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    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Movies»Movies by Decade»1970s Movies»Movies 1970
    Movies 1970 Movies L 2 Mins Read

    Looking Glass War, The (1970)

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    This John le Carré story – set during the Cold War – begins with British Intelligence receiving a blurred photograph from East Germany which Director Leclerc (Ralph Richardson) believes to be Soviet missiles being installed close to the border with the west.

    Meanwhile, British agent and courier, Taylor King (Timothy West) receives a further roll of microfilm from a Finnish pilot and is subsequently found dead at the side of a deserted snow-bound highway, apparently killed in a hit-and-run “accident”.

    Ill-tempered German-speaking Polish defector Fred Leiser (Christopher Jones) is reluctantly recruited to cross the border to East Germany to spy on the missiles, in return for being granted the political asylum he seeks and allowed to live happily ever after with his English girlfriend.

    The Pole is trained for the mission – primarily by agent John Avery (Anthony Hopkins) – including how to differentiate the subtle difference between the sound of a gun being cocked and a door clicking shut, as his mentors bicker over the advisability of arming their new recruit (“That’s an act of war”).

    Escaping briefly from his training, Leiser visits the girlfriend he loves not for herself but for the baby she is carrying, only to find that she has thoughtfully provided herself with an abortion.

    Leiser is codenamed “Mayfly” and deployed into East Germany where he meets up with local girl Anna (Pia Degermark), falls in love with her, and decides to flee from all the espionage with her – while the expert ruthless old men use them both as decoys.

    Despite some pretty good performances by some of the lead actors, The Looking Glass War is dull, lacks momentum or suspense, and the characters are all largely unsympathetic.

    Christopher Jones’ voice was dubbed in the movie.

    Fred Leiser
    Christopher Jones
    Anna (“The Girl”)
    Pia Degermark
    Leclerc
    Ralph Richardson
    Haldane
    Paul Rogers
    Avery
    Anthony Hopkins
    Leiser’s pregnant girlfriend in London
    Susan George
    Under Secretary Of State
    Ray McAnally
    Johnson
    Robert Urquhart
    Avery’s Wife
    Anna Massey
    Mrs King
    Vivian Pickles
    Mrs Leclerc
    Maxine Audley
    East German Detective
    Cyril Shaps
    Taylor King
    Timothy West
    Truck Driver
    Michael Robbins

    Director
    Frank R. Pierson

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