Spy fiction is a genre of literature involving espionage as an important context or plot device. It emerged in the early twentieth century, inspired by rivalries and intrigues between the major powers, and the establishment of modern intelligence agencies. It was given new impetus by the development of fascism and communism in the lead-up to World War II, continued to develop during the Cold War, and received a fresh impetus from the emergence of rogue states, international criminal organizations, global terrorist networks, maritime piracy and technological sabotage and espionage as potent threats to Western societies. As a genre, spy fiction is thematically related to the novel of adventure, the thriller and the politico-military thriller.
North by Northwest is a 1959 American spy thriller film produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, and James Mason. The screenplay was by Ernest Lehman, who wanted to write "the Hitchcock picture to end all Hitchcock pictures".
The Circus is a 1928 silent romantic comedy film written, produced, and directed by Charlie Chaplin. The film stars Chaplin, Al Ernest Garcia, Merna Kennedy, Harry Crocker, George Davis and Henry Bergman. The ringmaster of an impoverished circus hires Chaplin's Little Tramp as a clown, but discovers that he can only be funny unintentionally.
Donald Henry Pleasence was an English actor. He began his career on stage in the West End before having a screen career, which included starring in a 1954 BBC adaptation of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, before playing numerous supporting and character roles in films including RAF Flight Lieutenant Colin Blythe in The Great Escape (1963), the villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the James Bond film You Only Live Twice (1967), SEN 5241 in THX 1138 (1971), and the deranged Clarence "Doc" Tydon in Wake in Fright (1971).
The Cambridge Five was a ring of spies in the United Kingdom that passed information to the Soviet Union during the Second World War and the Cold War and was active from the 1930s until at least the early 1950s. None of the known members were ever prosecuted for spying. The number and membership of the ring emerged slowly, from the 1950s onwards.
James William Mitchell was a British writer, principally of crime fiction and spy thrillers. He is best known for creating Callan (1967–1972) and When the Boat Comes In (1976–1981).
Billion Dollar Brain is a 1967 British espionage film directed by Ken Russell and based on the 1966 novel Billion-Dollar Brain by Len Deighton. The film features Michael Caine as secret agent Harry Palmer, the anti-hero protagonist. The "brain" of the title is a sophisticated computer with which an anti-communist organisation controls its worldwide anti-Soviet spy network.
The Falcon and the Snowman is a 1985 American spy drama film directed by John Schlesinger. The screenplay by Steven Zaillian is based on the 1979 book The Falcon and the Snowman: A True Story of Friendship and Espionage by Robert Lindsey, and tells the true story of two young American men, Christopher Boyce and Andrew Daulton Lee, who sold US security secrets to the Soviet Union.
Peter Collinson was a British film director probably best remembered for directing The Italian Job (1969).
Vladek Sheybal was a Polish character actor, singer and director of both television and stage productions. He was well known for his portrayal of the chess grandmaster Kronsteen in the James Bond film From Russia with Love (1963), a role for which he had been personally recommended by his friend Sean Connery, and as Otto Leipzig in Smiley's People (1982). He also had notable recurring roles as Dr. Douglas Jackson in Gerry Anderson's UFO, Captain Ferreira in the NBC miniseries Shōgun and as Gen. Bratchenko in the 1984 version of Red Dawn.
S*P*Y*S is a 1974 American spy comedy film directed by Irvin Kershner and starring Elliott Gould, Donald Sutherland and Zouzou. The film was screened at the 1974 Cannes Film Festival, but it was not entered into the main competition.
From Russia with Love is a 1963 spy film and the second in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions, as well as Sean Connery's second role as MI6 agent 007 James Bond.
The Mackintosh Man is a 1973 Cold War spy film directed by John Huston from a screenplay by Walter Hill, based on the novel The Freedom Trap by English author Desmond Bagley. Paul Newman stars as Joseph Rearden, a jewel thief-turned-intelligence operative, sent to infiltrate a Soviet spy ring in England, by helping one of their agents break out of prison. The cast also features Dominique Sanda, James Mason, Harry Andrews, Michael Hordern and Ian Bannen.
Scorpio is a 1973 American spy film directed by Michael Winner and written by David W. Rintels and Gerald Wilson. It stars Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon, and Paul Scofield. Delon plays the title character, a hitman hired by the CIA to assassinate his mentor (Lancaster), a former agent suspected of treason. The film's score was composed by Jerry Fielding.
Cairo is a 1942 musical comedy film made by MGM and Loew's, and directed by W. S. Van Dyke. The screenplay was written by John McClain, based on an idea by Ladislas Fodor about a news reporter shipwrecked in a torpedo attack, who teams up with a Hollywood singer and her maid to foil Nazi spies. The music score is by Herbert Stothart. This film was Jeanette MacDonald's last film on her MGM contract.
The Sell Out is a 1976 American-British-Italian-Israeli film directed by Peter Collinson and starring Oliver Reed, Richard Widmark and Gayle Hunnicutt. It was filmed in Israel.
The Human Jungle is a British TV series about a psychiatrist, made for ABC Weekend TV by Independent Artists.
Mystery Ship is a 1941 American spy thriller film directed by Lew Landers and starring Paul Kelly, Lola Lane and Larry Parks. It was produced and distributed by Columbia Pictures.
"Kill Straker!" is the seventh episode aired of the first series of UFO - a 1970 British television science fiction series about an alien invasion of Earth. The screenplay was written Donald James and the director was Alan Perry. The episode was filmed between 5 November and 17 November 1969 and aired on the ATV Midlands on 4 November 1970. Though shown as the seventh episode, it was actually the sixteenth to have been filmed. The episode was originally titled The Inside Man.
The Limbo Line is a 1968 British spy thriller film directed by Samuel Gallu and starring Craig Stevens, Kate O'Mara and Eugene Deckers. It is based on the 1963 novel of the same title by Victor Canning. It was made as part of a 1960s boom in spy films in the wake of the success of the James Bond series.
