The public image of Richard Burton (1925-1984), for better or for worse, will forever be intertwined with Elizabeth Taylor (who he married twice) and for a lifetime struggle with alcohol. But at his Hollywood start, Burton established himself as a top Shakespearean actor on par with Laurence Olivier and John Gielgud. Poor film choices—a number…
The second George Smiley novel is an offbeat curio in the series and a damn good one at that. A unique entry because it isn’t a spy novel at all but rather an old-fashioned detective mystery along the lines of Agatha Christie or Dorothy L. Sayers. Later, more celebrated Smiley adventures certainly have mystery elements…
“Short, fat, and of a quiet disposition, he appeared to spend a lot of money on really bad clothes, which hung about his squat frame like skin on a shrunken toad.” That tag at the start of John LeCarré’s first espionage novel conspicuously describes the master spy, George Smiley. Call for the Dead, published in…
Louise Fitzhugh’s Harriet the Spy was my first brush with the notion that writers were spies. At nine I was Harriet, furiously scribbling in my notebook as I peered under gates and through knot-holed fences in my neighborhood. I spied on my family too. Great fun, until my intelligence activities were discovered. Writers are natural…
At HQ, a few of us have been tapping our toes and drumming our fingers awaiting T2S2. And today is supposedly the day of its release, and out here on the eastern seaboard of the U.S., at least, I can’t seem to find any Smiley showtimes—Arrrrgh! I am awash in despair. My Friday night is…
And the tournament continues! This is our fourth Death Brackets post, and the suspense is horrible! In the Intro, you met the contestants and learned the rules. During the First Round (Part 1 and Part 2), you got the tales of the tape, their competitive advantages, disadvantages, and the first corpses left behind in elimination. …
If you’re not up to speed on the concept and the competitors, here’s where we set the rules and the brackets. Eight of the world’s best detectives versus eight spies, assassins and anti-heroes in a fight-to-the-death contest of wits and toughness. In brief, each hero is dropped into a random setting — not their home…
Mysteries and thrillers, by nature, are populated by tough guys. Detectives who hunt down serial killers. Spies who uncover dangerous traitors. Assassins who take out the worst bad guys on the planet — and anti-heroes like Dexter and Hannibal Lecter with enough goodness in their dark hearts that they sometimes turn their characters around and…
Admittedly, the T2S2 remake is finally one I’m anticipating with delight. If you’ve seen the trailer and cast, perhaps you’re getting that feeling, too? If you’re not biting your nails for release yet, try on this brand-new Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy featurette, which includes interviews with Gary Oldman (George Smiley) as well as John…
Benedict Cumberbatch, appreciated here most effusively for his role in the BBC’s new Sherlock (season 2 currently in production, to air in the UK in August), will also appear this year as Peter Guillam in the film Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, based on John Le Carré ’s espionage novel of the same name. In the…
