Movie #261 The Spy Who Came in from the Cold *1965*

I started watching this film while I was in Japan.  I was enjoying it quite a bit, but I was very tired and decided to go to sleep.  I rented it from iTunes and by the time I made it around to watch it again my rental time had expired.

The film stars Richard Burton as a tough English spy.  His mission is to appear to be a drunk defector and try to lead to the capture and assassination of a former British agent.  Burton was excellent in the role.  First off I don't think he had to stretch his acting chops much to play a drunk.  By reputation Burton was known to be a hard drinker if not a blackout drunk.  But there was a desperation to the character that Burton brought to the role.  The character had to convey and almost nihilistic attitude.  All he cared about was booze and money, and the money was only to buy more booze.  He stopped caring about country, dignity and love.  

The film opens on a great set piece.  A guard shack in a joint security area.  I forget which countries are bordering each other.  He is in charge of the area.  They are waiting for a specific person.  The camera work, lighting and set design function very well to set the time and location of the story.  The script introduces us to Burton's character and we right away what type of a man he is.


Once Operation Rolling Stone is set into action (where Burton will attempt to look like a defector) the plot and story opens up and we are introduced to a few more characters.  Notably Nan Perry who plays Burton's communist sort-of-lover / girlfriend.  They work together in a library.  At first I think he was using her to make his new lifestyle look more believable.  Then I think he gained true feelings for her.   Also notably is Oskar Werner who plays Fiedler.  A German who is sent to interrogate Burton.  There is a great scene where he is standing and he asks for some papers from a guy who is sitting 10 feet away from him.  He reaches his hand out as down the man sitting.  Feidler just stands there with his arm out and makes the guy get up and hand the papers to him.  It was a very small thing, but it solidified Fiedler.  Fielder was a take charge man who would never let anyone get the better of him.  All the while Burton is playing him for a fool.

The film closes with a tribunal where all this is brought to the surface and there is a twist that can be seen coming a mile away, but the consequences of this twist were shocking.  The final scene is a little too classic Hollywood for me, but none the less it is effective.

Burton has a great line in the film that I will paraphrase: I don't believe in Father Christmas, God or Karl Marx.  I don't believe in things that shake the world.  This movie is filled with great British qoute.  And great actors to deliver them.  I give The Spy Who Came in from the Cold ★★★1/2.