Amph Spy Dramas

I was going to create a specific thread for different spy dramas, but actually since a bunch of spy stories seem poised on the horizon perhaps a general spy fiction thread would be more useful.

Coming up is The Night Manager, a six part serial adapting John le Carré's novel for television. It stars Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie, Olivia Coleman, Tom Hollander, David Harewood, and Elizabeth Debicki.



Now I do kinda find the trailer a little melodramatic (I prefer my le Carré to be subtley underplayed), but... that cast!

In the States it will be shown on AMC starting on April 19; in the UK I've heard mid Feb suggested (War and Peace ends on the 7th of Feb, so a 14th of Feb debut in the Sunday night slot would be possible).

I've not read the book, but the Beeb's Tinker,Tailor adaptation is some of my favourite TV ever, and I've enjoyed the le Carré novels that I have read, so my fingers are crossed for this one. I'm mentally buying a bottle of wine in readiness for the first episode.

TNM is not the only le Carré on the cards - the move adaptation of Our Kind of Traitor, starring Ewan McGregor, Damian Lewis, and Stellan Stellan Skarsgård must be due to be released soon, but its delay in being released suggests a lack of faith in the film - we'll just have to await reviews.

I'll list my top ten spy films when I get round to compiling it, please feel free to do the same.

 

Are there even 10 recent films?

The only I can think of are Munich, Tinker, and Bridge. Beyond that, you really just lapse into action films.

 

I wasn't talking about recent. Sorry if that wasn't clear.

 

ooohh tom hiddleston and hugh laurie

 

Spy Kids

Agent Cody Banks

 

Don't worry, it was.

 

The Austin Powers Trilogy, of course.

 

Get Smart

 

I hate all you guys.

 

I've not seen much in the way of movies, but I enjoyed Graham Greene's Power and the Glory. It would be interesting as a film.

 

Don't forget, Spy Hard, Spies Like Us and Top Secret.

 

Spy Hard

JW's favourite spy drama is Twelve Angry Men.

 

There was also A Most Wanted Man, but Wocky only sees films when he can sneak into an abandoned cinema and watch films with a number of adorable yet tragic ghosts for company.

 

The Good Shepherd. I felt really bad about the bride being tossed out of a plane.

I liked Haywire. really just an assassin movie, but it hinted at wanting to be a spy movie.

 

You should check out The Quiet American - it's an adaptation of Graham Green novel, and it's good.

 

Even though it's usually described as more of a political thriller, I always think of Three Days of the Condor as a spy movie if only because of the central role the CIA plays in novel and movie, and it's one of the great ones.

 

Sad that there's no longer any quiet Americans around.

But yes, it's a great novel. So is The Constant Gardner.

Let's just be clear - the film adaptation of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy was awful. Watch the BBC one.

 

Three Days of the Condor is easily in my top five. It's superb.

I agree, the BBC adaptation is the best. I've seen it six or seven times and it just seems to get better and better.

 

I was super, super disappointed in A Most Wanted Man. It just didn't ever come together. Willem Dafoe was the best thing in it.

Spy Game with Robert Redford is really brilliant; it has a great antagonist in Stephen Dillane.

Talking older stuff: Foreign Correspondent, Sabotage, The 39 Steps, Secret Agent - all Hitchcock stuff. Avoid Torn Curtain at all costs though.

 

Two other good choices: "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold" (very downbeat, but with a great performance from Richard Burton) and "Our Man in Havana" (with a pre-Smiley Alec Guinness and a good dramatic turn from Ernie Kovacs).

 

Oh - the Tailor of Panama. Pierce Brosnan being utterly without redemption.

 

I watched a BBC series on Netflix a few years ago, I think it was called Wish Me Luck, about British spies in WW2 France. The first season was pretty good, but it turned into a soap opera after that.

 

Yeah, you're exactly right about Wish Me Luck - good first series, total dreck after that. It's always disappointing to see a good series drop in quality and go the soap route.

The Sandbaggers was a quality British spy series that was very good all the way through. Low budget but very well written. All the episodes are up on YouTube, too.

 

I'd like to see "Agent Zigzag" made into a movie.

 

That's the double agent in WWII, right? He was an interesting guy for sure. I think there is a film planned in the near future, though I guess the project might fall through - you can't really count on planned films getting made unless there is big money involved.