Subgenre Sampler
Spy: 298 Films to Buy & Rent
Hot Enough For June (1964)
- Dir. Ralph Thomas
Feat. Dirk Bogarde, Sylva Koscina, Robert Morley…
- A struggling young writer is plunged into a terrifying world of international espionage while on a seemingly innocent commercial assignment to Prague.
Man from U.N.C.L.E., The (TV Series) (The Man from Uncle) (1964)
- Feat. Robert Vaughn, David McCallum, George Sanders…
- Robert Vaughan and David McCallum starred in this cool, tongue–in–cheek spy series, which exemplifies the genre at the peak of Cold War…
From Russia with Love (1963)
- Dir. Terence Young
Feat. Sean Connery, Pedro Armendariz, Lotte Lenya…
- Connery deals to the Russians in a race to seize the Soviet Lektor decoding machine. Featuring one of the longest chase scenes of the series, as well…
Prize, The (1963)
- Dir. Mark Robson
Feat. Paul Newman, Edward G. Robinson, Elke Sommer
- Paul Newman plays an alcoholic writer in Stockholm to collect his Nobel Prize who drunkenly stumbles upon an overly complicated spy plot.
Dr. No (1962)
- Dir. Terence Young
Feat. Sean Connery, Joseph Wiseman, Ursula Andress…
- First James Bond film has a wet behind the ears but dashing Sean Connery investigating strange occurrences in Jamaica, where he encounters…
Ivan's Childhood (1962)
- Dir. Andrei Tarkovsky
Feat. Nikolai Burlyayev, Valentin Zubkov, Yevgeni Zharikov
- A teenage spy works behind enemy lines in WW2 Germany. The Russian master's first feature is his least self–conscious and most efficient…
Saint, The (TV Series) (1962)
- Feat. Roger Moore
- The role of Simon Templar enabled a young Roger Moore to perfect the savvy quips that would mark him as a natural choice for James Bond.
Also…
Avengers, The (TV Series) (1961-1969)
- Feat. Patrick Macnee, Diana Rigg, Linda Thorson
- The impossibly hip secret agent show is a high–camp classic and a nostalgic pleasure. Well–devised scripts, quirky dialogue and playful…
Our Man in Havana (1960)
- Dir. Carol Reed
Feat. Alec Guinness, Burl Ives, Maureen O'Hara…
- Witty, forgotten spy satire from dir. Reed (THE THIRD MAN) has Alex Guinness run riot as an undercover vacuum cleaner salesman spooking for the…
39 Steps, The (1959)
- Dir. Ralph Thomas
Feat. Kenneth More, Taina Elg
- Colour copy of Hitchcock's spy thriller, this time with Kenneth More and Taina Elg as the innocents entangled in Scottish intrigue.