The portrayal of post-war Britain, depressed, living in a bedsit, boozing was repellant after having hitherto lived on a literary diet of war heroes. Brilliant down sweep of the rollercoaster to start the novel.
It certainly speaks to the theme of disillusionment after the crumbling of the Empire and its power and prestige after WW II. You see a lot of that in Le Carre.
Just a quick thought here (just spit balling). If I was a Stazi Guard looking through my binoculars at the people at the gate on the Western Side, I would think something is definitely up! Possibly a spy crossing. I say this because Leamas and all the other guards are acting like worms on a hot plate. They're constantly looking at my gate as if they're waiting for something or someone. I wouldn't need a leak to tell me that I should shoot the next person through the gate.
Another intriguing proposition. Two things here. Given the red-hot importance of that crossing at that time, I wonder how unusual it would be to have a heavy presence on the other side of Charlie at any time - for either side. (And if I recall, the dialogue indicates there was already heat on the agent and that's why he was being withdrawn - the question was if the border goons would be alerted.) Two, when you watch the vitally important crossing of Karla in the finale of Smiley's People, it is very low key with Smiley and his team very discretely watching at a lesser border point -- and from a greater distance.
@@Vlad65WFPReviews If it was me, I'd would go with option #2. Appear so mind numbing boring at Charlie that they would think nothing is going on (unless they were warned ahead of time) Spying is such a dirty business. You don't know your own Bosses have sold you down the river until it's too late.
I really enjoyed this. You not only covered the film, but went further into Le Carre- land. There is a film called The Deadly Affair where James Mason portrayed Smiley. I have it on a DVD anthology called Col War Thrillers.
Outstanding. First, really glad you liked the video. Second, as a James Mason and Smiley fan I must track down the Deadly Affair. Thanks so much for alerting me to it.
@@OskarWerner4ever I just watched Deadly Affair and thanks very much for telling me about it. I found the movie worth watching with some great acting but also thought it had some problems. I don't know why the movie changed Smiley's name to Dobbs. The actress playing Ann was from Ingmar Bergman's company and she wasn't right for the part - not nearly aristocratic enough after you see Sian Phillips set the standard. James Mason, Max Schell, Harry Andrews and Simone Signoret were all very good. And I usually like Quincy Jones but thought a lot of the music was too "frothy" for the grey and edgy style. Definitely worth seeing though, for fans of Le Carre and Mason.
One more thing. Now I read that because Paramount Studios had the rights to the name George Smiley from its film version of Spy Who Came In From the Cold, that forced his name change to Dobbs in Deadly Affair.
@@Vlad65WFPReviews I agree with you about the actress who played Smiley’s wife. Everyone else was so good, she stuck out like a sore thumb. I loved the chemistry between Mason and Andrews and Schell. You have to put up with the schlocky 70s soundtrack- but this film was made in a time when spy movies were given that treatment. My favorite part of the movie, though, was the Shakespeare play scene. We get to see a young David Warner just beginning his brilliant career. Glad you enjoyed this film
Thanks - I also see that she is one of the controllers of Ian Fleming publications, which predictably have changed Ian's novels to make them more agreeable to contemporary sensibilities
Wonder how deeply involved in spying Cornwell actually was, as to me his regular protesting of not that much Dosent ring true. Burton is brilliant in this movie & again shows how much talent gets wasted when booze gets a hold. Burton did show loyalty to his friends hordern would appear with Burton in medusa touch and where eagles dare & I think the taming of the shrew. Strangely Burton has a not dissimilar monologue in TMT. Cusack as you say popped up in a not vastly different role in 1984. Burton's finale. Ritt appeared to know how to get the best out of his actors and actresses.
I always liked Burton and over time ignore some of his less successful efforts (Trotsky) and focus on what he did well. He certainly wasn't a "method actor", he did best in roles using that magnificent stage-trained voice to best advantage (like the "Bergen" speech in Virginia Wolfe or his work in Beckett). For his legacy, it is too bad his "jet set" lifestyle with Liz overshadowed his great film roles.
Good review of an excellent film and book. Le Carre’s novels are extremely intricate and adapting for the screen is a challenge. I agree that Alec Guinness sets the bar for Smiley against which others are measured, and often fall short. The BBC adaptation of Tinker Tailor runs for about 7 hours and there are still story arcs which have been dropped. The recent Tinker Tailor film was dreadful. They had to cut so much that if you didn’t know the plot before going to see the film, it would be bewildering. And changing Peter Gwillym from a red blooded heterosexual (as in the book) to an apparent homosexual in the film seems totally pointless. The BBC version has been remastered and released on BluRay and is well worth getting. I guess you could use the discs of the Oldman version as coasters. I think that Smiley in this film is not enthusiastic about the plan which is, after all, morally dubious and means throwing a decent man, although one of the opposition, under the bus. The third series of Homeland throws Carrie Mathison under the bus in a terrible lightweight version of this double agent/triple agent theme. Le Carre’s novel The Looking Glass War also involves Smiley in another morally challenging role and is well worth reading. Poor old George, cuckolded regularly and working in a world of movable ethics and dubious morals, so far from the exciting world of 007. I suspect that Smiley is a more accurate representation of life in the shadows.
Roy, Appreciate your kind comments and great to read the thoughts of another Guinness-Smiley fan. I own a standard dvd of Tinker but might look at the blu-ray, though I wonder how they'd fix the original TV source footage, which was never great - though nicely gritty. Of course I fully agree the film disappointed - what a comparative waste of talent and my fave Ciaran Hinds hardly had a line. Also, Spy was only my second effort and I believe my later videos are tighter but I'm glad you could appreciate my enthusiasm. And that said, it was fun finding that quiz show footage and discovering the Philby stamp! I'm finding that's the kind of thing that makes the channel fun. Cheers!
+1 on how pointless and idiotic it was for them to make Cummersnatch’s character a closeted homosexual - _all to forward some stupid SJW narrative about the “repressions” of decades past_ - when Peter Guillam as written is the most notorious, womanising ladykiller in the entire Service. It’s especially ironic because Le Carré’s original books, of that time, couldn’t have made it clearer that a sizeable chunk of those in British intelligence were homosexuals; at which no one was remotely shocked or surprised - being such liars in their personal lives making them perfect liars professionally, the heavy implication.
