Ring of Spies (1964)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Robert Tronson

Writers:

Peter Barnes (writer)
Frank Launder (writer)

Release Date:

28 May 1964 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Step by step, the story of the Spy Ring that surprised the world!

Plot:

The film is based on the actual events of the Portland Spy Ring trial in the U.K. A disgruntled Navy...

Plot Keywords:

Spy | Blackmail | Independent Film

Cast

Bernard Lee	...	Henry Houghton
William Sylvester	...	Gordon Lonsdale
Margaret Tyzack	...	Elizabeth Gee
David Kossoff	...	Peter Kroger
Nancy Nevinson	...	Helen Kroger
Thorley Walters	...	Cmdr. Winters
Gillian Lewis	...	Marjorie Shaw
Newton Blick	...	P.O. Meadows
Philip Latham	...	Captain Ray
Cyril Chamberlain	...	Anderson
Justine Lord	...	Christina
Patrick Barr	...	Captain Warner
Derek Francis	...	Chief Supt. Croft
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Edwin Apps	...	Blake
Basil Dignam	...	2nd Member at Lord's
Paul Eddington	...	Johnnie
Norma Foster	...	Ella
Richard Marner	...	Colonel Monat
Garry Marsh	...	1st Member at Lord's
Brian Nissen	...	Lt. Downes
Geoffrey Palmer	...	Police officer
Howard Pays	...	P.O. Garton
George Pravda
Bryan Pringle	...	Surveillance man
Hector Ross	...	Supt. Woods
Margaret Ward	...	Supt, Muriel
Anita West	...	Tilly

Also Known As:

Ring of Treason (USA)
Shadow of Treason (USA)

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:A | Finland:S

Filming Locations:

Baker Street, Marylebone, London, England, UK

Company:

British Lion Film Corporation

The Golden Age of Treachery well realised.

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Those were the days,I suppose,when we still had some secrets worth stealing.Before we found out that most of the Soviet submarine fleet was unserviceable due to lack of spares,the Red Army would have had to roar into Berlin on bicycles because their tanks were rusting away and their airforce would fallout of the sky because of their non-existent maintenance programme.Of course it wouldn't have done for us to have known that because we might have wondered why the Defence Budget had to be increased exponentially every year,and heaven knows where that might have led to...more money on education and health possibly,and that would never do. What a litany of magic names "Ring of spies" brings to mind.Vassal the Admiralty clerk blackmailed because of his homosexuality,Col.Ivanov the Russian spy who shared a mistress with an English Cabinet Minister,Anthony Blunt,Keeper of the Queen's pictures,those nice Krogers,Gordon Lonsdale, Harry Houghton and Bunty Gee.....traitors obsessed with sex or money or both.How many deaths were caused by their treachery? Houghton and Gee are the focal points of this film.She apparently a lonely and repressed spinster,he a bitter failure with a grudge against his employers.It's good to see Mr Bernard Lee stretch himself out of his usual "nice kind bloke" comfort zone and play a rather repellent character who draws the unfortunate Miss Gee into a honey trap. Miss Margaret Tyzack makes Miss Gee sympathetic if dim.Mr William Sylvester,a great favourite in the British "B" movie pantheon is equally good as Gordon Lonsdale.The mouse-like Krogers ran the spy ring from their bungalow in Ruislip.But for their duplicity and ruthlessness they could almost belong in an Ealing comedy. Mr Robert Tronson was borrowed from TV to direct and did a very fine job,there is hardly an extraneous scene and the film is very sharply put together.This was the time when some British second features were made with more care and attention than the "big" movies they preceded.They provided gainful employment for actors and technicians who would otherwise be resting between American gigs.Regular moviegoers of the time developed a real affection for the actors who regularly turned up in them,a sussurus of suppressed delight going through the audience at the appearance of a particular favourite.Many of us mourned their demise."Ring of Spies" is a fine example of a sadly-missed genre.