Richard Burton made his best films between the late 1950s to the very early 1970s, with an occasional good one afterwards. "The Spy Who Came In From the Cold" is one of Burton's greatest as the slightly weary secret operative, Alec Lemas. After his section of agents in Germany have been caught or killed by German Intelligence, Lemas is sent back to Headquarters in London. His masters offer him the chance of redeeming himself by accepting an assignment where Lemas has to find the very German agent who has been responsible for the slaying of British operatives - Mundt. The assignment is the biggest test of Lemas in more ways than one. Richard Burton, Claire Bloom and Oskar Werner share the acting honours. The story is a fairly gripping yarn with an excellent script. It is a fine adaptation of John Le Carre's best selling novel. I particularly enjoyed the scene where Richard Burton goes out of his way to dis-spell once and for all, Claire Bloom's impressions of the type of job Government agents have to do. His acting brims with fiery Welsh passion. "The Spy Who Came In From the Cold" is deliberately photographed in a harsh way as it compliments the plot and rather grim narrative. For sheer realism, this film is about as far removed from the world of James Bond as could be. Unforgettable and with a shattering climax.

'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.

Short and sweet:1. Audience does not know what to expect from this movie, not at all means no emotional involvement which results in extremely boring movie although I kinda enjoyed the tribunal scene.2. The hero of the movie has no clear outer motivation nor a clear conflict, again a major contributor to a boring movie.3. Suppose we tolerate the first 2, this movie had absolutely no message, just a movie about a British agent tries to do his job which has not been well described possibly due to too much names in very short scenes of exposition.4. Talking heads movie, no upside down with minimal action. The worst part is that in most of the movie you don't know what they are talking about and still struggling with names due to cheesy exposition. It may be funny but for first 30 minutes you may not even realize that the story occurs in London not West Berlin.5. Plays are mostly theatrical rather than cinematic.6. I don't know what the writer/director taught of the very last scenes of the movie but it was as cheesy as it could get.My verdict? I struggled to stay awake and watch this movie without much needed interruption and I did but I did not like it and I do not recommend this movie to anyone,

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.