The Spy Who Came in from the Cold is a 1965 film adaptation of the novel of the same name by John le Carré. It was adapted by Paul Dehn and Guy Trosper. The film stars Richard Burton as Alec Leamas, along with Claire Bloom, Oskar Werner, Peter van Eyck, Sam Wanamaker, Rupert Davies and Cyril Cusack. It was directed by Martin Ritt.
Plot
The West Berlin office of the Circus, under administrator Alec Leamas (Richard Burton), has not been doing well. In fact, he is recalled to London shortly after the death of one of his operatives. Leamas is seemingly demoted to the banking section of the agency. In reality, a carefully-staged transformation of Leamas has been arranged. Now depressed and disgruntled, he is quickly spotted by the East German Intelligence Service as a potential defector.
Leamas accepts overtures from German communists to reveal British secrets for payment, and he is interviewed in Holland about what he knows. When the process is later moved to East Berlin, the interviews become less cordial. It appears Leamas has information that will implicate a powerful East German intelligence officer named Mundt as a paid informant of the British, but the information is spotty and it frustrates his interrogator, "Herr Fiedler" (Oskar Werner). When Mundt arrives at the compound and discovers the investigation, he has both Leamas and Fiedler arrested. Mundt is eventually arrested himself.
An East German tribunal ensues to determine the guilt of Mundt, or possibly Fiedler, with Leamas appearing as a star witness. Mundt's attorney (George Voskovec) uncovers several discrepancies in Leamas' transformation into an informant. Leamas' credibility is further undermined when his English girlfriend, an unassuming and idealistic communist named Nan Perry (Claire Bloom), is brought into the hearings to confirm Leamas' character. As Leamas' charade unravels and he is forced to admit he is still working as a British agent, Fiedler is escorted from the room as a complicit dupe and Mundt's reputation is untarnished.
Leamas initially believes he has failed in his mission and he will soon be executed. But when Mundt releases him from his cell with an escape plan in tow, he learns that his mission has actually succeeded; Fiedler was the agent to be undermined and Mundt was indeed a British agent. Although this comes as a surprise to Leamas he isn't completely shocked by the revelation. As he and Perry sit in a car waiting to be escorted from communist Germany, she berates him as being involved in murder; the execution of Fiedler who was guilty of nothing. Leamas, agitated by Perry's naiveté, tells her that her worldview is childish and people are murdered every day - on both sides - while she lives an insulated life: "What do you think spies are?" he asks. "They are a bunch of seedy squalid bastards, henpecked husbands, sadists, queers, drunkards..."
Leamas and Perry are soon ushered to the Berlin Wall and given accommodation to leave. But Perry has learned too much about Mundt's true identity and is not trustworthy to retain it. She becomes a victim of the Cold War and is shot down before canvassing the wall. Leamas then looks down from the top of the wall at Perry, while agents from both sides urge him to return to the west. He instead goes to Perry's lifeless body, and in doing so he joins her fate.
Cast
Production
The film closely follows the plot of the novel. One exception is that the name of the principal female character, "Liz Gold" in the novel, is changed to "Nan Perry," supposedly because the producers were worried about out-of-context quotes of Burton from the film being used in reference to his real-life wife, Elizabeth "Liz" Taylor.Two other significant differences are a) that there are no references to Liz Gold's/Nan Perry's Jewishness, which fact figures in the novel as both she and Fiedler are subject to East German Communist antisemitic taunts, and b) the explanation of the film's/novel's title by Control's suggesting to George Smiley that Leamas' decision to join Gold/Perry in death represented his final wish to reenter the warmth of human love and companionship and thus "Come in from the Cold" of isolation and alienation that characterizes the life of the spy.
Reception
The film was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Richard Burton) and Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White (Hal Pereira, Tambi Larsen, Ted Marshall, Josie MacAvin). [1] Oskar Werner won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Fiedler. The film was awarded four BAFTA Awards, including Best British Film and Best British Actor (Burton). The screenwriters, Paul Dehn and Guy Trosper, received an Edgar Award for best movie screenplay.
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