John Le Carre's brilliantly sneaky tale of cold war spy games adapted by Paul Dehn and Guy Trosper.
Richard Burton is suitably grizzled and weary as the spy. Michael Sheen loves this performance because it's all about what isn't on display - what's under the surface. He is definitely a magnetic presence.
With Claire Bloom, Oskar Werner, Sam Wanamaker, Rupert Davies, Cyril Cusack, Bernard Lee, Peter van Eyck, Michael Hordern, Robert Hardy. Didn't recognise Niall McGuinness, Esmond Knight or Warren Mitchell.
Funnily enough the ending is as bleak as Under the Volcano!
Claire Bloom's affair with Burton was over by then but Elizabeth Taylor was on set to check there was no hanky panky. She and Burton were drinking all day long so he was worse at the end of the day than the beginning - the great speech he gives to Bloom at the end, about the real nature of spies, had to be read off cards that were taped around the car. (By the time he got to Where Eagles Dare he was allegedly drinking four bottles of vodka a day!) And Bloom was sad about this because the Burton she knew had memorised great chunks of Shakespeare.. all of Shakespeare.. it was the drink, she offers by way of an explanation.
Very skilfully shot by Oswald Morris, winning BAFTA, as did Burton (he was Oscar nominated. It was already the fourth of his seven Oscar nominations). Moody score from Sol Kaplan. Edited by Anthony Harvey.
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