Ring of Spies
Encyclopedia
Ring of Spies is a 1964
British
spy film
based on the real-life case of the Portland Spy Ring
.
1964 in film
The year 1964 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 29 - The film Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is released....
British
Cinema of the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom has had a major influence on modern cinema. The first moving pictures developed on celluloid film were made in Hyde Park, London in 1889 by William Friese Greene, a British inventor, who patented the process in 1890. It is generally regarded that the British film industry...
spy film
Spy film
The spy film genre deals with the subject of fictional espionage, either in a realistic way or as a basis for fantasy . Many novels in the spy fiction genre have been adapted as films, including works by John Buchan, John Le Carré, Ian Fleming and Len Deighton...
based on the real-life case of the Portland Spy Ring
Portland Spy Ring
The Portland Spy Ring was a Soviet spy ring that operated in England from the late 1950s till 1961 when the core of the network was arrested by the British security services. It is one of the most famous examples of the use of illegal residents — spies who operate in a foreign country but...
.
Plot
A dissatisfied Navy clerk begins handling secret documents when he is approached by secret Czech intelligence to hand over documents to them. Although he is being black-mailed, he agrees to do so while also being paid for the information. He begins an affair with the secretary who also has access to greater secret documents. Together, the couple continue to procure information for Czech intelligence while getting paid. Soon, the British government gets wind of their betrayal.Cast
- Bernard LeeBernard LeeJohn Bernard Lee was an English actor, best known for his role as M in the first eleven James Bond films.-Life and career:...
as Henry Houghton - William SylvesterWilliam SylvesterWilliam Sylvester was an American television and film actor. His most famous film credit was Dr. Heywood Floyd in Stanley Kubrick's 2001 A Space Odyssey...
as Gordon LonsdaleKonon MolodyKonon Trofimovich Molody was a Soviet intelligence officer, better known in the West as Gordon Arnold Lonsdale. He was an illegal resident spy during the Cold War and the mastermind of the Portland Spy Ring.... - Margaret TyzackMargaret TyzackMargaret Maud Tyzack, CBE was a British actress.-Early life:Tyzack was born in Essex, England, the daughter of Doris and Thomas Edward Tyzack. She grew up in West Ham...
as Elizabeth GeeEthel GeeEthel Elizabeth Gee , nicknamed "Bunty", was an Englishwoman who helped her lover spy on their country for the Soviet Union. She was a minor member of the Portland Spy Ring.-Early life:... - David KossoffDavid KossoffDavid Kossoff was a British actor. Following the death of his son Paul, a rock musician, he became an anti-drug campaigner...
as Peter KrogerMorris Cohen (Soviet spy)Morris Cohen also known in London as Peter Kroger was an American convicted of espionage for the Soviet Union. His wife Lona was also an agent.-Birth and education:... - Nancy Nevinson as Helen KrogerLona CohenLeontine Theresa "Lona" Cohen , also known while she was in London as Helen Kroger, was an American spy for the Soviet Union. She was the wife of another spy, Morris Cohen.-Espionage:...
- Thorley WaltersThorley WaltersThorley Walters was an English character actor.He is probably best remembered for his comedy film roles such as in Two-Way Stretch and Carlton-Browne of the FO...
as Cmdr. Winters - Philip LathamPhilip LathamPhilip Latham is a British actor. He was educated at Felsted School.In the late 1960s/early 1970s he was well known to British TV viewers for his portrayal of chief accountant Willy Izard, the "conscience" to hard-nosed oil company industrialist Brian Stead in the BBC series The Troubleshooters...
as Captain Ray - Cyril ChamberlainCyril ChamberlainCyril Chamberlain was an English film and television actor. He appeared in a number of the early Carry On, Doctor in the House and St. Trinian's films....
as Anderson - Justine LordJustine LordJustine Lord is an English actress, active on television throughout the 1960s.She began her acting career in repertory theatre, and in the 1960s made guest appearances on The Avengers, The Saint, The Prisoner and Man in a Suitcase as well as playing regular roles on Crossroads, Compact,...
as Christina - Patrick BarrPatrick BarrPatrick David Barr was a British film and television actor.Born in Akola, India, Patrick Barr went from stage to screen with The Merry Men of Sherwood . He spent the 1930s playing various beneficent authority figures and "reliable friend" types...
as Captain Warner - Derek FrancisDerek FrancisDerek Francis was an English comedy and character actor.He was a regular in the Carry On film players, appearing in six of the films in the 1960s and 1970s. He appeared in Roger Corman's last film of his Edgar Allan Poe series The Tomb of Ligeia...
as Chief Supt. Croft