Philby, Burgess and Maclean (1977) (TV)

Director:

Gordon Flemyng

Writer:

Ian Curteis (writer)

Release Date:

31 May 1977 (UK)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

The most famous spy story of our time [UK Video]

Plot:

In the late 1940s, British intelligence believes they have a Russian spy in their midst. They narrow...

Plot Keywords:

Spy

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Anthony Bate	...	Kim Philby
Derek Jacobi	...	Guy Burgess
Michael Culver	...	Donald Maclean
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Bernard Archard	...	Graves
Barrie Cookson	...	Helenus Milmo
Oliver Ford Davies	...	Patterson
Ingrid Hafner	...	Aileen Philby
Richard Hampton	...	Major Sansom
Patrick Holt	...	Peterson
Robin Hooper	...	Reed
Richard Hurndall	...	Sir Stewart Menzies
Anthony Langdon	...	Volkov
Arthur Lowe	...	Herbert Morrison
David Markham	...	Skardon
Hugh Morton	...	Marcus Lipton
Elizabeth Seal	...	Melinda Maclean
Tony Sibbald	...	Reporter
Philip Stone	...	Farquesson
Peter Vaughan	...	Philby's Control

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Granada Television

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Unforgettable Arthur Lowe (2000) (TV)

Classic spy drama - and its true!

I'm surprised there are no other comments about this TV movie even though it was made 30 years ago. The story, considerably expanded and updated, appeared in the mini-series "Cambridge Spies" in 2003, but this version was a powerful piece of television with plenty of drama and fine performances from Derek Jacobi as the flamboyant Guy Burgess, Anthony Bate as the close-mouthed Kim Philby and Michael Culver as the neurotic Mclean.

The key element is: why did these sons from "good" families go over to the Soviets in the 1930s and stay there? As Sir Steward Menzies head of MI6, here played by the imposing Richard Hurndall, says; "These chaps can't be spies, they are people like us." (In "Cambridge Spies" this remark is attributed to Lord Halifax, British Ambassador to Washington, who then commences a hunt through the embassy kitchens for the culprit.)

I think perhaps "Cambridge Spies", which covers Anthony Blunt as well provides a better explanation of this but in the earlier film director Gordon Flemyng captures the excitement of the events. To round out the story, viewers should also see John Schlesinger's little gem "An Englishman Abroad" (1983) where Coral Browne, the distinguished Australian-born actress re-enacts her encounter with Guy Burgess (wonderfully played by Alan Bates) in Moscow after his defection. Anthony Blunt was the subject of a play by Alan Bennett, subsequently filmed for TV as "A Question of Attribution", which contains an imagined conversation between HM the Queen and her erstwhile art curator – cute, but not very informative.