The Spy Who Went Into the Cold (2013)

The Spy Who Went Into the Cold: Directed by George Carey. With Dick Beeston, George Blake, Anthony Blunt, Winston Churchill. Documentary on Kim Philby’s career as an MI6 agent who spied for the Soviet Union throughout WWII and afterward, and his subsequent exile in the Moscow.

“u0026quot;The Spy Who Went Into the Coldu0026quot; from 2013 is the true story of the notorious Kim Philby, a Brit who spied for the Russians and eventually defected.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThere have been many books written about Philby, and one of the people interviewed is Phillip Knightley, who worked with Philby on The Master Spy: The Story of Kim Philby. Also interviewed were his daughter, his widow, Rufina, and people who knew him.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhat emerges is the portrait of a man made of Teflon, an alcoholic, and a liar. He was one of the Cambridge Five double agents and is believed to have been most successful in providing secret information to the Soviet Union. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe British apparently knew he was a spy but couldnu0026#39;t admit it to themselves; finally, in 1963, he was told that if he would confess and say he had never spied on the United States after 1949, the government would hush up the matter and exonerate him. Another meeting was set, but Philby defected to Russia, where he was given political asylum. Many think the British left that opportunity open, hoping heu0026#39;d do it.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eHe lived out the rest of his life in Russia, dying in 1988. The Russians didnu0026#39;t have much use for him and didnu0026#39;t allow him into the KGB building for many years, so he wasnu0026#39;t exactly treated as a hero until he died. They did consult with him on different matters.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhat happened to Philby once he arrived in Russia was that he saw the effects of the philosophy he had embraced so passionately – and realized it didnu0026#39;t work, that people were in poverty. The philosophy was a good one, but it wasnu0026#39;t carried out in the right way. Sure – everything sounds great on paper but once you get people involved, it doesnu0026#39;t work.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;The Spy Who Went Into the Coldu0026quot; is an interesting look at a complicated man, denial, the good old boy network, and Philbyu0026#39;s reality check. In the end, he got away with everything but paid a price in disillusionment, depression, and drink.”