Smiley's People: Part 3   Rewatch 
April 23, 2015 10:55 AM - Season 1, Episode 3 - Subscribe

George drinks his way through three interviews while piecing together the story that General Vladimir died trying to get to him. Bernard Hepton and Beryl Reid reprise their roles from Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy as Toby Esterhase and Connie Sachs, respectively, and then Smiley ventures overseas in search of Otto Leipzig and the Ginger Pig's confession.

For reference (in case you're following along with the PBS cut or the Acorn Media cut), this episode begins with a trip to The Travellers Club and ends in the back offices of Die Blau Diamant.
posted by carsonb (8 comments total)
 
Another fine testament to the detail with which this production was made. From the opening shots of the Admiralty Extension (home of the Foreign Office and, presumably, The Circus) and from behind the Guard Division Memorial, we see George shooting dirty looks towards his old stomping ground and set off across the Horse Guards Parade, around the back of the ivy-covered bunker, and over towards Pall Mall where his Club is located. George actually enters the next building over from the Travellers Club (welcoming gentlefolk of England who have traveled at least 500 miles from London in a direct line), I'm guessing because like a good spy he didn't want to use the main entrance.

The whole awkward greeting-on-a-stair-while-fondling-holstered-arms-under-coats with Toby is hilarious. George turns down coffee and cigarettes but won't say no to some sherry.

"Ferguson, I'm an honorary fellow of Lincoln College Oxford. I have dining rights there and limited facilities for improving my mind." Ooh, Ferguson, snap!

I absolutely love the hand-painted signs at Merrilee Boarding, especially "No bloody monkeys." And, she-human or the other thing? makes me laugh every time. According to the little interview bonus feature on my DVDs with John LeCarre, Guinness was concerned about working with a comedian, worried that Beryl Reid would upstage him with the usual broadness accompanying a comedic performance. But she's wonderful here, funny and riotous in a feisty old-woman way that's still subtle and knowing and plays excellently across from Guinness' stoic act. She does draws him out a bit though, and he hides his smile behind a coy palm. Smiley even plops rather nimbly onto the floor at Connie's feet, furthering his evocation of Mother Russia telling stories to the handsome young clowns at The Circus. He drinks a few fingers of brown stuff.

Alas, Hillary is perfectly justified in her detestation of George Smiley. He may not be a woman-hater per se, but he's certainly ruthless in his liquoring-up and shaking loose of Connie's memory. Yes, he's got his Karla-face on here, and it's not a pretty one.

More whiskey at Die Blau Diamant. The way the cuts work in this scene makes it seem like lots of time passes. Presumably lots of whiskey is drunk as well. George likes the self-flagellation dance (very artistic) but grimaces at Johns escaping to curtained rooms and pointedly looks away from the couple kissing a dancer at their booth. But once Krasky arrives and the back office opens, Smiley is all business once again.
posted by carsonb at 3:33 PM on April 23, 2015


Oops, not Krasky—I meant to say Kretzschmar. Claus with a C, don't ask me why!
posted by carsonb at 3:42 PM on April 23, 2015


The music in the sex club (NSFW - nudity) is fantastic. Anyone heard the vinyl, or know if it was composed by Patrick Gowers?
posted by carsonb at 4:28 PM on April 23, 2015


Yes, he's got his Karla-face on here, and it's not a pretty one.

"I was sleep-walking. I've woken up." See the fire reflected in his glasses when he's threatening poor Hillary!

But it's a wonderful scene - just about every line of Connie's is pure gold ("The Chelsea Pensioner himself, gawd help us, fought every war since Thermopylae, hot, cold and deep frozen."), and perfectly performed. It's desperately sad too: Jim Prideaux in his caravan, Connie in her cottage with the doggy-wogs and filthy chickadees, Toby lurking in his basement with the hooky Degas.
posted by sobarel at 5:47 PM on April 23, 2015 [1 favorite]


carsonb—I’m not sure, but, based on this description of the soundtrack LP, I think that piece of music is one of Gowers’ compositions, namely track 10 (Der Blaue Diamant) from the soundtrack.

So many aliases… George has already been Max and Sampson. Now he has a passport in the name of Mr. Standfast and is known to Esterhase as Alan Angel. Later he is also Mr. Barraclough. It must be something you learn at spy school—knowing how to remember who you’re supposed to be on any given day, in any given encounter.

I liked how the Parisian ambulance driver stops to pick up his sweetheart.

I wonder why George refuses a cigarette from Esterhase but accepts one later from Kretzschmar. Is he feeling stressed? Or just trying to ingratiate himself with Herr K.?

Esterhase advises George to ‘Drop his line of enquiry.’ Ferguson passes on the message that it’s time to call it a day. Connie says ‘Give it up, George’ […] ‘You’ll never crack it, George.’ This chorus of admonishment seemed to me to be laid on a little thick.

George is again not averse to a little drink driving… But then I daresay if he were stopped for being over the limit then Lacon could hush things up for him.

George is more informal and seemingly at ease with Connie than with anyone: ‘How’s that cow, Ann?’—‘Flourishing, I gather.’ Connie wishes George would loosen up. In a way, it seems to me like the mission he’s embarking on is his way of loosening up. What an arse George is toward Hilary. Connie seems to quickly forgive him for it: but there’s no forgiveness from Hilary.

At the Blue Diamond. the camera moves to the women at the side of the stage a few times, as though George is scrutinizing them—I wondered if he might be trying to identify the women in the photograph with Oleg and Otto.
posted by misteraitch at 2:03 AM on April 24, 2015


This chorus of admonishment seemed to me to be laid on a little thick.

The context, though, is that Smiley's previous crack at Karla (in The Honourable Schoolboy) ended with Smiley, Connie and Toby sacked, Guillam in inglorious semi-retirement in Paris, and poor old Jerry Westerby dead. And that was when George had all the resources of the Circus at his disposal, unlike now when he's an old man embarking on a bit of "private enterprise" - of the same variety that just got Vladimir an appointment with a Moscow Centre assassination squad.
posted by sobarel at 9:35 AM on April 24, 2015 [1 favorite]


Thanks, sobarel—it all makes more sense in that light. I retract that comment!

Also interesting for me was the disparity between Toby’s low opinion of Kretzschmar (‘also a creep’) and Smiley’s experience of him as an affable businessman and useful ally.
posted by misteraitch at 1:27 AM on April 25, 2015


The context, though, is that Smiley's previous crack at Karla (in The Honourable Schoolboy) ended with Smiley, Connie and Toby sacked, Guillam in inglorious semi-retirement in Paris, and poor old Jerry Westerby dead.

That puts Moysten and Connie's comments about The Circus joining the boy scouts in context as well, and helps explain why Moysten was such a dunderhead when Vladimir called for the crash meeting. The Circus just didn't do things like that anymore.

See the fire reflected in his glasses when he's threatening poor Hillary!

I did, I saw that! I crowed out loud when I noticed it, it's such a wonderful shot visually plus it calls George's character and motivations into question in this viewer's heart. Perfect!

I liked how the Parisian ambulance driver stops to pick up his sweetheart.

Helpful too, since it convinces Ostrakova that the driver isn't a spy carting her off to a shallow grave somewhere. She gets another few minutes to relax.

I wonder why George refuses a cigarette from Esterhase but accepts one later from Kretzschmar. Is he feeling stressed? Or just trying to ingratiate himself with Herr K.?

I thought about your question while watching it again. George seems to use the cigarette to hide behind. He's shown in the past that he doesn't trust his face to keep his emotions a secret, so it makes sense that he'd want to have his hand and a scrim of smoke in front of his face during this meeting. I presume he's also drunk by then, and a cigarette is a lot harder to say no to after three or so whiskeys.

You could probably read a lot into the pattern of give and take between George Smiley and various other characters. Usually it's trade in information (and usually that's a one-way trade, information -> Smiley) but he's also constantly offered various consumables and luxuries and from my recollection there isn't much pattern to whether he's taking any given time or refusing. He doesn't want coffee or cigarettes from Toby, George wants information. OK, now that information is flowing he won't say no to sherry. ?? Eh, it's too early on a Sunday to flesh that theory out much more. But it would be fun to keep in mind on next watch.
posted by carsonb at 7:44 AM on April 26, 2015


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