The Spy Who Came In from the Cold

Distinguished, giving even to the attentive viewer nothing for free, cold, purely British, with an incredibly crafted world of (counter) espionage, where weapons are not used, but only (dis) information are used... Yes, even if you don't know it in advance, you will soon recognize that it is an adaptation of one of le Carré's books. This time it is an adaptation of the third part of the series with George Smiley (he is here purely in the "cameo" role) and it is the discovery of le Carré for film screens in the adaptation, which foreshadowed the style of all successful adaptations of his works up till today. If I wanted to be extremely critical I would only complain about the non-use of German in the passages from East Germany and, for this type of movie, the inappropriate literality in the final passage while driving. (10/26/2014)

I always like to make time for slow-moving Cold War spy movies, but this one was just too slow for my taste. Richard Burton is, of course, excellent and director Ritt commendably tried to place the camera in quite interesting positions and look for views that would at least enliven the film a little, but otherwise The Spy Who Came in from the Cold left me rather “cold". I didn't mind the fact that there is practically no action in the film - but I expected at least somewhat dramatic dialogue or otherwise tense scene from the beginning. I did not see any until the final trial, when a number was done on the witnesses by the cunning defense lawyer played by Jiří Voskovec. A pure three stars. (02/18/2012)