All this film lacked in its atmosphere was a scene of Richard Burton meeting with a seedier version of Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre! This is not to say it's a lighthearted romanticized spy drama the pair made their own ala The Mask Of Dimitrios but a grim depressing look at one of the cogs in the Great Game played between the Stalwart Capitalists and the Commie Hordes. Peeled off what is shown is the human beings who are used and discarded by their uncaring governments, the levels and sublevels of the spy business that Burton's character Leamas is aware of and inured to or so he thinks until he gives one of the great acid dipped outbursts of rage loathing and pity in '60's film history. The East Germans could've just as easily been their evil fascist reactionary cousins the Nazis the military uniforms look the same the demeanors and voices match that of the screen Nazis Greenstreet and Lorre knew but their world is drained. The only true believer in the film who would've given the audience rousing speech in a WWII era film is Claire Bloom's Nan, the British Communist, who underneath that title is a lonely woman hoping to flee the fate of her boss at the library where she and Leamas meet. It is one of Richard Burton's finest performance before Liz, booze and Hollywood whoring( Where Eagles Dare, Raid On Rommel, Pardon Me While I Vomit this Performance Out) did his acting credentials in. (Though his last role in 1984 sums up all the Controls, Mundts,Smileys and their lessers in this film quite well)
Review of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
