MovieChat Forums > Smiley's People (1982) Discussion > 'Helping a Friend Out.'

'Helping a Friend Out.'

posted 11 years ago by finnegansword
6 replies | jump to latest

George Smiley's telephone message to the British Embassy in Paris (to Mr Barraclough?) has a nice touch of irony about it. It is taken first by Stango who passes it on to Peter Guillam (played by Michael Byrne), but then follows the helta-skelta scene where Guillam races to his car to make a bogus telephone call to the Parisian Fire Brigade. But particularly note that beautiful camera shot of Guilllam in the telephone box dialing his call while reflected in the glass is the monument surmounted by a Mercury-like figure. Whoever devised this camera angle had great fun setting up this scene with its double, or even triple meaning. For those of you who have not noticed it, it is 34 minutes 6 seconds into the episode. (the image at the top of the column is that of Liberty, Bastille Monument, Paris).

By way of an afterthought, I have added a link to the camera angle I mean: http://www.flickr.com/photos/finnegansword/8894324242/

While you are on my Flickr page, you might like to look at this newspaper photo of the Author and Alec Guinness http://www.flickr.com/photos/finnegansword/6613239507/

And finally while you are on the Flickr Page, why not take a look at the Tin Pavilion? http://www.flickr.com/photos/52503616@N07/5621597056/in/photolist-9yL9Xb-qH95J-2SiQby-5qy2Qf-cMBVVj-cMBWVY-dBC2i1-tacqS-d9zHs3-8Xk6s-8Xk7L-mg1yj-bndcTs-9qYASk-c1sVMu-fKcyD-fKcpt-dae5vS-fKcn5-fKcr2-fKcSP-5YXU2Z-sRYun-9xmqe4-bGKW7B-W9GsD-WdahW-WdauL-W9Fvn-W9FSe-WdaWu-Wdb8d-W9CUz-W9CKX-WdaLh-W9EPK-W9Evr-W9Ebz-W9DUX-bzqWpF-99DdGN-bq7MWc-dPufQa-btR9y1-5qtJGz-5qy4d5-5qtJmD-5qtKva-5qy1T7-4LEcfk-8RzQpr

[–] dylanw1 11 years ago

This is one of the most beautifully shot series I've ever seen. I've noticed the shot, but I've never thought about the subtext before.

Do you have the specific location for the tin pavilion, by the way? I've always wanted to find it on Google Earth.

[–] finnegansword-772-990306 11 years ago

For those of you who live in London and wish to visit the Tin Pavilion site, here are some rough directions. Proceed to East Heath Road (opposite Well Walk) and continue past the block of flats where the Safe House was and walk for about five minutes. There is a small meadow somewhere to the right and the remains of a cricket pavilion is there.

"Those escorted literary walks.(an old post that went unanswered)

I’m fascinated by various escorted walks that have taken place to spots of interest to people who follow this site. I’m thinking of such as was advertised on the internet as “MOSCOW RULES, JOHN LE CARRE’S SMILEY’S PEOPLE, Presented by Benedict Newbery, Saturday 6th November 2010, 3pm” which visited the Tin Pavilion on Hampstead Heath. In vain have I attempted to contact anyone who participated in this walk. Perhaps it was rained off?" or those of you who are hundreds, if not thousands of miles away from London and who yet 'Wish to Boldly Go' why not use Google's wonderful EarthSat maps and try to locate the T.P. as I did (successfully) years ago. It's called Living Dangerously!

[–] SurlyRed 8 years ago

51.563182, -0.166324

[–] dylanw1 8 years ago

Wonderful! Thank you!

[–] dylanw1 11 years ago

One of the best things about this series is the attention to detail. In the scene where Smiley waits to talk to J. Lamb, the minicab driver, there’s this bit in the book:

An elderly couple had settled opposite him. The man wore a stiff Homburg hat and was playing war tunes on a tin whistle. He wife grinned inanely at the passers-by.

And in the series, there’s this, about 13:34 into episode 2:

http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r143/saintfu23/TinWhistle.png

Additionally, during the sequence where Smiley calls the minicab company, Ferguson repeatedly appears in the background:

http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r143/saintfu23/Ferguson1.png
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r143/saintfu23/Ferguson2.png
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r143/saintfu23/Ferguson3.png

And the really terrific thing is, after Smiley initially spots him through the glass of the phone booth, he's just there. They don't do any trite cutting to him looking ominous or anything like that.

[–] finnegansword 11 years ago

I say - he's been stealing my thunder!

(I'm just kidding, of course)

I have managed to find a little more information on one of those escorted walks to places of interest to people who love the Smiley stories. Whoever wrote this "tongue-in-cheek" piece was obviously enjoying himself:

"Meet your guide – a slightly furtive and unremarkable-looking man dressed in a black coat and cap, clutching a copy of Smiley’s People and secret instructions graded FLASH – outside the front of The Freemason’s Arms, Downshire Hill, Hampstead Heath, London, NW3 1NT (nearest Underground stations: Belsize Park and Hampstead). From this starting point, you will be taken to the edge of Hampstead Heath and there briefed on the events leading up to the start of the case. This will include a brief summary of the action in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, followed by background information on Karla – “Smiley’s black grail” – his flawed running man Kirov and developments in Paris and Hamburg. The party will then join Mostyn at the tin pavilion before investigating the scene of the grisly murder – the killing of an elderly émigré General that brings George Smiley out of retirement. You will then be taken to the place where Smiley discovers the all-important proofs, hidden by the General moments before his death, and from there to the safe house where Lacon and Strickland await. While Strickland is writing up the D-notice for the press, you’ll be appraised of the likely agents of the murder, before heading to South End Green, where Smiley interrogates the taxi driver who drove the general before he died.

The walk will last approximately two hours, concluding in the Magdala Pub on South Hill Park, Hampstead."

And for those of you who have a taste for a little criminality, murder and mayhem, I can tell you that Ruth Ellis (1926-1955) shot her lover outside The Magdala on Easter Sunday 1955. Furthermore, the bullet holes are still in the wall! You couldn't have a better end to an afternoon's walk than that, now could you?