The acclaimed, best-selling novel by John le Carre 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 a beautiful librarian, 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.