The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965) - The Criterion Collection

Synopsis

John le Carré’s acclaimed best-selling novel about a cold-war spy on one final, dangerous mission is every bit as precise and ruthless on-screen in this adaptation directed by Martin Ritt. Richard Burton delivers one of his career-defining performances as Alec Leamas, whose hesitant but deeply felt relationship with a beautiful librarian (Claire Bloom) puts what he hopes will be his last assignment, in East Germany, in jeopardy. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold is a hard-edged and finally tragic thriller, suffused with the political and social consciousness that defined Ritt’s career.

Cast

Alec Leamas	Richard Burton
Nan Perry	Claire Bloom
Fiedler	Oskar Werner
Peters	Sam Wanamaker
East German Defense Attorney	George Voskovec
George Smiley	Rupert Davies
Control	Cyril Cusack
Hans-Dieter Mundt	Peter Van Eyck
Ashe	Michael Hordern
Dick Carlton	Robert Hardy
Patmore	Bernard Lee
Tribunal President	Beatrix Lehmann
Old judge	Esmond Knight

Credits

Director	Martin Ritt
Based on the novel by	John Le Carré
Screenplay	Paul Dehn and Guy Trosper
Cinematography	Oswald Morris
Assistant to the producer	Richard McWhorter
Production Design	Tambi Larsen
Music	Sol Kaplan
Editing	Anthony Harvey
Production supervisor	James Ware
Art director	Edward Marshall
Assistant director	Colin Brewer

Disc Features

SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET:

New, restored high-definition digital transfer
New video interview with author John le Carré
Selected-scene commentary featuring director of photography Oswald Morris
The Secret Center: John le Carré (2000), a BBC documentary on the author’s extraordinary life and work
A 1967 interview with Richard Burton from the BBC series Acting in the 60’s, conducted by film critic Kenneth Tynan
An audio conversation from 1985 between director Martin Ritt and film historian Patrick McGilligan Gallery of set designs
Theatrical trailer
PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by critic Michael Sragow

From the Current

Press Notes: Move Over, Bond

Nov 30, 2008

Leamas, Alec Leamas. Okay, so he might not be as much of a household name as a certain martini-swilling secret agent. But while a new James Bond film is currently in theaters, critics last week were showing their allegiance to Richard Burton’s classic sixties cold-warhorse upon the release of Martin...

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold:
True Ritt

by Michael Sragow Nov 9, 2008

Martin Ritt’s 1965 movie of John le Carré’s first great novel (and first best seller), The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, declares “a plague on all your houses” to capitalists...

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