Trivia
The subway Donovan rides home is the only remaining N.Y.C. Transit R11 subway car that was part of an order of ten built in 1949. It was called the "million dollar train" because each of the ten cars cost over $100,000. The interior in the film is from a 1964/65 rebuild of the car, not the one it had when the story took place in 1961.
See more »
Quotes
Hoffman:
Has your guy talked?
James Donovan:
Excuse me?
Hoffman:
You met him. Has he talked? Has he said anything yet?
James Donovan:
We're not having this conversation.
Hoffman:
Of course not.
James Donovan:
No, I mean we are really not having it. You're asking me to violate attorney-client privilege.
Hoffman:
Aw, come on, counselor.
James Donovan:
You know, I wish people like you would quit saying, 'Aw, come on, counselor'. I didn't like it the first time it happened today. A judge said it to me twice. The more I hear it, the more I don't like it.
Hoffman:
OK, well, listen, I understand attorney-client ...
[...]
See more »
Soundtracks
77 Sunset Strip
from
77 Sunset Strip (1958)
Written by
Mack David and
Jerry Livingston
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
See more »
"Everyone deserves a defense. Everyone matters." James B. Donovan (Tom Hanks)
In Bridge of Spies, Steven Spielberg once again masterfully goes to the historical drama with a righteous man's theme (think Schindler and Lincoln for starters). This time lawyer James B. Donovan is asked to defend an accused Soviet spy, Rudolf Able (Mark Rylance, superb), in order to show the world the American justice system is democratic.
The story is "inspired by true events" with the outline of the exchange of Able for U-2 downed pilot Gary Powers historically accurate. As usual, Spielberg recreates the times with the atmosphere, cars, and film noir aspect of a spy thriller in the figurative and literal Cold War. He said, "I always wanted to tell the stories that really interested me in my personal life—which are stories about things that actually happened."
Hanks is central to Spielberg's vision of the lone hero defying the odds and supporting the highest ideals of the American Constitution and the individually virtuous man. Never does Hanks overplay the good-guy card; he's just very adept at playing an everyman not always right but always righteous.
The dialogue is crisp, a no fooling around typical of Spielberg and Hanks but a charming bad guy as well: James Donovan: "Aren't you worried?" Rudolf Abel: "Would it help?" As producer Kristie Macosko Krieger commented about Spielberg, "He's got a childlike sense of wonder. He never gets tired of hearing stories . . . . " Bridge of Spies is vintage Spielberg with a Lincoln-like atmosphere, righteous hero, and intriguing multi-plot, an entertaining spy story brimming with humanity.
As the director says, "This is more about very smart people in conversation with each other, and the sword of Damocles hanging over their heads is that, if they make the wrong decisions, it's the end of the world."