The Spy Who Came in From the Cold (1965)

“She offered me free love. At the time, that was all I could afford. ” – Alec

Number of Times Seen – 1 (21 May 2018)

Brief Synopsis – A British spy is sent on a daring mission in order to gain imperative information from the enemy during the height of the Cold War.

My Take on it – This is a film that I have been interested in seeing for years, but never got around to it.

The fact that I’m now trying to watch all of the films of Oscar nominated Best Actors over the years gave me the opportunity to finally do so.

This is an enjoyable spy thriller that does its job showing that life as a spy isn’t always as simple as James Bond makes it out to be.

The job that these kind of men and women must take on is a very complex one since the web of the espionage system is not as straight-forward as one might presume especially during the height of the Cold War during the 1960’s.

This film was the first film adaptation of a John La Carre novel and despite the fact that parts of this film move along at a super slow pace, they are still able to give us a realistic look at the interesting way that spy games were played at that time.

Richard Burton does a wonderful job in the lead here and rightfully got an Oscar Best Actor nomination for this role.

His character is developed really well in the way that we can see how much he is devoted to this country and his job even at the cost of his personal life no matter the cost.

They do a great job showing how similar the lives of spies on both sides are eventhough they each pledge their allegiance to different flags and causes.

Bottom Line – Enjoyable spy thriller that shows how complex the whole espionage system was during the height of the Cold War in the mid-1960’s.  This was La Carre’s first film adaptation and even though parts move extremely slowly, they are able to give us a realistic look at the way spy games were played during those days. Burton is quite good in the lead and he gives us a character who is developed quite well in that we see how much he is willing to give up in his personal life in order to do his duty for his country no matter the cost.  They do a great job showing the way of life of spies on both sides which shows how universal these men and women are despite pledging allegiance to different sides. Recommended!

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – Author John le Carré worked for British Intelligence MI5 and MI6 during the 1950s and 1960s and worked in Berlin where this film is partially set. Le Carré was there when the Berlin Wall was being constructed. Le Carré drew on this real life experience when he wrote the novel of ‘The Spy Who Came in from the Cold’. The novel is set about a year after the Berlin Wall was built. (From IMDB)

Rating – Globe Worthy (7/10)

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