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The Spy Who Came in From the Cold

Play trailer 1:26 Poster for The Spy Who Came in From the Cold Released Jan 13, 1966 1h 52m Mystery & Thriller Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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86% Tomatometer 21 Reviews 82% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
At the height of the Cold War, British spy Alec Leamas (Richard Burton) is nearly ready to retire, but first he has to take on one last dangerous assignment. Going deep undercover, he poses as a drunken, disgraced former MI5 agent in East Germany in order to gain information about colleagues who have been captured. When he himself is thrown in jail and interrogated, Leamas finds himself caught in a sinister labyrinth of plots and counter-plots unlike anything in his long career.
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The Spy Who Came in From the Cold

Critics Reviews

View All (21) Critics Reviews
Kevin Maher Times (UK) ... This is the definitive anti-Bond spy movie and the best big-screen adaptation of John le Carré. Jul 18, 2023 Full Review Fernando F. Croce Slant Magazine Self-consciously dour where the James Bond movies were insouciantly callous. Rated: 2/4 Nov 25, 2008 Full Review Variety Staff Variety An excellent contemporary espionage drama of the Cold War which achieves solid impact via emphasis on human values, total absence of mechanical spy gimmickry, and perfectly controlled underplaying. Dec 26, 2007 Full Review David Parkinson Radio Times Martin Ritt's icy direction and Oswald Morris's bleak black-and-white photography make this not just the most authentic Cold War film, but also one of the best. Rated: 4/5 Aug 8, 2024 Full Review Pauline Kael McCall's It’s an ambitious film that works hard to achieve a lean and hungry look. But characters to whom we feel indifferent and storytelling so oblique that it turns the plot into an audience guessing game are not acceptable substitutes for suspense and irony. Sep 20, 2023 Full Review Alistair Lawrence Common Sense Media The Spy Who Came in from the Cold shows espionage to be as dangerous as it is frustrating. Burton's MI6 agent Alec Leamas is engaged in a constant struggle to make himself useful throughout. Rated: 3/5 Jun 26, 2023 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (281) audience reviews
Sydney C Yet another film that Richard Burton should have won the Academy Award for but these dopes who vote for this (most never even saw the movie) clearly have no clue as to what great acting even looks like e.g. Peter O'Toole in Lawrence of Arabia because, ostensibly, it was his first film. What pure rubbish! THIS is what great acting looks like. PERIOD! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 11/28/23 Full Review nick s Maybe I was not in the right mood for this film because I found it's dragging pace rather tedious. Burton seemed to be in a drunken stupor, which I guess was his character but it was a chore to watch. The cinematography was great and nothing wrong with the talent. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 11/11/23 Full Review Josh G A cold warish thriller with a slow burn and good character actors and decent set pieces. This is a based on a novel I have read and in a post 007 world, this is a dull affair. The lead actor is very good at being paranoid and drunk, while waiting; Richard Burton. The Surprise of Bernard Lee (M of 007) as a clerk in a store is fun and has some good scenes. While the first half of the film is slow it builds to a decent finally. Though it's dull it's not have bad just doesn't deem much time to think about. It has many elements bridge of spies draw from. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 12/22/22 Full Review Tony S The polar opposite of Bond films and novels, as well as any other spy-related extravaganza of the time. Inhuman and cold shenanigans between west and east, where methods become so indistinctively cruel that it is no wonder Leamas, played brilliantly by Richard Burton, ceased to see his country or his job as any paragon of freedom or virtue. So it is to the benefit of the story that this jaded spy with a commanding personality eventually gets dragged into a game that will take the rest of the hope he thought he no longer had and throw it into a cell. As a dispassionate hierarchy of spy officials will chew him up and remind him that he is nothing more than a pawn to be sacrificed. It's gorgeously shot and very slowly paced, which adds to the mood of the "coldness" it tries to relay, but the story keeps you engaged as the movie likes to keep secrets as to what some of the scenes even mean, letting you come to your own conclusions before the inevitable reveal. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 06/19/22 Full Review Roger H Riveting, with an exceptional performance from Richard Burton, a clever plot, and fantasticly fluid cinematography. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 10/19/21 Full Review Audience Member One of my favourite books ever put to film was always going to be a hard sell. It tells the tale but in a stale way whilst the production appears more mid 40s than mid 60s. Burton is well cast and the acting is generally ok but the film lacked the colour I wanted. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/28/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Spy Who Came in From the Cold

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Movie Info

Synopsis At the height of the Cold War, British spy Alec Leamas (Richard Burton) is nearly ready to retire, but first he has to take on one last dangerous assignment. Going deep undercover, he poses as a drunken, disgraced former MI5 agent in East Germany in order to gain information about colleagues who have been captured. When he himself is thrown in jail and interrogated, Leamas finds himself caught in a sinister labyrinth of plots and counter-plots unlike anything in his long career.
Director
Martin Ritt
Producer
Martin Ritt
Screenwriter
Paul Dehn, John le Carré, Guy Trosper
Distributor
Paramount Pictures
Production Co
Salem
Genre
Mystery & Thriller, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jan 13, 1966, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Feb 8, 2012
Runtime
1h 52m
Sound Mix
Mono
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