The Original Tinker, Tailor

<p> Released late last year, Gary Oldman's <em>Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy</em> was a Cold War drama based on a novel by the genre's master, John Le Carre. The feature film reminded many of us that the story had been brought to the screen once before, in a 1979 BBC miniseries aired in this country on Public Television. The '79 <em>Tinker, Tailor Soldier, Spy</em> has been released on a two-disc Blu-ray and is worth seeking out. </p> <p>Alec Guiness stared as George Smiley, the spy who came back from retirement to investigate disturbing reports of a Soviet mole near the top of British intelligence. Guiness laid the template for Oldman's performance as a circumspect, inconspicuous, buttoned-down man who seldom blinkedmuch less revealed his inner thoughts or emotions. The film moved events and places around but retained the miniseries' major characters and overall thrust of a plot that can be summed up in three words: Trust No One. </p> <p>There was visual and even audio poetry in the television version (directed by John Irvin) and a luxury the film never had: the leisure to tell the story slowly, an unhurried pace. At over six hours, the '79 <em>Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy</em> had all the time in the world compared to anything seen in movie houses. Bonuses on the Blu-ray included deleted scenes and half-hour interviews with John Irvin and John Le Carre. </p>