Break in the Circle 4K (1955)

“Gorgeous Transfer of an Entertaining Espionage Thriller”

Hammer are releasing director Val Guest’s BREAK IN THE CIRCLE in a special three disc UHD / Blu-ray combo edition which, in common with their other ‘B’ movie releases, comes with an accompanying book and luxury packaging.

Skip Morgan (Forrest Tucker) is an ex-smuggler living the quiet life in Cornwall, enjoying time on his boat with his sidekick Dusty (Reginald Beckwith) when he’s not bugging local writer Lisa (Eva Bartok) with whom he has had a previous relationship. But his past soon comes back to haunt him in the form of Major Bartok (Guy Middleton) who convinces him to go to London for ‘one last adventure’.

That adventure involves rescuing Kudnic (Arnold Marle) from Hamburg at the request of Baron Keller (Marius Goring) for a large amount of money. Morgan is also wanted by Scotland Yard and it turns out Lisa has been keeping tabs on him for them. So he kidnaps her and sets off to Hamburg with Dusty where, with Emile (Eric Pohlman) they get into a bunch of scrapes, with plenty of double-crosses waiting for them at home.

The outstanding thing about BREAK IN THE CIRCLE is its location photography, filmed in vivid Eastman colour and rendered absolutely gorgeous by Hammer’s new 4K transfer. As such it now provides a valuable historical document of what Cornwall (specifically the village of Polperro), London and Hamburg used to look like. As a thriller it’s pretty routine stuff for the period, but it’s rarely dull and the presence of some familiar Hammer faces (we also get THE REPTILE’s Marne Maitland as a foreign agent) helps pass the time very comfortably.

Hammer’s set consists of three discs. A single UHD is home to three versions of the film: 1.66:1 UK theatrical (with commentary from film historian Richard Hollis and thriller novelist Gavin Collinson), 1.37:1 UK ‘as filmed’ (with commentary by Adrian Martin, who also discusses the US version) and 1.37:1 US version which is in black and white and runs 20 minutes shorter. You also get the censor card and UK and Italian trailers (for INTERPOL AGENT Z-3).

The films are also spread over two Blu-rays, the second of which has the other extras. There’s a look at the Hamburg locations today (11 minutes) and the Cornwall locations as well (5 minutes) as well as an image gallery. The major extra here is Eurocrimes (96 minutes) in which Sergio Angelini, Laura Mayne and Barry Forshaw cover a range of topics including the influence of the US communist witch hunts of the 1950s that caused many American stars and directors to move to Europe, as well as a potted history of European crime movies over that and subsequent decades. Finally you also get a book (not provided for review) with new writing from Wayne Kinsey, Neil Sinyard, Sarah Morgan and Miriam Balanescu.

Val Guest’s BREAK IN THE CIRCLE is out in 4K from Hammer in a three disc UHD / Blu-ray combo set on Monday 31st August 2026

The Spy Who Came in From the Cold (1965)

In 1965 Harry Saltzman and Albert Broccoli's series of James Bond films was riding the crest of its quite phenomenal success. Sean Connery was still firmly ensconced in the role and the series showed no signs of slowing down. In January 1966, three weeks after the release of  THUNDERBALL, the fourth film in the Bond franchise, a very different kind of spy thriller opened in British cinemas, one that turned out to be the very antithesis of the colourful spy movies audiences had so far been flocking to.

Adapted from John Le Carré's 1963 novel of the same name, Martin Ritt's film  of THE SPY WHO CAME IN FORM THE COLD tells the story of Alec Leamas (Richard Burton) who works in Berlin for British Intelligence. When the return of an undercover operative goes wrong Leamas returns to London. Instead of taking up a desk job he becomes embroiled in a complex plot that involves him 'defecting' to the other side with the intention of causing the death of one of the opposition's key figures. But all is not quite as it seems.

Along with Sidney J Furie's THE IPCRESS FILE (released just two months after Ritt's film), THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD showed cinema audiences a grimmer, seedier, more realistic flip-side to Ian Fleming's glamorous superspy adventures. Richard Burton is perfectly cast as Leamas, delivering a climactic speech filled with invective to Claire Bloom's hapless communist librarian. Don't expect a happy ending for either of them. 

        Shot in harsh black and white and featuring turns by a number of British acting favourites including Michael Hordern, Cyril Cusack, Robert Hardy, Rupert Davies as George Smiley and a blink or you'll miss him Michael Ripper, with key roles for Peter Van Eyck (THE SNORKEL) and Oskar Werner (Truffaut's FAHRENHEIT 451), it's a film that builds slowly, demanding you pay attention in order to follow its complex plotting, but the result is very much worth it.

Eureka's disc comes with a new commentary track from Adrian Martin and a video essay from David Cairns that lasts just over 20 minutes. You also get a 48 page booklet with new writing on the film from Richard Combs as well as archival pieces.

Martin Ritt's film of John Le Carré's THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD is out on Blu-ray from Eureka on Monday 17th May 2021