The Spy Who Came In From The Cold (Criterion Collection) (1965) On DVD

John Le Carré's acclaimed bestselling novel, about a Cold War spy on one final, dangerous mission, is every bit as precise and ruthless onscreen in this adaptation directed by Martin Ritt. Richard Burton delivers one of his career-defining performances as Alec Leamas, whose hesitant but deeply felt relationship with a beautiful librarian (Claire Bloom) puts what he hopes will be his last assignment, in East Germany, in jeopardy. An intelligent, hard-edged, and even tragic thriller, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold is etched with realism and suffused with genuine political and personal anxiety.

Info
Directed by Martin Ritt (Hud, Sounder, Norma Rae)
Starring Richard Burton (Becket, Who s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Equus)
Starring Claire Bloom (Limelight, Richard III, Crimes and Misdemeanors)
From the novel by John Le Carré (The Russia House, The Tailor of Panama, The Constant Gardener)

SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET FEATURES:
New, restored high-definition digital transfer
New interviews with author John Le Carré and cinematographer Oswald Morris
The Secret Center: John Le Carré (2000), a BBC documentary on the author s extraordinary life and work
Acting in the '60s: Richard Burton, a 1967 interview with the BBC s Kenneth Tynan examining the actor's performances
and accomplishments
Gallery of set designs
Theatrical trailer
PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by critic
Michael Sragow and a reprinted interview with Ritt