This Richard Burton Spy Thriller Is No Flash, No Gadgets, No Nonsense — Just Espionage at Its Most Biting and Cynical

John le Carré's spy novels have often been adapted for the screen, despite lacking the high-tech gadgetry and bombast of Ian Fleming's James Bond series. Instead, le Carré relies upon good old-fashioned intrigue and espionage, as well as a healthy dose of cynicism, which is especially true of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, the first of his books to be turned into a movie. Released at the height of the Cold War, it takes a grim view of our intelligence agencies, ostensibly created to keep us safe, yet not above sacrificing individuals for the sake of the "common good." As civil liberties are slowly eroded in the name of national security, what was true in 1965 is just as true today.