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Brightened HD copy.
E4. Retired espionage veteran George Smiley is called out on a top secret mission: to uncover a Soviet agent within top MI6's echelons. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a 1979 seven-part drama spy mini-series, directed by John Irvin. Jonathan Powell produced this adaptation of John le Carré's novel Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1974). The mini-series stars Alec Guinness, Michael Jayston, Ian Richardson, Anthony Bate, Ian Bannen, Hywel Bennett, George Sewell, Beryl Reid, Susan Kodicek, Terence Rigby, Alexander Knox, Michael Aldridge and Patrick Stewart (Karla).
Transcript
00:00The End
02:30I've got a telephone for you, sir.
02:32Ever such a rough voice.
02:34It says it's someone from your garage and I can quite believe it.
02:37Right.
02:37Your rude mechanic has some bad news for you.
02:45Personally, I find mechanics are bad news, by and large.
02:57Which phone, Alwyn?
03:01The one on the left.
03:02Well, at least get under the head office today and find out when they can supply the damn thing.
03:18Hang on a minute.
03:21I think I've got the number.
03:23Alwyn, sling that bag across for me, will you please?
03:26I will, sir.
03:29There you go.
03:32Open it for you.
03:33Oh, thanks.
03:34Thanks.
03:34Right, are you ready?
03:58The number you want is 437-6299.
04:08It seems to be going according to plan.
04:22Peter does sound jumpy.
04:25He might have ever done it a bit there.
04:28He was very loud.
04:29I've seen it happen before.
04:34Tough ones who crack at 40.
04:36You lock it all away, pretend it isn't happening, and all of a sudden you find them at the desks.
04:41The tears pouring on the blotter.
04:44I thought I ought to say what's on my mind.
04:47I think Peter will manage.
04:50You heard something about his murderous assignment in French North Africa, I suppose.
04:54Something.
04:55Whispers.
04:56Peter was overmatched and he lost.
04:59His agents were hanged.
05:03No one recovers entirely from that sort of thing.
05:07That is, I wouldn't trust a man who did.
05:29Right, bag please.
05:39Peter, I am sorry to disturb you, but we have a tiny crisis.
05:52Percy Allerlyne would like a word with you.
05:54Quite an urgent word.
05:55Can you come now?
05:56Of course, Toby.
05:57Have you been waiting?
05:59Didn't you tell Mr. Estehazy where I was?
06:01We've only just got here, Peter.
06:05Your office told us you were doing a spot of deviling.
06:09Only Percy is anxious to speak to you now, you see.
06:13Alwyn, there's a midday shuttle to Brixton, isn't there?
06:16Yes.
06:16You might get transporter buzz and ask them to take that thing over for me, will you?
06:19Will do, sir.
06:20Will do.
06:25Percy wants to consult you.
06:26How are the martial arts, Paul?
06:43Any new tricks you could show me?
06:45Paul and I were paired on a tough guy course a little while back.
06:49Damn near killed each other.
06:56Peter?
07:07Please.
07:17Water, Pete.
07:22Peter.
07:23Peter.
07:26So, she put them on again.
07:33So, she put them on again.
07:53Well now, young Peter Gwillam.
07:56Welcome to my house.
07:59About which you've been making calls, I hear.
08:02Are you lonely in the Brixton outposts?
08:05Tired of chasing the local virgins?
08:08If there are any in Brixton, which I would doubt.
08:11If you'll excuse my freedom, Moe.
08:14You do know that Moe Delaware is our new head of research, do you?
08:18A man with message and cleft stick does reach Brixton, does he?
08:23Barring the monsoon.
08:26I hear you've been hobnobbing with the late lamented Ricky Tarr.
08:32Formerly of your section, dispatched by you to Lisbon.
08:37And since then listed by this service as a defector.
08:41How is he?
08:44That's right, Chief.
08:46Ricky and I have tea at Fortnum's every afternoon.
08:50Jasmine.
08:52Peter Gwillam.
08:53You may not be aware of this, but I am possessed of an extremely forgiving nature.
08:59I positively seethe with goodwill.
09:03All I require from you is the matter of your discussion with Tarr.
09:08I do not ask for his head or any other part of his offensive anatomy.
09:12And I will restrain my impulse personally to strangle him.
09:17Or you.
09:19I would even go so far as to consider bringing you back into the palace from hateful Brixton.
09:25Where presently you linger in well-earned obscurity.
09:30In that case, I can't wait for him to turn up.
09:33And there's a free pardon for your friend Ricky.
09:35Until I get my hands on him.
09:38I'll tell him that word for word.
09:39He'll be thrilled.
09:42I'm very disappointed in you, young Peter.
09:46I pay you honest money and you stab me in the back.
09:50I consider that extremely poor reward for keeping you alive.
09:56Against the entreaties of my advisers, I may tell you.
10:00Let us begin again.
10:05If you won't give me a straight answer, perhaps you'll unburden to somebody more persuasive.
10:18Roy.
10:19Rikki Tarr's got a daughter, hasn't he?
10:29Yes, calls her Danny.
10:31Talk about her a lot.
10:34He told me he was fond of her.
10:36That's all I know.
10:38What the hell are you shrugging at us like that for?
10:41I'm accusing you of playing hooky behind my back with a damn defector from your own damn section?
10:46Of playing damn fool parlor games and you don't know the stakes?
10:49And all you do is shrug at me?
10:51There's a law, Gwillam, against consorting with enemy agents.
10:55Do you want me to throw the book at you?
10:57I haven't seen him!
10:58Who's playing games? Not me. You are. So get off my back.
11:15Who's Danny's mother?
11:16Who's Danny's mother?
11:18Eurasian girl.
11:20But Tarr likes to think she passes for full European.
11:23And the child.
11:25Twelve years old, long blonde hair, brown eyes, slim.
11:29Is that Danny?
11:32Could be.
11:35So, if I told you that Danny and her mother were due to arrive in London three days ago on a direct flight from Tunis,
11:42I take it you would share our perplexity?
11:46Yes, I would.
11:48And you'd keep your mouth shut when we let you out of here?
11:54It isn't ordinary flight information, Peter. The source is very private.
12:01Ultra, ultra sensitive in fact, Peter.
12:05In that case, Toby, I'll try and keep my mouth ultra, ultra shut.
12:09So, what do you make of it, young Peter? Come on. You were his boss, guide, philosopher, friend.
12:19Tell me why Ricky Tarr's in London.
12:23You didn't say that. You said his girl and his kid were expected.
12:26Don't be obtuse, man.
12:28Where little Danny goes, there goes Tarr.
12:31Except he'd move first and have his impedimenter follow.
12:34Yes.
12:36That would be favourite.
12:38All right. Tarr was supposed to be sitting in Moscow.
12:41And now he's supposed to be back here on the Russian payroll.
12:43But why is it all so hot?
12:45What kind of plant can he be when we know everything about him?
12:48Down to his last attack of swine fever, from which he's only partially recovered in my view.
12:53Excuse my freedom, though.
12:54I'm sorry, but what kind of plant is that?
13:00Well, never mind what sort. Muddy in pools, poisoning wells, maybe.
13:05That damn sort. Pulling the rug out.
13:07Now, listen. Just you remember this.
13:10At the first peep, the first whisper of Tarr, or his lady, or his wee bairn,
13:16young Peter Gwillam, you come to one of us grown-ups.
13:19Anyone you see at this table.
13:23But not another damn soul.
13:30The name on the passport is Poole.
13:33P-double-O-L-E.
13:36All three of them.
13:40Tarr told his woman, so we understand,
13:43in case of difficulties, she should come to you.
13:45Fine.
13:48Sign that, Peter, would you?
13:55Stupid bloody cabaret.
13:58Percy gets more insufferable every day.
14:01I wouldn't know, Bill, would I?
14:14No.
14:32I certify that I have today been advised of Witchcraft Report Number 308, Source Merlin.
14:35I undertake not to divulge any part of this report to other members of the service,
14:41nor will I divulge the existence of Source Merlin.
14:44Peter, you sodding snail!
14:46Peter, Tarr, that bastard Tarr.
14:48Peter, slow down.
14:50Slow down.
14:56The file on Testify seemed a bit thin.
14:59I hope it was worth the sweat.
15:01Ricky Tarr's not lied to us, Peter, not in any material way.
15:05He's simply done what agents the world overdo,
15:08failed to tell us the whole story.
15:10On the other hand, he has been rather clever.
15:14Are you actually pleased with him?
15:16Well, yes.
15:18We now know that Source Merlin works to Moscow Centre,
15:21because that's where Merlin's information on Ricky Tarr must have come from.
15:26From Carla.
15:27From Paula's à Indiana,
15:30and from Foley.
15:32There is a moment of travel,
15:34and that's what we're talking about.
15:36For me, the McGrath Nourine is a short story,
15:40that is the whole story today.
15:42This is the story of Lawrence Hill.
15:43That is what we're talking about.
15:45This story of Johnny Pagg,
15:46and I hear the story of Thomas Hill.
15:48He's been kind of a 가�gix.
15:49MUSIC PLAYS
16:15Ricky's been a lot better today, so...
16:17Not nearly so nervy.
16:20Well, he did his football poos this morning,
16:22and this afternoon we planted some trees in the garden,
16:25and then this evening we had a nice game of cards.
16:27Has he been out alone?
16:29Oh, no, Mr. Smith.
16:30Used the telephone?
16:31Oh, wouldn't dare, sir.
16:32Has he talked about his daughter, Danny, or her mother?
16:35Well, he did over the weekend, sir,
16:37but he's sort of cooled off about them since.
16:41I think it's in view of the emotional side.
16:43Did he ever mention any arrangements for meeting them again?
16:46Anything about passports?
16:49No, sir.
16:49What has he talked about, for God's sake?
16:51Well, mostly the Russian lady, sir, Irina.
16:53Oh, he mentions her name a lot, Irina.
16:56He likes to read a diary.
16:58He says he's going to make Moscow centre swap the mole for Irina
17:01when the mole's being caught and all this has been cleared up,
17:03and then he's going to buy a little place in Scotland.
17:06Oh, and he says he'll see me right, too,
17:08get me a big job in the circus.
17:09I, er, I just listen, of course.
17:13Right.
17:22You don't post those football pool coupons, do you, Ford?
17:26Oh, no, Mr. Smiley.
17:27Well, let's hope he doesn't have a win.
17:29That would be expensive for us.
17:31Thank you for your help, Miss Brimley.
17:35Sorry to impose on you.
17:37He's gone to bed.
17:38I must ask you once more.
17:53What did you do with the two Swiss escape passports
17:56you took with you to Lisbon?
17:59I told you.
18:01Burn them.
18:02When you bought your fake British passport in Istanbul,
18:11a passport for yourself in the name of Richard Henry Poole,
18:14did you buy any others from the same source?
18:17Why?
18:18Why should I?
18:19To protect your child and her mother.
18:22That seems quite reasonable.
18:24After all, it wouldn't be a very gallant act
18:26to leave the woman and the child you love
18:28to the mercy of the Moscow hood on your tail
18:29while you escape to all this VIP protection.
18:35It's horrible to think of.
18:38Truly horrible.
18:40To contemplate the lengths Carla might go to
18:43in order to obtain your silence or your services.
18:48But perhaps what you actually did,
18:51and forgot to tell us about,
18:53was to burn the British passports
18:56you obtained for Mrs. Poole and Miss Danny Poole,
18:58but kept your own
19:00to convince Carla's footpads
19:01you thought it was still safe.
19:04Then, probably,
19:06you made travel bookings
19:08in the name of the Poole family
19:10for the same reason.
19:12You doctored the Swiss passports
19:14for Danny and her mother
19:15and made other arrangements for them.
19:19Like, um,
19:21staying in Marseille, perhaps.
19:23Prince.
19:23I don't know where they are,
19:46but I'm sure no harm has come to them.
19:49Does that satisfy you?
19:50Maybe you should keep a closer eye
19:51on your own damn woman
19:52and leave mine alone.
19:53No, Peter.
19:56Perhaps it's just as well.
19:57I shouldn't know where you've hidden them,
19:59so long as you don't try to communicate.
20:02Unless, of course,
20:03you want me to help in some way,
20:05money or whatever.
20:07No need.
20:07Let's trust each other, shall we?
20:10Are we friends again, Mr. Gwillam?
20:12It won't be long now.
20:15Have you got all you need?
20:17Can I have my gun back?
20:19Yes.
20:20Oh, why not, Peter?
20:22Do we buy that?
20:42Oh, yes.
20:43I told you he'd been clever.
20:46A little bit of the truth
20:47is indispensable in the games agents play.
20:50You know that.
20:50Ricky put his family in safekeeping
20:54and found his own way home.
20:56He fooled the Russians.
20:58If Carla had a deal with him,
20:59do you think you and I
21:00would be alive and well
21:02and living in hope?
21:03Not by now, I think.
21:04Oh.
21:20Let it breathe a little.
21:33Oh, I'll just leave it.
21:36We'll pour it when we're ready.
21:36Does anyone know Carla's real name?
22:04And how old is he?
22:06Another mystery.
22:08Decades of his life unaccounted for.
22:11So many of the people he's worked with
22:13have a way of dying off.
22:16He was in England in 1936 and 41.
22:19That's documented.
22:20We can assume it was sometime during that period
22:22he recruited our mole, Gerald.
22:27I met him once in Delhi.
22:32Oh, this was long before we came to know him
22:34as the legendary Carla.
22:36In the mid-50s, Moscow's center was in pieces on the floor,
22:40wholesale purgings and shootings.
22:42And as a result, defection everywhere.
22:47I became a kind of commercial traveler.
22:50The whole world was my territory.
22:54Inspecting the goods, fixing the terms.
22:58Disposing as seemed best.
23:01On London's instructions, of course.
23:02Well, I found myself off to India,
23:07where the authorities had arrested,
23:09at our request,
23:11on some trumped-up immigration nonsense,
23:14a Mr. Guest Man.
23:17Carla's name at that time.
23:19He was on his way back to Moscow from San Francisco.
23:23Except that he didn't know, when he left California,
23:26that he was Moscow-bound.
23:28He'd been told to rendezvous
23:29with a TAS correspondent in Delhi.
23:33The message from the TAS man
23:34was an airplane ticket and...
23:38don't ask me any questions, comrade.
23:42Carla was in disgrace.
23:44Summoned...
23:45and doomed.
23:53There were two other things he didn't know.
23:56The first was that we'd intercepted
23:58the radio signal directing him to Delhi.
24:00The second was that the San Francisco network
24:03he'd organized had been rolled up
24:05hide and hair the day he left.
24:13Could we take those things off his hands?
24:22I only have to shout for you, don't I?
24:24Mr. Guest Man.
24:46You are the Cold War orphan.
24:48If you go home to Moscow, as ordered,
24:50you'll be either shot or sent to die in one of the camps.
24:54Wouldn't you prefer to ask us for protection?
24:57We have no powers of permanent arrest.
25:00And our arrangement with the Americans
25:02was that they hit your agents
25:05and we make you this invitation.
25:07If you cooperate, we can give you a new start,
25:17a new identity.
25:19Seclusion.
25:20A modest amount of money.
25:24Well, why don't you start by telling me
25:27your true name?
25:28Would you like a cigarette?
25:37I know you're a chain smother.
25:40Oh, Pete.
25:42I know this is what you smoke.
25:44Look, I'm not offering you wealth
25:59or smart women
26:01or your choice of fast cars.
26:03I know you haven't any use for those things.
26:05And I'm not going to make any claims
26:07about the moral superiority
26:09of the West.
26:10I'm sure you can see through our values
26:14just as I can see through yours in the East.
26:18You and I have spent our lives
26:20looking for the weaknesses
26:22in each other's systems.
26:24I'm sure each of us has experienced
26:27innumerable technical satisfactions
26:31in our wretched Cold War.
26:34But now your own side
26:41is going to shoot you
26:42for nothing.
26:45For misdemeanors
26:46you have not committed.
26:50Because of a power struggle
26:51within your own hierarchy.
26:54Because, probably,
26:56of someone's treachery
26:57or sheer incompetence.
27:01I'm sure both of us
27:22when we were young
27:23subscribed to great visions.
27:26But not anymore.
27:28After all you've seen.
27:29You can't still be committed
27:34to that old grand design.
27:37You know it's achieved nothing
27:38except new forms
27:40of the old misery.
27:43Don't destroy yourself.
27:47They're not worth it.
27:51Do you know where your wife is?
27:57I mean, at this moment
28:00you have to think about her.
28:05She'll have to make a new life.
28:10Do you have a friend?
28:12One really good friend
28:14who could look after her.
28:22Perhaps we could get in touch
28:24with her secretly.
28:27If you stay with us
28:29we might be able
28:29to arrange something.
28:31An exchange for someone
28:33your people won't return.
28:37But if you go back
28:38it can do her
28:41nothing but harm.
28:42she'll be cold-shouldered
28:47suspected.
28:51The best she can hope for
28:53is to be allowed
28:53to see you
28:54before you're shot.
28:57Another
28:57meaningless
28:59firing squad.
29:04Guard.
29:05The best she can hope for
29:07are you?
29:13.
29:16.
29:22.
29:23.
29:24.
29:25.
29:26.
29:27.
29:28.
29:28.
29:29.
29:29.
29:32.
29:33What did Control have to say when you got back?
29:47I hoped to God they'd do shoot him, but they didn't.
29:52His boss was the one who faced the firing squad, as it turned out.
29:57Mr. Guestman survived and thrived.
30:00How he thrived.
30:03He went on to build his legend and become the Carla we know.
30:07The Carla who, all the time he sat looking at me, was no doubt thinking of Gerald the Mole.
30:17Have you noticed, Peter, that whenever I really trouble one of our acquaintances with my questions,
30:25he'll raise the matter of my failure as a husband.
30:29To confound me.
30:32Instructive.
30:33Ricky Tarr tried it twice.
30:36Unimportant in his case.
30:38Spite.
30:41Well, that was sumptuous.
30:44Not by fawn.
30:45Good at his judo, isn't he?
30:46Karate, George.
30:47Judo is what fawn would call just your little cuddle, Mr. Smiley.
30:51Mm.
30:52Mm.
30:53Mm.
30:54Mm.
30:55Mm.
30:56Mm.
30:58Mm.
30:59Mm.
31:00Mm.
31:01Mm.
31:03Mm.
31:07Mm.
31:16I don't think even
31:37Toby Esther Hayes' people would follow us here
31:40for foods well below
31:42the standard they've come to expect
31:43so Carla's fireproof
31:47he can't be bought and he can't be beaten
31:49not fireproof because he's a fanatic
31:52I may have behaved like a soft dolt
31:55the very archetype of a flabby western liberal
31:57but I'd rather be my kind of fool than his
31:59one day that lack of moderation
32:02will be Carla's downfall
32:13he's never touched radio since the debacle in San Francisco
32:24cut it right out of his handwriting
32:27his agents aren't allowed to hear
32:29that's something else you and Carla have in common
32:31yes I am prejudiced against radio men
32:35tiresome breed
32:37overstrung, unreliable
32:39what's the other thing?
32:41well the cigarette lighter
32:43I assume he's still having it
32:45as far as I know Peter
32:46sorry George
32:47not at all
32:48how do you feel Peter?
32:54I'm alright
32:55after Delhi you know
32:57control gave me three months leave
32:59without the option
33:00when this is over
33:02I hope you'll take it easy for a while
33:04we're not quite there
33:07but nearly
33:09Peter have you got the handbrake on?
33:29it's like
33:31not sure
33:31what's at all
33:32stop
33:33trying to remove
33:34you
33:35keep
33:35I don't know
33:36...
33:41have a chat
33:45please
33:47if you ask
33:48if you ask
33:49help in there
33:50If you answer
33:51you
33:52just
33:52to
33:53please
33:54just
33:56you
33:57want
34:58Alaline to Minister.
35:01Extremely secret and personal.
35:04We spoke.
35:06Merlin, as you may have known for some time, is not one source, but several.
35:10It would do the Treasury no harm to learn...
35:13Percy was enjoying himself, wasn't he?
35:15...to learn that Merlin's 10,000 Swiss francs a month in salary...
35:19...and a similar figure for expenses and running costs...
35:22...are scarcely excessive when the cloth has to be cut so many ways.
35:26Then he adds,
35:27...nevertheless, I regard it as paramount that knowledge of the London house...
35:32...and the purpose for which it is used remain absolutely at a minimum.
35:36In a sense, Percy Alaline's quite right about Merlin.
35:39Of course, Merlin represents several sources.
35:42Various departments of Moscow's centre, with Karner queuing them in...
35:46...on the basis of the most timely material of the given moment.
35:50Sometimes he likes to direct circus attention to a topical subject...
35:54...sometimes to deflect it.
35:55For example, after Ricky Tarr's encounter with Irina in Lisbon...
36:01...Merlin delivered some vivid insights...
36:03...on the ideological penetration of the United States.
36:08But Karner doesn't know what Tarr's done with the information from Irina.
36:11Which brings us to your interrogation by Alaline...
36:15...and his reference to Tarr's probable role over here in muddying pools, etc.
36:20Merlin's message on Tarr, I suggest...
36:25...was that Ricky would be trying to sell to someone in London, on Karner's behalf...
36:31...fictitious material about a traitor in the circus.
36:36Nothing muddier than that, is there?
36:38Remember, Merlin is totally believed.
36:43So now we have a clear connection between Merlin and the Mole.
36:47And at the heart of this beautifully symmetrical plot...
36:52...is a house in London...
36:53...for which the Treasury paid £60,000...
36:57...plus another ten for making it more to Merlin's liking, or Gerald's.
37:05Fascinating, George.
37:12And how do you suggest I explain to my Minister...
37:15...least painfully, that Merlin's a fraud, and he'll have to tell the Americans so?
37:20He's devoted to Merlin.
37:22Impress upon him that whatever he's buying from the Americans...
37:25...with Merlin's discredited currency...
37:27...is going straight to Moscow via Gerald the Mole.
37:31That should do the trick.
37:37This document is not one you've asked me to bring.
37:39It's a real story...
37:40...derived only today.
37:42Source unknown.
37:46According to a recently released prisoner from Lubyanka Jail...
37:49...Moscow's centre held a secret execution in the punishment block in March.
37:54The victims were three of its own functionaries.
37:57All were shot in the back of the neck.
38:00One...
38:00...was a woman.
38:02Ricky Tarr mustn't know.
38:05It's vital he gets no wind of this.
38:07God knows what he'd do or not do if he found out Irina was dead.
38:11And we may need to make further use of him.
38:13Do you really believe all that guff about Tarr being in love with her?
38:16The little homestead in the Highlands.
38:17The avenging lover.
38:19The honourable Ricky Tarr.
38:20You may feel compelled, Peter.
38:22Everybody has a loyalty somewhere.
38:25He mustn't know.
38:27I agree.
38:27Now, George, I've wrote all I could find on Jim Fredo, such as it is.
38:37Fredo and Bill Hayden were really...
38:39...very close, you know.
38:41You haven't realised.
38:43Yes.
38:46Operation Testify.
38:49We still need to understand what happened.
38:51Or rather, why it happened.
38:53The file you borrowed, Peter, does at least give us a nudge in the right direction.
38:57I think I know who to talk to next.
39:00Your day was hardly wasted.
39:02I am glad of that, George.
39:04We've traced Fredo.
39:06He's become a teacher.
39:08First good preparatory school for boys.
39:10It's in the West Country.
39:12Right.
39:13Right.
39:13Lord, Lord, now lettest thou thy servants depart in peace.
39:30According to thy word.
39:48For whom I rise, have seen thy salvation.
39:55You, my eyes, have seen your eyes, salvation.
40:11Which now has prepared me for the face of all people, to be your light, to light your chance.
40:41And to be the glory of thy people, Israel.
40:55Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
41:15As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be.
41:29But will not end.
41:34Amen.
41:45Amen.
41:46Amen.
41:47Amen.
41:48Amen.
41:49Amen.
41:50Amen.
41:51Amen.
41:52Amen.
41:53Amen.
41:54Amen.
41:55Amen.
41:56Amen.
41:57Amen.
41:58Amen.
41:59Amen.
42:00Amen.
42:01Amen.
42:02Amen.
42:03Amen.
42:04Amen.
42:05Amen.
42:06Amen.
42:07Amen.
42:08Amen.
42:09Amen.
42:10Amen.
42:11Amen.
42:12Amen.

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