You know the best thing about that last endless stretch of winter? When it’s cold and icy and you’re counting down dwindling bags of pellets and shrinking wood piles and thinking, eh, do I really need to turn on the heat in March and do these double ski socks make my ankles look fat? When there are no upcoming holidays to rally around, you’ve run out of things to do with the kids, and everything starts to feel as uninspiring as that dirty, eternal gray snow pile at the end of your driveway…try your best to think of it as Mother Nature getting you into the mood for another season of the incredible Cold War spy drama, The Americans!
Starring Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys (she was from Felicity and he was from Brothers & Sisters) The Americans follows the story of a married pair of Russian spies who are so good at their jobs, that they fit right in to their middle class lives, and middle class suburb just outside of Washington, D.C.
But wait! This wouldn’t be a drama if there wasn’t, you know, drama. Push aside all of the daring exploits and inventive disguises, and what you have at the heart of the story is a tense narrative that explores marriage and family and honesty and can I live with my job and how are we raising the children?!? Spys—they’re just like us! Season 4 of The Americans airs on FX in March. That gives you two months to catch up of the first two seasons right now, and then season three in early March when it comes to DVD.
Some Cold War fiction:
THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE by Richard Condon Condon's story of a soldier brainwashed by the Chinese to assassinate a presidential candidate was well received upon its publication in 1959, but both the book and its 1962 film adaptation disappeared after JFK's murder. Decades later, any fan of political thrillers will enjoy this one.
YOUNG PHILBY by Robert Littell Could Kim Philby, legendary British spy turned traitor and one of the Cambridge Five—university students recruited by the Soviets in the 1930s—actually have been a triple agent, working for MI6 while he was purportedly spying for the Russians and then continuing to serve Britain even after he escaped to the Soviet Union in 1963? Espionage-fiction master Littell thinks so and constructs a thoroughly believable scenario—based on some intriguing, if not definitive, historical evidence. But whether the premise is fact or fiction, Littell turns it into a cracking good spy thriller, drilling deeply into the multifaceted character of Philby and emerging with a Cold War drama that exposes how true believers of every stripe were seduced by the heady mix of deceit and intrigue that continues to define the great game of espionage. Especially fascinating is Littell's account of Philby's experiences working for the Communists in Spain, during which the young British aristocrat is transformed from an idealistic, stammering twit into a shrewd manipulator of those around him, a man irresistible to women and driven by a complex set of beliefs and desires. A must for Cold War buffs.
FROM RUSSIA, WITH LOVE by Ian Fleming Of course you’ve seen the movie. But have you read the book?
Some Cold War Movies:
THE IPCRESS FILE This is what would happen if 007 had a working-class accent, horn rimmed glasses, and didn’t actually want to be a spy.
WARGAMES It’s a pretty common story. High school student hacks into a military supercomputer while searching for new video games (first place I’d check). The student starts a game of Global Thermonuclear War (catchy title), and later discovers that he’s about to trigger a nuclear response from the military OOPS IT WASN’T A GAME and now he needs to alert the proper authorities in order to stop WWIII.
TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY See this film because it’s a pretty good adaptation of an excellent book. Or maybe see it because each scene is meticulously styled, and the score’s trumpet and obo solos are moody and atmospheric and close to perfect. Here are four more reasons: Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman, and Colin Firth.
Some Cold War TV Series:
THE GAME Okay. I'm adding this gem of a series, BBC's The Game. It never got a second season, but that doesn't matter. All of the things that make Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy appealing, show up in this series. Great big twisty story? Check. Interesting character actors in very stylish historically accurate 1970s wardrobes? Check. Lonely trumpet themes and rainy London nights? Check. Brian Cox as the spymaster known as "Daddy?" Double check. So, here's the rundown: when a defecting KGB officer, Arkady Malinov, reveals "Operation Glass," a devastating Soviet plot that could change the course of the Cold War, Daddy, the head of MI5, assembles a secret team to investigate. As the Soviets awaken a list of sleeper agents all over Britain, Daddy’s team must move swiftly to counter the deadly plot.
THE HOUR Let's call this one cold war adjacent. Set in an English newsroom in the 1950s, this was supposed to be the BBC's answer to Mad Men--an inside view at the lives and loves of the journalists that inhabited it. But what we found? Blackmail! Communism! Spies! The Hour was canceled after two seasons. Still, it was a tense and fun while it lasted.
Some of the above descriptions come from NoveList.