The Spy Who Came In from the Cold

Frosty reception assured.

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold is directed by Martin Ritt and adapted to screenplay by Paul Dehn and Guy Trosper from the novel of the same name written by John le Carré. It stars Richard Burton, Claire Bloom, Oskar Werner, Peter van Eyck, Sam Wanamaker, Rupert Davies and Cyril Cusack. Music is by Sol Kaplan and cinematography by Oswald Morris.

Disillusioned spy Alex Leamas (Burton) returns from Berlin and is required to "come in from the cold" and work in a stable everyday job environment. But this is just a small piece of a much bigger jigsaw… From start to finish this is a deliberate downer of a movie, the complete flipside to the spy adventures served up in other high energy filmic quarters. Filmed in coarse monochrome to set the mood, picture is often depressing, overtly talky and complex in its characterisations and narrative bent. However, those things are not hindrances, for this is undeniably adult stuff, oozing with intelligence and intricacies for the mature film fan, a clinically spun web of pawns, manipulations and distrustful men. The Cold War backdrop is marked as deathly cold, where the grey weather is only matched by the colourless complexion of Burton's depressed spy. As the twists rack up and the tension noose is tightened, Ritt and his cast of excellent performers are only interested in keeping it real, right up to, and including, the devastating finale.

Not one to turn to when in need of a pick-me-up, or in fact a film you want to watch perennially, but certainly it's a piece of work that serves to remind us that intense well written and performed cinema is always available to view when the mood fits. 8/10

Talky, brooding B&W spy drama during the Cold War with Richard Burton

In the early ’60s, an alcoholic British intelligence agent (Richard Burton) is sent behind the Iron Curtain to East Germany disguised as a defector, but intending to spread disinformation.

Based on the 1963 novel by John le Carré, "The Spy Who Came in From the Cold" (1965) is a realistic spy drama and NOT an action thriller in the mold of James Bond. It’s similar to another flick based on a le Carré book, “The Russian House” (1990), which ironically starred Sean Connery. Both movies are dialogue-driven and their depiction of intelligence work is decidedly mundane, static and cynical, which isn’t to say they’re not worth checking out for those interested. The tone is similar to “36 Hours” with James Garner from the year prior.

Burton locked horns a bit with the director and the tense atmosphere on set was heightened by the presence of Elizabeth Taylor, Burton’s wife, likely due to costar Claire Bloom’s romantic history with Richard. Claire plays the librarian, Nan Perry.

The movie runs 1 hour, 52 minutes, and was shot in Ireland’s Ardmore Studios and England's Shepperton Studios with exterior scenes done in Dublin; for instance, Smithfield, Dublin, was used as the location for the Berlin checkpoint at the opening.

GRADE: B-

There's an authenticity about the performance from Richard Burton in this cold war thriller that, alongside some well paced direction from Martin Ritt really helps it hit home. His character ("Leamas") is assigned one final task, to deal with the duplicitous Peter van Eyck ("Mundt") who appears to be systematically removing the West's reliable sources of information. What follows is a far more psychological cat-and-mouse game as he gets apprehended, and has to play a very dangerous game balancing the needs of his mission with his own survival instincts - all of this without much clue as to whom he can really trust and against a backdrop of thinly veiled prejudices. John le Carré's books were always packed with detail - and that detail carries well into this film, it offers a richness to the proceedings that ensures we are drawn into the plot like a mouse after the cheese. Claire Bloom adds a diversion to the intensity - but in a sophisticated fashion - maybe she's just innocent, or could she actually be involved? Oskar Werner, Robert Hardy, Michael Hordern and a rather menacing Beatrix Lehmann all play important cogs in the wheel too. It's a watch that requires a degree of concentration - like the story itself, blink and you might miss something... important!