Read Me
This BBC presentation is, like the 4 spies involved, quintessentially British. The settings are supreme, particularly the depictions of life at Cambridge as an undergraduate, which is where we first meet the 4 characters whose effect on 20th century history, may never be fully appreciated. The story follows their lives and adventures up until Burgess and McLean defect in 1951. The settings apart, what lifts this production out of the ordinary and into the sublime, is the casting and the performances from everyone involved. The 4 leads played by Samuel West as Blunt, Toby Stephens as Philby, Tom Hollander as Burgess, Rupert Penry-Jones as McLean are, all of them, perfectly cast. And...there are also memorable contributions from Anthony Andrews, moving and dignified as King George VI, Imelda Staunton, wonderfully cryptic and tart as the late queen mother, John Light as the outsmarted and frustrated James Angleton and not least Marcel Lures as the dignified KGB officer who acted as contact to the four. I have already watched this twice and will do so again as there is so much to enjoy with repeated viewings. Particularly memorable scenes include their outrageous celebrations on their last day at Cambridge, Philby getting himself and his companions out of a jam in Vienna by dint of his unshakable belief in the power of his British Passport (One of many delicious ironies), McLean's unconventional courting of future wife Melinda, Blunt's scenes with the Royals and unforgettably, Burgess' way of getting himself declared "persona-non-grata" in USA. Hollander's "God Bless America" scene is one of the many highlights in the production and is as good a piece of bravura acting as anything that might come from a Brando, a Pacino or a De Niro. But there are goodies everywhere. You will not need to be a History Buff to enjoy this, but you will conclude as I did, that yet again.
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