- One across. - Verisimilitude.
- We're ready. - No.
- What? - You're not ready.
None of you is ready.
We want to be sure you are above suspicion.
The British Establishment must believe in you.
- So... - You must become all that you despise.
Become part of the Establishment
and then your inconvenient years will be buried and forgotten.
The BBC has always meant a great deal to me.
What does it stand for?
The British Broadcasting Corporation.
If we were to give you this job, what sort of programs would you want to produce?
A series on the eastern Balkans. A program entitled ''Whither Albania?''
And an in-depth look at the problems in building the telegraph line to Lhasa.
All the things the BBC is for.
- Or I could do something lighter. - Lighter?
- And cheaper. - Cheaper and lighter?
What sort of program?
I'd simply love to produce a program for people with problems.
Live in the studio with their problems.
Title?
''Auntie's Agony...Auntie''.
Brilliant.
(SOFT MUSIC PLAYS)
Everyone has to believe we have changed.
A complete burying of the past.
Everyone, Guy.
- You still...? - I love him. I always will.
My name is Julian Bell.
Something happened today - something which changes us all.
The Government have announced it is illegal for men and women
to go to Spain and fight for freedom against Franco.
This is Luisa Jimenez. She's a singer.
Both her father and brother died fighting for freedom.
She's here to ask for help from us.
It's our choice whether we give it or, like our Government,
turn our backs on Luisa...
her father, her brother and Spain.
(PIANO INTRODUCTION)
Si solamente
Me tocaras el corazon
Si solamente
Pusieras tu boca
En mi corazon
Tu fina boca
Tus besos
Si solamente
Me tocaras el corazon...
Thanks.
Como un alma solitaria
Si solamente
Bravo.
- Hello, Guy. - Julian.
Broke?
I can put in for you.
I'm not broke. I just didn't like her voice.
What? Her voice? What are you talking about?
I don't want to contribute, Julian.
Not sure if I believe in all this any more.
Sorry.
We should be more overt, more right-wing.
Scream it from the bloody rooftops and get it over with.
Let's get the whole thing done quickly.
- "Double Burgess, Mr, Burgess?" - "Three,"
- Double Burgess? - Vodka, grapefruit juice, vodka.
My morning drink. Chocolate?
No.
- Isn't that one dead? - It's all dead.
On the contrary, it couldn't be more alive. This is everything.
This is where an empire does its thinking. Listen.
The club breathes - a small foreign country's annexed.
The club sighs - women and children scream in the night.
Look.
In...
..out.
- The belly of the British Empire. - When he gets here, make it subtle, Guy.
When who gets here?
Sets one up for the day...for the next one.
- Here we are. - Here we are what?
Lord Raveley. Subtle, Guy. Be subtle.
Burgess. Knew your father. Fine man. What do you want to see me about?
Hitler and how much you admire him.
I want to be in the admiration society. I gather there's quite a crowd.
Room for more.
Guy... Guy.
Our instructions are to avoid behaving like rabid Nazis. Too much noise is suspicious.
The Anglo-German Fellowship is discreet, profoundly English.
If I were to catch you enjoying yourself, you'd go right down in my estimation.
- Morning, sir. - Morning.
There are no German planes in Spain and no German pilots in Spain - officially.
- Officially, Germany is not helping Franco. - Unofficially?
- Unofficially, a little quiet guidance. - Guidance, not interference.
(KNOCKING)
His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales.
- What about the Jews? - We're not concerned with the Jews.
We're promoting the friendship between Germany and England -
temperamentally a natural alliance.
Herr Hitler has views on the Jewish temperament that can't be ignored.
- True, and those views must be respected. - Tolerated or respected?
Respected.
The Jew is dangerous, corrupt and impure.
That is an opinion I respect.
It's an opinion, I think, we can all respect.
Good breeding is vital to the health of any nation.
(DOG WHIMPERS)
You're completely over the top.
- The Jew. You said ''the'' Jew. - What?
The. The Jew. You said ''the''.
Are you suggesting that by putting the word ''the'' in front of ''Jew'', I've compromised us?
Burgess. Friend of Blunt's, aren't you?
- Yes. - We're related - him, us.
- So I believe. - Pictures man.
- Pardon? - Pictures. Blunt. Art.
We could do with a bit of help on the art front at Windsor.
Send regards, will you? And tell him to see us.
Me. You. Us. Go. Let's.
Mad bastard.
(WOMAN) If I should take the notion to ump into the ocean
Ain't nobody's business if I do
If I go to church on Sunday Then cabaret all day Monday
Ain't nobody's business if I do,,,
- You can hobnob with big knobs. - Meaning, Guy?
- Blunt related. Him. Us. - The biggest knob of the lot.
- What are you talking about? - HRH wants to see you.
Really?
Julian.
- I'm going to Spain. - When?
Tomorrow. It's time to act.
The time for writing to the ''New Statesman'' is over.
- I had thought it might be something you... - Don't go... You shouldn't go.
Why? Because your new politics tell you Franco's a good thing?
- Because it's dangerous. - It's a war.
I came to say goodbye and...
to tell you how sad it makes me to see that you're not...what you were.
People keep talking about the dark clouds gathering over Europe.
Clouds? Clouds?
It's already raining! Why doesn't anyone see it's bloody raining?!
Funny.
See?
Feel it?
Rain.
In the still and the chill of the night
I see the horizon
The great unknown
My heart has an ache, it's as heavy as stone,,,
(FOOTSTEPS APPROACH)
(DOOR CLOSES)
(FOOTSTEPS)
(SOFT KNOCKING)
Good evening, sir.
Bailed to attend Bow Street Magistrates Court for trial.
I'm following Oscar Wilde, and I've got a lot more to declare than my genius.
- A criminal record would... - Destroy everything, Kim. In a nutshell.
- Where are we going? - To tell people about our weekend.
What people?
Mad, the lot of them. 50...
50 MPs, three directors of the Bank of England,
generals, admirals, bishops and bankers.
A signal to Hitler there is real sympathy for his policies in England.
- I have to go. - Where?
To speak to the British intelligence services.
It's a way in - telling them about the lunatics.
When they realize how invaluable I am, they'll employ me.
- You've arranged a meeting? - Yes.
- It's a very good idea, Otto. - A very good idea.
Never do anything like this again without permission.
You are not free agents. And never, never meet with me together.
It breaks the rules. It's amateur. It's English.
And I want you to be safe.
It's a good idea.
I will get Moscow to suggest it themselves, then it will be an even better idea.
I thought you should know the extent of the friendship being offered to Germany.
I'm well placed to carry on reporting to you.
Eton.
- I left in 1920. - A bit before my time.
Ties that bind.
- You look like a queer. - I am a queer.
Guy, there are people who'd like you to pretend not to be for an hour or two.
What are you doing for lunch?
(GAVEL BANGS)
All rise!
I was so engrossed in ''Middlemarch'' that I stayed for a long time.
Great literature cannot be disturbed, but I was.
A note came through from the next lavatory.
I read it and, frankly, I was horrified.
Does Your Worship mind if I don't repeat what it said?
I passed the note back.
The prosecution have suggested that the note emanated from you.
I give you my word as an Eton man and a Cambridge man that it didn't.
You're suggesting that this man is a liar and his word is worth less than yours?
I was so excited by the preparation of Rosamund's marriage linen
that I cannot say for sure from which side the note came.
I may have passed it back the wrong way to this, no doubt innocent, man.
All rise!
Guy Burgess.
This case turns on whether your word as a gentleman is to be relied on.
I have made up my mind.
I find...
it can be relied on.
The verdict is not guilty. You are free to go.
We were considering more formal relations.
- Anything to make my country better. - Eton, Cambridge...
- The intelligence services. - It's a well-trodden path.
- Ties that bind. - I hadn't noticed.
The BBC have asked us to vet their staff for them.
The mouthpiece of the nation must have healthy gums.
Since you're at the BBC, would you mind? A few discreet inquiries. Nothing too blunt.
My name is Fanny Battle and I have a terrible callus on my sole.
I've tried everything. I'm at my wit's end. Can you help me, Auntie?
A callus on the sole? How long have you had this condition?
Where were you born?
- Chislehurst. - School?
- Yes, sir. - Which one?
- Chislehurst Girls. - Are you a Communist?
- No, sir! - Good. Very good.
That Marx - dreary old bugger.
Donald's been thinking about the Foreign Office.
It's important at times like these to put the right people in the right places.
Does Donald have the same ideas about the friends of this country?
Why don't you ask Donald as Donald's here?
I'm in favor of strong, friendly ties with Germany. Hitler's a great man.
You'd like me to put in a word?
- Mr. Blunt, a gentleman to see you. - Excuse me.
What is it?
- Julian Bell. - What? Tell me.
Dead?
Guy?
Guy.
I have something to tell you.
It's Julian.
- "How?" - "Blown up, Driving an ambulance,"
His family made him promise he would drive ambulances rather than fight.
(KNOCKING)
What's this?
- Write a report on it for the minister. - What is it?
Information on German armaments sent to Spain.
Number and size of shells, number of aircraft, tanks.
It's a very full account.
I don't know your name.
Norma.
Norma...
- When does the minister need it? - Plenty of time.
- Not today? - No.
It's your first day, isn't it?
Yes.
Relax. You'll be fine.
Am I ready?
Otto, tell me I'm right-wing enough. I'm writing for the ''Times''.
I'm a member of the Reform Club!
- You're leaving London. - The ''Times'' are sending me to Spain.
It's a chance for me to do some real work for you, to be useful.
- No. - What?
Your reports on the war will be heavily biased in favor of the Fascists.
Listen.
The deeper that Moscow want you to bury your past,
the more importance they attach to your potential.
It's a simple equation.
(SOFT SPANISH GUITAR)
Nice bar.
You could report the war from here. Drink gin and get all the stories you need.
Who's that?
Lady Frances. Pro-Franco English aristocrat.
- Part-time reporter. - Full-time socialite!
- Who's she with? - They're German Embassy.
Why does she keep looking at us?
- You, I'd say. Not us. - Welcome to Spain.
I'm very sorry about your friend, Julian Bell.
I loved him.
- I was a priest before this. - What happened?
The Great War. I saw things that took away my faith.
If there is a God, He wouldn't have allowed it.
Where was God at Passchendaele?
Now you have a new faith.
My family can't come to terms with me leaving the Church.
- I was very close to my brother. - Was?
Yes. We don't speak.
- Is he a priest? - No, no. A pianist, a brilliant one.
I've never seen him play. He's playing a concert here in London soon.
Will you go?
I want you to go to Spain to pass on an order.
It's very good to see you, Guy. Very good.
I hear you're the Fascists' favorite reporter.
I go where they send me. A guided tour, then I write what they want me to write.
It can't be easy sleeping with the enemy.
I'm so good at it, they're going to give me a medal.
Franco himself will pin it on my heroic breast.
Moscow wants you to do something. It comes from the very top.
How do you know?
- You'll be so close to him. Terribly close. - My God.
- Yes. - Kill Franco?
- When Stalin has an idea, it's a good idea. - He's right.
- Of course. - Franco should die.
He's a monster. It's time to act.
If I do this, then the network that we're building...
Will be no more. Everyone who's ever been near you will be tainted and...
And?
There's almost no chance of you surviving.
Kill Franco and be killed in the act of doing it.
You have to decide between your friends, your own death...
and a good idea.
Who would pay?
If I don't do it, who would pay?
I'm a bit worried. There's a woman at work.
- What's her name? - Norma. She's behaving strangely.
What does she look like?
- A little faded. Older than me. - She's 44.
- How do you know? - She's a friend. A good friend.
I didn't realize who you were, at first.
Things are seldom what they seem.
- I know we're not supposed to ask, but... - Do I come here often?
Have I been doing this work long? Am I all right?
Sorry. I'm new to all of this, as you know.
I just wondered what it's like to live with it for a long time.
It gets lonely.
It becomes...
lonely.
You know that.
Very lonely.
Sorry. I can't...
Sorry.
- It's all right. - Sorry.
Sorry.
(INDISTINCT WHISPERING)
For your heroic actions in the struggle against Communism.
(CLASSICAL MUSIC PLAYS LOUDLY)
(MUSIC STOPS, SPARSE APPLAUSE)
Did you know I wouldn't do it?
If I had to betray my country or betray my friend,
I hope I should have the guts to betray my country.
Friendship, Kim. Friendship above everything.
- Even if it's an adopted country? - Any country.
England, Russia, it doesn't matter. Friendship first.
I wanted to find where he died, but it's not possible.
Would you...? Sounds silly, but...
I was going to bury it here in Spain.
Buenos dias, padre.
- Compreme algo, senora. - No, gracias, hoy no.
(PLANE DRONES)
A German officer came to see me today. Would I consider helping?
''Helping?'' I said. ''The Third Reich.''
- What did you say? - I said I'd think about it.
Do you know something? The real temptation for a girl like me? The uniforms.
Really very glamorous and so clean.
You can see your face in the boots of a German soldier.
Any girl who says a Nazi in full kit isn't to die for is a liar.
(RADIO IS ON)
Am I making you jealous? Poor darling.
- Are you a little green-eyed? - Shh!
- What? - Listen!
- (INDISTINCT SPANISH) - Something's happened.
A place called Guernica.
(SHE HOWLS)
Periodista ingles. Aviones.
Aviones. Bombas. Muchas bombas. Hitler.
- He said bombs, bombs... - I know what he said.
Quiero que le digas al mundo lo que esta pasando en Guernica.
He hopes that you will tell the world what has happened here in Guernica.
There is no German involvement here. Herr Hitler is innocent in this.
Dice que no lo va a hacer. Que los alemanes no estan involucrados. Que Hitler es inocente.
(FLIES BUZZ)
(DOOR SHUTS)
Shall I tell you what happened? What really happened? This is my report.
''The Republicans did it themselves. The Reds blew up their own town.
''Why? To get international sympathy.''
So you're right about there being no German planes?
Communist propaganda. ''Rojos. Comunista.''
I saw my German officer.
He's very interested in what I might offer him.
- Go away. - What?
Go away, please.
- You're busy. - Go away!
Thank you.
- There's going to be a war. - Yes, ma'am.
And the Germans will be a formidable enemy. We will all of us need...
Courage? Strength? Resilience?
- Bottom. Lots of bottom, Anthony. - Yes, ma'am.
- Drink? - Thank you.
- By Royal Appointment. - Ma'am?
The gin. Which is more than can be said for that wretched American woman.
Mrs. Simpson?
Dreadful snob and mad keen on that ridiculous man with the nostril warmer.
- Ma'am? - Hitler.
Never trust a man with a bad moustache.
Homosexualists never have moustaches. Have you noticed?
I think it's a signal to other chaps.
''Look. No moustache. Come and get me.''
Ponces and spies, Anthony. The people with most to hide never have moustaches.
So which are you, Anthony? Ponce?
Or spy?
Oh...a little of both.
Aren't we all?
(CLOCK CHIMES)
I'm off sentry duty now, Mr. Blunt. Did they tire you out, the ladies?
- No. No, they didn't. Ladies don't. - Then I can buy you a drink.
I don't want a drink.
Sorry. Couldn't get away from the palace.
- Changing of the guard and all that. - Anything interesting?
- We drank gin together, the Queen and I. - How much gin?
- Three. - Three?
- Doubles. - Doubles?
- Before six. - Is it a problem, her drinking?
Put it this way, I don't think she'll outlive Stalin.
- What is it? - Nothing.
Really?
Moscow will be pleased with your royal news.
- Good. - Comrade Stalin will be very pleased.
''He knew human folly like the back of his hand
''and was greatly interested in armies and fleets.
''When he laughed, respectable senators burst with laughter.
''And when he cried, little children died in the streets.''
It's called ''Epitaph on a Tyrant''.
(DOOR OPENS)
The royal favorite returns.
What's that smell? Crushed lavender.
The whiff of perfumed Windsor bosom to which you have been taken.
- What's this? Sex. I smell sex. - Shut up, Guy.
It's happened. Anthony's been up a Windsor.
Who's Auden talking about in the poem? Who's the tyrant?
- Kim. - Hitler.
Hitler is the tyrant, Jack.
He has to be stopped. He has to be.
I've seen what his planes and his weapons and his pilots have done in Spain.
I've seen children dead in the streets.
Little children.
This burying of our past and pretending to be right-wing... Enough!
The past is buried.
We have to start fighting for the future, and the fight starts now.
You have all the credentials - background, experience.
I'm sure you'll be a real asset to us.
But I want a colleague to confirm my impression. Tomorrow. Here. Same time.
Why does she want a second opinion? Is it something they've traced?
Did they go back to Cambridge and look? Guy?
Maybe it's Litzi. Maybe they've dug up my marriage to a Communist.
- Relax. It'll be fine. - How the hell do you know?
(KNOCKING)
- You know each other? - From university.
We were at Trinity together.
Mad bastard, Guy! Do they really not know we're friends? So amateur.
School and university gets you in. The tea lady could give you more serious vetting.
- They have a tea lady? - A very nice tea lady.
- Cake? - Good cake.
- Where did she go to school? - Eton.
Sound fellow, our tea lady.
So here we are, all in place. The FO.
- Intelligence. - Buck House.
The BBC. A foot in all the right doors.
- Bowler hats. - Jermyn Street gents.
- Right inside the Establishment. - Ready to do wonderful damage.
- To a better future. - A better future!
It's your brother's concert tonight. I'm going. Are you?
- Otto? - I am being called back.
- What? - To Moscow.
Franco is alive and well. Good ideas don't fail.
Not without someone paying the price.
- Why don't you...? - What?
Go to Switzerland? Hide for the rest of my life? No.
I will go back.
There's a funny phrase you have. I've loved it since I first heard it.
''Face the music.'' I will face the music.
Did you know that Siberia has one-twelfth of the world's land mass
and almost none of its people.
- Otto, I... - Of course, it won't be Siberia.
What do you mean?
We both know what being recalled to Moscow means. Don't make me say it.
- I'm so sorry... - Please. I don't blame you at all.
The good idea was a bad idea. You shouldn't have been asked, but you were.
I have to go now.
Goodbye...
Kim Philby.
(CLASSICAL PIANO MUSIC)
Hitler and Stalin agreeing not to fight? Is the world upside down?
Stalin must have a reason. He's not ready for war, he's buying time.
I've given them everything: Litzi, my dignity.
I stood in the blood at Guernica and denied everything I believed in... For what?
How could he? How could he do this?
- Kim, listen... - I gave them my life.
Listen. You and I, we have to be strong.
We have to keep the four of us together.
(RADIO ) This morning, the British ambassador in Berlin
handed the German government a final note,
stating that unless we heard from them by 11,,,
No such undertaking has been received
and, consequently, this country is at war with Germany,
Stalin is buying time to rearm. He cares only about Russia and her survival.
What people feel about signing a treaty with Hitler is irrelevant.
Irrelevant? It's like the Pope making friends with the Devil!
If Stalin hadn't signed, Moscow would be full of Germans by now.
He knows he'll have to fight Hitler. He wants it to be later.
- You know I'm right. - I'm going for a pee.
We're at war with Germany. Hitler and Stalin are technically allies.
- Our position is different. - Position?
We used to be simple traitors. Now we're traitors in wartime.
If we're caught, it's a different game. We could be executed.
You're worried about Guy and Donald.
We stand or fall together - one of us goes, we all go.
What would you say if I were to tell you I was a Soviet agent? I am, you know.
You can be whatever you want,
and I can be a nurse or a nanny or the girl you're pining for. It's all the same to me.
Ten shillings will buy you a good time. My place is round the corner. Coming?
- What? - Guy?
- What did you say? - He didn't say anything.
- I don't think it's funny. - Come on.
Come on, what?
- What are you saying? - Nobody spoke.
- Nobody spoke? - No.
You looked at him and he looked at you and there was a whole fucking conversation.
''Guy's emotional. It's the Hitler-Stalin business. He's not taking it well.''
Nods and winks and catching each other's eyes. Like spies.
- Mad bastard. - What did you say?
- Come on, Guy. - Wait a minute.
- Mad bastard? Is that what you said? - Guy.
I'm asking you a question, Kim. Did you call me a mad bastard?
- Mad bastard. - What did you say?
You didn't flinch. You didn't move when the glass went past your face.
- Have faith, Guy. - Faith?
It's hard. If it weren't, it wouldn't have such profound rewards.