The Spy Who Came in from the Cold Page #6

Synopsis: Alec Leamas, a British spy is sent to East Germany supposedly to defect, but in fact to sow disinformation. As more plot turns appear, Leamas becomes more convinced that his own people see him as just a cog. His struggle back from dehumanization becomes the final focus of the story.
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Director(s): Martin Ritt
Production: Paramount Pictures
  Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 10 wins & 3 nominations.
 
IMDB:
7.7
Rotten Tomatoes:
85%
NOT RATED
Year:
1965
112 min
2,006 Views


It's an odd system

unless you are frightened of the answers.

- That telephone call.

- Yes? What about it?

The money in Copenhagen.

The bank answered your letter.

The manager's very worried

that there has been a mistake.

The money was drawn by your partner

exactly one week after you paid it in.

The date it was drawn coincides

with the two-days visit Mundt...

paid to Copenhagen in April.

The same goes for the bank in Helsinki.

Mundt took the money from there too.

You're out of your bloody mind. I've told you

again and again they couldn't have done it.

London couldn't have run him as their man

without my knowing about it.

You're trying to tell me that Control

was personally directing and operating...

the head of counter espionage

in the Abteilung...

without the knowledge

of the Berlin station?

Well, I'm telling you you're mad!

Shut up... and drive us home.

You have driven us home, Leamas.

Mundt is a traitor.

I tell you,

they eased his escape from England.

London let him go

because they wanted him to go.

- They found him, bribed him, turned him,

- I tell you, they couldn't have done it!

Control couldn't have run him

without my knowledge. You're mad!

Don't tell me

you're that sorry to kill Mundt.

I suppose you ought to write to the banks

and tell them everything is quite in order.

- Comrade Fiedler?

- Yes?

We want to talk to you.

What do you want?

We are from Berlin.

Go to your room.

Come in.

Close the door.

Undo him.

Get up.

Take him upstairs.

Whisky?

London sent you, didn't they?

Where's Fiedler?

Under arrest, as you are...

for conspiring to sabotage

the security of the people.

You'll be a witness at his trial.

We shall want your confession.

- That means you don't have any proof.

- We shall have proof.

We shall have your confession.

Who sent you?

Control? Smiley?

No one sent me.

They're looking for me, don't you know?

When did you last see Smiley?

I've never met Smiley.

Where did you go after lunch with Ashe?

Chelsea?

I haven't the vaguest recollection.

I had two scotches

and half a bottle of punishing Greek wine.

All I remember is wandering about,

In a taxi.

Was I in a taxi?

Our man reported you took a taxi

outside the restaurant.

Where did you go in the taxi?

I told you, I... was too drunk to know

that I was in a bloody taxi.

I mean, if your man followed me,

why don't you ask him wh-wh-wh,

Did you go to Smiley's house in Chelsea?

I don't know S,

I don't know Smiley.

Why did you shake off your followers?

Why were you so keen

on shaking them off?

Hans Dieter Mundt,

I have a warrant for your arrest...

by order of the Praesidium

of the German Democratic Republic.

You all know why we're here.

This is not a trial, but a tribunal

convened expressly by the Praesidium...

and it is to the Praesidium alone

that we are responsible.

The proceedings,

therefore, will be secret.

We shall hear evidence

as we think fit.

Comrade Fiedler, you may begin.

You can see from the report

I've already given you...

that we ourselves

sought Leamas out in England...

induced him to defect

and finally brought him to our republic.

Nothing could more clearly demonstrate

the impartiality of Leamas than this,

that he still refuses,

for reasons I will explain...

to believe that Mundt

is a British agent.

It is therefore grotesque

to suggest that Leamas is a plant.

The initiative was ours...

and the fragmentary but vital evidence

of Leamas provides only the final proof...

in a long chain of indications

reaching back over many years.

You will see on page seven...

that in 1959...

Mundt was posted to London...

ostensibly as a member

of the East German Steel Mission.

Actually, he was engaged

in intelligence duties.

In the course of this,

he killed a man.

By doing so, he exposed himself

to countermeasures...

by the British Secret Police.

Since he had no diplomatic immunity,

for NATO Britain

does not recognize our sovereignty,

Mundt went into hiding.

Ports were watched.

His photograph and description were

distributed throughout the British Isles.

Yet after two days in hiding...

Mundt takes a taxi to London Airport

and flies to Berlin.

Brilliant, you will say,

and so it was.

With the whole

of Britain's police force alerted...

her roads, railways, ship and air routes

under constant surveillance...

Mundt, in British eyes

a dangerous political murderer...

takes a plane from London Airport

and flies to Berlin.

Brilliant, indeed.

Or perhaps you may feel, comrades,

with the advantage of hindsight...

that Mundt's escape from Britain

was a little too brilliant...

a little too easy...

that without the connivance

of the British authorities...

it never could have been

possible at all.

The truth is this,

Mundt was taken prisoner

by the British...

and released on condition

that he become their paid agent.

It is beyond all doubt

that he was paid through the medium...

of the banking operation

called Rolling Stone...

whose procedure you will see

fully described in Annex "A" to the report.

Leamas played an unwitting part

in this operation.

Bring the witness forward, please.

- What is your name?

- Alec Leamas, assistant librarian.

You were formerly employed by

the British Secret Service, were you not?

Yes.

Is it your opinion that they could have

recruited Mundt as their agent?

- No, it is not.

- How can you be so sure?

I've told you a dozen times.

I'm not a performing seal.

I was head of the Berlin section

for nine years.

If Mundt had been our agent, I'd have known

about it. I'd have run him, don't you see?

Not to know would be

an administrative impossibility.

Quite.

In 1960 you had, in your capacity

as Berlin station head...

approached and recruited

the late Karl Riemeck...

formerly secretary to this Praesidium.

He approached me.

With microphotographs

of secret Praesidium documents?

Yes.

Was his later work for you

equally spectacular?

More so. He gave us a complete breakdown

of the Abteilung. Control was delighted.

Control was so delighted that he actually

came over to Berlin to meet Riemeck.

- Did you approve of that?

- No.

Riemeck was my man.

Control should have left him to me.

That was the rule.

Control broke it.

You introduced him

but were not present at the meeting.

- That is correct.

- And they were entirely alone?

How should I know?

I wasn't there.

What do you think

Control said to Riemeck?

Uh, well, he wanted to thank him,

so he told me, and give him a medal.

Mutual admiration.

Can you tell the tribunal

how Riemeck obtained his information?

I never bothered to ask.

Then you may sit down

and I will tell them.

Who, in 1960,

The year after Mundt

escaped from England, remember.

Who co-opted Riemeck onto the Committee

for the Protection of the People...

that vital committee which coordinates

all of our security measures?

Who proposed that Riemeck should be

appointed secretary to the Praesidium...

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Paul Dehn

Paul Dehn (pronounced “Dane”; 5 November 1912 – 30 September 1976) was a British screenwriter, best known for Goldfinger, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, Planet of the Apes sequels and Murder on the Orient Express. Dehn and his partner, James Bernard, won the Academy Award for best Motion Picture story for Seven Days to Noon. more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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