[e-mail] Review of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1979)

You Needn't Love John le Carre to Want to See This Series

[10/10 · 28 April 2007]

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. Alec Guiness as George Smiley is the principal attraction, of course. He could do more with an eyebrow or a subtle change of expression than most actors can do with their entire bodies and vocal skills. But these two series are also distinguished by casts that are superior from top to bottom, products of the Royal Shakespeare Company and other British companies and academies. Ian Richardson is the best known member of this particular cast, other than Guiness himself, and he does an absolutely remarkable job. "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. And the BBC is still turning out remarkable work. But "Tinker, Tailor..." and "Smiley's People" are unsurpassed -- complex, brilliantly plotted with characters (and not just Smiley) who challenge actors to do their very best work. 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. They may be great literature (as le Carre's admirers insist) or polished pot boilers (as his critics argue), but they make for wonderful television. And you come away from these two series with the conviction that Smiley was MADE for Alec Guiness, that no one alive (or dead) could have done half as well.