The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (The Criterion Collection)

The acclaimed, best-selling novel by John le Carré, about a Cold War spy on one final dangerous mission in East Germany, is transmuted by director Martin Ritt into a film every bit as precise and ruthless as the book. Richard Burton is superb 
as Alec Leamas, whose relationship with the beautiful librarian Nan, played by Claire Bloom, puts his assignment in jeopardy. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold is a hard-edged and tragic thriller, suffused with the political and social consciousness that defined Ritt’s career.

TWO-DVD Special Edition Features

• Restored high-definition digital transfer
• Selected-scene commentary featuring director of photography Oswald Morris
• The Secret Centre: John le Carré(2000), a BBC documentary on the author’s extraordinary life and work
• A 1967 interview with Richard Burton from the BBC series Acting in the 60’s,conducted by film critic Kenneth Tynan
• An audio conversation from 1985 between director Martin Ritt and film historian Patrick McGilligan
• Gallery of set designs
• Theatrical trailer
• PLUS: An essay by critic Michael Sragow