Shameless Self Expression

Based on the John Le Carre novel, burned-out Cold War spy Richard Burton wants out of the game, but Control (Cyril Cusack) wants him for one last job that has him masquerading as a drunken louse apparently wanting to defect to the Germans. Taking a job at a library he meets Claire Bloom (perfectly cast, if a bit underused), a Communist whom he slowly develops a bond with. Rupert Davies plays spy George Smiley (a character more prominent in other John Le Carre novels), Michael Hordern (excellent as always) plays a clearly gay Communist who recruits Burton, Bernard Lee (‘M’ from the Bond series) is a shop owner, Peter Van Eyck is the top East-German spy Burton is apparently after, and Oskar Werner is his second-in-command who actually hates him. Sam Wanamaker is especially good in a small but crucial role as a Russian agent. That’s “12 Angry Men” co-star George Voskovec, solid in a thankless role as an East German Defence Attorney.   1965 Martin Ritt ( “Edge of the City” , “Hud” ...

Set on the Isle of Man, Anny Ondra is a landlord’s daughter who is courted by fisherman Carl Brisson, but her dad warns him to stay away as he’s not good enough. Brisson sets off from the island to go abroad, and is assured that his barrister friend Malcolm Keen will take good care of Ondra. And boy does he, falling in love with Ondra himself despite their best efforts to be loyal to Brisson.   I wanted to see this 1929 Alfred Hitchcock ( “The 39 Steps” , “Strangers on a Train” , “Vertigo” , “Psycho” ) silent film mainly because the title intrigued me. I had no idea what it meant and was curious. Turns out it’s just a person from The Isle of Man, which is rather disappointing. The film’s not all that memorable, either. Scripted by Eliot Stannard (who worked on several Hitchcock silent films including “The Lodger” ) from a Hall Caine novel, it’s yet another Hitchcock love triangle situation. There’s just not much plot, and little of it fresh though at least all three members of...