My first exposure to The Spy Who Came In from the Cold (TSWCIFTC) was in a BBC audio drama adaptation of the book, that runs approximately an hour longer than the film. I have to say, with that additional hour, the drama packed in a greater element of credibility and depth than this nonetheless admirable film did.
John Le Carre's story deals with Alex Leamas, an apparently down on his luck former secret service operative, discharged after a disastrous operation in which one of his agents in enemy territory was killed when defecting to the west. While Leamas is working a barely-paying library job (and accepting the friendly advances of his fellow employee Nancy, an ardent believer in communism), he is picked up by an East European agency looking to persuade him to part with important covert information for a fee. This is in fact a ruse, and Leamas is working on the advice of his superiors Control and George Smiley, as a double agent leaking out false information that will betray the trust of Mundt, a dangerous agent from the enemy side. It is imperative for the success of the plan that the enemy must believe they are extracting this information from an embittered defector, and so Leamas must live the part of a hard-drinking self-loathing reluctant traitor.
As I recall, in the audio drama, the reveal of Leamas being a 'double agent' comes out gradually in the form of repeated flashbacks to when Smiley is advising him on the strategy to be followed. The film puts it up quite early, and there is no ambiguity about Leamas' position. But till he is actually contacted by the enemy, he must for all intents and purposes be nothing other than a perpetually intoxicated bitter failure. Into this sad lonely existence, the affections of his library colleague come as a warm breeze to the man perpetually "out in the cold" and even as he otherwise faithfully plays his part, he cannot resist getting into a relationship. And it is then that the enemy gets in touch.
The next phase of the drama is when Leamas is passed on from one handler to another, each probing him for information and stringing him along with a bottle, and promises of payment and asylum. He is eventually met by Fiedler, a Jewish party member with a grudge against the former Nazi Mundt. In a careful series of revelations, bolstered by frequent temper tantrums and demands for his payment, always making it look like he is parting with the information against his conscience, Leamas plays Fiedler.
In a conventional spy thriller, this deception would have a triumphant climax with Leamas redeemed as a hero. But both Le Carre in his book and director Martin Ritt in his film adaptation looked to present a more murky reality of espionage and without being explicit, one can say that Leamas in turn finds that he may himself be a pawn in a larger game. The ending is a poignant tragedy that makes the story far more memorable.
Although Richard Burton's theatricality still occasionally surfaces in the lead role, his real life struggles with alcohol (and stressful marriage to Liz Taylor) play into his identification with the part. Plus, he is able to convey a certain charisma even in a disheveled state, making Nancy's attraction to a drunk loser more plausible. The direction is mostly understated and Oswald Morris' gritty B&W cinematography effectively captures the murky proceedings. Also worth mentioning is the Sol Kaplan score.
Criterion's A/V presentation is quite solid, although I get the impression this is not a spanking new HD scan (even for the time of release). I have seen only one extra, the interview with John Le Carre, who apart from writing the book, was also a part of the production, brought in to "re-write" Burton's lines and effective act as a buffer between him and Martin Ritt. This extra alone is worth the price of admission. Le Carre truly knows how to tell a story, and he is very candid about the entire process of how he got involved with the film and his impressions of the final product (which go way beyond discussing faithfulness to the source). One of the best interviews Criterion has ever snagged.
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