Question: Why were the British singing the Russian national anthem during the Christmas party scene?
Question: In the beginning of the movie when the guy is shot while sipping coffee in that outdoor little cafe, the assassin fires two rounds. #1 hits the young mother in the forehead, #2 kills the guy sitting at the little table, then the spy is shot. He only fires twice, so how did he kill 3 people?
Answer: I've watched the scene several times - the people at the cafe are the British spy Prideaux, his contact, the young mother, an old man behind them and two men to the right side. When Prideaux walks away, the waiter runs out and fires wildly, hitting the mother in the head. He then fires again and hits Prideaux in the back. No one else appears to have been hit, the other men at the cafe are just moving to get out of the way.
Answer: As this story was set during the Cold War era, this was a deliberate mockery of the Soviet Union and its policies against holiday celebration and religious freedom. The entire story revolves around the prospect of a Russian Mole among the British Secret Service and Intelligence Community-at that moment, complete with a mocking Stalin Santa Claus, they were letting off steam against their reviled rivals.
Erik M.