Head-to-Head: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, 1979/2011. The Outcasts (Alexander Knox v.s. John Hurt, Beryl Reid v.s. Kathy Burke, Joss Ackland v.s. Stephen Graham)

Alexander Knox and John Hurt both played 'Control' in 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' in 1979 and 2011, respectively.

The figure of Control is perhaps the most enigmatic out of all the characters in 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'. A looming figure over the storyline despite his passing before majority of the crucial events in the storyline, the chief of the Circus in Smiley's prime also appeared in other novels like 'The Spy Who Came in From the Cold' and 'The Looking Glass War', and here acts as a sort of embodiment of the Circus of the past, a symbolic representation of the long bygone days the new officials have ushered out of being.

A large majority of Control's screentime and Hurt and Knox's performance--in fact, all of it really--comes in the form of flashbacks. He is a retrospective character used to examine the present case in greater depth, through the memories of others; it can be argued that he is the most purely supporting character out of all the characters in the story as the story is never related from his point of view, he is always seen from the viewpoint of another. This may on one hand be seen as a hinderance to the actor playing him, but on the other hand provides opportunities aplenty to play out the different sides of the man due to the different perspectives offered by others, sort of a Rashoman kind of deal, so to speak. Cyril Cusack previously played a considerably younger version of Control in 1965's 'The Spy Who Came in From the Cold', and it's interesting to note the differences to his portrayal and Knox and Hurts' portrayals. In 'The Spy Who Came in From the Cold' he was a strategist at the top of his game, Cusack's performance following in this vein; in 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' he is far past his prime. As with Cumberbatch, I have to mention the intangible casting brilliance of Knox and Hurt, both acclaimed and Oscar-nominated actors who, long past their leading man days and nicely settled into character actor roles, fit nicely from the very start as the world-weary Control who's perhaps spent far too long in the service, to the extent that it's having a detrimental effect not only on his physical, but also mental, health.

I haven't seen as much of Knox as I'd have liked to but his portrayal of President Woodrow Wilson in  the 1944 biopic is quite a remarkable portrayal, especially for those glorified 1940s biopics which too often painted shallow figures out of complex men. Knox, like James Cagney in 'Yankee Doodle Dandy', was excellent at playing a flawless man oscreen with just the right bit of extra flavour to make the performance enjoyable to watch. As Control, a role distinctly different from any other I'd seen him play, his ability to add doses of flavour to the role of the authority figure comes into play well here as Control, strict and domineering figure as he is from the very beginning, is nevertheless consistently interesting as he divulges to Ian Bannen's Jim Prideaux the identities of 'Tinker', 'Tailor', 'Soldier', 'Poorman', and 'Beggarman'. As for John Hurt, what more can be said that I'm a massive fan. He's one of those old-timers alongside Robert Duvall, Michael Caine who nowadays continue to bring such gravitas and passion to each and every one of their roles, who seem the enjoy acting for acting's sake so much. His turn as John Merrick in 'The Elephant Man' is in my opinion, one of the greatest performances of all time, using only his eyes and voice to convey the emotions and innate goodness of an externally deformed, but internally beautiful man. That being his grandstanding moment of cinematic greatness, he's been consistently great throughout his career in a variety of roles, from his delightfully sassy and endearing performance as Quentin Crisp in 'The Naked Civil Servant' to a cold, menacing turn as a seasoned gangster in 'The Hit', his wonderfully attuned leading man performances in '1984' and 'Scandal', and his unforgettable depiction of overwhelming pain in 'Alien', he's one of my favourite actors.

So what about Control, then? Well really the main meat of both actors' performances is their interactions with other characters, and they have very few scenes by themselves, so I guess I should start off with the different dynamics they strike with the fellow cast members, which actually do follow along fairly similar beats. The most important scene involving Control in both versions would probably either be the scene where he reveals the codenames of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Poorman and Beggarman to Jim Prideaux, and the boardroom scene where he accuses the fellow members of the Circus of his supicions about there being a mole. Knox uses a very consistently imposing presence to sort of dominate these scenes on the fringes; with Prideaux, delivering exposition in a rather brisk and blunt way to Prideaux, sort of luxuriating in his intellect as he reads out and analyses his naming process, but also maintaining that cold exterior while emphasizing the importance of 'one word' Prideaux must give him. With the members of the Circus his version of Control is rather passive aggressive, looming and with that ever-present glare of coldness in his eyes. Hurt, on the other hand, takes a more daring approach to the character that I feel works even better. His performance has an undercurrent of constant paranoia, and if you recall what I said about Hywel Bennett's portrayal of this being altogether too showy and actor-y, Hurt shows here how to make a compelling portrayal of megalomania by depicting how it comes in and out of his manner as a sort of constant inconstancy, and when talking about the mole makes it even more evident. I find that Hurt and Knox's approaches work equally well in the board scenes as Knox develops more of an understated relationship to each and every one of the members which makes sense for many of the more quiet performances on display in the 1979 version, whereas Hurt, when denouncing the likes of Haydon and Alleline, is presented as being decidedly more aggressive and necessarily so, to make himself heard.

With Smiley, both Hurt and Knox have this sort of comfortableness with each other that makes sense due to the smiliarly enclosed, reserved natures of both characters. Both do very well in laying the seeds however, for the underlying distrust Control has of everyone, really, by that constant vigilence both actors bring to the performance. With Percy Alleline, Hurt shows a streak of intense distaste, and even a bit of wry humour (as is the norm for 21st Century Hurt performances) that works incredibly well in establishing where Control is coming from with his fear of others trenching upon his prerogative. Knox takes a more dispassionate approach that is decidedly more tired and weary; sort of a victim of his own haplessness, almost too shocked by his own failure to do anything about it. This broken faith in their own abilities makes the downfall of Control all the more resonant; I do think that though Knox's understated approach works very well, particularly in the scene where he muses that 'nothing matters' now, Hurt's arc is all the more tragic by how he shows his failure to find the mole as almost a disease in his blood that's eating him from the inside, chartering this disillusionment through his physical and emotional performance. Though both performances are short, they both leave incredible impressions, though I have to say, Hurt even more so.


Hurt: 4.5

Knox: 4

Beryl Reid and Kathy Burke both played Connie Sachs in 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' in 1979 and 2011, respectively.

Effectively two one-scene wonders, this was certainly one of the easier choices to make. Kathy Burke is not bad at all as Connie Sachs as she has the right sort of cheekiness and desparation within the character that provides a worthy sparring partner with Smiley for her one scene. She has good comic timing and overall her performance works well, I would not say incredibly well though since she never really goes beyond the call of duty, unlike Beryl Reid.

A famed comic actress, Reid attacks the role with so much gusto and in her few minutes onscreen, probably enlivens the miniseries more than anyone else in terms of just being a radiant presence--but not in a usual sense. Sachs is an alcoholic, and while Burke left a bit too much of this characterisation to her general uncouth appearance and some slurry swearing, Reid does something amazing which is merging the cheeriness of this daffy lady with her drinking problem; the alcoholism is not used for laughs at all, yet it contributes to her general quirk of character in a way that just feels so natural. Guinness and Reid work incredibly well together in showing glimpses of the little world they and the Circus, and all her 'lovely boys', were shielded from the 'real world', by her very precise manner when talking about her past assignments; the way she playfully jests around with Smiley always has this sense of unaware sadness, that works so well.

Burke's performance is a good one but is limited not only by screentime but by the way she plays it perhaps a bit too safe, as the usual stereotypical kooky lady. Her impact is somewhat muted, whereas with Burke it's tremendous; when she bursts into tears at the end, begging Smiley not to come back if things are 'bad', is a fascinating blend of the grotesque and genuinely moving.


Reid: 4.5

Burke: 3

Joss Ackland and Stephen Graham both played Jerry Westerby  in 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' in 1979 and 2011, respectively.

This too will be a very short head-to-head, and rather one-sided as well, not because of the actors themselves but rather more the roles. Stephen Graham, from whatever I've seen him in, is always a solid presence in films whether he's doing his tough guy, criminal routine, or giving his performances that comedic bent that's so effective. Here, however, he's really too limited to make much of an impact, as the film really makes him into one very paper-thin plot device, essentially used to just bring Smiley up to speed with things as they are in the Circus.

Joss Ackland, on the other hand, gets a fair amount of screentime to develop the character of Jerry Westerby, one of Smiley's closer confidantes, it's still a relatively minor role but Ackland's natural screen presence is just rather effective in making this low-key camaraderie between his jovial extroversion and rather entertaining delivery of exposition. A character he most reminded me of was Arthur Kennedy's in 'Lawrence of Arabia'; a nor particularly moral but pretty charismatic journalist who knows a lot and is quite happy to reveal it all. 

Ackland: 3.5

Graham: 2.5


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