A TIGHT LITTLE MINISERIES ON BRITISH ESPIONAGE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000605740095-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 3, 2012
• Sequence Number: 95
• Publication Date: January 31, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT I
Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/03 :CIA-RDP90-009658000605740095-9
- ~ ~[~~lf`~~~~~~~~? '~"~' C.tiK1Jt1HIV JC.1tIV(.t MUNlIUK
r~^~ -~~~- 3 ~ ~~?~ 31 January, 1985
t~~ht li e miniseries on Britiss espionage
~L~:hr:5to~~erSlaran _ -- - . .. ..
:messenger role for =the Bntish intelli-. " -; Any -pretext for good Bntish televi= ;
. good as British spy thrillers, the Krem-':='counts how Wynne- : recnuted Oieg if it covers- ground :traversed- by every
- Ii-n would have Long since become"an': Penkovsky; a Red Army colonel and ~ stereotype of a~James' Bond flick or ~
~:opun book t0 the-folks at 10 Dowlllllg }ugli-ranking member of Soviet mill- John:le CanE novel. And you do some-
St~eet.. , .. tary intelligence, ... _' : - ,: -times get the .feeling ,here that you.
Then again,: the British intelligence .. - Penkovsky turned out to be one of .are bumping over a ~ pretty familiar ~:
service that one encounters :in these . the .most :valuable finds of his lflnd ;-:road.. ' `'~~
vhrillers is as messy, riddled with hu= ~ _eve~ telling the United-Statzs and Brit- ` .But there 3s another dimension to '
-man error duplicitous, unreliable, and -sin in advance "-about `the building of . - this production. Somehow it seems to
^' perverse in its o_wn way as the Berlin;Wall and the in- .' have some motive?oth2r..than to hook=;'
~. sm,~ big-power. spook fac _ ~ stallation =isf nuclear mis-.,..your; attention-with~another nasty rev
Cory; and headlines ,over ~ sales in ..Cuba.- He also' ..elation about the folks :who do ques= -
the ,years regarding -the . -fumed out to be a person ~'. tionable things in'our name
inks . and be ~ ~~~6i?VV _ _
?: high j _ trayals of some large convictions, . "Man mom .Moscow"..; attempts to - ,
:..women who do England's spying bear: Anil ~yices -And tlierebyhangs Wynne's ~ : CIA and British intelligence, as well as ,
` this image out, at least in part:-~ . ~ . -, ~ -tale: A ~boiid of honor.: and friendship -a total lack of honor -among many of _ .
.. Now, here's ,Man )mom Moscow, , grew;up between the two men, one that, ,. ,those in high intelligence circles; at the
(RBS;-Fridays, Feb. 1, 8,. I5,:9.-10 pm.,-; .;: endured through .the ugly events tliat"-same time it unravels the complex ,
check local listings) .to give further.; tore them apart _. _ _,_.. - - _; emotional tangle that grows up be=
dr~iatic evidence that there_;are. few .....:It-is because of this friendship,.and-~. tween people-who are too human to
good guys in the :war of stolen secrets; ~ meticulous care in-the telling, that this play to win in this game of cunning and . j
only those working for.good causes " ~ tale of British and American spooks;'- 'death ~..: - '
-- - Ih-awn from -the published:-remem-- and-their jointly- run "client':' becomes In David Calder's .portrayal of.
__
branr_.es of-Greville-Wynne, the British, ;something special m the long nin of Wynne,-we see all of that: a man who
businessman who` played ahigh=level ~ British"spy thrillers
- .: .i _ r
Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/03 :CIA-RDP90-009658000605740095-9
 Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/03 :CIA-RDP90-009658000605740095-9
. ._,,
..Z .
does what he does because of the compulsion to be in- ~.
volved, mingled with the echo of patriotism from his mili-
tary, service during the war. Aside from his ability. to'.
sweat profusely without ever rumpling his shirt front, ':
Calder gives you every inch the British gentleman of his
time and in another, far less simple world. To his peril,
he believes passionately, underneath his sophisticated '.
manners, in doing the right thing. He's a basically decent
fellow
Christopher Rozycki's Penkovsky is the perfect social
naif, who has grown up in a world of underhandedness,
as -well as a societ}~ that kept him .ignorant of .the most
basic freedoms enjoyed in the West. His .,insistence on
meeting the Queen: is touching reminder of .his: naivete.
Penkovsky's desperation is both personal .:and interna- ~
tional: He. is a man .plagued by nightmares concerning
himself and mankind:
. It is in the detailed life surrounding these two figures
that "Man mom Moscow" scores many of its points.
::: Wynne's interrogator, awhite-maned bear of . a man,
reeks of Soviet power plays and military bureaucracy.
His ,"interpreter" has that athletic stamp and watchdog .
.gaze of a KGB plant.. His bewildered wife, who knows I
nothing of his doings, wonders why her marriage is com-
ing apart ("Going away for the weekend,;:darling golf ,
clubs in the. car.... Daddy, where. did you get those
bruises?, ~'
Care in casting, and iri many other'details,-makes this
a-convincing document of the world in which secrets are
traded. It will come as no news that this world is not
pretty. American. CIA people are portrayed as hard and
ruthless and dishonorable. British 'spy management
comes off as gamy and -foul under its "proper" manner
.and "playing by the rules." Both were eager to exploit
any opportunity..in the form of a willing fanatic with
something to offer.
In the end, Penkovsky turned out to be just such a
person. If he is to be believed, he did what he did because
he was convinced the communist system had betrayed
;the Russian people. He .also felt that,the Soviet leader-
ship was taking the world to the brink ~of nuclear
annihilation: Probably. for these reasons, he stayed too
long at the game.
In. another time, he would have been a hero. As it was,
he became just. another information container to be
emptied and, discarded.
Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/03 :CIA-RDP90-009658000605740095-9