Instead of coming in from the Cold War, British agent Alec Leamas chooses to face another mission.Instead of coming in from the Cold War, British agent Alec Leamas chooses to face another mission.Instead of coming in from the Cold War, British agent Alec Leamas chooses to face another mission.
- Director
- Writers
- John le Carré(novel)
- Paul Dehn(screenplay)
- Guy Trosper(screenplay)
- Stars
- Director
- Writers
- John le Carré(novel)
- Paul Dehn(screenplay)
- Guy Trosper(screenplay)
- Stars
- Nominated for 2 Oscars
- 10 wins & 5 nominations total
Videos2
- Hans-Dieter Mundtas Hans-Dieter Mundt
- (as Peter Van Eyck)
- Director
- Writers
- John le Carré(novel)
- Paul Dehn(screenplay)
- Guy Trosper(screenplay)
- All cast & crew
- See more cast details at IMDbPro
Storyline
- Taglines
- BRACE YOURSELF FOR GREATNESS
- Genres
- Certificate
- Not Rated
- Parents guide
Did you know
- TriviaWhen Richard Burton became a superstar, he insisted on casting his friends from his days at the Old Vic and West End (London's equivalent to New York City's Broadway). Friends of Burton's cast in this movie included Michael Hordern and Robert Hardy. Burton's former leading lady (on-stage and in several movies) Claire Bloom, however, was cast by Martin Ritt. This caused friction for several reasons: Burton had wanted his wife, Elizabeth Taylor, in the role, and he and Bloom had been an item in the 1950s. John le Carré remembers that "off-screen Bloom preserved a dignified distance in her caravan".
- GoofsIn his defense speech of Mundt, the East German defense attorney (played by George Voskovec) states "Smiley was indeed Leamas's friend. He was also a planner in the section called Satellites Four, which operates behind the Iron Curtain." The term "Iron Curtain" would not have been used by officials of East Germany or other Soviet bloc countries to refer to the east-west divide. Originally created by Winston Churchill, the phrase "behind the Iron Curtain" became a disparaging characterization of the east bloc countries and their socialist systems. It was seen as serving to keep people in and information out, and people mostly throughout the West used the metaphor in that context.
- Quotes
Alec Leamas: It was a foul, foul operation, but it paid off.
Nan Perry: Who for?
Alec Leamas: What the hell do you think spies are? Moral philosophers measuring everything they do against the word of God or Karl Marx? They're not! They're just a bunch of seedy, squalid bastards like me: little men, drunkards, queers, henpecked husbands, civil servants playing cowboys and Indians to brighten their rotten little lives. Do you think they sit like monks in a cell, balancing right against wrong? Yesterday I would have killed Mundt because I thought him evil and an enemy. But not today. Today he is evil and my friend. London needs him. They need him so that the great, moronic masses you admire so much can sleep soundly in their flea-bitten beds again. They need him for the safety of ordinary, crummy people like you and me...
Nan Perry: You killed Fiedler!
Alec Leamas: How big does a cause have to be before you kill your friends? What about your Party? There's a few million bodies on that path!
- ConnectionsFeatured in Great Performances: Richard Burton: In from the Cold (1988)
For those of you who haven't seen this movie and are looking for a review, well .. This is a movie I had to watch twice. The first time I saw it, many years ago; I didn't like it at all. It was on broadcast television and it was live, no tape, no tivo, just straight through. I couldn't make out what the big deal was about this film. I had some difficulty understanding the dialog and I also had some trouble in putting names with faces. I was more than a little bit frustrated with not having enjoyed it when so many others had.
Cut to ten years and one tivo later.
I love this movie.
This is a movie that will stay with you long after the credits have finished. If after one viewing you feel that you didn't like the movie, don't abandon it quite yet. I realize it's not the kind of movie you'll want to watch back to back, especially if you didn't like it the first time, but take some time away from it and then watch it again. I believe after a couple of viewings you'll really start pick up on a lot of nuance around the characters. And you'll start to understand the dialog better; at least this is how it has played out for me.
For those who have seen this movie, and are looking for a review to see what others may have picked up on ..check out the IMDb review from Richard Tunnah or burgbob975. I liked their reviews for this movie the best.
I don't feel I can add too much more to this review that others haven't already written, other than just pointing out the performances from Richard Burton, Claire Bloom, Cyril Cusack and Oskar Werner as being absolutely magnificent. I especially liked Oskar Werner.
My Favorite scene from the film happens towards the end when Leamas and Nan Perry are driving to meet up in a rendezvous with a person who is to help them escape the occupied territory. While in the car Leamas spills out to Perry all of his pent up venom for his profession and self-loathing. He describes his profession as people who are just a lot of "drunkards, queers and hen-pecked husbands" who protect the "moronic masses". It's the one scene where you feel a genuine release from the tension that has built up through the movie.
Unlike Alec Leamas, you won't be on the fence for this one. You'll either hate it or you'll love it. After two viewings, I've come back to loving it. 9/10.
Clark Richards
- highclark
- Jan 20, 2005
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Languages
- Also known as
- John le Carré's The Spy Who Came In from the Cold
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $7,600,000
- Runtime1 hour 52 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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