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Originally Posted by Randomizer
for spy flicks the original Manchurian Candidate with Frank Sinatra and not the tepid remake.
Not a Cold War flick per se but one where it sits in the background of the plot like some malevolent beast is 1979's The Great Santini. Robert Duvall is superb as a Marine Corps fighter pilot in 1962 looking for a hot war and if he can't fight Russian's, he'll fight at home instead. Blythe Danner is the long suffering wife and the youngsters out there can see where daughter Gwyneth Paltrow got her looks. A superb movie about a warrior without a war.
Another winner is Seven Days in May from 1964, where President Fredric March, after signing a disarmament agreement with the Soviets, tries to fend off a military coup lead by General Burt Lancaster and members of the Joint Chief's of Staff. Some accounts say that the real President Kennedy was looking forward to seeing the finished movie but that the Joint Chief's were not amused and refused the producers all military assistance during shooting.
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The Duvall pic is not one of my faves but still worth a look. Great performances all around.
The other two - a big thumbs up for both. The Manchurian Candidate was the first movie I bought on VHS when we first got a VCR back in the Dark Ages. I had a copy of the book but put off reading it until I could watch the movie, knowing it would probably take something away from the experience. Turned out to be a good decision. There are so many "OMG" moments in that film and it manages to be both shocking and heartbreaking all at the same time. Seven Days In May is also great, but then I love March and Lancaster is never less than magnificent IMO. Douglas was never one of my all-time favorite actors, but this is certainly one of my favorites of all his performances.