The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965, b/w)

FILM4, 12.25PM ★★★★

Martin Ritt’s brooding le Carré adaptation got Richard Burton his fourth Oscar nomination, and he should probably have won as Alec Leamas, a British agent marked out by the East German Intelligence Service as a potential defector (he lost out to Lee Marvin for Cat Ballou). It’s gorgeously chilly and sad, with great support from Claire Bloom, Oskar Werner and Cyril Cusack.