This is an exceptionally well made film, and, if not the antithesis, at least the flip-side of the Bond series. This film is what real espionage is, not a romanticized fantasy, no matter how fun those can be. This may be Burton’s best performance, one of Oskar Werner’s, and Claire Bloom is perfectly cast.
You know, Martin Ritt really needs to be rediscovered. THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD, HUD, SOUNDER, NORMA RAE … these are all exceptional films that are smart and have something to say.
Since March has just started, make that a goal — by the end of the month, it is your duty to watch a Martin Ritt film.
I saw The Spy Who Came In From The Cold again recently…very, very good film.
I also always liked the Carol Reed film, “The Man Between”, starring James Mason. It captures that bleakness of the Cold War era like Ritt’s film, and that cynicism too. The ending is just as bleak also.
Unfortunately, the film is impossible to find on DVD in North America. Hello Criterion?
Christopher, I’ve just bumped up The Spy Who Came In From The Cold on my Netflix que : )
I think Martin Ritt is in my Fave Directors profile (too lazy to check), but in any case The Spy Who Came in from the Cold is one of the few films I reviewed in my profile.
I invariably recommend this picture to folks who ask for movie suggestions. Feed back is always positive, often glowing.
I agree that Oskar Werner is exceptional in his role, but Burton owns every scene he’s in.
As for the picture’s themes, I can’t agree with this comment:
"leaves one wondering if there really was any difference between life in the “East” and life in the “West.”
I think we might wonder instead if there was a difference, in the espionage realm, between the West’s moral calculations and the East’s.
But LIFE? Well for openers, anyone departing the West simply departed, while those departing East Germany took a bullet in the back.
I watched The Spy Who Came In From The Cold about a month ago and was really excited to see it. I thoroughly enjoy spy/international/globe-trotting thrillers (this does, of course, include the Bond canon). I must admit, I was disappointed in The Spy… it just did not hold my attention, even though I really wanted to like, I just could not get into it. I am not sure why, maybe it was one of those night where I forced myself to watch a film even though I was not in the mood. I can say, that I do remember being slightly confused in the beginning and not really knowing why he had to perform on last mission. Should I Rewatch it again and maybe with a little more concentration?
The nihilism of “the great game”. Le Carre pretty much owned that theme for a while and I think he gets a solid treatment here.
I didn’t now they could make a picture that was more bitter and defeatist than “The Third Man”.
Holly Martins just has Alida Valli walk on by. Bad enough, but the total devastation of Alec Leamus is terminal.
Always been a favorite film. Claire Bloom helps it out, too.
Thanks for the recommendation. I saw it on Criterion’s site but didn’t think to much of it (since I’ve got the Agnes Varda box set I’m still going through, plus the Ingmar Bergman one). I’ll push this to the top of my list. I’m a huge James Bond fan but I’m also a big fan of gritty type stories (which is why the last two Bond movies are two of my favorites). Is it safe to assume that having said that, I will get more out of this film?
Despite all of the great things I had heard about this film, I might never have gotten around to it if I didn’t have such a huge crush on Oskar Werner. Boy, am I glad I finally rented. I saw it for the first time a couple of months ago, and found it to be an incredibly compelling film that lingered with me for days afterward.
Alan Carrier
I am compelled to write by the ridiculous review in today’s NYTimes. This is perhaps the finest film, along with the recent “Das Leben der Anderen,” to depict the bleakest times during the “Cold War.” Director Martin Ritt brings an unrelenting grit that leaves one wondering if there really was any difference between life in the “East” and life in the “West.” One of Burton’s great performances particularly as paired with the utterly naive yet lovely Claire Bloom. I hear Burton from his later performance in Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of V Woolf?” “Total war?” and Martha’s response: “TOTAL.” Such was the time of “Spy Who Came In From The Cold.”