Torn Curtain

Armstrong travels to Copenhagen for a conference and receives a radiogram directing him to pick up a book. The message says contact pi in case of emergency. He tells Sarah Sherman that he is headed for Stockholm, but secretly travels toward East Berlin to defect, and Sherman decides to follow.

Armstrong lands in East Berlin and is welcomed by representatives of the East German government. Sherman realizes that he has defected and understands that she may never return home if she stays. She faces a difficult choice about continuing the mission or returning to the West.

Armstrong visits a contact known as the farmer to gain the confidence of the East German scientific establishment. The farmer explains that the defection is a ruse designed to learn how much Gustav Lindt and the Soviet Union know about anti missile systems. Armstrong uses the ruse to gather intelligence while maintaining the appearance of loyalty.

Gromek follows Armstrong to the farm and realizes that Armstrong is a double agent in the pi plan. A tortuous struggle ends with Gromek killed by Armstrong and the farmer's wife. The bodies are buried on the farm while the police are alerted.

The taxi driver who drove Armstrong to the farm notices Gromek and the ensuing disappearance. He sees Gromek reported missing in the newspaper and contacts the police.

Armstrong visits Karl Marx University in Leipzig for an interview with the physics faculty. The scientists question him about the missing Gromek. Sherman is pressured to reveal details about the Gamma Five program, but she refuses to cooperate. Armstrong privately shares his true motives with Sherman and asks her to go along with the ruse.

Armstrong goads Professor Lindt into revealing his anti missile equations. Lindt realizes that he has given up secrets while learning nothing in return. Armstrong and Sherman escape from the university with the help of Dr Koska.

The couple head back toward East Berlin and are pursued by the Stasi. A decoy bus run by the pi network triggers a chaotic chase with roadblocks and deserters. The authorities close in as the fugitives try to stay ahead.

They encounter the exiled Polish countess Kuczynska who guides them to the Friedrichstrasse post office in hopes of a US visa. Her presence helps them stay ahead of the guards, but danger remains as the pursuit closes in.

Two men, including the farmer, arrange ballet tickets to provide cover for smuggling the couple to Sweden that evening inside the ballet troupe luggage. Armstrong and Sherman accept the plan and prepare to board.

During the ballet, the lead ballerina spots the couple and reports them to the guards. Armstrong and Sherman hide in two costume hampers and are ferried toward the Baltic Sea. The guards shoot the loaded hampers, and the aide had spoken to the wrong hampers on purpose, allowing the true fugitives to swim ashore in Sweden.

Armstrong and Sherman reach Sweden safely after swimming ashore, completing their escape from East Berlin. They have escaped the Stasi and begin a new chapter together.