Pack of Lies

Television adaptation of Hugh Whitemore's play about an older British couple in a suburb of London circa 1961 learning from the police that their best friends of three years--a Canadian couple who live across the road--may be involved with a notorious Russian spy. Not-bad "Hallmark Hall of Fame" production is a bare-bones dramatic presentation coasting on the performances of its cast, with the emphasis on Ellen Burstyn as the otherwise-friendless housewife who feels betrayed by chatty, lively neighbor Teri Garr. Garr is working seriously here, but there's too many close-ups of her looking puzzled, asking the same redundant questions; Burstyn fares a bit better, even if her accent comes and goes (which can be overlooked). Still, Ellen's character deteriorates under the pressure of falsehood far too soon (everyone, at some point, becomes a liar in this teleplay--a gimmick that is heightened in the dialogue but, thankfully, not underscored too strenuously). The downbeat conclusion--and the two useless melodramatic tags--is unsatisfying, as is Alan Bates' role (and over-the-top performance) as a British agent. Worth-seeing for the intriguing first-half, but the hysteria which follows feels canned.

The story of this movie is classical Hitchcock stuff. It tells about fear, suspicion, innocence, betrayed trust and delivers a considerable amount of suspense. It is based on real events and is basically a movie about the invasion of privacy and its devastating effects – thanks to the excellent performances of all the actors a rewarding experience, but one that left me feeling sad and uncomfortable.

The question of loyalty looms large over the whole situation. So, your neighbors who happen to be your best friends, are suspected of being spies. But those who want you to believe that are very secretive about it, giving away only shreds of information, leaving you more or less in the dark. Is the neighbors' friendship a total fake, merely a tactical gimmick? Are they ignorant about all that is going on and maybe just victims? You can't talk about it with your friends - which basically is what friends are for - you must lie to them, faking the "usual ignorance". No wonder that the concerned family get to the brink of insanity, especially because - as if this were not enough - they have to deal with permanent house-guests who more or less take over the dwelling, spying on the neighborhood for some not really clear reason – creating an all around surreal situation. Remains the question: Whom can you trust? You have to trust somebody.

It does this movie great credit that it distributes the pack of lies evenly, not demonizing anybody. There is nothing „bad" about the neighbors who are revealed in the end as hardboiled spies and did what they did because of their political convictions. They are perfectly civil and likable, up to their arrest which comes through as a general defeat for everybody concerned in the immediate surroundings. The effects on the family are truly devastating, and that is hard to take – even if in all probability there wouldn't have been more sensible ways to deal with the situation successfully. So probably they belong to the anonymous victims of the Cold War to whom, as far as I know, nobody ever erected a monument.

The only thing I regret about Pack of Lies is the stylistic approach, which is flat and undramatic and makes it almost a documentary in appearance. In my opinion, the surrealistic elements of the story and the moral turmoils the family has to go through would have justified a slightly more "cinematic" approach to the issue. After all, the whole situation is really far from normal. Or so I hope.

Hugh Whitemore is listed as the author of the teleplay of PACK OF LIES. It would be more accurate to say he co-wrote it. He wrote the original TV play that was then the basis of the stage play the was a success in London. It was less successful when it played New York and I saw it. He was signed to write the adaptation for HALLMARK. He delivered a draft. For some reason he decided to leave the project and I was brought in to do a rewrite. I made some substantial changes. I gather these annoyed him. He had the right to sign the script. I was told he disliked what I did so much he didn't want to be associated with it, so he signed his pseudonym, Ralph Gallup. I was billed as creative consultant.

The show was successful. "Ralph Gallup" was nominated for an Emmy, as were the show and Ellen Burstyn. (I watched the Emmys in my living room with a bowl of popcorn on my lap.) It was also part of the basis for HALLMARK's Peabody Award that year. If the credit were accurate, Whitemore would certainly have first position. I wouldn't make comment except that, of everything I've worked on for television (pilots, episodes, assignments, sitcoms, TV movies, soaps), this was my favorite project, and I remain pleased with my part in it.

I am one of Whitemore's fans, by the way.

I was lucky to see this when it was first aired and fortunately at the time, I was addicted to videotaping on VHS dramas worth saving. I saved this and watched that VHS until it finally broke. Now, I am fortunate to be able to watch it for free on Amazon Prime and it holds up wonderfully.

Beautifully directed, sensitively written and magnificent performances add to an overwelming story of government interference, betrayal and emotional upheaval among a group of middle class English folk and their neighbors from overseas.

It is obvious from the delicately nuanced dialogue that this was originally a period piece of a play. It is also obvious that the entirety of the structure is a metaphor of government versus individual, that the concerns of the individual are subjugated to the interests of the state. However, the human scale and drama are drawn powerfully to a climax that is shattering.

Ellen Burstyn gives the performance of her life as the central character torn between reality and lies. And Teri Garr has never been more aptly cast as her best friend, the effervescent neighbor. The supporting cast is rock solid as is this introductory performance by Sammi Davis.

I have watched this at least 20 times in my life and it is an amazing show of subtlety, metaphor and acting. One of the greatest dramas for the tube ever produced.

"Pack of Lies" is a very interesting drama which is aptly named. MI5 agents, led by Alan Bates as "Stuart," skillfully manipulate a well-intentioned British family into believing that they are merely police on a routine investigation who need to use their home in the London suburbs "just for the weekend" in order to surveil a suspect who has been tracked into their neighborhood. As it becomes clearer what is really going on and what is at stake, the agents practically take over the house, the British couple are encouraged to lie to their teenage daughter about the unseemly details they have learned, and then the husband must lie to his increasingly distraught wife in order to spare her the trauma of the final ugly truth. Everyone must deceive the family's friendly neighbors by pretending that nothing at all is amiss, for it turns out that they are Soviet spies who have been lying their heads off to maintain their cover. In the end, as British agents close in for the inevitable arrest, Ellen Burstyn, as Barb, is subsumed in guilt, completely torn between her loyalty to her best friend, Helen (Teri Garr), while at the same time feeling totally gullible and cruelly betrayed by her. This is a great TV movie with excellent performances all around, but especially from Alan Bates, Teri Garr, and Ellen Burstyn. In fact, the latter is so convincing in her interpretation that at certain key moments it almost defies description.

The interesting thing, of course, is that this effective movie is based on a true story, as was pointed out in another's comments. "Helen and Peter" seemed so affable and caring but were in fact part of the infamous atomic spy ring that gathered American nuclear secrets after WWII and transmitted them to the Soviets. They escaped the US when the Rosenbergs and others were arrested, only to surface in London some time later under assumed names.