HotToastyRag The Spy Who Came in from the Cold has been heralded as the best Cold War spy movie. I often find those movies confusing, so forgive me if my plot teaser seems a little muddled. Then again, the movie is supposed to be a little confusing, so I don't feel that bad.Richard Burton is a British agent during the Cold War who's sent to East Germany. He's supposed to pretend he's been disgraced and is defecting, but that's just a ruse in order to infiltrate the bad guys and gain information. I was confused just by that, and that was only the beginning! The rest of the film has twists and turns, complications, characters you're not sure if you can trust, facts that might turn out to be lies, and above all, a depressingly bleak black-and-white ambiance.This is definitely a man's movie, or for girls who don't confuse easily and actually like spy movies. This isn't like a James Bond movie; there's no cheesy humor and no bikini clad babes. This is an understated drama, and when Burton isn't talking, he's silently seething like a bomb liable to explode at any moment. It's pretty intense.

MisterWhiplash 'Cold' the precognitive word. Shot in a black and white that almost evokes film noir, or even Franz Kafka, this is dark, soul-disturbing, and you should make sure to pay attention (for the love of God put the phone away during this). And it may have been Richard Burton's best performance next to Virginia Woolf, full of fiery drama, some sulking, but plenty of life and vitality sometimes under the surface and sometimes bursting to a point that you feel this character's conflict and pain, which is interesting since it has to burst out from a surface that is, yes, cold and unforgiving.The only thing I didn't quite buy is how quickly Bloom falls in love with Burton early on. That could've used a little more time, and perhaps it was there in the book. But ultimately where this all leads is captivating. How it entirely ties in with the 'Tinker Tailor' world I'm not sure outside George Smiley, but then again it's Control (aka 'The Circus') and home to a whole lot of f***-all-y'all espionage but without the mega-gunfire of a Bond.

braddugg A terrific film on the cold war espionage that is shoot in an era of cold war and seems extremely real.Perhaps, all this was real. Though this was an adaptation from the fiction novel of the same name written by John Le Carre. It depicts cold bloodedness and the brutality of the cold war era (1945-1991) when it was at it's peak in 1950's and 1960's. The writing is impeccable and sharp. To make a complex novel which involves many characters, most of whom are not in the scene but are mere references who will never be shown is a challenge in itself. We never know, who the actual Control was, the actual English spies were. There is a whole lot of verbiage that seemed new to me. Despite the fact that I have seen a similar film called "TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY" based on the same novel by the same novelist John Le Carre. I suppose Carre is a supreme writer of the cold war espionage films and his ability and detailing are unmatched. The acting is supreme by an ensemble cast led by Richard Burton. The cinematography and the production design were great and the style shall be replicated in many espionage films going forward too. But it's the writing and the acting above all that make this a must watch. I am happy to have seen this though years later. Also, I am intrigued more now by what have happened to those spies and what all went on in that era between, the British, the Germans and the Russians. A 4/5 for this film.

Robert J. Maxwell The first time I saw this, years ago, it struck me as gloomy and dull -- the settings, the photography, the story, the performances. Now it strikes me as gloomy and subtly interesting.It's moral nihilism at its finest. Everything is underhanded. People are manipulated. Everybody traduces everybody else. They double cross them, triple cross them, frame them for ideological impurity and get them killed. The innocent die with the good and the bad. As Cyril Cusack says to Burton, "We can't afford to be less ruthless than they are, even though we are better." I don't think I'll describe much of the plot. Burton is a British spy who passes himself off as a defector in East Germany in order to save the position of a British mole in East German intelligence. His girl friend, Claire Bloom, a sweet and idealistic member of Britain's Communist Party who wants to end war, is swept up in the complicated story.On first viewing Burton seems one-dimensional -- morose and embittered. But this time I saw more nuance in his delivery. His glances and over-the-shoulder stares are telling. The voice, of course, is unforgettable. He meets his match in the performance of Oskar Werner and the lilt in his carefully articulated English. Werner is likable, even when his character is stern and demanding. Those big eyes and cherubic mouth. Of Claire Bloom it's enough to say that she's an enthralling actress in her own right and a vulnerable-looking dish with an endearing smile that never really gets to exercise itself in this production. Watch her in "The Man Between" and "Richard III." So it's a great deal better than I'd first thought. When it's over, though, I still feel a little like a Trappist who has finally decided to reconcile himself to the demands of the monastery.