I could hear Mr Le Carré talk about Guinness and Smiley all day long. Not only is it a fascinating narrative, there is also a measured elegance to his cadence and choice of words. A master of the English language, in action.
The scenes with "Con" (Connie) were outstanding. And she was marvelous. It's the dialogue you have to pay attention to in those scenes. It contains some of the most powerful truths ever put on film. But they are not loud or in your face. Quite the opposite, in fact. They can be easily missed if you get lost in the other elements of the scenes, the set, the acting, and so on. Alec Guiness is the perfect Smiley, in my book, but JLC's writing is the star of the series, imo.
@@tomernst8595💯, one of the best. And listening to JLC narrate his own audiobooks proves just how fully realized those characters were in his mind. In the audiobook of THE SECRET PILGRIM he gives Toby Esterhase a lovely Hungarian accent, and small side characters suddenly come alive in ways you just can't get from reading the text. I dearly miss le Carré, one of the greats.
I didn't realise what all the fuss was about Alec Guinness until I watched him portray Smiley. It's an absolute masterclass in precision and subtlety. He's utterly believable. Even when the character is just reacting or not speaking you cant take your eyes off Guinness.
Very honest, sharp, accurate, warm, generous words from JleC about Guinness, who was a shy, slightly strange man - which presumably he used to make himself such an outstanding actor. It shows you can be critical about someone without in any way being unpleasant - and in fact, his analysis is full of admiration and makes one love Guinness more for his little failings and idiosyncrasies.
Alec Guinness was a highly unusual character - once described by the cultural commentator Melvin Bragg as "spooky". There's the famous story of how he met James Dean and had a premonition that if he kept the car he'd just bought, he'd soon dead. He was also very superstitious and had a number of other premonitions throughout his life. He also recounted in his diaries how he'd felt the presence of Ralph Richardson's ghost. He was also famously high maintenance - quick to take offence and distance himself (his subsequent distaste for Star Wars being a case in point, although he remained friendly with Mark Hamill). He famously disliked and distrusted Laurence Olivier and was scathing about him in his diaries and also confided to Mark Hamill about how he felt Susannah York had "betrayed him". I suspect a lot of it came from a very deep (over) sensitivity. It's what made him such a fine actor, but also what made him so thin skinned. It must have been fascinating for John Le Carré to have met him - both of them sublime observers of people. They must have spent a lot of time evaluating each other, as is reflected in some of Le Carré's very perceptive observations here.
@johnashtone7167 It's also on record now that Olivier made some (untrue) insinuations about Alec Guinness's friendship with John Gielgud and was rude about his wife. This extracts from Guinness's diary: “Like so many people whose ambition drive them to great eminence, he [Olivier] had a cruel and destructive streak. Side by side with his generosity, he could be unpleasant, possibly even vindictive.”
I loved the scene where Ricky after being chastised (and ‘disciplined’) asked if he could have his gun back. He was granted his request and after being handed his gun back Smiley walked very confidently away with his back to Ricky. Very daring of Smiley, but just one of numerous nuances throughout Tinker Tailor.
I just finished re-reading Agent Running in the Field.. for the 3rd time! David Cornwell got me through many spinal surgeries and I've learned so much about the path of writing and crafting a story. What a joy to get to hear him describe the classic Smiley.. thank you Mr. Cornell! Frank from Boulder, Colorado, US
Quite by chance, I stumbled across John LeCarre's work while attending university. As is the custom of many people, when I begin to read a book and become familiar with its key characters I cast people in the role of those characters. Almost immediately, for me, Alec Guinness became the George Smiley character. (I know, I know. I was probably the millionth person to think the same.) When, some years later, I was able to watch Guinness' masterful portrayal of Smiley it was almost a Zen moment for me. An occurrence of unique perfection and harmony. I loved it. His work was truly superb.
I’ve watched this wonderful drama so many times, and you are so correct the dialogue between Guinness and Reid is unsurpassed “ The ginger pig caught at last”
What a great behind the scenes look at my favourite spy story. I saw the series in the early 80's and about 15 years later read the book. I had to keep notes at the beginning because we skip between two stories, Jim Prideaux's and Smiley's story and I thought I would never be able to remember all the plot lines so I kept notes but half way through the book I didn't need them anymore. The story made itself clear and the relationship between the two story lines became clear and from then on I couldn't put the book down until I finished it. :) Good memories :)
I don't quite know what it is exactly but there definitely is something about John Irvin's halting and hesitant manner of speech that would probably drive me nuts if I had to endure it in a longer conversation. I like the man and his work and even what he has to say here. It's just the way he's saying it that's making me somewhat nervous.
So about 9 minutes into this and it occurs to me that what I have been sitting here unconsciously being bothered by was this: I'm used to famous people talking about themselves to the exclusion of all else. Yet here is a famous person talking almost exclusively about another famous person. My mind was in shock! WHAT A CONCEPT-thinking outside yourself and your own worth! ...maybe it'll catch on...
He's a writer. That's what writers do. and why we should have more writers in interview settings like this. I would recommend Patrick O'Brien's interview on his Jack Aubrey series on the Royal Navy. A real delight to listen to.
Thank you for share this Is a perfect portrait of Alec Guinness I think. And the definitive Smiley is the work of Guinness. Is amazing how he changed the role from Tinker Taylor to Smiley's People, perhaps it wasn`t deriberately, perhaps Guinness was not very pleased to be again in the character, but it works perfectly.
I find the comments about Alec Guinness' fear of Beryl Reid being comic reveal a lack of appreciation of her brilliance. Beryl Reid is sarcastic, perceptive in their scenes together but never comic. It is a performance of genius, both in Tinker Tailor and in Smileys People.
Yes, clearly she wasn’t the slightest bit afraid of him or even reverential. She owned her scenes in Tinker, George played along and John Irving let it happen.
You have to remember that actors are by and large v insecure and selfish. He couldn't stand the idea that someone would steal his limelight, despite Connie's character being larger than life. Reid is imo perfect.
Thanks for this fascinating video. I was struck by Guiness' suggestion of Arthur Lowe for the part of Smiley. Perhaps he had seen John Le Mesurier's brilliant "Traitor", based on Kim Philby. Using comedians or comic actors in serious roles can be brilliantly effective, not least because it has a kind of shock value. Beryl Reid was of course wonderful in "Tinker Tailor..." Elsewhere we have seen Lenny Henry's "Othello", Charlie Drake as a Dickens grotesque , a scary Eric Sykes in "The Others", and even --- God help us! --- Reg Varney in his bleak melodrama "The Best Pair of Legs in the Business" echoing Osborne's "The Entertainer". It's hard not to speculate about Arthur Lowe doing Smiley in an alternate universe. He might have been every bit as good as Guinness ---- and maybe a bit less "actorish".
John Irwin the director is wrong when he says that Guinness influenced LeCarre's writing of Smiley's People. He influenced LeCarre's The Secret Pilgrim.
If done again, minus AG, the use of an unknown as Smiley might be useful. Sometimes it's good to just let the character ride and take what you get. I watched Our Man in Cuba the other day and got a kick out it. In retrospect, so much Circus stuff is lurking. Made in 1959, it's interesting to know the aftermath of revolution and how things didnt really change for spies.
I'm sure as in every unit/ organisation across the social strata there must be a code not to b trifled wiv or crossed that is a bedrock from which to then function from. However wen the writer talks of the truth in operation bearence that is not compromised and that agents r not expendible for a higher protective interest group I do find hard to believe. The twists and shadows hollow and meaning must at times surely b lost in a black hole vacuum where principle a faded distant dream. Objectives superceed all lofty considerations. The lowest one can imagine and a quarter more of the darkest plotters is opportunity not to b missed. Shrouded by national security. Ultimately money makes people do things they dnt really want to do.
Interesting how he always drops tiny hints about people being gay, and then just lets it go. "There was a lot of talk about his sexuality. But I thought that was neither here nor there." Well then why bring it up? Very crafty. Like how Connie was said to have "found love", and then we see her living with a woman and quarreling with her like an old couple. Today's director's won't settle for anything less than actual porn to make a point, because every extra click counts. Back in the day, you could simply drop a hint, and if the viewer didn't pick it up, fine.
Back in the day homosexuality was illegal. It was only decriminalised 6-8 yrs before this book was published. The hints were standard practice by everyone for fear of the wraith it would bring. This is what all these people grew up in. Look up the newspapers from the time and see the fear they peddled, it will make you understand why everything was muted.
in 'The spy that came in from the cold', George Smiley does a very wicked thing indeed, he sacrifices a civilian as part of his plan..., so in that first novel Smiley is hardly an arbitrer of ethics...
It was Control who was the author of that plan, and it's not clear just how much of it Smiley was privy to, although as clever and discerning as he is it seems likely that he understood her role and what her fate would be. Of course it was Mundt, not Control, who actually had her killed (although Control certainly knew that Mundt would do that).
In "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold," when Alec Leamas meets with Control at the Circus, Control actually articulates what will eventually happen to Leamas. Only Leamas has no clue; he could not fathom such betrayal until it's too late. That scene is the pivot upon which the entire film is based.
It wasn't until I read Le Carre's much later book, "A Legacy of Spies" that I understood how much the death of the girl affected George Smiley. I really recommend it.
I hope to god they don't make a dreadful fucking Hollywood remake of Smiley's People; I can picture it now, they cast Chris Pine as Smiley, and Karla is actually a woman and played by Anne Hathaway. The movie ends with a car chase and then Karla and her little boy go with Smiley and they live happily ever after in Scotland under the assumed name "Colonel Laurence". Ugh
The worst abomination was the Little Drummer Girl version done in 1984 with American actress Diane Keaton. This is my fav JLC novel, but Tinker Tailor is my fav portrayal. Agree wholeheartedly with your comment. And seeing England again in 1984 makes me miss it. Who would believe you cannot just get on a bus and pay with cash anymore in London!
LordHealey You forgot to mention the rampant sex and the explosions-shown 5 times from 5 different angles. THEN it will be an American movie. We USED to make great movies. ...been a while. :'-(
phrenzy1 Have you seen the old BBC Smiley's People from the early 80s? I don't think they could do much better, I'd much rather see The Honourable Schoolboy made
I could hear Mr Le Carré talk about Guinness and Smiley all day long. Not only is it a fascinating narrative, there is also a measured elegance to his cadence and choice of words. A master of the English language, in action.
The scenes with "Con" (Connie) were outstanding. And she was marvelous. It's the dialogue you have to pay attention to in those scenes. It contains some of the most powerful truths ever put on film. But they are not loud or in your face. Quite the opposite, in fact. They can be easily missed if you get lost in the other elements of the scenes, the set, the acting, and so on. Alec Guiness is the perfect Smiley, in my book, but JLC's writing is the star of the series, imo.
The Connie scenes were brilliant!
“Kiss me George” , “Hey, ho, halcyon days”. Beryl Reid was magnificent.
Excellent comments. I enjoyed reading that.
spot on. Le Carre has always been one of the most perceptive writers of dialogue-his characters’ voices are so truthfully individual.
@@tomernst8595💯, one of the best. And listening to JLC narrate his own audiobooks proves just how fully realized those characters were in his mind. In the audiobook of THE SECRET PILGRIM he gives Toby Esterhase a lovely Hungarian accent, and small side characters suddenly come alive in ways you just can't get from reading the text. I dearly miss le Carré, one of the greats.
I didn't realise what all the fuss was about Alec Guinness until I watched him portray Smiley. It's an absolute masterclass in precision and subtlety. He's utterly believable. Even when the character is just reacting or not speaking you cant take your eyes off Guinness.
Very honest, sharp, accurate, warm, generous words from JleC about Guinness, who was a shy, slightly strange man - which presumably he used to make himself such an outstanding actor. It shows you can be critical about someone without in any way being unpleasant - and in fact, his analysis is full of admiration and makes one love Guinness more for his little failings and idiosyncrasies.
Alec Guinness was a highly unusual character - once described by the cultural commentator Melvin Bragg as "spooky". There's the famous story of how he met James Dean and had a premonition that if he kept the car he'd just bought, he'd soon dead. He was also very superstitious and had a number of other premonitions throughout his life. He also recounted in his diaries how he'd felt the presence of Ralph Richardson's ghost. He was also famously high maintenance - quick to take offence and distance himself (his subsequent distaste for Star Wars being a case in point, although he remained friendly with Mark Hamill). He famously disliked and distrusted Laurence Olivier and was scathing about him in his diaries and also confided to Mark Hamill about how he felt Susannah York had "betrayed him". I suspect a lot of it came from a very deep (over) sensitivity. It's what made him such a fine actor, but also what made him so thin skinned. It must have been fascinating for John Le Carré to have met him - both of them sublime observers of people. They must have spent a lot of time evaluating each other, as is reflected in some of Le Carré's very perceptive observations here.
@johnashtone7167 It's also on record now that Olivier made some (untrue) insinuations about Alec Guinness's friendship with John Gielgud and was rude about his wife. This extracts from Guinness's diary:
“Like so many people whose ambition drive them to great eminence, he [Olivier] had a cruel and destructive streak. Side by side with his generosity, he could be unpleasant, possibly even vindictive.”
Beryl Reid was amazing as Connie
I loved the scene where Ricky after being chastised (and ‘disciplined’) asked if he could have his gun back. He was granted his request and after being handed his gun back Smiley walked very confidently away with his back to Ricky. Very daring of Smiley, but just one of numerous nuances throughout Tinker Tailor.
I just finished re-reading Agent Running in the Field.. for the 3rd time! David Cornwell got me through many spinal surgeries and I've learned so much about the path of writing and crafting a story. What a joy to get to hear him describe the classic Smiley.. thank you Mr. Cornell!
Frank from Boulder, Colorado, US
Quite by chance, I stumbled across John LeCarre's work while attending university. As is the custom of many people, when I begin to read a book and become familiar with its key characters I cast people in the role of those characters. Almost immediately, for me, Alec Guinness became the George Smiley character. (I know, I know. I was probably the millionth person to think the same.) When, some years later, I was able to watch Guinness' masterful portrayal of Smiley it was almost a Zen moment for me. An occurrence of unique perfection and harmony. I loved it. His work was truly superb.
I’ve watched this wonderful drama so many times, and you are so correct the dialogue between Guinness and Reid is unsurpassed “ The ginger pig caught at last”
So many layers, outstanding clips.
What a great behind the scenes look at my favourite spy story. I saw the series in the early 80's and about 15 years later read the book. I had to keep notes at the beginning because we skip between two stories, Jim Prideaux's and Smiley's story and I thought I would never be able to remember all the plot lines so I kept notes but half way through the book I didn't need them anymore. The story made itself clear and the relationship between the two story lines became clear and from then on I couldn't put the book down until I finished it. :) Good memories :)
fascinating interview. thanks for sharing it.
I'm so glad that JI mentioned this about Alec and the transformation of the character Smiley not only in the BBC series, but in DC's novel.
Hand writing...LeCarre ...what a student of lives!😎
Insightful, sometimes quite raw, interviews that inform, entertain, but also, builds bridges...
Outstanding all.
John le Carre appears after 0:47 . Every interview with him is a treat.
I don't quite know what it is exactly but there definitely is something about John Irvin's halting and hesitant manner of speech that would probably drive me nuts if I had to endure it in a longer conversation. I like the man and his work and even what he has to say here. It's just the way he's saying it that's making me somewhat nervous.
So about 9 minutes into this and it occurs to me that what I have been sitting here unconsciously being bothered by was this: I'm used to famous people talking about themselves to the exclusion of all else. Yet here is a famous person talking almost exclusively about another famous person. My mind was in shock! WHAT A CONCEPT-thinking outside yourself and your own worth! ...maybe it'll catch on...
He's a writer. That's what writers do. and why we should have more writers in interview settings like this. I would recommend Patrick O'Brien's interview on his Jack Aubrey series on the Royal Navy. A real delight to listen to.
JLC perhaps more inclined to speak of another in exalted terms when they help magnify the book.
He was a modest and self deprecating person, very tactful and courteous. A gentleman.
Thank you for share this
Is a perfect portrait of Alec Guinness I think.
And the definitive Smiley is the work of Guinness.
Is amazing how he changed the role from Tinker Taylor to Smiley's People, perhaps it wasn`t deriberately, perhaps Guinness was not very pleased to be again in the character, but it works perfectly.
Very interesting
There are three men in this conversation, only two of them are "real", but they all share their lives with us.
I find the comments about Alec Guinness' fear of Beryl Reid being comic reveal a lack of appreciation of her brilliance. Beryl Reid is sarcastic, perceptive in their scenes together but never comic. It is a performance of genius, both in Tinker Tailor and in Smileys People.
Her portrayal of Connie Sachs in _Smiley's People_ brought her a Best Actress in Television BAFTA.
Yes, clearly she wasn’t the slightest bit afraid of him or even reverential. She owned her scenes in Tinker, George played along and John Irving let it happen.
You have to remember that actors are by and large v insecure and selfish. He couldn't stand the idea that someone would steal his limelight, despite Connie's character being larger than life. Reid is imo perfect.
Although it is interesting to here these positions about Mr Guinness, I thought this was about the making of the Le Carré's work, Tinker Taylor.
My first book of contemperary layers of intruige was The Palliden
You have to over 35 to get Smiley and Guinness, you have to get fat and fail.
Well said. Ironically, Ian Fleming wrote his Bond series for exactly that reason, age and sloth.
Thanks for this fascinating video.
I was struck by Guiness' suggestion of Arthur Lowe for the part of Smiley. Perhaps he had seen John Le Mesurier's brilliant "Traitor", based on Kim Philby.
Using comedians or comic actors in serious roles can be brilliantly effective, not least because it has a kind of shock value. Beryl Reid was of course wonderful in "Tinker Tailor..." Elsewhere we have seen Lenny Henry's "Othello", Charlie Drake as a Dickens grotesque , a scary Eric Sykes in "The Others", and even --- God help us! --- Reg Varney in his bleak melodrama "The Best Pair of Legs in the Business" echoing Osborne's "The Entertainer".
It's hard not to speculate about Arthur Lowe doing Smiley in an alternate universe. He might have been every bit as good as Guinness ---- and maybe a bit less "actorish".
Reg Varney was a genuine 'Music Hall' entertainer. A song and dance man of the old school. I liked him.
He may have thought that Lowe wouldn't do as well as he would, so he could hug himself with that thought. Actors are a bit like that.
@@stephenreeds3632 Yes. The greatest actor may not be the greatest human being. No shame in that. None of us are perfect.
John Irwin the director is wrong when he says that Guinness influenced LeCarre's writing of Smiley's People. He influenced LeCarre's The Secret Pilgrim.
If done again, minus AG, the use of an unknown as Smiley might be useful. Sometimes it's good to just let the character ride and take what you get. I watched Our Man in Cuba the other day and got a kick out it. In retrospect, so much Circus stuff is lurking. Made in 1959, it's interesting to know the aftermath of revolution and how things didnt really change for spies.
I'm sure as in every unit/ organisation across the social strata there must be a code not to b trifled wiv or crossed that is a bedrock from which to then function from. However wen the writer talks of the truth in operation bearence that is not compromised and that agents r not expendible for a higher protective interest group I do find hard to believe. The twists and shadows hollow and meaning must at times surely b lost in a black hole vacuum where principle a faded distant dream. Objectives superceed all lofty considerations. The lowest one can imagine and a quarter more of the darkest plotters is opportunity not to b missed. Shrouded by national security. Ultimately money makes people do things they dnt really want to do.
Interesting how he always drops tiny hints about people being gay, and then just lets it go. "There was a lot of talk about his sexuality. But I thought that was neither here nor there." Well then why bring it up? Very crafty. Like how Connie was said to have "found love", and then we see her living with a woman and quarreling with her like an old couple.
Today's director's won't settle for anything less than actual porn to make a point, because every extra click counts. Back in the day, you could simply drop a hint, and if the viewer didn't pick it up, fine.
Back in the day homosexuality was illegal. It was only decriminalised 6-8 yrs before this book was published. The hints were standard practice by everyone for fear of the wraith it would bring. This is what all these people grew up in. Look up the newspapers from the time and see the fear they peddled, it will make you understand why everything was muted.
Comment avoir une traduction en Français ?
Merci
Watching this now in2020, Wogan was the precurser to q drops.
in 'The spy that came in from the cold', George Smiley does a very wicked thing indeed, he sacrifices a civilian as part of his plan..., so in that first novel Smiley is hardly an arbitrer of ethics...
It was Control who was the author of that plan, and it's not clear just how much of it Smiley was privy to, although as clever and discerning as he is it seems likely that he understood her role and what her fate would be. Of course it was Mundt, not Control, who actually had her killed (although Control certainly knew that Mundt would do that).
In "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold," when Alec Leamas meets with Control at the Circus, Control actually articulates what will eventually happen to Leamas. Only Leamas has no clue; he could not fathom such betrayal until it's too late. That scene is the pivot upon which the entire film is based.
It wasn't until I read Le Carre's much later book, "A Legacy of Spies" that I understood how much the death of the girl affected George Smiley. I really recommend it.
I hope to god they don't make a dreadful fucking Hollywood remake of Smiley's People; I can picture it now, they cast Chris Pine as Smiley, and Karla is actually a woman and played by Anne Hathaway. The movie ends with a car chase and then Karla and her little boy go with Smiley and they live happily ever after in Scotland under the assumed name "Colonel Laurence". Ugh
The worst abomination was the Little Drummer Girl version done in 1984 with American actress Diane Keaton. This is my fav JLC novel, but Tinker Tailor is my fav portrayal. Agree wholeheartedly with your comment. And seeing England again in 1984 makes me miss it. Who would believe you cannot just get on a bus and pay with cash anymore in London!
LordHealey
You forgot to mention the rampant sex and the explosions-shown 5 times from 5 different angles. THEN it will be an American movie. We USED to make great movies. ...been a while. :'-(
Medic Webber Definitely, also Smiley coolly walks away from a building and it explodes behind him. He doesnt' even get his hair mussed.
LordHealey I could live with a Smiley's people cut from the same cloth as the latest Tinker, Tailor.
phrenzy1 Have you seen the old BBC Smiley's People from the early 80s? I don't think they could do much better, I'd much rather see The Honourable Schoolboy made
So...basically, Alec Guinness sounds like he was a jerk.
A very, talented actor.
And a jerk/weirdo.
Still, a very interesting video.
Thank you.
☮
Indeed. Classic narcissist. That sort of thing used to be admired; so tiresome to deal with.
The eulogising of Guinness I find a bit puke-inducing. His story of how he spoke to a kid who was a huge Star Wars fan, summed up what he was like.
Oldman is far better as Smiley.
Not better or worse just another facet both great portrayals.