So, before we leave the 60s, we need to take a peek at a last entry, which bridged over into the 70s. This was a British tv series that delved into the darker aspects of counter-espionage, with a reluctant spy who was pressed into service. if this sounds a bit like Harry Palmer, you might understand why I first mistook the movie version of this series as a later Harry Palmer film that was recast to replace Michael Caine. The series is called Callan and starred Edward Woodward.



The series made its debut in 1967, as a teleplay for the ITV anthology series Armchair Theater. This pilot episode was titled "A Magnum for Schneider. It was written by James Mitchell, who would write most of the episodes in the series, as well as a novel, based on the teleplay.

The pilot features David Callan, a former agent of The Section, a counter-espionage group who targets dangerous individuals and eliminates them. They use a color-coded file system: white-to be neutralized through courts, bankruptcy or incarceration in a mental hospital; blue-member of the "wrong party," yellow-occasional surveillance, and red-dangerous, marked for elimination. Callan was considered to volatile and too curious about his targets. he is too dangerous to be left to his own devices; so, his former boss, Hunter, has him placed in a dead-end bookkeeping job. There, he makes the acquaintance of a man named Schneider, who is a fellow war games enthusiast. Hunter invites Callan back to the Section and tasks him to eliminate Schneider, but he will have to do it without support. He isn't satisfied with their reasoning and investigates Schneider and discovers he is involved in major gun running. Satisfied that he is deserving of assassination, Callan works his way into his circle. meanwhile, he contacts a dodgy "friend," called Lonely, to acquire a Noguchi .357 Magnum revolver (a fictional weapon). Lonely does so and Callan launches his plan and is invited to Scheider's home for some war games and a luncheon. Unbeknownst to Callan, Hunter has another agent, Toby Meres, arrange to set up Callan, to ensure he is caught for the murder of Schneider. Schneider discovers Meres and hold him and Callan at gunpoint and checks for weapons; but, misses the revolver taped to Callan's ankle. Callan gets to the weapon and shoots him dead. He then knocks Meres out and leaves him for the police to find, alerting Hunter to that fact. Hunter then orders Callan's file to be coded Red.



Edward Woodward had been working in theater and television when he was cast for the pilot. The character of David Callan (a pseudonym) is a former soldier, having served in Malaya and saved his CO's life. he was decorated for valor, but had an anti-authoritarian streak and got into fights with sergeants. After his service, he was a bank robber who got caught, then was pressed into service with The Section. Callan is an angry man, who has no control of his life, as he serves at Hunter's whims, doing the dirty work of the Section. He kills and frames people, destroys relationships and reputations, all on the orders of someone else, deserved or not. He hates his job but is too good at it to be let go. He's working class and isn't allowed to forget it. he is also a keen student of military history and a war games enthusiast, casting his own lead soldiers, as he rarely can afford to buy them. His tactical thinking is an element of the entire series, as he plans out his missions in intricate detail and shows the same brilliance when re-enacting famous battles.

Ronald Radd initially played Hunter, which is the code name for the head of the Section. He uses Callan, same as his other agents. He is ruthless and a chess master, playing his men like pieces. Hunter is killed at the end of the second series and Callan is shot. The third series (first in color), features a new Hunter and Callan brought back to the job, to see if he still has "it."



Also working for the Section is Toby meres, played by Anthony Valentine. He is a posh man, of middle class background, who has a ruthless, arrogant streak about him. he and Callan are rivals, though even he realizes Callan is better. Valentine would leave the role and his character would be replaced by agent James Cross, played by Patrick Mower, who is a young agent, also from the upper class, who is sadistic in his methods and hasa deep mistrust and jealousy of Callan. They are frequently at odds, while Toby meres was able to work with Callan. H

Hunter's secretary, Liz, is probably the most knowledgeable of anyone in the Section, given the access she has to Hunter's files. She is polish and survived a massacre and was raised by a british intelligence officer, which led to her recruitment. She becomes a target, in one episode and also had an affair with Cross. She is friendly with Callan, though their relationship appears platonic.

The other main character is Lonely, Callan's stooge and reluctant accomplice, played by Russel Hunter. Lonely is the only other person to appear through the entire series, played by the same actor. Lonely is a petty criminal, though a good source for information and acquiring things through dubious means. He also has a medical condition that causes a powerful odor when he is stressed out, which is usually, which gives him his name. Hunter plays him as a perpetually terrified victim of all he encounters. Callan bullies him into helping and makes his life miserable. He's a Cockney, but the actor, Hunter, is Scottish and brilliantly plays the accent.



The series is brilliant drama and played to the strengths of Woodward's theatrical training. Liek many series of its era it was shot in a studio, on video, which gives it a stagey feel. Many episodes see Callan raging thunder at some injustice, some crime, some bureaucrat. Woodward stormed across tv screens, then dispatched villains with deadly aim.

In the fourth and final series, Callan is caught by the Soviets and interrogated. he is exchanged for a Soviet spy; but is now exposed and cannot work in the field. this dilemma is solved by making him Hunter, a position he hates more than being Hunter's weapon. He is eventually relieved of his duties after an unauthorized return to the field. the final three episodes revolve around a Soviet agent, who defects.

The series was popular and, as many successful tv series did, in the early 70s, spawned a movie version, which adapted "A Magnum for Schneider."



The film plays out like the original pilot; but, with exterior shooting and a larger scope, including scenes of speeding cars, relating to the finale. Woodward and Russell Hunter were the only tv actors to appear, as Eric Porter plays Hunter (the boss) and Peter Egan is Toby Meres. Future Darth Vader Dave Prowse appears as muscle for a Greek arms merchant (he also appeared in at least one of the tv episodes). The film is brutal and violent, particularly a scene where Callan kills the bodyguard and arms merchant, knowing they had planned to kill him. There is a scene of him mixing sand and water in a bowl, then punching his hands into it, creating a callus across the surface, to harden his hands (a karate training exercise).

James Mitchell had adapted his original teleplay script into a novel, Red File for Callan and wrote the film script based on the novel's expansion of the plot. It shows great similarity to the Harry Palmer series, with its penchant for mind games, a reluctant, unsophisticated hero, and the dirty and tedious business of real spying.

That would be it for Callan, for a bit. In 1981, Woodward and Hunter came back for a tv movie, titled Wet Job. Callan is retired and runs a military memorabilia shop and is in a relationship, with a woman he truly loves. A new Hunter comes along with one last job, though he is on his own. he tries to recruit Lonely, who now has his own business and is doing well, engaged to be married. he has the self-confidence to turn down Callan, though he does provide some support, in the end. Callan pulls off his mission and leaves it all behind for a life with his lady.



That would be it for Callan, apart from an odd piece of trivia. In the mid 70s, an ethnic Greek Cypriot, named Costas Georgiou, was recruited as a mercenary soldier, in Angola, using the name Col Tony Cullen. He was eventually captured by the Marxist government and put on trial. In the ensuing press, he was misidentified as Col. Callan and it was claimed that he took the name from the tv series. He was found guilty and executed.

Callan is a tremendous series and makes for engaging viewing. Unlike American tv, it doesn't have the cinematic action; but, the writing and acting are top quality, with intriguing plots. Series 3 and 4, the two done in color, were released on DVD, in the US, by Acorn Media. The first series only exists in a partial form, as several episodes were wiped and are completely lost. Series 2 was missing a few episodes and is mostly intact. UK and Australian releases included all existing episodes and the reunion movie, Wet Job, while the film was released separately. Neither the film nor the first two series were released in the US. You can find "A Magnum for Schneider" and some of the black and white episodes on Youtube, plus the movie and Wet Job. I also found the color episodes of seasons 3 and 4. I highly recommend it. When you watch it, you may be reminded of another series with Edward Woodward, which would come out, in the US, in the 80s: The Equalizer. However; that is a subject for another time.

Next, as promised, we hit the 70s, when spies were no longer in fashion, though Bond was still going (cracking jokes as he went). We will begin with something lighter, as we look at a series that blended spy-fi with sci-fi, as an astronaut becomes a secret agent.

ps, for those who wanted to see it...



I don't mind the whole wedding thing, as long as no one let's Lee Majors sing that awful song again, from the original Bionic Woman two-parter!

I really like those 1st 2 six Million Dollar Man movies and enjoyed the more adult/sophisticated espionage aspects of them. I have several of the Caidin books and they hold up quite well for re-reading. Imagine if you would just how much cooler Steve Austin would be if a movie was made now which encapsulated the serious/darker motif and went away from the formulaic "super-hero" aspect. Keeping to more realistic and "bloody" in respect to being hit by somebody with a Bionic arm or leg (just how in the hell does he manage to NOT hurt/maim/kill when striking folks by mentally "pulling his punches"?) and just like the in the 1st season of Doom Patrol when Robotman goes into action for the 1st time. In a fight and every punch, kick and block rips and rends and turns the opponent into a bloody pulp. Austin with his Bionic arm/legs and eyes would be a damn near unstoppable super sleuth and imagine the "fear" that enemy agents would be spreading about the rumors: Ivan says he saw a guy last night in the shadows punching through a wall. Ivan punched the enemy agent and bruised his fist as proof and then knocked the guy off the sixth floor balcony and the guy landed on his feet and ran away faster than a car. Does anybody know whatever brand of Vodka Ivan was drinking last night? Cuz I sure want a bottle of my own!!!

I heard that too and they almost did and ... that's would be overkill on their part.

In the fallout of Vietnam and the CIA's litany of dirty tricks exposed in the media, spy became a dirty word. No longer did we see heroic secret agents defending the world's freedom, apart from James Bond, and he was dealing more with petty criminal bosses than with the Russians or SPECTRE. He was about the only exception, though he wasn't the phenomena that he once was. Spy films became more of the Harry Palmer variety: realistic, downbeat, dirty business, often pulling in innocents. Who did you trust? Who could you trust. Into this paranoia came a masterful thriller, with a pretty boy lead....



Three Days of the Condor was based on the novel, 6 Days of the Condor (they could only cover three days, in 2 hours. ), by James Grady. The book was published in 1974 and the basic plot was the same as the film; but motivations were different. in the novel, Condor stumbled across a drug smuggling operation, coming out of Laos (Vietnam was winding down, but still going). The film goes on a vastly different tangent. Grady wrote 3 sequels: Shadow of the Condor, Last days of the Condor, Next Day of the Condor.

Grady had worked for Sen Lee Metcalf, of Montana, when he was in college, then worked as a journalist, in Washington, under Jack Anderson. In a later edition of the novel, he wrote that he was inspired by a building he used to walk past, that had a brass plaque, with the name of some innocuous academic or or historical group. he got to daydreaming and wondered, "What if that was a front for the CIA?" So he concocted the story.

Sydney Pollock would direct and Robert Redford stars. He is Joe Turner, code name Condor, a researcher for a CIA department, based in New York. Their cover is The American Literary Historical Society. His job and those of his colleagues is to read books, mainly mysteries and spy thrillers and record the plots, noting odd elements, hidden meanings and general information that might be useful. Turner has been working on a book that doesn't sell well, isn't particularly well written, yet has been translated into several languages. he files a report on the books and is awaiting a response. he ducks out of a back door of the building to a nearby deli, to pick up lunch, for the group. While he is away, armed men enter the building and kill everyone inside. Turner returns through the back door and finds the bodies, including a woman with whom he had a relationship. he is stunned and horrified and flees the building. he gets to a pay phone and calls CIA HQ, in Langley, VA. After identifying himself, he tells them that everyone is dead. He is told they will contact him back. His section chief is going to bring him in, though he has never met him. Turner is directed to a rendezvous point, but notices something odd about the man's behavior. he narrowly misses being shot and fires back with a Colt 1911 he had taken from a desk drawer, at the Society. He ends up taking a woman (Faye Dunaway) hostage, and hides out in her apartment. He tries to rest and gather himself together and work out the mystery. He uses his skills and information he has picked up over the years to unravel the mystery, eventually confronting the Deputy Director with what he has learned, only to find out that the truth of why the group was hit is not that the enemy found them.

The film is a tremendous thriller, with redford proving he was more than just a handsome leading man (not that he hadn't already been doing that). Turner is a very smart man, with the standard two years military service, in the Signal Corps, work at Bell Labs, and a head for retaining information he read and being able to think laterally. He is unpredictable, which keeps the other side guessing. Faye Dunaway plays the woman he takes hostage, though he tries to convince her that he is in danger. She is terrified, at first, then sympathetic, but thinks Turner is mentally imbalanced. However, when Turner is located and a hitman, disguised as a mailman nearly kills them in her apartment, she knows he is telling the truth. He locates the leader of the assassins (Max Von Sydow), and, the person who ordered the hit. Sides are shifting, groups are acting independently and loyalties are shifting. It is pure paranoia, dirt business, and deduction.

The acting in this is amazing, from everyone. it's filled with great character actors and leads. The scenes are riveting, like this one between Redford and Sydow, after Turner confront the man who ordered the attack, but finds that Sydow has killed him...



Turner and Kathy Hale (Dunaway) are kidnapper and hostage, then almost therapist and patient, then lovers and friends. It progresses slowly and realistically. Kathy was supposed to go on a ski weekend, with a man she doesn't really love and their relationship is already failing. She is already vulnerable. He interrupts her life, but also saves her from emotional turmoil. She ends up aiding him, before he sends her on, for her own safety.

Cliff Robertson is the man trying to sort the mess out. He didn't order the hit; but, in the end, he knows the reasons why it occurred. he and Turner have a confrontation and the truth comes out. It's a dark truth, that sickens Turner. Turner is smart, though, and doesn't trust anyone at the CIA. He takes steps that ensure his safety. At the time, the reasoning for the exercise seemed ridiculous, far-fetched. In hindsight, it was all too real and foreshadowing.

The films was a hit and inspired other paranoid thrillers and copycats. One of its biggest legacies, for this board, was in informing the approach that the Russo Brothers took for Captain America: The Winter Soldier. We see the same kind of duplicity, the cat and mouse games, the hero on the run, hiding out, reluctant allies, enemies within, etc. We also see Redford as the man in the center of things, playing the bad guy, for a change.

This was one of the truly great films of the 70s, a decade where a lot of really tremendous, serious stuff was created, by a new generation of Hollywood. New film techniques, new stories, new character types. Sydney Pollock was one of these new Hollywood, an actor and director, who specialized in character dramas, and who had a long association with Redford, directing him in Jeremiah Johnson, this film, The Electric Horseman, The Way We Were, and Out of Africa.

Next up, a history student and a runner has a rough day at the dentist.

In 1931, in Poole, Dorset, David John Moore Cornwell was born, to Ronald Cornwell and Olive Moore Cornwell. His father was a confidence trickster, jailed for insurance fraud and an associate of the notorious Kray Brothers. His mother abandoned him when he was five. He went to English Public Schools, including Sherborne, which he hated and eventually withdrew. He studied languages at the University of Bern, in Switzerland then served in the Intelligence Corps of the British Army, in 1950, serving in Austria. His job was to act as an interrogator of people who came across the Iron Curtain. After leaving the Army, he attended Oxford, where he was noticed by some important people; not for academics, but for skills and attributes that had special uses. He was recruited into MI-5, running agents, arranging break-ins and keeping tabs on persons of interest. In 1960, he transferred to MI-6 and was posted to Bonn, West Germany; anf, later, to Frankfurt. In 1961, he decided to write a novel and it was published, though Cornwell wa required to use a pseudonym. He would write two more novels, before leaving the service to write, full time. The name he chose to write under, while still working as a spy was John Le Carre. His first novel was Call for the Dead, and it featured one George Smiley.



James Bond was tall, athletic, handsome, with a scar and a cruel mouth. He was suave and debonair and ruthless. george Smiley is middle aged, balding, short, overweight, rumpled, studious, unassuming, reserved, and quiet. He dresses poorly, in ill-fitting suits, produced by tailors who took advantage of him. He wears thick glasses, which he routinely polishes with the end of his necktie. Not exactly a man of action and glamor.

In his first two appearances, Smiley is more of a detective than a spy. Call For the Dead has him investigating the suicide of a civil servant, who Smiley had investigated after an allegation and had cleared him. He eventually uncovers that he was an agent for an East German handler, Hans Dieter Mundt and that his wife Elsa was an unwilling accomplice. Smiley learns that Elsa is actually the spy and that the civil servant had been passing on insignificant material. he anonymously accused himself, to obtain a meeting with security to pass on his suspicions about his wife and Mundt, but was murdered by Mundt.

The novel was adapted into a film, The Deadly Affair, starring James Mason; but Smiley was changed to a character named Charles Dobbs, as the Smiley name was tied up in the option for Le Carre's 3r book.



The film was directed by Sydney Lumet, with Harry Andrews, Maximilian Schell, and Simone Signoret co=-starring. The film largely follows the plot of the novel.



Smiley is much like Lt Columbo (who was inspired by Dostoyevsky's Porfiry Petrovich, from Crime And Punishment) in that it is his dogged research, questioning, piecing together of events, statements, things unsaid, researches and other facts into a clear picture. He is dogged intelligence and determination, a brilliant mind in an unimpressive body.

The next novel was A Murder of Quality, which finds Smiley investigating the murder of the wife of a public school instructor, who had written a letter to a Christian magazine, fearing for her life. A colleague of Smiley's asks for his help. He eventually learns that the woman had been blackmailing another instructor over a homosexual charge, while he was in the RAF. Again, this was turned into a film, but not until 1991, by Thames Television, with Denholm Eliot as Smiley (this time named)...



The film also featured Joss Ackland, Glenda Jackson, and a young Christian Bale.

Again, Smiley acts as a detective, rather than a spy. This would change with Smiley's third appearance, which would be Le carre's biggest hit of his earliest novels and would spawn a landmark film> The Spy Who Came in From the Cold.







Richard Burton is Alec lemas, Section head for "The Circus" in West Berlin. he waits for an agent to make the crossing over the border, only to see him gunned down. he is recalled to London and eventually dismissed from the service, as he descends into alcoholism. he obtains a job working in a library, where he meets Nan Perry,a young idealistic woman and a Communist. They develop a relationship and Lemas is introduced to important people in the party. He eventually defects and is brought into East Germany, from the Netherlands. There, he is interrogated by Fielding. Fielding has his own agenda, as he believes his superior, Hans Dieter Mundt was a double agent for the British. lemas doesn't believe this and said he would have known. Mundt is put on trial, with Lemas as a witness. Meanwhile, Nan also turns up in Germany, and is a witness against Lemas. It climaxes with Nan and Lemas trying to escape across the wall.

The film was produced and directed by Martin Ritt and is a powerful visual film, as well as a great character drama. Burton commands the screen and gives Lemas the cynical, world-weary look that is needed. he has seen too many agents die, has stopped believing in causes, theirs or his. He is an angry drunk, an outcast of society. Claire Bloom is the young idealist, Nan, who finds herself drawn to Lemas, as if he is a lost and hurt puppy. She takes him to her bed and it seems clear that she is woefully naive. Oskar Werner is Mundt, the enemy that Lemas has been picked to destroy, as Fielding builds his case that Mundt is a British agent. Peter Van Eyck is Fielding, who seeks to build his own position, at the expense of Mundt. Mundt turns the tables on him. Cyril Cusack is Control, head of the Circus and Rupert davies is Smiley, his right hand man. Also appearing are Michael Hordern, Bernard Lee, and Sam Wanamaker.

Look at these visuals, from the film...



Smiley has only a small role in both the book and the film, as it mostly centers around Lemas. He acts as Control's eyes and ears and puts certain events in motion, as well as devises plans within plans. This was one of the first films to deal with real espionage operations, not glammed up spy thrillers of action/adventure films. It is cold and cynical, as you would expect. The Criterion Edition of the film is a tremendous collection of material and I highly recommend it. This is even more anti-Bond than Harry Palmer. Heck, Palmer is a jet setter, compared to Smiley and Lemas.

Smiley would return in a small role, in The Looking Glass War, where another intelligence department sets up an unnecessary operation, which crosses Smiley's path and falls apart. le Carre was partially moyivated to write it because of the press form Spy Who Came in From the Cold, which many British saw as a heroic story. Le Carre wanted to satirize the romantic portrayal of spies with a bumbling operation that ends tragically to dispel such notions. The novel was adapted into a film, in 1969; but, Smiley was excised from the story.

Smiley would return, in the 70s, in the Kalra trilogy: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy; The Honorable Schoolboy and Smiley's People. All three revolve around Smiley's opposite number, in the KGB, code named Karla, a spy master who placed a mole deep inside the Circus. Smiley has to uncover the mole, in TTSS. Honorable Schoolboy revolves around an operation to help rehabilitate the Circus, under Smiley's direction, then Smiley's People deals with the death of a former asset and a possible chance to get to Karla. The trilogy was a huge success and would lead to a pair of tremendous tv adaptations, as mini-series. We will start with Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy, where Alec Guinness portrays George Smiley...



TTSS finds Circus agent Jim Prideaux sent to Czechoslovakia to meet with a Czech general. He has info related to the identity of a mole, within the Circus; someone near the top. There are four suspects, code named Tinker, Tailor, Soldier and Spy. Prideaux only has to broadcast the code name to identify the person. He travels to Czechoslovakia and is blown and captured, after being shot. Control is disgraced and soon forced to retire, as cancer is killing him. George Smiley has retired to academic life and exile. The Circus is being run by a committee of Percy Alleline (the Chief and organizer/political muscle of the group), Toby Esterhase, who runs the Lamplighters, who conduct surveillance and carry messages; Roy Bland (economics expert), and Bill Haydon, the number 2 and a good friend of Prideaux. Prideaux is eventually exchanged and ends up as a teacher at an English public school.

Smiley is pulled back in by Charles Lacon, Permanent Secretary of the Cabinet Office, who has a stunning revelation. An agent, named Ricki Tarr, has brought a story of a mole at the top of the Circus. Tarr was a "scalphunter," one of the dirty tricks agents, working for Peter Guillam, who brings Smiley to see Lacon and Tarr. This sets in motion a secret investigation to uncover the identity of the mole.

The mini-series stars Alec Guinness and is filled with the best of British television and theater, with Alexander Knox (Control), Anthony Bate (Lacon), Bernard Hepton (Esterhase), Ian Richardson (Haydon), Ian Bannen (Prideaux, Beryl Reid (Connie Sachs), Terrance Rigby (Bland), Hywel Bennett (Tarr) and Sian Phillips (Ann Smiley). By Olivier, the acting in this is awe-inspiring! Guinness captures the mundaneness of Smiley, the cool intellect, and the disarming manner. He is effortless calm, almost submissive in appearance; but he has a keen brain and is a natural leader. He finds the threads that unravel the mystery, eventually uncovering the mole, which leads to other consequences. It is a cat and mouse game, with extremely high stakes, demonstrating institutional arrogance, blind ambition, deceit, betrayal and all of the worst, darkest elements of human nature. By the end, you almost feel sorry for the mole, as, despite his cynical exterior, he actually was a believer.

Le Carre consulted with the production and introduced Guinness to his old boss, after he asked to meet a spy. he adopted a few mannerisms from him. Le Carre has said Smiley was based on the Chaplain at Sherborne, Vivian HH Green and his boss at MI-5, Lord Clanmorris (who also wrote novels, under the name John Bingham).

Patrick Stewart portrays Karla, in a flashback scene, where he had been captured, in India, where Smiley tries to get him to defect, now that he has been exposed and would likely face execution, at home. Instead, Karla survives and prospers, which, unknown to Smiley, sets in motion the use of the mole to get to Smiley and neutralize him, which succeeds, for a time.

This is just a brilliant series and a must-see for spy thriller fans or lovers of good drama or great television. The inspiration for the plot was the uncovering of Kim Philby, the British double agent who defected to the Soviets and was part of the Cambridge 5 (Guy Burgess, Donald MacLean, Anthony Blunt, John Cairncross and Kim Philby), all intelligence officers who were recruited by the KGB. In fact, Philby was responsible for blowing Le carre's cover, in West Germany.





The opening titles of eachepisode feature a series of Russian nesting dolls, with different expressions, culminating in a faceless one, at the center, visualizing the quest to uncover the identity of the mole.



The mini-series was a big hit and a sequel would follow. however, the Asian setting of The Honorable Schoolboy is ruled too expensive, so they charged ahead with the end of the Karla Trilogy, Smiley's People.



Smiley is again retired, having turned the Circus over to new hands. He is pulled back when an old agent, a Russian general, is found murdered in a park, after making contact to arrange a meeting, under "Moscow Rules." His contact was initiated by a letter from a Russian ex-patriot, Maria Ostrakova. She lives in Paris and is approached by a vile toad of a man, Oleg Kirov, who says her daughter, Alexandra may be permitted to leave the Soviet Union, if Madame Ostrakova follows his instructions. She becomes suspicious and contacts the old general, who runs an unofficial group. meanwhile, an attempt is made on her life, but she survives. The general dispatches a man, Otto Leipzig to meet Ostrakova. Smiley investigates the murder and learns of the general's actions and follows the trail, eventually leading to Ostrakova, as well as West germany, where a photo and some videos brings about an opportunity to get to Karla. Smiley learns of a daughter, who is ata Swiss mental hospital and arranges to set up a sting for the courier, to force Karla to defect.

Once again, the acting is first rate, with Guinness returning, as well as Bates and Hepton. Joining them are Curt Jurgens, Vladek Sheybal, Dudley Sutton, Michael Byrne, Eileen Atkins, Barry Foster, Michael Gough, Michael Lonsdale, and Patrick Stewart, who returns as Karla.

The plot isn't quite as enveloping as TTSS; but, the quality is still there and it is still a feat for the eyes and food for the brain.

Smiley would have a couple of more minor appearances in literature; but, would be introduced to a new generation, in film, via the theatrical adaptation of TTSS...



As a film, it is an excellent piece of work, though the shifting of time frames is a bit confusing if you don't catch onto the visual cue of Smiley's new glasses, in the later period. The cast features Gary Oldman as Smiley, John Hurt as Control, Ciaran Hinds as Roy Bland, Toby Jones as Percy Alleline, benedict Cumberbatch as Peter Guillam, Colin Firth as Bill Haydon, and Mark Strong as Jim Prideaux. Kathy Burke portrays Connie Sachs and John le Carre makes an appearance at the Christmas party.

The film is great; but, if you had seen the mini-series, it can't begin to measure up. The film necessarily condenses the plot, which robs it of some of the weight. There is less subtlety to it and it is almost a little too obvious who the mole is. It also gets a bit techy, for the time period it is attempting to portray. Still, had you never viewed themini, it stands as a damn good thriller and the modern generation proves as able as their forefathers (and others), though these are more film and tv-trained actors, rather than the stage, tv and cinema actors of the previous effort.

The film did quite well and brought Smiley back to the public consciousness and there has been talk of adapting both of the other two novels, though things progress slowly.

If you have never read Le Carre, I highly recommend his work, as he is truly a literary master, in the mode of a Graham Greene, rather than an Ian Fleming or Len Deighton (both great authors). The early Smiley works are mystery novels; but, Spy Who Came in From the Cold thrusts Smiley and others into the real world of espionage,from someone who lived it.

Some of Le Carre's other works have been adapted into film, including The Little drummer Girl (with Diane Keaton) and The Tailor of Panama (with Geoffrey Rush and Pierce Brosnan), with mixed results. Little drummer Girl finds a PLO sympathizer recruited to help get close to a Palestinian terrorist, which has the woman doubting her own beliefs and loyalties. Tailor of Panama was inspired, in part, by Ronny Cornwell and in part by the Graham Greene novel, Our Man in Havana, about a man who fakes an intelligence network, inspired by a Spanish agent, called Garbo, during Greene's time at MI-6. Here, a tailor, married to an American woman, who works for the Canal authority, provides false information about a rebel network. His lies grow as the attention does, until he has set off a powderkeg. It is a fine film, with both comedic and tragic touches.

Next, we leave the 70s and enter the 80s as spies return to film and tv (apart from Bond), with our look at one Thomas Remington Sloane III, Torque, the director and the international arms group, KARTEL, as James West's descendent takes over the family business.