Masters of Cinema, Eureka, out now

The classic tale of betrayal and deceit centred around Circus agent Alec Leamas

Undoubtedly one of the best spy thrillers of the 1960s, The Spy Who Came In From the Cold sees Richard Burton give a very different sort of performance from what you may well expect – for reasons given in David Cairns’ visual essay that accompanies the movie on this disc – with Claire Bloom as the idealistic young librarian whose view of the Communist world gets a rude awakening. It keeps your attention from the opening escape across Checkpoint Charlie to its culmination at the Berlin Wall, with the seedy side both of London and the espionage world in general on clear view. Paul Dehn came on board to co-write the film when its original adaptor fell ill, and it’s a completely different world from his previous spy movie, Goldfinger.

There’s a stellar cast, from Burton and Bloom to Oskar Werner as the East German deputy spymaster, with small parts for many familiar faces (notably Robert Hardy looking uncannily like David Cameron!). Director Martin Ritt and Burton may not have got on, but the final product is one of Burton’s best screen performances and there’s some excellent cinematography from Oswald Morris, joining a haunting score from Sol Kaplan. The Eureka edition looks stunning – compare it with the clips in the visual essay – with an informative commentary track.

Verdict: A dark look at the murky world of espionage. 9/10

Paul Simpson

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