MovieChat Forums > The Tailor of Panama (2001) Discussion > graham greene?

graham greene?

posted 20 years ago by snurp69
7 replies | jump to latest

Does this film have anything to do with Graham Greenes "Our Man In Havana"?
The stories sound similar.

[–] Simon-140 20 years ago

The film is based on a John Le Carre novel of the same name. Le Carre's novel has some superficial similarities to Greene's "Our Man in Havana" but I don't think it runs any deeper than that.

[–] SlowRain 19 years ago

In the Acknowledgements section of the book, Le Carre says that after reading Graham Greene's "Our Man in Havana" the idea of an intelligence fabricator wouldn't leave him alone. I haven't read "Our Man in Havana" yet, but it sounds like that's where Le Carre got his idea from.

The only second chance you get is to make the same mistake twice. - David Mamet

[–] sanmasonic 19 years ago

Yes, LeCarré credits Graham´s Our Man in Havana, which has a very similar premise, as an inspiration (I forget his exact word) for The Tailor of Panama in the front matter of the book. Yet this doesn't detract from either book -- both are quite good in their own right.

[–] Simon-140 18 years ago

I didn't know this. Thanks for the info.

[–] poetcomic1 11 years ago

Graham Greene adored John le Carre's novels. Greene called 'Spy Who Came In From the Cold' the greatest espionage novel ever written (including his own!) In a genre (espionage, Western, horror, sci fi etc.) there are a limited number of situations and story lines and I believe le Carre was having fun with this very fun idea. The modern world of 'spin' and appearances is even more suited to the story-line than when Our Man in Havana was made.

[–] inframan 11 years ago

"Our Man in Havana", the book, was published in 1958. The film appeared in 1960. The movie is very funny & well-cast, but the book is a brilliant satire. LeCarre is a master genre writer but Greene was a literary genius to whom LeCarre was self-admittedly paying homage with this work.

BTW I love this movie & consider it, along with "The Matador", Brosnan's best.

[–] TTboy-33 8 years ago

Yes, the book and movie are a reworking of 'Our Man In Havana'.

I think they could rework that movie into 'Our Man in Baghdad' with the whole 'yellow cake' fiasco.