“The Spy Who Came in from the Cold” (1965)
Martin Ritt’s black and white noir-looking adaptation of John Le Carre’s Spy Who Came in from the Cold is bleak and beautiful. Richard Burton is Alec Leamas, an English spy. His voice and presence are modulated just enough so he doesn’t burst the bounds of the character. His acting was perhaps better suited to stage than film, but he looks appropriately harrowed and ravaged.
I’m a man, you fool. Don’t you understand? A plain, simple, muddled, fat-headed human being. We have them in the West, you know.
Claire Bloom, whose third husband was writer Phillip Roth, is lovely as a Communist co-worker.
The film is strikingly sharp in the new Criterion Collection edition, which includes an informative and entertaining interview with Le Carre done for the new edition. Alas, we had to watch the dvd over two nights, and I’m abashed to admit I couldn’t stay awake for either. My husband G. Grod had to explain the finer points of the complex plot. I highly recommend it in any case. The fault is more likely with me and parental fatigue, not with this classic film.