The spy film , also known as the spy thriller , is a genre of film that deals with the subject of fictional espionage , either in a realistic way (such as the adaptations of John le Carré ) or as a basis for fantasy (such as many James Bond films). Many novels in the spy fiction genre have been adapted as films, including works by John Buchan , le Carré, Ian Fleming (Bond) and Len Deighton . It is a significant aspect of British cinema , with leading British directors such as Alfred Hitchcock and Carol Reed making notable contributions and many films set in the British Secret Service .
28-517: The Deadly Affair is a 1967 British spy film based on John le Carré 's first novel , Call for the Dead (1961). The film stars James Mason and was directed by Sidney Lumet from a script by Paul Dehn . As it is a Columbia Pictures production and Paramount owned the film rights to the name George Smiley , the central character is renamed Charles Dobbs; however, his police liaison Mendel and wife Ann's names are retained. Paramount had acquired
56-854: A bludgeon. Dobbs flies to Zurich where he is met at the airport by Ann. Location shooting for The Deadly Affair took place in London, in St. James's Park , at The Balloon Tavern and Chelsea Embankment in Chelsea , in Battersea and Barnes , in Twickenham , and at the Serpentine Restaurant in Hyde Park (demolished in 1990). The exterior of Dobbs's house is in St. George's Square, Pimlico. For
84-529: A captain and chief cameraman of the British Army 's Kinematograph Unit . He was also director of photography on more than 130 films, including many other notable productions, such as Goodbye, Mr Chips (1939), 49th Parallel (1941), Lust for Life (1956), The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958), Lord Jim (1965), Battle of Britain (1969), Nicholas and Alexandra (1971), and
112-569: A network of East European agents, one of whom assaults Dobbs, breaking his hand. Dobbs also discovers that his promiscuous wife Ann is leaving him to go to Switzerland to join a former World War II colleague, Dieter Frey. Dobbs ultimately decides to set a trap to prove that Elsa is a spy and to uncover her control by arranging a rendezvous which takes place in the Aldwych theatre during a performance of " Edward II ". Dobbs, his colleague Bill Appleby and Mendel observe Elsa and wait to see who will sit in
140-405: A number, and the beautiful foreign agent who comes to love the hero. Lang's Dr. Mabuse films from the period also contain elements of spy thrillers, though the central character is a criminal mastermind only interested in espionage for profit. Additionally, several of Lang's American films, such as Hangmen Also Die , deal with spies during World War II. Alfred Hitchcock did much to popularize
168-420: A remake of his 1934 film of the same name . He followed this up in 1959 with North by Northwest (1959), widely considered one of the most influential works within the spy genre. The peak of popularity of spy films is often considered to be the 1960s when Cold War fears meshed with a desire by audiences to see exciting and suspenseful films. The espionage film developed in two directions at this time. On
196-742: A survey conducted by the International Cinematographers Guild placed Young among the ten most influential cinematographers of all time. Young was born in London in 1902, and raised in the West London suburb of Shepherd's Bush . At the age of 15 in 1917, he began working at the Gaumont-British Picture Corporation , and by 1919, he was the film lab manager. He also moonlighted as a stuntman . During World War II , Young served as
224-547: Is Charlotte Gray , based on the novel by Sebastian Faulks . Also during the period, there were many detective films ( The Thin Man Goes Home and Charlie Chan in the Secret Service for example) in which the mystery involved who stole the secret blue-prints, or who kidnapped the famous scientist. In the mid-1950s, Alfred Hitchcock returned to the spy genre with The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956 film) ,
252-702: Is the most famous of film spies, but there were also more serious, probing works like le Carré's The Spy Who Came in from the Cold that also emerged from the Cold War . As the Cold War ended, the newest villain became terrorism and more often involved the Middle East . The spy film genre began in the silent era , with the paranoia of invasion literature and the onset of the Great War . These fears produced
280-459: The James Bond novels by Ian Fleming were adapted into an increasingly fantastical series of tongue-in-cheek adventure films by producers Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Broccoli , with Sean Connery as the star. They featured secretive and flamboyant supervillains, an archetype that would later become a staple of the explosion of spy movies in the mid-to-late 1960s. The phenomenal success of
308-642: The Bond series leads to a deluge of imitators, such as the eurospy genre and several from America. Notable examples include the two Derek Flint films starring James Coburn , The Quiller Memorandum (1966) with George Segal , and the Matt Helm series with Dean Martin . Television also got into the act with series like The Man from U.N.C.L.E and I Spy in the U.S., and Danger Man and The Avengers in Britain. Spies have remained popular on TV to
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#1732794382250336-537: The James Bond film You Only Live Twice (1967). He was also the first British cinematographer to film in CinemaScope . Young is arguably best known for his creative partnership with director David Lean . He Academy Award for Best Cinematography three times, for Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Doctor Zhivago (1965) and Ryan's Daughter (1970), all directed by Lean. His last film as cinematographer
364-618: The Mr. Moto series, based on the books of John P. Marquand . In the 1940s and early 1950s, several films were made about the exploits of Allied agents in occupied Europe, which could be considered a subgenre. 13 Rue Madeleine and O.S.S. were fictional stories about American agents in German-occupied France. There were several films based on the stories of real-life British S.O.E. agents, including Odette and Carve Her Name With Pride . A more recent fictional example
392-675: The Nazi espionage thrillers of the 1940s to the James Bond films of the 1960s and to the high-tech blockbusters of today, the spy film has always been popular with audiences worldwide. Offering a combination of exciting escapism , technological thrills, and exotic locales, many spy films combine the action and science fiction genres, presenting clearly delineated heroes for audiences to root for and villains they want to see defeated. They may also involve elements of political thrillers . However, there are many that are comedic (mostly action comedy films if they fall under that genre). James Bond
420-559: The British 1914 The German Spy Peril , centered on a plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament , and 1913's O.H.M.S. , standing for "Our Helpless Millions Saved" as well as On His Majesty's Service (and introducing for the first time a strong female character who helps the hero). In 1928, Fritz Lang made the film Spies which contained many tropes that became popular in later spy dramas, including secret headquarters, an agent known by
448-551: The Sidney Lumet thriller starts off with Astrud Gilberto drizzling her best desultory vocal over ‘Who Needs Forever’, which creates a moody atmosphere that is sustained throughout the entire album. With its languid orchestrations, breezy strings, and airy samba rhythms, this is a perfect Sunday morning record". All compositions by Quincy Jones Spy film Spy films show the espionage activities of government agents and their risk of being discovered by their enemies. From
476-508: The awards. The film score was composed, arranged and conducted by Quincy Jones , and the soundtrack album was released on the Verve label in 1967. Allmusic 's Stephen Cook noted, " Deadly Affair' s dreamy mix of bossa nova moods and unobtrusive symphonics still makes for some pleasant, if not always provocative, listening. Plus, one gets to hear Astrud Gilberto in fine fettle on the opening cut". The Vinyl Factory said "This soundtrack to
504-513: The cause of Fennan's death while visiting Fennan's widow the morning after his death. When a wake-up call is received at Fennan's home, his widow Elsa says the call was for her. Dobbs discovers this to be a lie, and as a result Dobbs suspects that Elsa, a survivor of a Nazi extermination camp , might have some clues regarding Fennan's death. Other government officials want Dobbs to drop the case. However, Dobbs privately links up with retired police inspector Mendel to continue enquiries and they uncover
532-419: The empty seat next to her. Dobbs is sickened to see that it is Dieter who sits down next to Elsa and is her control. When Dieter and Elsa realise they have been set up, Dieter quietly kills Elsa and slips out of the theatre. Mendel follows Dieter to his hideout and summons Dobbs. In the final confrontation, Dieter shoots Mendel but is himself killed bare-handed by the enraged Dobbs, who uses the cast on his hand as
560-490: The film rights to the Smiley character name when filming The Spy Who Came In from the Cold (1965). The soundtrack was composed by Quincy Jones , and the bossa nova theme song, "Who Needs Forever", was performed by Astrud Gilberto . In 1960s London, Charles Dobbs is a staid MI5 operative investigating Foreign Office official Samuel Fennan, a former Communist who apparently commits suicide. Dobbs becomes suspicious about
588-472: The most popular films include: Movie series ( franchises ) One-shots, sequels and remakes Some of the most popular television series include: Classic era Modern era Freddie Young Frederick A. Young OBE , BSC (9 October 1902 – 1 December 1998) was an English cinematographer . Sometimes credited as F. A. Young , his career in motion picture photography spanned more than 130 films across nearly 70 years, between 1919 and 1984. He
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#1732794382250616-481: The one hand, the realistic spy novels of Len Deighton and John le Carré were adapted into relatively serious Cold War thrillers that dealt with some of the realities of the espionage world. Some of these films included The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965), The Deadly Affair (1966), Torn Curtain (1966), and the Harry Palmer series, based on the novels of Len Deighton . In another direction,
644-613: The present day with series such as Callan , Alias and Spooks . Spy films also enjoyed something of a revival in the late 1990s, although these were often action films with espionage elements or comedies like Austin Powers . Some critics identify a trend away from fantasy in favor of realism, as observed in Syriana , the Bourne film series and the James Bond films starring Daniel Craig since Casino Royale (2006). Some of
672-584: The spy film in the 1930s with his influential thrillers The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934), The 39 Steps (1935), Sabotage (1937) and The Lady Vanishes (1938). These often involved innocent civilians being caught up in international conspiracies or webs of saboteurs on the home front, as in Saboteur (1942). Some, however, dealt with professional spies, as in Hitchcock's Secret Agent (1936), based on W. Somerset Maugham 's Ashenden stories, or
700-561: The theatre scene a performance of the Royal Shakespeare Company 's Edward II (as directed for the stage by Peter Hall ) was recreated at its real location of the Aldwych Theatre , London. Director of photography Freddie Young 's technique of pre-exposing the colour film negative to a small, controlled amount of light (known as " flashing " or "pre-fogging") in order to create a muted colour palette
728-548: Was best known for the sweeping, lush widescreen color photography he displayed through his collaborations with director David Lean . He won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography three times - for Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Doctor Zhivago (1965) and Ryan's Daughter (1970) - all directed by Lean. In 1972, he was made a BAFTA Fellow by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts . In 2003,
756-712: Was first used in this film. Lumet called the result "colourless colour" and it proved influential, being used by other cinematographers such as Vilmos Zsigmond on McCabe & Mrs. Miller . The plot is fairly faithful to the book; however, a romantic affair between Ann and Dieter was added and the character of Mendel is shot at the film's climax to provoke Dobbs' brutal beating of Dieter. The Deadly Affair received five BAFTA Awards nominations: Best British Film for Sidney Lumet , Best British Screenplay for Paul Dehn, Best British Cinematography (Colour) for Freddie Young , Best Foreign Actress for Simone Signoret, and Best British Actor for James Mason. However, it did not win any of
784-663: Was the Arthurian fantasy film Sword of the Valiant (1984). In 1972, Young co-wrote The Work of the Motion Picture Cameraman with Paul Petzold, published in 1972 (Focal Press, London). In 1984, at the age of 82, Young directed his only film, Arthur's Hallowed Ground , starring Jimmy Jewel , which was made for television. In 1972, Young was awarded the BAFTA Fellowship . He was awarded
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