Smiley's People

Tell Max it concerns the Sandman . . . Both had supposedly outlived their usefulness to the Circus, the British Secret Intelligence Service: George Smiley, the retired head of espionage, and General Vladimir, an aging informant who reported to him. When the general walks into a bullet after sending an urgent message to his old handler, the Circus asks Smiley to tidy things up. But Smiley hears Vladimir?s message as a last call to arms against his old nemesis, the Soviet super spy Karla, once again tantalizingly within his grasp.

Alec Guinness reprises the role of British spymaster George Smiley in this gripping sequel to the television masterpiece Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. Filmed on location in London, Paris, Hamburg and Berne, Smiley?s People also stars Eileen Atkins, Anthony Bate, Bernard Hepton, Michael Lonsdale, Beryl Reid, Patrick Stewart and Bill Paterson.

Part One
Two seemingly unrelated events in two European cities lead to George Smiley being called out of retirement once again. In Paris, Estonian ?migr? Madame Ostrakova longs to believe the belligerent stranger who promises her a reunion with the daughter she left behind. When she grows wary of the scheme, she contacts General Vladimir, an ?migr? leader living in London. In Hamburg, a young man undertakes a furtive mission on a ferry. After contacting the Circus and asking for an urgent meeting with Smiley, the general meets an end that has the mark of a Moscow Centre hit.

Part Two
Asked by Circus watchdog Oliver Lacon to clean up anything that might embarrass the government, Smiley reconstructs the dead spy?s final hours. Clues lead him to a young Estonian who admits going to Hamburg as a courier for Vladimir. When he finds what the old man was after in Hamburg, Smiley realizes it is one of the ?two proofs? the general had wanted to show him ? proofs Smiley had once asked for in a scheme to trap Karla. Meanwhile, after narrowly escaping an ambush on a Paris side street, Ostrakova realizes she is a hunted woman.

Part Three
Smiley visits Toby Esterhase and Connie Sachs, two other Circus castoffs. Toby, now ostensibly a Bond Street art dealer, reluctantly reveals details of a recent meeting with Vladimir. Connie, former Circus head of research, provides other crucial pieces of the puzzle from her memory of the files, which are out-of-bounds to Smiley now that he is operating on his own. Following the new clues these old pros provide, Smiley travels undercover to a Hamburg strip club.

Part Four
His search for the elusive Otto Leipzig leads Smiley to a dockside encampment and a shocking discovery. Realizing now that all involved are in mortal danger, Smiley works quickly to get the incriminating evidence out of Hamburg. He flies to Paris and persuades Ostrakova to trust him, spiriting her out of her apartment and to safety with the help of Peter Guillam, a Circus operative in the British Embassy. Though he helps his old friend and mentor, Guillam becomes alarmed when he learns Smiley is engaged in a private enterprise.

Part Five
In London, Smiley discusses the evidence he has collected with Circus chief Saul Enderby and his minions. Karla is behind the carnage, they agree, but why? And why is he funding a secret Swiss bank account? With the unofficial backing of the Circus, Smiley assembles a team for a surveillance operation in Switzerland. They hope to entrap Grigoriev, the Soviet diplomat who handles the mysterious account. Before he leaves, Smiley visits Ann, his estranged wife.

Part Six
After being picked up by the British team, Grigoriev explains to Smiley how a ?high official of state security? ? clearly Karla ? tapped him for a special mission concerning a Russian girl suffering from schizophrenia. The bank funds keep the girl in a clinic in Thun, where she receives more enlightened care than is available in the Soviet Union. The girl goes by the name Alexandra Ostrakova, but she tells Smiley her name is Tatiana and her father is so important ?he does not exist.?