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The Spy Who Came
in from the Cold (1965),
Director: Martin Ritt, rated PG
The Book the
World Could Not Lay Down is Now a Motion Picture
  Starring: Richard
Burton, Claire Bloom, Oskar Werner, Georege Voskovec, Rupert
Davies, Cyril Cusack, Peter van Eyck, Michael Hordern
DML Rating:
★★★★★★★★★☆
- near perfect
"What the hell do you think
spies are? Moral philosophers measuring everything they do
against the word
of God or Karl Marx? They're not! They're just
a bunch of seedy, squalid bastards like me: little men,
drunkards,
hen-pecked husbands, civil servants playing cowboys
and Indians to brighten their rotten little lives." -
Alec Leamas
Why watch this?
There is always something smoldering deep within Richard Burton.
Plot Summary:
Disillusioned British agent Alec Leamas is tasked with posing as
a defector to East Germany. His mission involves spreading false
information about a high-ranking East German intelligence
officer, making him appear to be a double agent. As Leamas
becomes embroiled in a web of plots and counterplots, the lines
between friend and foe become increasingly blurred.
Dad's Preview:
This tense, intelligent spy film, set during the Cold War, hooked me
immediately. It takes a lot of focus to follow the plot. You'll
miss things, but perhaps that is the point. This is all about being
undercover, and infiltration. Secrecy is essential to double
agents. There is a realness to this
film, too. It's not flashy like James Bond, which makes
if feel more authentic. Burton was
nominated for the Best Actor Oscar, and it was richly deserved.
Salem Films
Limited; Paramount Pictures
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