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The Spy Who Came in from the Cold Overview:

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965) was a Drama - Film Adaptation Film directed by Martin Ritt and produced by Martin Ritt.

Academy Awards 1965 --- Ceremony Number 38 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best ActorRichard BurtonNominated
Best Art DirectionArt Direction: Hal Pereira, Tambi Larsen, Edward Marshall; Set Decoration: Josie MacAvinNominated
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The Spy Who Came in from the Cold BlogHub Articles:

The Spy Who Came In from the Cold (1965)

By Beatrice on Nov 19, 2018 From Flickers in Time

The Spy Who Came In from the Cold Directed by Martin Ritt Written by Paul Dehn and Guy Trosper from the novel by John Le Carre 1965/UK Salem Films Limited Repeat viewing/Netflix rental Possibly the saddest spy movie ever made.  Also one of the best. Alec Leamas (Richard Burton) has been head of Bri... Read full article

The Spy Who Came in From the Cold (1965)

By 4 Star Film Fan on Sep 14, 2016 From 4 Star Films

Adapted from the John le Carré novel, this is a black & white spy thriller that personifies cold war paranoia in ways that Bond never could. Richard Burton is an operative working in Berlin before being demoted to a librarian job. It looks like our narrative is heading in a direction hardly f... Read full article

The Spy Who Came in From the Cold (1965)

By 4 Star Film Fan on Sep 14, 2016 From 4 Star Films

Adapted from the John le Carré novel, this is a black & white spy thriller that personifies cold war paranoia in ways that Bond never could. Richard Burton is an operative working in Berlin before being demoted to a librarian job. It looks like our narrative is heading in a direction hardly f... Read full article

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The Spy Who Came in from the Cold Quotes:

Alec Leamas: [Yawns]
Peters: Tired?
Alec Leamas: Aren't you?
Peters: No, I didn't have any drink with my supper.
Alec Leamas: I didn't have any supper with my drink.
Alec Leamas: I'm a man, you fool. Don't you understand? A plain, simple, muddled, fat-headed human being. We have them in the West, you know.
Alec Leamas: What the hell do you think spies are? Moral philosophers measuring everything they do against the word of God or Karl Marx? They're not! They're just a bunch of seedy, squalid bastards like me: little men, drunkards, queers, hen-pecked husbands, civil servants playing cowboys and Indians to brighten their rotten little lives. Do you think they sit like monks in a cell, balancing right against wrong?
Miss Crail: Is your handwriting legible?
Alec Leamas: Except on weekends.
Nan Perry: Well, they returned you to me. I'm so grateful. So grateful! I cut tonight's party meeting.
Alec Leamas: Oh, well, well! Thank you for putting me above history.
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The Spy Who Came in from the Cold Facts
When Richard Burton became a superstar, he insisted on casting his friends from his days at the Old Vic and West End (London's equivalent of Broadway). That is why Claire Bloom, who is clearly too old to be a teenager, was cast as Nan Perry. Other friends of Burton's cast in the film included the great stage actor Sir Michael Hordern and Robert Hardy.
The phrase "Number 11 bus", which is heard a few times, is British slang for walking; your two legs look like the number 11.
In the room in East Germany where Leamas is interrogated by Fiedler, the wallpaper is of English design ("Marigold" by William Morris).
Richard Burton and co-star Warren Mitchell were Royal Air Force cadets together at Oxford in 1944, where they knew one another and became friends. From 1944-47, when both were demobilized, they were stationed together at times in Canada and back in England.
Burt Lancaster was originally attached to play Alec Leamas.
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