Cambridge Spies Reviews

• Give us "Cambridge Spies: the Moscow Years"!

  
  By A2BDZAU0Y4J6NB on 2005-01-12
  This gripping, well-acted film launched me on a reading odyssey, beginning with Philby's "My Silent War" and including Seale and McConville's "Philby: the Long Road to Moscow," G. Borovik's "Philby Files," Yuri Modin's "My Five Cambridge Friends" (Y.M. was one of their KGB handlers), Philip Knightley's "Philby, the Life and Views of the KGB Master Spy", and Miranda Carter's "Anthony Blunt, His Lives", among many others (some of which are less than sympathetic). As a result, I can appreciate the intense research that went into this outstanding TV series.The portrayals are brilliant: the subtle nuances of Toby Stephens' Philby; the ambiguity of Samuel West's Blunt; the vulnerability of Rupert Penry-Jones' Maclean; and finally, the brilliance of Tom Hollander's Burgess. Hollander's portrayal of the outrageous original is so convincing that when one reads Guy Burgess' actual quoted words, one 'hears' Tom Hollander.
  
  Moody and suspenseful, the drama dwells on a theme worthy of Sophoclean tragedy: the conflict between the obligations to oneself (friends and family) and the obligations to the State. Each of the characters, tragically flawed, reaches what seems to be the pinnacle of success, only to suffer a reversal of fortune and be cast down by outside events (here, the intrusion of the Cold War). The tragedy in Mr. Moffat's drama rests not in the fact that Philby, Blunt, Maclean and Burgess spied for the other side. These are mere plot points in an Aristotelian sense (although the repercussions on the State cannot be denied). The tragedy derives from the fact that as each man is compelled to betray his ideals, friends or family, he recognizes the enormity of that betrayal.
  
  The film is enhanced by a riveting musical score and by remarkable camera work, which not only effectively depicts England of the 'thirties and 'forties, but also defines the characters with a sinister juxtaposition of shadow and light. The lighting is especially effective in scenes portraying the enigmatic and (some say) duplicitous Anthony Blunt, whose face is often half-masked in deep shadow.
  
  The commentaries accompanying parts one and four of the series are equally fascinating, providing us with nuggets of information, such as the fact that Trinity College, Cambridge, would not allow its premises to be used for making a film about four of its most notorious graduates (The company was forced to film at King's College, next door.). Similarly, the Reform Club, the haunt of Jules Verne's fictional Phileas Fogg, refused admittance to the film company, because it did not want to advertise the fact that it had once named a double vodka and grapefruit juice a "Double Burgess", after one of its most irrepressibly rambunctious members, Guy Burgess.
  
  We can only hope that Mr. Fywell and Moffat are planning a second series (The film-makers have already hinted at Philby's affair in Moscow with Melinda Maclean.). There are at least four more absorbing episodes: Philby's relentless grilling in London by MI5, his subsequent adventures in Beirut, his defection and miserable reception in Moscow, where he, like Burgess and Maclean, had to face the even colder reality of Russian Winters and the frost-bitten remnants of his utopian dreams, and finally Blunt's secret confession, promise of immunity, and eventual unmasking in London. Then the tragedy will be complete.
  
  
  
  

• THOSE BRITISH FOLKS SURE CAN ACT

  
  By AL1WBEKIEPUPE on 2004-05-27
  This BBC-PBS T.V presentation is superb. It is not something that you can look at while darning socks, knitting, washing dishes, talking on the phone or having an evening party-it is NOT light entertainment. Go to commercial TV for that. You've got to sit-down, shut-up and concentrate on what is going on. In fact, it took me two viewings to fully understand what actually was going on. LISTEN closely; the script is fantastic.
  All of the actors are superb with Tom Hollander as Guy Burgess a standout. The production is on a par with some of the best BBC productions that I have had the privilege of seeing. With the gorgeous sets and costumes, it creates a feeling of the era that is being portrayed.
  If you are into historical presentations and love superb acting buy this DVD.
  
  

• Missed Opportunity

  
  By A2HKW0LPROXHKM on 2003-11-29
  The true story of the Cambridge spies is a fascinating chapter in the history of espionage but it is also a study in the English class system. Four upper class idealists who were rather ignorant about the system they were spying for whilst betraying the system that allowed them wealth and opportunity out of reach of the common man.

  This dramatization is too detailed on romance and does not focus on the real events enough. The amazing aspect is that they got away with it for so long but there should have been more explananation of the changing world events to illustrate this. The motivation of the four is never clear and the damage they caused is never explained.

  If you like English dramas, you will probably like this. But for me far too much time is dedicated to the love affairs of the group and even though you would expect a true story about espionage during world war II and the cold war would be thrilling and exhilarating this is rather dull and boring. Good acting, good direction but a bit too much soft focus.
  
  

• Sympathy for the devils

  
  By A106016KSI0YQ on 2006-03-09
  This 2003 BBC miniseries about the much-analyzed Cambridge spy ring of Burgess, Maclean, Philby and Blunt takes as sympathetic a view of the four as might be possible: they are represented as acting out of the highest ideals (a hatred for fascism and reactionary politics), and are shown to be extremely sympathetic men who suffer for their cause and who hold their friendship with one another among their highest ideals. This presents a very unusual take on the story that's rarely been seen before (except in the langurous but somewhat silly film ANOTHER COUNTRY). The production values are terrific, and some of the acting is quite good, especially from Tom Hollander, fittingly over the top as the brilliant but impossible narcissist Guy Burgess, and Samuel West, surpisingly hunky as the smooth and cautious Anthony Blount. The production values are excellent, and there are lovely cameos from Anthony Andrews as King George VI (struggling to overcome his speech impediment) and Imelda Staunton as his wife Queen Elizabeth, who slyly toys coversationally with Blount about his sexual preferences.
  
  One of the best things about this DVD package is that it comes with a one-hour documentary from the History Channel about the Cambridge spy ring that takes almost the opposite take of the mini-series, presenting the spies are mercenary and corrupt and the entire Soviet system in as negative a light as possible. (The documentary also takes affirmative stands on questions concerning the spy ring the mini-series denies, such as the possibility of John Cairncross being the group's "fifth man" and the possible bisexuality of Donald Maclean.) The documentary is so righteous and portentous in its conservative editorializing that it seems almost astonishing it postdates the fall of the Berlin Wall; nonetheless, it provides a useful balance to the extremely sympathetic view the mini-series takes of four of the most demonized Englishmen of the twentieth century.
  
  

• Fine acting and storytelling

  
  By on 2003-11-23
  Watching "Cambridge Spies" on BBCAmerica was eye-opening and insightful. By now, most viewers will have heard of Britain's most notorious spy ring. The story of the traitors (I was surprised the BBC hasn't lauded them as heroes) is edited and condensed quite well to fit miniseries time constraints. While in most movies there is at least one character to empathize or sympathize with, there is no character here that one feels inspired to "understand." One finds himself or herself just waiting to find out how and when these folks "got what was coming to them." Overall, the acting was superb, especially that of Toby Stephens. (Sidebar: He's the young Clint Eastwood in "Space Cowboys," if you can believe that. The guy's got a wide acting range.) As a avid viewer of BBCAmerica, I look forward to more terrific series as this one.
  
  
• Ending
  By on 2004-05-05
  The first hour set-up is a bit boring, but it gets much better after that. The bonus features are outstanding and are sufficient alone to purchase this set. Regarding the movie itself, however, I was very disappointing with the ending. Basically, the film ends when Burgess and MacLean defect to Mosocw. Thus, it does not include the remaining 12 years of Philby's spying, nor the eventually unmasking of Blunt. Additionally, Philby's relationship with CIA Chief of Counterintelligence James Jesus Angleton is vastly underrepresented -- particularly as it is germain to at least a portion of Philby's access while he was posted to the British Embassy in the U.S. Lastly, there are several very glaring factual inconsistencies, though the disclaimer at the beginning of the movie acknowledges that the makers took poetic license for "dramatic effect". Frankly, the true story is dramatic enough, and I feel (like a previous reviewer) that this movie was a bit of a lost opportunity to tell the whole story accurately. That said, it still is a decent-enough movie, and worth purchase for the bonus features which contain actual footage of the spies.
  
  
• 99% fiction
  By A2POT13FER5L82 on 2005-12-05
  This program is based on public statements made by the four people. The details are filled in by the script writers. This produces a double dose of fiction.
  
  It is the consensus in the espionage community that the public statements are very inaccurate and are colored to make the four people appear to be more honorable than they were.
  
  Then the script writers use their imaginations and they are not old enough to have lived as adults 70 years ago and are not familiar with the era.
  
  One example of the colored statements is that they were fighting Adolph H. This does not match with their continuing spying activities after 1945 when Adolph did not exist.
  
  I suggest that instead you buy Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy available her on Amazon. The author, David Cornwall, served in British Intelligence during the war.
  
  
• How to turn traitors into nice guys
  By A2BZMEXAJMZ9N5 on 2006-08-11
  This is a terrific film, full of wonderful acting and carefully recreated sets and costumes (with the possible exception of the Guernica sequence which shows antiquated German aircraft). Having said so, I must take exception to the almost totally biased presentation of the criminal activities of the main characters. There is very little in this series to indicate the true nature of Stalinism - its genocidal character, its show trials, public terror, the hell of the Gulag, etc., etc. In short, Stalinism was not better than fascism, and the excuse of serving the former in order to fight the latter is utterly ludicrous. Fortunately, the four traitors finally got their just desserts by having to live their final years in the Soviet "paradise" but the artistic value of the film is seriously marred by its propagandistic message.
  
  
• Gripping Spies
  By A3Q1GB17EH17UD on 2007-04-22
  "Cambridge Spies"
  
  Gripping Spies
  
  Amos Lassen and Cinema Pride
  
  The BBC is well known for producing fine TV films and "Cambridge Spies" ranks up there with the best of them. The four part mini series recently released on DVD, while perhaps not completely historically accurate is a tour de force where characterization is concerned--the actors portray their characters with amazing conviction. The entire historical affair that brought Kim Philby to international news coverage is still somewhat of an enigma, even today. This is not a documentary and is not an enactment of actual events and should be watched with an open mind and the knowledge that what you are watching is fiction.
  What we have is a lightly fictionalized account of how four well brought up English boys betrayed their country to the Soviet Union. Philby's father had been a diplomat and cabinet minister and his son, Kim, and three other undergraduates at Cambridge were studying for futures in the foreign office and security services. They became Soviet agents early on in their college years. They were to provide the former Cold War power with details on how to build an atomic bomb so that the Russians would be able to manufacture one of their own. The mission meant that several high ranking members of the British government would be exposed.
  The story is one of the most dynamic stories of the 20th century and this look at the story concentrates basically on the personal dynamics of the students. We get a picture of four students versus the establishment and the personal lives of the men are very interesting. Two of the men (Philby and McLean) were straight and two were gay (Burgess and Blunt). The establishment was represented by Lord Halifax (James Fox) who was the British ambassador to America. He was the person who became aware of the plot but the students managed to elude capture by moving to Moscow.
  Within the four hour television presentation, all of the characters are fully and richly drawn. Guy Burgess (Tom Hollander) is an alcoholic who is charming and wisely witty. Donald McLean (Rupert Penry-Jones) sees Communism as his personal redemption. Toby Stephens as Kim Philby exudes cleverness and angst and Samuel West as Blunt is cold as stone that occasionally shows a bit of emotion. His life is dominated by art but he does have access to the Queen.
  The affair was more than seventy years ago and what is mystifying about it is not so much why they did it but why the guys kept it up. As presented here, we get a familiar story which is retold to us in a wonderful way. The real story of what happened we may never know and I suspect it is far too complex to be translated to film.
  The series captures the feel of Europe in the 1930's. It is a glamorous, intelligent and well-acted production. A great story is not always easy to put on celluloid and visually the entire production is a pleasure to watch. It is absolutely incredible to see how four handsome and well-bred men could betray their country.
  
  
  
• Friends . . .
  By AQE41QO3NEUMW on 2007-08-27
  Historians may quibble over the accuracy of this TV miniseries; what can really be known for sure about the private lives of spies? But fans of British-made docudrama will not be disappointed. Following the careers of the so-called Cambridge spies, from the 1930s to the 1950s, these four hours of film provide an absorbing portrayal of espionage as experienced by the spies themselves, rather than in the objectively critical view of history and the news media. (The DVD gives a sample of that treatment in a History Channel program devoted to the subject and video recordings of news coverage marking their deaths.) Admittedly speculative and dramatized for popular consumption - was Kim Philby actually on the scene for the German bombing of Guernica? - its view of the four men is plausible enough, as their youthful anti-fascist idealism is put to use by the KGB.
  
  While betraying their country, they had the amazing capacity to rise in the ranks to key positions in the post-war British espionage machine itself, a fact that the film attributes to the gullibility of men with old-school ties. Meanwhile, plenty of alcohol is poured and consumed, and there are steamy liaisons, which given the orientations of the four men, lean both left and right of center. The writing and the performances present strikingly individualistic portraits of the four spies. Anna-Louise Plowman is a strong presence as the American woman married to one of them and drawn romantically to another, and there are cameo performances by James Fox, Anthony Andrews, and Imelda Staunton, the latter two as the King and Queen. The DVD includes commentaries by the director, writer, and producer of the series, plus additional features offering historical background.
  
  
• Fascinating
  By A38IO17VRZWA7U on 2008-01-17
  Watching this for the first time as a fan of actor Samuel West, and author John Le Carre's spy novels, I was expecting a little more cloak and dagger. However, this interesting and more 'human' approach delved into the nature of how 4 idealistic young men became double agents in the spy game. I also enjoyed the series for the performances of some of the best British actors (some emerging, some established) of our generation.
  
  
• Headline: American TV infects the BBC!
  By AYCJSA9HR7TKO on 2008-04-20
  The BBC has a long and honorable tradition of producing and airing fine dramas. "Cambridge Spies" doesn't continue that tradition. On the contrary, it looks exactly what it is: a made-for-TV movie that takes a bad script, uninspired acting, and a low budget and makes from all of that a predictably awful film. Instead of watching a BBC production, you'd swear you were watching something made for one of the American networks.
  
  Why is "Cambridge Spies" so bad? It's not because the film is pretty unhistorical. I've never understood those people who complain that fictional works about historical events aren't more "accurate." Surely no one watches historical drama for a history lesson (at least they shouldn't).
  
  What makes the film so deadly is, first of all, terrible writing. The script is full of sentimental one-liners, and seems utterly incapable of nuance or gradation (for example, the character McLean meets his future wife--horribly played by a no-talented Jenna Harrison--and woos, beds, marries, and rescues her from the Nazis in all of 5 minutes). Sadly, the script got worse as the 4-part series progressed.
  
  The poor quality of the script may account for the leaden acting displayed by virtually everyone in the film. But one senses that a great deal of the film's flatness must be chalked up to untalented actors. The above-mentioned Harrison is so utterly awful that watching her is embarrassing. Tom Hollander as Guy Burgess has some very good moments, particularly in the first part of the series, but his portrayal becomes predictable and tedious (lots of shouting and histrionics). Samuel West as Anthony Blount plays a character so tightly wound that he's in chronic danger of becoming unhinged. But West's handling of the character reduces Blount to a rather sissified, simpering worry-wart. Rupert Penry-Jones and Toby Stephens as Philby and McLean don't bear mentioning. Both of them seem to have but one facial expression in their acting repertoir, and that a hangdog look of dejected worry.
  
  All in all, a film to miss.
  
  
• Great movie, so-so history
  By AYGG87WHFA8OI on 2007-01-09
  As a movie, Cambridge Spies is well-acted by a stellar cast, interestingly plotted, well-scripted, and beautifully filmed. I enjoyed it very much.
  
  Historically accurate? Less so.
  
  
• For those like myself who were mystified by "Blunt, the Fourth Man" and "Another Country"
  By A1UWT5CJ6GS9TW on 2007-10-31
  For those like myself who were mystified by "Blunt, the Fourth Man" and "Another Country", this version of the story makes it all clear and understandable. These brillilant young Britons were carried away by their abhorrence of fascisim and naively embraced the originally idealistic cause of communism until they gradually became Soviet agents and were too far immersed to break free. At last the story of these men is given a plausible reperesentation from their callow youth to their fateful ends in ignominy. Toby Stephens and Samuel West are excellent, as is the rest of the cast as well. Highly recommended for those interested in the history and politics of clandestine agents and traitors.
  
  
• Growing Up to Be a Spy
  By AVMAWNJRAKUFH on 2007-11-02
  Well-acted, if somewhat sketchy, analysis of the careers of the imfamous group of Cambridge University students who espoused Marxism as undergraduates and went on to become the most effective British spies of
  the Cold War era. The production focuses on the ideas and events which drew these men into the twilight world of espionage, and offers a rather limited depiction of the deterioration of their lives and careers as a result of their politics and their character flaws.
  
  The writer and director of this BBC production display sympathy for these men who make a commitment wihout clearly anticipating where their youthful enthusiam may lead later in life. The sympathy the characters evoke is, in large measure,dependent on the efforts of four gifted young British actors who succeed in communicating the raw nerves and psychological pain of these increasingly desperate men. The stress of their undercover work fractures both their personal and professional lives. Definitely not a good advertisement for a career as a spy!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Upper Class Revolutionaries
  By A2TUA4VWCMNXI on 2008-07-01
  This fine BBC docudrama depicts the lives of the four Cambridge spies from their university days, when they were recruited to do espionage work for the Soviet Union, through the defections of two of the four some twenty years later. Kim Philby, Anthony Blunt, Guy Burgess, and Donald Maclean were members of Britain's upper class elite. From prominent, well connected families, they were educated at some of the best public schools and then Cambridge University. Their minds were as brilliant as their pedigrees, and they all seemed destined for the highest levels of diplomatic, social, and political careers.
  
  Blunt and Philby, in public statements years after they were unmasked, all claimed that they became Communist spies in an attempt to better the world. You do see a little of this desire to make things better in an incident near the beginning of the film, when Burgess and Philby foment a strike by the waiters at their college, but overall the four don't seem to have had much first hand knowledge of the people whose lives they claimed to want to improve through a Communist revolution. The film does make clear the interesting point that the four were able to go about their espionage efforts for many years precisely because they were priviledged, elite people who knew all the right things to say and had entree into the highest circles. The proverbial old boys club was hard at work for these four, and they knew it and used it.
  
  At times the film seems to overglamourize the four, toning down the more sordid aspects of their lives (except in the case of the flamboyant and disreputable Guy Burgess) and barely acknowledging that they did real damage to Britain and the rest of the West through their espionage. But its a well depicted and beautifully acted dramatic reenactment of one episode in the Cold War. The extra material provided on the second DVD is interesting as well, including interviews with Blunt and Philby after their unmaskings, BBC obituaries for Philby and Maclean, and a bizarre excerpt from a film about the Queen's Gallery in Buckingham Palace, made in the 1960s and partly narrated by Blunt himself. (There's also a rather mediocre History Channel presentation about the Cambridge spies which provides a little more information about their lives and times.)
  
  
• History, Facts and Fiction
  By A26292N80L1QK9 on 2008-09-13
  Video was well done from Cambridge to the final exposure. Actors were superb and believable especially Toby Stephens and Tom Hollander. The one problem I had was with the spies never aging in a period of 20+ years. Even the porter at Cambridge aged when A. Blount returned looking as young as when he left. It was important for me to have the trailer with the actual video of A. Blount admission. I read Spycatcher by P. Wright after seeing this video; I'm amazed how much the British were able to accomplish in the Cold War with so many moles in their organization. John Le Carre's MI-V this was not!
  
  
• Spytime
  By A3TZV5SXQ8F6ST on 2008-10-15
  Philby, Burgess, MacLean, Blunt.
  
  The four names associated with one of the most embarrassing episodes in Western politics. Moles burrowed deeply within the political mechanisms of Great Britain and the British Secret Service.
  
  This BBC mini-series dramatization captures the life and times of the spies through the 1930s to the Cold War. The tone is sympathetic - idealists waging war against fascism, but get snarled the web of a bigger game - but the programs capture the period and oftentimes strange political alliances that swirled as Europe dragged itself into what became a global war.
  
  Actors Toby Stephens (Philby), Samuel West (Blunt), Rupert Penry-Jones (MacLean) and Tom Hollander (Burgess) provide outstanding portrayals of their characters. The vast 240 minutes spanning two discs include a documentary that aired on the History Channel which covers the foursome as traitors, hence there is some balance within a historical - not entertainment - context.
  
  Whether viewed as villains or products of a shadowy period driven by perceptions of good versus evil, this is a fascinating gaze into the rise and fall of the secret servants.
  
  
• Entertaining, interesting but not as good as it could have been
  By A2QF9HO7MNCAJT on 2007-04-04
  This is an entertaining account of the Cambridge Ring of spies recruited by the Soviets in the 1930s.
  
  It struck me as a set of semi-fictional vignettes to tell a true story.
  
  This sort of thing always disappoints me. To me, the story is fascinating enough without embellishment or alteration.
  
  It's worth seeing as a piece of entertainment, but not to be taken too seriously.
  
  For those historically minded, the bonus disk with documentaries and some actual footage of the real spies is useful, but again a little disappointing.
  
  It has a couple of interesting clips, but could have been more thorough. It could have, for example, included the entire press conference when Philby denied being the 'Third Man'. Instead, you get a 5 second grab. I'm not sure if the 1956 press conferencce with Burgess and MacLean was filmed, but Burgess' film with Tom Driberg in Moscow was not included in its entirety. Again, only a 5 second grab. Anthoy Blunt's 1979 interview is very interesting, but constitutes the only extended interview of the package.
  
  
  
• Cambridge Spies
  By A2GJUMN39RTAPC on 2008-08-30
  Brilliant! Leave it to the English to weave intrigue, romance, mystery & adventure with good solid drama. Not to mention a little bit of history. Casting on this movie coud not have been better and all the actors gave marvolous performances. If you likes Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, spy---you will like this one!
  
  

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