Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Factual error: George Smiley stays in a hotel near Liverpool St Station, London to investigate the spy at the heart of the circus. There is one scene where we see, from above, a train leaving the station. Liverpool St station is electrified using overhead wires - the train is leaving a station using a different electrification system called 3rd rail which has never existed at Liverpool St.

Factual error: Control seems to have left behind some turntable package material for a deck called Dual CS 505-1. This model, however, only went to production in 1981.

Plot hole: Smiley is at a hotel asking Sam what happened when he was duty officer on the night Jim Prideaux was shot. What Sam recalls (among other things) is he and Bill Haydon going through Jim's things. Haydon finds a photo of himself and Prideaux and sneaks it away in his pocket unseen by Sam. How could Sam explain that to Smiley when he did not see Haydon's move?

Continuity mistake: Bill Haydon is on a call with the Hungarian embassy. He's holding his phone in his right hand talking on it, but then slams it down with his left hand.

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: Watch the scene, he lowers the receiver to speak to Jerry and his hands come together on the receiver, the camera cuts to Jerry, then back to Haydon hanging up the phone with the left hand, closest to the cradle. Watch it again, seems to match correctly.

Visible crew/equipment: In the scene on the runway a sound man with a boom mike is reflected in Smiley's glasses.

Bill Haydon: You really are a poison dwarf, Toby. Why don't you fuck off to his majesty and stop trying to involve me in your little cabaret.

More quotes from Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Trivia: At the start of the movie, Control, played by John Hurt, signs a letter with a green pen. This is based on reality - traditionally the head of the Secret Intelligence Services or MI6 always uses a green pen to sign letters with a C.

Jeff Walker

More trivia for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Question: In the beginning of the movie when the guy is shot while sipping coffee in that outdoor little cafe, the assassin fires two rounds. #1 hits the young mother in the forehead, #2 kills the guy sitting at the little table, then the spy is shot. He only fires twice, so how did he kill 3 people?

Answer: I've watched the scene several times - the people at the cafe are the British spy Prideaux, his contact, the young mother, an old man behind them and two men to the right side. When Prideaux walks away, the waiter runs out and fires wildly, hitting the mother in the head. He then fires again and hits Prideaux in the back. No one else appears to have been hit, the other men at the cafe are just moving to get out of the way.

Sierra1

More questions & answers from Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.