Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Tags: murder

Plot synopsis:
It is 1973, at the height of the Cold War. George Smiley, former deputy chief of the Circus, has been living in unhappy retirement for a year after an operation in Czechoslovakia, code-named Testify, ended in disaster with the capture of agent Jim Prideaux and resulted in the dismissals of Smiley and his superior, Control. Smiley is unexpectedly approached by Peter Guillam, a former colleague, and Under-Secretary Oliver Lacon, the Civil Service officer responsible for overseeing the Intelligence Services, to hear Ricki Tarr, a British agent now in hiding, tell of the existence of a Soviet mole, code-named Gerald and handled by Moscow Centre's Colonel Polyakov. When Tarr cabled the information to London, his contact was immediately and forcibly returned to Moscow and Tarr went on the run to escape Soviet agents.
Smiley accepts Lacon's request to investigate in total secrecy, since all senior Circus staff are suspects. He soon focuses on the details of British intelligence's best Soviet source, code-named Merlin, which Control had deemed suspicious from the start. Merlin had been developed and vigorously sponsored by four ambitious senior Circus men, led by Percy Alleline, who wanted to oust Control and had rallied Circus overseers in Whitehall to their cause at the time of Testify. Gerald must be one of these four: Alleline himself, a vain and politically skilled Scot who took over as Chief from Control; Roy Bland, a gifted if boorish intellectual of humble origins; Toby Esterhase, a self-serving Hungarian refugee hungry for promotion; or Bill Haydon, an aristocratic polymath and a Circus legend who once had an affair with Smiley's now-separated wife Ann.
Working through Circus documents surreptitiously provided by Lacon and Guillam, Smiley discovers that Merlin is not one source but several and that the operation has an ultra-secret London end: a safe house where Alleline and his inner circle personally collect information from a Merlin emissary posted in London under diplomatic cover. Eventually, Smiley realizes the truth: the Merlin emissary is none other than Polyakov himself and that the actual flow of information goes the other way, with Gerald passing actual British secrets while receiving fake and worthless Soviet material.
Smiley suspects a link between Merlin and the botched Operation Testify, whose details Control had hidden from him at the time. He tracks down Prideaux and all other Circus participants and confirms the connection. Control had independently concluded the existence of a mole and mounted Testify to learn his identity from an aspiring defector in Czech intelligence privy to the information. Polyakov and Karla, Moscow Centre's spymaster and Smiley's nemesis, were both present at Prideaux's interrogation which focused exclusively on the extent and status of Control's investigations. The Czech defector was a plant, engineered by Karla to provoke Control's demise through Testify's failure and so protect the mole.
Smiley traps Esterhase, whose deep involvement in Merlin has made him vulnerable, forcing him into revealing the location of the safe house. Tarr is sent to Paris where he sends a coded message to Alleline about "information crucial to the well-being of the Service". This triggers a "crash" (i.e., "emergency") meeting between Gerald and Polyakov at the safe house where Smiley and Guillam are lying in wait. Haydon is revealed to be the mole.
Haydon's interrogation reveals that he was recruited several decades ago by Karla and became a full-fledged Soviet spy partly for political reasons, partly in frustration at Britain's rapidly declining influence on the world stage. He is expected to be exchanged with the Soviet Union for several of the agents he betrayed but is killed shortly before he is due to leave England. Although the identity of his killer is not explicitly revealed, it is strongly implied to be Prideaux. Smiley is appointed temporary head of the Circus to deal with the fallout. Smiley visits Ann in an attempt to salvage their relationship.
=== Title ===
Control, chief of the Circus, suspects one of the five senior intelligence officers at the Circus to be a long-standing Soviet mole and assigns code names with the intention that should his agent Jim Prideaux uncover information about the identity of the mole, Prideaux can relay it back to the Circus using a simple, easy-to-recall codename. The names are derived from the English children's rhyme "Tinker, Tailor":
Alleline was "Tinker", Haydon was "Tailor", Bland was "Soldier", Toby Esterhase was "Poor Man", and George Smiley was "Beggarman" ("sailor" was not used due to its similar sound to "tailor".)

Review: In six hours of television they lay out piece by piece the background of each of the characters in a slow and gentle manner enabling the viewer to capture a sense of both the person and the time in which they are placed.Irvin permits the story to move in a 'typical English manner', with George Smiley, the principal character almost rolling along from one event to another.
The goodies are all flawed people while the badies, many of who are within the British Secret Intelligence Service, are bad in the way that only the English can truly be to each other.If you enjoy Le Carre and are prepared to put in 6 hours to view the entire series you you will be richly rewarded..
Definitely in the BBC pantheon (alongside I Claudius and Pride and Prejudice), partly for its formidable cast, but mainly for John Irvin's taut directorial grip - a model of visual economy and uncompromising narrative drive.A double-agent or 'mole' is suspected at the top levels of the British secret service and retired spymaster Alec Guiness must narrow down the suspects amongst his former colleagues.
Arthur Hopcraft's adaptation, while capturing the bureaucratic intrigue and perfidy of John Le Carre's novel, will demand viewers' utmost attention if they want to stay with the unfolding plot.Irvin shoots Tinker, Tailor as if for widescreen - edge of the screen compositions, careful background detail - and demonstrates how a determined director can overcome the limitations of television(usually seen as a writer or producer's medium).
(For another example of very superior television direction, check out James Goldstone's handling of two first-season Star Trek episodes - 'Where No Man Has Gone Before' and 'What Are Little Made Of').Author Le Carre may have topped Tinker,Tailor with a dazzling sequel (The Honourable Schoolboy, published 1977), but this is still far and away the best espionage suspenser ever televised.
You expect to see 1980 Czechoslovakia  as a run-down, provincial dump; but this film's England reminded me of Svankmajer's 'Alice', as it details a society, a system, an ethic, a code grinding towards inertia, a world becoming increasingly closed in that it can only be jabbed into life by shocks of betrayal.This England is a pure mirror image of our stereotypes of the East - a system run by chilling, amoral men with perfect manners (the most frightening thing about the narrative is that any one of the suspects could have done it, each one has so lost any kind of basic humanity, never mind idealism, that it is almost irrelevant who the traitor is) gathering together in anonymous meeting rooms, or an endless rondelay of joyless dinners; a world of cramped, impersonal decor, generally sucked in by shadows, so that we can't even be sure it's men we see, or the flickering grin of the Cheshire Cat;  a world of men, where one of the three female characters is an absent joke until the last five minutes, another is tortured and murdered by her superiors, and the third is sacked for competence, reduced to scraping money from grinds, a paralysed, blubbing outcast; a drab world where all colour and life has been seeped out, or goes by unnoticed, where jokes are bitter and grim, where the (very Soviet) elevator disrepair signals a wider, fundamental malaise.If it's fun you want, get 'You Only Live Twice' - the action here is generated from its milieu - dank, meticulous, pedantic, slow, inexorable, unsensational.
This is where a 6 hour TV adaptation has the edge on a feature film - cramming a le Carre plot into the latter can make it seem rushed and exciting; this film brings out all its civil-service ingloriousness superbly (although the figure of Karla is a little too SMERSHy for my tastes).Bill Hayden says you can tell the soul of a nation from its intelligence service, and this film, despite the go-getting yuppie 80s or the success of heritage TV ('Jewel in the Crown', 'Brideshead Revisited') is perhaps the closest representation of a kind of soul, public school, Oxbridge, Whitehall, male.
The 'good' guys are no better than the bad - Peter Guillam, though dogged and loyal, is little more than a thug; Ricky Tarr is new yuppie incarnate in all his cocky repulsiveness.Smiley, marvellously essayed by Alec Guinness - more obviously sharper than in the book, Hercules cleaning out the Aegean stables - loses even the barest traces of humanity, with vast reserves of calculated sadism and bureaucratic immorality, his thick glasses seeing all the detail and none of the big picture.
Smiley needs the rules of the game more than anyone; without them he is left adrift in life, and the stupendous final shot shows how deeply that defeats him.Unusually for TV, this is a film of rare visual imagination, not in the mistakenly flashy, spuriously 'cinematic' sense beloved of ambitious tyros, but in its exploration of the medium's claustrophobia, as it traps its protagonists, in particular the way the camera's point of view chillingly suggests somebody else looking on, spying on the spies, making everything we see provisional, especially the flashbacks, which elide as much as they reveal..
The BBC is to be commended for making 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy' (as well as 'Smiley's People') into fine adaptations for television.
Being very familiar with all three of the 'Karla' novels I have a few, very minor, quibbles as to casting and editing, but nothing that gets in the way of great enjoyment of the finished product.Guinness was born to play Smiley, as others have already noted.
. .it is a story of belief and manipulation, it is NOT James Bond.This is "The Spy Who Came In From The Cold" many, many years later, after a bitterness and loss have become a way of life.This is one of the best films you will ever see..
Although it helps to love John le Carre's novels, particularly those set during the Cold War, this series and its sequel, "Smiley's People," should be seen for their quality, which may be unsurpassed by anything on television before or since.
"Tinker, Tailor..." also offers the first glimpse of Patrick Stewart as "Karla," Smiley's chief antagonist, a leading figure in "Smiley's People." Americans used to see BBC films as part of the "Masterpiece Theatre" series on PBS, sometimes on "Mystery," another PBS staple.
While many of John le Carre's novels have been made into feature films (some of them quite good), they lend themselves better to the series mode, which allows for more detailed exposition and fuller development of character.
If you see the TV series before reading the book, then it's impossible to think of the Smiley character in any other way than as played by Guinness.This is how I imagine the espionage world to be - painstaking research, surveillance and investigation, interspersed with occasional moments of high excitement.
This is the best of BBC drama and I cannot recommend it too highly.The sequel, "Smiley's People", follows on like an old friend you lost touch with for a few years.
Although more schematic than its marvelous sequel, Smiley's People, and carrying less emotional weight, the BBC adaptation of John LeCarre's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, which aired in the colonies on PBS, is still superb.
Barring that, even post-Cold War mystery fans will relate well to Tinker,Tailor, Soldier, Spy.As in Smiley's People, George Smiley, now and forever in the minds of most John Le Carre aficionados Sir Alec Guiness, is no longer with British Intelligence, termed by Le Carre `The Circus', although the plot periodically flashes back to times when he was still active.
But when a resourceful, low-level field agent (Hywel Bennet), thought to have defected, turns up in Britain with solid evidence pointing to the existence of the mole, thereby validating Control's long-term suspicions, Smiley, the sole remanent of the old order who can be trusted, is called in to `spy on the spies'.Here, the incomparable, dialog-driven, Le Carre plot engine begins its juggernaut roll as Smiley goes to work.
But in the mid-1970s, he wrote the best novels of his career, and 'Tinker Tailer Soldier Spy' was perhaps the best of them all: at heart, a character study of his long-time enigmatic protagonist George Smiley, wrapped in a detective story itself wrapped in an espionage thriller.
It is through this film that we realise that the creation of George Smiley is a work of pure genius, and Guinness so perfectly portrays this, simply dominating every scene.The plot seems quite simple at first, but as I have watched and re-watched the work (and read the novel) I realise that it is much more complex than it seems.In conclusion, a first class cast giving superb performances throughout.
This film, based on the novel by John LeCarre (like "Smiley's People", "Spy Who Came In From The Cold", and "Russia House") explains to me more than anything from other writers about what happened during the "Cold War".
Having read most of John Le Carre's books I found this portrayal of his most famous and unique character George Smiley absolutely fantastic and not to be missed.
I especially like the interrogation/debriefing scenes, and in particular one with a captured Russian spy played by Patrick Stewart, in which Stewart never opens his mouth.The sequel, "Smiley's People,' is also good but darker..
The acting is just one of the many strong/outstanding assets of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. All fill their roles comfortably, with Michael Jayston, Ian Richardson and Michael Aldridge particularly impressive, but at the end of the day it is Alec Guinness' show.
Watching "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" again after a number of years reminds me just how well done the film (and the John LeCarre book) was done.
It's the Cold War (over and over again) and British "family" is in its usual turmoil(the "Days of Cambridge" are never far behind, it seems with British espionage history)--a mole is suspected and the out-to-pasture (for past sins and indiscretions) George Smiley (Alec Guinness) is called in to uncover him (or her).Amazingly, the film (the mini-series) seems to capture the pacing,the nuance, the landscape and atmosphere of that time and that place.
Superbly acted by a quite unfeasibly good cast, with a script that actually improves on LeCarre's original novel, each episode is so addictively watch-able that you can't help but view the whole thing in one go.And yes Mr Haydon, that does mean I like it..
The dialogue is undoubtedly witty and delivered with aplomb by the unanimously first-rate cast, with Alec Guinness turning in yet another brilliant performance.But after the fourth episode the pace gets bumpy and the whole scenario appears somewhat trivial were it not for some intelligent or exciting moments here and there.Irvin's direction uses interior spaces to maximum effect, but overall there's a slightly dowdy air to it.Still, this Cold War reptile is definitely preferable to all those contemporary action no-brainers pretending to be spy movies.
Of course this slow pace and lack of traditional action may frustrate some – not helped perhaps by the fact that, although easier to follow than the film, it is still a mystery so there is a fair bit of not totally understanding what is going on, simply because you're not being told everything all at once.The cast are mostly very good but of course the standout is Guinness who tells a long story of hurt with just his plain expression.
I also liked that the camera had the patience and trust in the material to often be quite static while the dialogue did the work.Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is not the easiest story to follow but the miniseries is more engaging and accessible because it gives you the space and time to keep up and for everything to make that bit more sense as it unfolds.
I have never read the novel so I am not in a position to appraise the adaptation from book to screen.This was a prestige BBC adaptation and a lot of money was spent on getting Alec Guinness star as Smiley and some location set pieces.However once you get over such trappings the production values are still very much interior settings.
Based on the novel by John LeCarre, "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" is one of the great British miniseries, towering among many great British miniseries we in the U.S. have been privileged to see on public television.This one stars the great Alec Guinness as retired M16 operative George Smiley.
While undoubtedly the story is fictionalized and may not particularly reflect the way intelligence agencies actually operate, but unlike most everything else in the genre, it's at least plausible.The series stars Alec Guinness and his work here definitely holds the movie together..
This show is about character development done to its best, and the actors especially the sublime yet superb Alec Guinness and Beryl Reid give a beautiful and profound performance.The story line is well done too, you feel a part of the Cold War era and the spy machinations and the intrigue grip you.
The dialogue you read in the book finds its way almost invariably into the film, so there is a certain feeling of deja-vu.Alec Guinness fits the part of Smiley very well, but he makes hardly any impression on me.
I revisit John Le Carre's books every few years, and just finished the Smiley trilogy...Had seen the movie version of Tinker, Tailer when it came out, and I must say, it left me very confused....Hungary, Smiley swimming, Prideaux in a shopping mall, and on and on....Hadn't seen the TV series version in quite some time, so I decided to watch it again....It felt like returning to the heart of a great spy story....Brilliant....
i would certainly recommend reading the books as they give an insight into the TV series.of course Alec Guiness was superb as George Smiley and the entire series was stuffed full of British actors, including star trek's Patrick Stuart.
Although the series seems slow at times and around 10% of each episode are dedicated to credit titles, the thrill is there, with several distinct performances (particularly Alec Guinness as George Smiley/"Beggarman"), but overall quality and outdated aspect ratio do not enable to enjoy the series "in modern manner", and the 2011 film excelled at the cast and screenplay.
John Le Carré's anti-James Bond character the taciturn yet brilliant George Smiley was presented to readers in several novels, including "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold" and the Karla trilogy, which consists of Smiley's greatest efforts, in order "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy", "The Honourable Schoolboy" and "Smiley's People".
A bright intelligence, great worker for the British intelligence but whose life at home isn't completely sorted out, always having to deal with the infidelities of adored wife Ann. An enigmatic character and a challengeable role for an actor since Smiley is a man who holds back every emotion, and Oldman had to use a lot of nuances to express feelings and thoughts without let them completely visible.
In fact, the great advantage this film has over Alfredson's work is the fact that they covered the book in very faithful ways (obviously BBC had the time for it, 7 hours!), including verbatim from Le Carré's novel, descriptions and sequences, providing minor altering (they don't focus on much Peter Guillam is a ladies man - good point - but they made the special relationship between Prideaux and Haydon in innuendo terms that don't explain much for those who haven't read the book or seen the 2011 film).
By making it as much a character piece as a spy thriller, Hopcroft gives the series a life of its own separate from the original book by Le Carre.
The actual 'action' and/or violence occupies at most a tenth of the 315 minutes running time which is eloquent testimony to 1) the source material, a novel by John Le Carre who, like Raymond Chandler before him, is a 'real' writer whose subject happens to be crime and espionage respectively and 2) the acting, led by Alec Guiness as Smiley, head and shoulders above the supporting cast, none of whom are to be sneezed at and include Michael Jayston, George Sewell, Hywel Bennet, Patrick Stewart and Sian Phillips.
This story falls under the second type, but while not so entertaining is one of the best spy stories ever done.Based on the classic spy novel by John Le Carre, this series tells the story as follows: In the 1970s, a fiasco at the British Secret Service shakes things up, forcing the head of the Service out and all his subordinates, including protagonist George Smiley.
That would be "The Honourable Schoolboy," which is in my very humble opinion one of the best spy novels ever written and is different from most of Le Carre's work in that it has almost more action going on than you can pack into a movie.But I digress: by the end of the mini-series, it was impossible for me to imagine anyone else in the role of George Smiley.
I loved the way Le Carre's book was translated to the small screen, and I felt that Alec Guinness set the bar impossibly high for anyone else who ever undertook the role of George Smiley.If you like the spy thriller genre, "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" is well worth watching.
The cast works together as the characters did, and they make the mini-series rise above the genre.It's based on the novel by John le Carre, and we find George Smiley (played by Sir Alec) called back from retirement to ferret out a mole in the British Secret Service.
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. I knew about the British all star cast film, starring Gary Oldman, but I knew before I was going watch that I had to see the original and renowned TV miniseries, also with some very good names in the cast, based on the novel by John le Carré.