A Murder of Quality (TV 1991)

Taken from the book by John le Carre, George Smiley rallies to the aid of his former intelligence colleague, Ailsa Brimley, to investigate a mysterious letter from a junion master's wife at... See full summary »

Director:

Gavin Millar

Writer:

John le Carré (screenplay)

Stars:

Denholm Elliott, Joss Ackland, Glenda Jackson

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Denholm Elliott	...	George Smiley
Joss Ackland	...	Terence Fielding
Glenda Jackson	...	Ailsa Brimley
Billie Whitelaw	...	Mad Janie
David Threlfall	...	Stanley Rode
Ronald Pickup	...	Felix D'Arcy
Matthew Scurfield	...	Insp. Rigby
Christian Bale	...	Tim Perkins
Diane Fletcher	...	Shane Hecht
Fiona Walker	...	Dorothy D'Arcy
Nick Reding	...	Sgt. Mellor
Michael Cochrane	...	Charles Hecht
Charles Pemberton	...	Sgt. Ted Mundy
William Armstrong	...	Rev. Fergus
Moray Watson	...	Maj. Harriman

Storyline

Taken from the book by John le Carre, George Smiley rallies to the aid of his former intelligence colleague, Ailsa Brimley, to investigate a mysterious letter from a junion master's wife at Carne School - a boy's school. When Smiley goes to Carne to investigate, he finds the junior master's wife brutually murdered with her husband as one of the suspects. Smiley begins to scratch at the surface of the closed knit society of Carne and soon begins to find that things are not as they seem. Secret societies, sexual abuse, and a mysterious boy, Timothy Perkins, who is either another suspect, witness, or victim.

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Plot Keywords:

murder | homosexual | boarding school | based on novel

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Genres:

Mystery

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 October 1991 (USA)

Also Known As:

Asesinato de calidad

Filming Locations:

Sherborne, Dorset, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Portobello Productions, Thames Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

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.

User Reviews

Brilliant

This movie is a fine work of art. Changes to the original story are very scarce and the acting is quite flawless. So is the period feel as well as camera and directing. Denholm Elliot was magnificent as Smiley. "So sad - so few of us left" (Shane Hecht in the novel, for those who have not read it.)