Great film. I just stayed up late finishing the excellent book, and I'm not sure which version I like more as the movie is so ferocious and Burton is perfect as Leamas.
Bullshit. Nobody stole the show from anyone in this movie. Richard Burton, as Leamas, WAS the movie. It was a brilliant performance of a subtle and deeply nuanced role that would have been easy for a lesser actor to utterly screw up. His performance has the rare distinction of being especially admired by those who read the book and loved it, before they saw the movie. Even the ever-particular David Cornwell (AKA John LeCarre) himself pronounced himself satisfied with the performance, and that's nothing short of a miracle. Richard Burton made the movie. Everyone else, however good their performance, was only support.
When I read the book , this scene played out a lot more smoothly and believably. Fiedler was not so chummy though he did have a heart in him. Leamas didn't speak in such a glib manner or clipped tones. There was a weary tiredness in his character in this scene in my head that no on screen acting can quite replicate. Oh well a wonderful book nevertheless. Puts to shame Fleming's James Bond books.
It certainly puts the film versions of James Bond to shame but the original Fleming novels written in the 1950s depict a different character to the one in the movies. He shows a weariness and has doubts about his job. There are also a number of genuine examples of spy craft in the Fleming novels as there are in Le Carre's.
Burton was very good in this, but at times he lapses into playing Richard Burton instead of Alec Leamas, especially his delivery of "I don't believe in anything that rocks the wuld!"
@@rh5591 yeah whatever u think of Burton, he was being paid to be Burton, not anyone else, there’s few roles where he was convincingly another character, and especially next to Peter O’Toole he can standout as being not as great as his reputation
