Alec Guinness

Gary Oldman agonized over whether he should tinker with British spymaster George Smiley, a character who is an institution to John le Carre's readers and already had been played to perfection by Alec Guinness, in "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy."  

Just to make sure you WANT to see the BBC’s six hour miniseries adaptation of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. (This is, in fact, the absolutely entirety of Patrick Stewart’s appearance in the series).  

Classic cold war spy thriller brilliant and complex by Carsten Knox A new adaptation of the John le Carré novel, previously made into a BBC TV series starring Alec Guinness in the 1970s. Here the George Smiley character is played by Gary Oldman, a veteran spy recruited to root out a possible double-agent in the highest echelons of British Intelligence.… [ Read more ] [ Subscribe to the comments ...  

If the plot of John le Carre 's 1974 Cold War spy novel seems familiar, perhaps you saw the BBC seven-part miniseries (1979), starring Alec Guinness . Indeed, there's so much cognizance of the generic characters in this espionage whodunit that it's difficult to sustain suspense successfully for more than two hours.  

Gary Oldman, 53, doesn't scare easily, but the prospect of remaking Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy was daunting. Ever since the acclaimed John le Carre novel was turned into an equally acclaimed 1979 miniseries, protagonist George Smiley has been synonymous with Alec Guinness.  

Gary Oldman agonised over whether he should tinker with British spymaster George Smiley, a character who is an institution to John le Carre's readers and already had been played to perfection by Alec Guinness.