so we are very proud to be able to show you a world exclusive preview clip of his acclaimed new movie Harry Brown.

A WELSH actor who appeared in classic series such as The Avengers and Dixon of Dock Green has died aged 85.

Caption: Michael Caine Gala Premiere of 'Is Anybody There?' held at the Curzon Mayfair - Arrivals.

Rating : * * * Verdict : One performance doesn't make a movie. Indifferent material is only partly redeemed by a rock-solid piece of character acting from the evergreen Caine in the story of an unlikely friendship between a 10-year-old boy and an old man.

Well it wouldn't be James Bond would it? Perhaps he would like a crack at that franchise, but it appears not, but it is a spy series from another British author that could well become the hipper and cooler version of Bond.

Cracking yarns: Len Deighton teaching Michael Caine to make an omelette on the set of 'The Ipcress File' in 1965 Long before he became one of the 20th century's leading thriller writers, Len Deighton was a top food writer.

"I'm not very good at magic. My hands are all wrong. I've got the hands of the Boston Strangler," laughs the Cockney-doused voice on the other end of my phone.

Michael Caine, pictured in the 1971 crime classic Get Carter, is one of the cinema's hardest-working actors.

It was a combination of egg and Ipcress that made Matthew Fort realise how cool cooking could be.

By the time they reach their mid-70s, most movie stars are too preoccupied with the cosmetic maintenance of their famous faces to even consider playing their age.

"I will not pay the Government more than I get. No way, ever," he says. "They've reached their limit with me, and that's what will happen to a lot of people.