Smiley's People (1982– )

Called out of retirement to settle the affairs of a friend, Smiley finds his old organization, the Circus, so overwhelmed by political considerations that it doesn't want to know what ... See full summary »

Stars:

Alec Guinness, Beryl Reid, Eileen Atkins

Nominated for 3 Primetime Emmys. Another 4 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Alec Guinness	...	George Smiley (6 episodes, 1982)
Beryl Reid	...	Connie Sachs (6 episodes, 1982)
Eileen Atkins	...	Madame Ostrakova (4 episodes, 1982)
Bill Paterson	...	Lauder Strickland (4 episodes, 1982)
Vladek Sheybal	...	Otto Leipzig (4 episodes, 1982)
Andy Bradford	...	Ferguson (4 episodes, 1982)
Bernard Hepton	...	Toby Esterhase (3 episodes, 1982)
Michael Byrne	...	Peter Guillam (3 episodes, 1982)
Anthony Bate	...	Oliver Lacon (3 episodes, 1982)
Tusse Silberg	...	Alexandra Ostrakova (3 episodes, 1982)
Germaine Delbat	...	Madame La Pierre (3 episodes, 1982)

Storyline

Called out of retirement to settle the affairs of a friend, Smiley finds his old organization, the Circus, so overwhelmed by political considerations that it doesn't want to know what happened. He begins to follow up the clues of his friends past days, discovering that the clues lead to a high person in the Russian Secret service, and a secret important enough to kill for. Smiley continues to put together the pieces a step ahead or a step behind the Russian killers.

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Plot Keywords:

british intelligence | emigration | spy | british secret intelligence service | insanity | 

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 October 1982 (USA)

Also Known As:

Agent in eigener Sache

Filming Locations:

Bern, Kanton Bern, Switzerland

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

360 min 360 min (6 parts)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Writer John le Carré partially based his famous George Smiley character on a friend, the Lincoln College tutor and Oxford University don, the Reverend Vivian Green. Smiley was also based on le Carré's boss at Mi5, Lord Clanmorris, who wrote crime novels under the pseudonym of John Bingham.

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Quotes

Toby Esterhase: First we'd take the document to Max. That's you, George. Max would know its meaning, Max would reward us. Gifts, promotion, medals, maybe we'd get lunch with the Queen. Only problem was, Vladimir didn't know you were on the shelf and the Circus had joined the Boy Scouts.

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Crazy Credits

The opening credits feature a set of wooden planks, on which yellow chalk marks (the secret signal used by the spies) are scrawled.

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Connections

Follows Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1979)

User Reviews

More problematic than Tinker Tailor, but still wonderful.

The merits of Alec Guinness's Smiley are familiar to anyone who has seen this wonderful BBC adaptation of LeCarré's great 'Karla' trilogy of books..well, two of the books anyway. Sadly they skipped over 'The Honourable Schoolboy' arguably the most exciting of the three.

Both 'Tinker Tailor' and 'Smiley's People' have their casting mishaps but nothing that detracts in any important way. I found Eileen Atkins' Ostrakova to be wildly miscast, physically, but masterfully acted, so she gets a pass. Michael Byrne's Guillam is an improvement over his predecessor in 'Tinker Tailor' but his part is so small that it hardly registers. Beryl Reid's scene as Connie Sachs is longer than her scene in 'Tinker Tailor' but still woefully short of the involved and fascinating scene in the book. It is in regards to Sachs and Jerry Westerby that I deeply regret the BBC not making 'The Honourable Schoolboy.' Reid would have been fabulous in that role, though still not nearly fat or tall enough to wear the original Connie's shoes.

Generally the actors are superb. There is an especially moving and unforgettable performance from Tulle Silberg as Alexandra Ostrakova. Her scene with Smiley is deeply touching and it is easy to understand why Smiley does what he does in the end. I won't say any more to avoid a spoiler.

'Smiley's People' is not as riveting as 'Tinker Tailor' I think because I found the first mini- series, focusing on the inner workings of the Circus, to be far more interesting than the foreign "outside" locations in 'Smiley's People.' But that's just me. I still love this film and watch it often.

Don't miss the Smiley series! The BBC will never make anything like it again, on the evidence of the mediocre bilge they've been catting up in recent years.