Pluskylang Great Film overall

Robert Joyner The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Quiet Muffin This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Cassandra Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

bkoganbing In the Citadel Film series book on The Films Of John Huston the author says that the reason that the film flopped was that the lead actor Patrick O'Neal was overwhelmed by the colorful supporting cast that Huston put together. It certainly was a formidable array of talent, topped off by George Sanders as an outrageous old drag queen. The Kremlin Letter is also compared unfavorably to The Maltese Falcon in that Humphrey Bogart more than held his own against a similarly colorful cast. I'm not sure O'Neal was overwhelmed, but the story might have been a bit tricky to follow. O'Neal is a naval officer detached from the service to join the CIA where he comes under the control of Richard Boone and Dean Jagger. He's to become part of a team that has to get a hold of an indiscreet letter written by a KGB man trying to get the USA to side with the USSR against the People's Republic of China. The Chinese might do more than just embarrass certain folks if they get their hands on it.Most of the team dies and the mission is not all that it seems. Still O'Neal carries on and what was intended to really be accomplished is. Still O'Neal is left with a real ethical dilemma in the end. And espionage as he finds is a business without ethics.This film could have been another The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, but falls way short of that classic. I think too many balls were in the air for the viewer to follow. Still a chance to see George Sanders in drag should not be missed.

nomoons11 I think my first comment is to those who viewed this and give it the tag "best spy film ever" surely need to sit down and watch all of Huston's work and then re-watch it. You'll then see, this was an early misfire. I mean a misfire by a mile. For the life of me I can't see how anyone thinks this is a good film. I guess that's the novelty of being human and having freedom of expression(especially on the internet).I've read the reviews and have found a few that state exactly what I thought from the start. This thing was a mess and it was too intricate/complicated for it's own good. There are so many holes and "huh?" moments it's laughable. This had a decent cast but man did they try to put too much into 2 hours. It was just jumbled up. To me the one character that epitomizes this film is the one played by Richard Boone. Anyone with any sense that believes that a guy that has a thick southern drawl, who's a spy, is gonna prance through Russia w/o being noticed is in need of some serious "Film 101" classes. Believability factor....0

Robert D. Ruplenas I caught this on one of the cable channels and was blown away by the cast lineup - Max von Sydow, Richard Boone, George Sanders, Dean Jagger, and - mirabile dictu - Orson Welles. What could go wrong, says I, in a Cold War intrigue drama with such a lineup, and directed by John Huston (who puts in a cameo)? As it turns out, plenty. I wondered why I had never heard of this flick, and after watching it, I realized why. The plot is incomprehensible, involving a mysterious letter that must be retrieved. It turns out that this letter, which we learn of at the beginning of the movie, is nothing more than what Hitchcock called a "McGuffin," an undefined object which gives the director an excuse to strut his stuff. In this case the "stuff" is a beautifully filmed exercise in obfuscation. It is never clear at any point who is doing what to whom. Huston got Welles to play a role, but he phones in his part in the pompous way of his later years. After a couple of hours of confusion, the ending, rather than giving us any closure (heaven forfend that a viewer might ask for closure), merely prolongs the incomprehensible. In sum, a confusing, overwrought, pretentious mess. The only upside is that it is beautifully shot. I wish I could also say that it's a pleasure to watch, but good cinematography only takes you so far. The frustration of the confusing plot kills everything. Skip it.

JasparLamarCrabb It's extremely convoluted but still worthwhile, THE KREMLIN LETTER is John Huston's take on the cold war spy thriller. A group of semi-governmental agents sneak into Russia to expose a corrupt politician and retrieve a letter that may expose one of them as a traitor. They manage to cross and double-cross each other along the way. Richard Boone and Patrick O'Neal are the head spooks and their team is an odd bunch including terminally ill Dean Jagger, safe-cracker Barbara Parkins, and Nigel Green (whose role is REALLY odd). Also in there is George Sanders as a drag queen/spy. It's a bit slow and rather turgid for its own good, but Huston is a master so the film is also extremely well made. Orson Welles is on hand as the chief Russian villain(?) as are Max von Sydow and Bibi Andersson as a kinky KGB couple. Lila Kedrova plays a duplicitious madam.