Virtual Friday Night Films at the Wende: Cold War Spy Flicks

In conjunction with this week’s Cold War Spaces on Cold War Spy Adventures, we invite you to enjoy a clandestine double feature:

Seventeen Moments of Spring, the Soviet counterpart to James Bond, and For Eyes Only – Top Secret, an espionage thriller produced by DEFA, the state-owned film studio of the German Democratic Republic.

The Soviet counterpart to James Bond, this twelve-part television series portrays the exploits of a Soviet spy who infiltrates the Nazis under the name Max Otto von Stierlitz during the spring of 1945. The series was part of a trend of media glorifying KGB agents in an effort to improve the KGB’s public image, and director Tatyana Lioznova imbued the story with rich psychological drama. An estimated 50 to 80 million viewers in the Soviet Union watched each episode for its original run in 1973. It remains one of the most popular television series in Russian history.

Watch the first episode for free on YouTube.

For Eyes Only – Top Secret, dir. Janos Veiczi, East German, 103 min

This double agent thriller was the first East German spy film and a hit with audiences. It was loosely based on real events from 1956, but the allegation of a Western plot to attack the GDR was fabricated, in part to justify having built the Berlin Wall. Some film critics described the film as “the answer to the first James Bond film, Dr. No (1962).”

Watch on Kanopy, free with a library card. Get immediate access to a LAPL e-card or LA County Library Digital Card.

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Virtual Film Picks are inspired by the in-person Friday Night Films at the Wende program series. This selection is part of a curated list of weekly movie suggestions that can be watched at home, in conjunction with #WendeOnline.