Highest-Rated Movies about 'Espionage', Sort by Popularity

The Thief (1997), Secret Agent (1936), The Lives of Others (2006), Inglourious Basterds (2009), 13 rue Madeleine (1946), North by Northwest (1959), A Beautiful Mind (2001), Nothing but the Truth (2008) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best Espionage movies.

#16. The Lady Vanishes (1938)

Storyline: Passengers on a scheduled train out of the mountainous European country of Mandrika are delayed by a day due to an avalanche, and thus get up close and personal with each other out of necessity in the only and what becomes an overcrowded inn in the area. Once the train departs, the one person who it is uncertain is on the train is a middle aged English governess named Miss Froy (Dame May Whitty). Iris Henderson (Margaret Lockwood), who was vacationing in Mandrika with girlfriends before heading back to England to get married, is certain that Miss Froy was on the train as they were in the same compartment and they had tea together in the dining car, but all those people who can corroborate her story don't seem to want to do so. Iris' thoughts are easily dismissed as a possible concussion as Iris was hit over the head just before boarding the train. Iris will take anyone's help in finding Miss Froy, even that of an Englishman named Gilbert (Sir Michael Redgrave), a musicologist with ...

Plot Keywords: musicologist, governess, doctor, spy, suspenseful, charming, witty ...

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#17. Duck Soup (1933)

Storyline: The country of Freedonia is in the middle of a financial crisis and on the brink of revolution. In order to gain a bail-out from the wealthy Mrs Teasdale, the government appoints Rufus T Firefly as its president. However, Mr Firefly shuns the pomp and pretentiousness of government; along with the prudence and rationality of it too. Meanwhile, the neighbouring country of Sylvania is plotting to overthrow Freedonia and sends Pinky and Chicolini to spy on Firefly. War seems inevitable.

Plot Keywords: marx brothers, widow, wealthy woman, leader, ambassador, amusing, hilarious ...

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#18. The 39 Steps (1935)

Storyline: Richard Hannay is a Canadian visitor to London. At the end of "Mr Memory"'s show in a music hall, he meets Annabella Smith, who is running away from secret agents. He agrees to hide her in his flat, but she is murdered during the night. Fearing that he could be accused of the murder, Hannay goes on the run to break the spy ring.

Plot Keywords: tourist, spy, bystander, police officer, suspenseful, intricate, amusing ...

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#19. Pickup on South Street (1953)

Storyline: On a crowded subway, Skip McCoy picks the purse of Candy. Among his take, although he does not know it at the time, is a piece of top-secret microfilm that was being passed by Candy's consort, a Communist agent. Candy discovers the whereabouts of the film through Moe Williams, a police informer. She attempts to seduce McCoy to recover the film. She fails to get back the film and falls in love with him. The desperate agent exterminates Moe and savagely beats Candy. McCoy, now goaded into action, confronts the agent in a particularly brutal fight in a subway.

Plot Keywords: prostitute, pickpocket, communist, informant, fbi agent, dark, suspenseful ...

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#20. Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014)

Storyline: A young man named Gary "Eggsy" Unwin (Taron Egerton), whose father died when he was a young boy, is dealing with living with the creep his mother is with now, who mistreats her and him. He goes out and does something to one of the creep's friends. He gets arrested and he calls the number a man gave him around the time his father died, to call if he needs help. A man named Harry Hart (Colin Firth) approaches him and tells him he's the one who helped him. He tells him that he knew his father. When the man Eggsy slighted wants some payback, Harry takes care of him and his companions single-handedly. Harry then tells Eggsy that he's part of a secret organization called "The Kingsman", and his father was also part of it. He died trying to make the world safe. Harry offers Eggsy the opportunity to be a Kingsman, and he takes it. He undergoes a gruelling training course. Harry is looking into the demise of another Kingsman, and the trail leads him to tech billionaire Valentine, a.k.a. "V" (...

Plot Keywords: spy, mentor, young man, villain, criminal, professor, cool ...

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#21. Skyfall (2012)

Storyline: When James Bond's (Daniel Craig's) latest assignment goes gravely wrong and Agents around the world are exposed, MI6 is attacked, forcing (M Dame Judi Dench) to relocate the agency. These events cause her authority and position to be challenged by Gareth Mallory (Ralph Fiennes), the new Chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee. With MI6 now compromised from both inside and out, M is left with one ally she can trust: Bond. 007 takes to the shadows, aided only by field agent, Miss Eve Moneypenny (Naomie Harris), following a trail to the mysterious Tiago Rodriguez, a.k.a. Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem), whose lethal and hidden motives have yet to reveal themselves.

Plot Keywords: james bond, secret agent, terrorist, commanding officer, associate, sexy woman, spectacular ...

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#22. OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies (2006)

Storyline: In this spy movie parody, French Office of Strategic Services agent Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath (Jean Dujardin) investigates the disappearance of his fellow agent and longtime friend Jack Jefferson (Philippe Lefebvre). Disguised as the head of a wholesale chicken company, Hubert dispatches to Cairo amid the Suez Crisis. He meets his contact, Mossad agent Larmina El Akmar Betouche (Bérénice Bejo), but then comically stumbles upon an international conspiracy.

Plot Keywords: secret agent, spy, princess, nazi, love interest, religious person, cheeky ...

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#24. The Spy Who Came In from the Cold (1965)

Storyline: Alec Leamas (Richard Burton), a British spy, is sent to East Germany, supposedly to defect, but in fact to sow disinformation. As more plot turns appear, Leamas becomes more convinced that his own people see him as just a cog. His struggle back from dehumanization becomes the final focus of the story.

Plot Keywords: spy, drunk, intelligence officer, interrogator, jew, communist, bleak ...

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#25. The Scarlet Empress (1934)

Storyline: Young Princess Sophia of Germany is taken to Russia to marry the half-wit Grand Duke Peter, son of the Empress. The domineering Empress hopes to improve the royal blood line. Sophia doesn't like her husband, but she likes Russia, and is very fond of Russian soldiers. She dutifully produces a son -- of questionable fatherhood, but no one seems to mind that. After the old empress dies, Sophia engineers a coup d'etat with the aid of the military, does away with Peter, and becomes Catherine the Great.—John Oswalt <jao@jao.com>

Plot Keywords: noblewoman, duke, mother-in-law, count, husband, ruler, emotional ...

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#26. Bridge of Spies (2015)

Storyline: In the cold war, a lawyer, James B. Donovan is recruited by the CIA and involved in an intense negotiation mission to release and exchange a CIA U-2 spy-plane pilot, Francis G. Powers. The pilot was arrested alive after his plane was shot down by the Soviet Union during a mission and stays in the company of a KGB intelligence officer, Rudolf Abel, who was arrested for espionage in the US.

Plot Keywords: pilot, spy, lawyer, cia agent, airy, brooding, dark ...

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#27. Colonel Redl (1985)

Storyline: Set during the fading glory of the Austro-Hungarian empire, the film tells of the rise and fall of Alfred Redl (Brandauer), an ambitious young officer who proceeds up the ladder to become head of the Secret Police only to become ensnared in political deception.—Dawn M. Barclift

Plot Keywords: military officer, soldier, homosexual, wife, doctor, traitor, solemn ...

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#28. The Tamarind Seed (1974)

Storyline: On vacation from her job in the civil service, Judith Farrow (Julie Andrews) heads to the Caribbean where she befriends a debonair Russian named Feodor Sverdlov (Omar Sharif). The two quickly fall in love, but Judith's feelings are tested when Sverdlov is revealed to be a Russian agent eager to win her over to his cause. Back at home, Judith is instructed never to see him again, but can't shake the attachment, and soon finds that both of their lives are in danger.

Plot Keywords: civil servant, russian spy, undercover agent, tense, intricate, london, caribbean ...

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#29. Total Recall (1990)

Storyline: Douglas Quaid is haunted by a recurring dream about a journey to Mars. He hopes to find out more about this dream and buys a holiday at Rekall Inc. where they sell implanted memories. But something goes wrong with the memory implantation and he remembers being a secret agent fighting against the evil Mars administrator Cohaagen. Now the story really begins and it's a rollercoaster ride until the massive end of the movie.

Plot Keywords: construction worker, secret agent, revolutionary, mutant, scientist, tycoon, gory ...

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#30. Foreign Correspondent (1940)

Storyline: Johnny Jones is an action reporter on a New York newspaper. The editor appoints him European correspondent because he is fed up with the dry, reports he currently gets. Jones' first assignment is to get the inside story on a secret treaty agreed between two European countries by the famous diplomat, Mr. Van Meer. However things don't go to plan and Jones enlists the help of a young woman to help track down a group of spies.

Plot Keywords: reporter, editor, spy, diplomat, love interest, politician, suspenseful ...

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