The Looking Glass War (film)
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The Looking Glass War | |
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![]() Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Frank Pierson |
Written by | Frank Pierson |
Based on | The Looking Glass War by John le Carré |
Produced by | John Box |
Starring | Christopher Jones Pia Degermark Ralph Richardson |
Cinematography | Austin Dempster |
Edited by | Willy Kemplen |
Music by | Angela Morley |
Production company | Frankovich Productions |
Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release dates |
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Running time | 107 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Languages | English German |
The Looking Glass War is a 1970 British neo-noir action-thriller film directed by Frank Pierson based on the 1965 novel by John le Carré The Looking Glass War.
Plot summary
Polish defector Leiser (Christopher Jones) is offered a chance of UK citizenship by MI6, but only if he agrees to undertake a highly dangerous espionage mission behind the "iron curtain" in East Germany. Leiser's role is to replace an MI6 agent who has already been murdered, and to gather photographic intelligence on a covert East German rocket system - in violation of international agreements. The mission goes wrong from the start when, shortly after arriving in East Germany, Leiser is forced to kill a young East German guard, and later murders a lorry driver who makes homosexual advances. Leiser's objective is further undermined when he falls in love with an East German woman looking for a way out of the country.
Cast
- Christopher Jones as Leiser
- Pia Degermark as The Girl
- Ralph Richardson as LeClerc
- Paul Rogers as Haldane
- Anthony Hopkins as John Avery
- Susan George as Susan
- Ray McAnally as Undersecretary of State
- Robert Urquhart as Johnson
- Anna Massey as Avery's Wife
- Vivian Pickles as Mrs. King
- Maxine Audley as Mrs. LeClerc
- Cyril Shaps as East German Detective
- Michael Robbins as Truck Driver
- Timothy West as Taylor
- Frederick Jaeger as The Pilot
- Peter Swanwick as Finnish Policeman
- Paul Maxwell as CIA Man
- Guy Deghy as Fritsche
- Ernest Walder as Radio Engineer
- Patrick Wright as East German Policeman (VoPo)
- Sylva Langova as East German Woman
- David Scheur as Russian Officer
- Allan McClelland as Doctor
- Angela Down as Chelsea Girl
- Robert Wilde as English Policeman
- Nicholas Stewart as German Boy
- Linda Hedger as Taylor's Child
- Russell Lewis as Avery's Child
External links
- 1970 films
- British films
- British spy films
- Cold War spy films
- Films based on works by John le Carré
- Films directed by Frank Pierson
- 1970s thriller drama films
- 1970s spy films
- 1970s action thriller films
- English-language films
- German-language films
- Films based on British novels
- British action thriller films
- British thriller drama films
- Films about the Secret Intelligence Service
- Columbia Pictures films
- 1970 drama films
- Action thriller film stubs