Jan Carey Movies
- 1992
Based on a novel by Muriel Spark (The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie), the British TV drama Memento Mori boasts an impressive cast of veterans, including Maurice Denham, Cyril Cusack, Sir Michael Hordern, Renee Ashershon, and Maggie Smith. The story concerns an eccentric group of senior citizens who are being plagued by a cryptic phone caller. The mystery man (or woman) says only "Remember, you must die!" before hanging up. For a while, it seems as though the domineering Ms. Smith is the instigator of the crank calls, but don't be too sure. Memento Muri premiered in the US as a two-part installment of Masterpiece Theatre, telecast October 25 and November 1, 1992. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Stephanie Cole, Renée Ashershon, (more)
Superpatriotic Briton Michael Caine learns from his son Nigel Havers, a Russian translator with Government Communications Headquarters, that the CIA might have ordered the deaths of some GCH employees to avoid any security leaks. When Havers mentions that he's thinking about blowing the whistle on the sordid goings-on, Caine, convinced that whatever the CIA is doing is for the greatest good, implores his son to keep quiet. Soon afterward, Havers is found murdered. Even after this, Caine refuses to think ill of his government and its allies. It takes the death of investigative reporter James Fox to shake Caine out of his self-denial and to confront the persons responsible for the killings within the GCH. The venerable John Gielgud offers a surprising characterization in this complex conspiracy thriller. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michael Caine, James Fox, (more)
A sequel to 1980's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, this BBC miniseries once again focuses on British spy George Smiley (Sir Alec Guinness), once again called out of retirement, this time by the fussy Oliver Lacon Anthony Bate, to deal with a scandal in the British spy establishment. An ex-Russian general and British spy (Curt Jurgens) is found brutally murdered in a London park after frantically contacting the British Secret Service. His cryptic message: "Tell Max it concerns the Sandman." It seems that the general and his crony Otto Leipzig (Vladek Sheybal) were cooking up a scheme to blackmail the head of the Russian secret service, Karla (Patrick Stewart), when they were murdered. Smiley gathers his old associates (almost all the actors reprising roles from the first miniseries) and picks up the general's harrowing trail. He finds that Karla has been secretly supporting a daughter in the West through almost comically inept intermediaries such as Grigoriov (Michael Lonsdale). This information allows him to face off against his old adversary and avenge the humiliation he and his agency suffered with the double agent Karla had in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. Made in 1982, the sequel has one major casting substitution: Michael Byrne instead of Michael Jayston as Peter Guillam, Smiley's faithful lieutenant. ~ Nick Sambides, Jr., Rovi
- Starring:
- Alec Guinness, Vass Anderson, (more)
