MovieChat Forums > Smiley's People (1982) Discussion > Can anyone tell me what became of George...

Can anyone tell me what became of George Smiley and Lady Ann?

posted 15 years ago by finnegansword
8 replies | jump to latest

As I remember, we the viewers of the movie and dvd, are left in suspense as regards this marriage. In one of the middle scenes George Smiley goes down to Dorset to see his better half in that rather run-down mansion (where the fires won't draw) and when asked if he would care to "walk?," replies "a walk would be very nice." But of course Lady Ann has sensed by now that her hubby's visit is in the most deadly earnest. George forbids her to go to the house in London because it is not safe - he even makes the exaggerated point that it may be blown up. And furthermore, he has arranged for two bodyguards to keep watch on the household (and this includes Lady Ann's uncle to whom she refers to elsewhere amusingly as Uncle Guzzleguts) while Smiley travels to the Continent. In the final moments of their walk along the coast, George says this is "Goodbye" but is this a final parting? All this ground is familiar territory to those of you who know the "Smiley's People" story backwards, but somewhere I feel I have missed a point. Does George Smiley retreat to London after Karla's defection to the West or to that imagined haven in the Cotswolds (Steeple Ashton, was it?) where he can bumble down the pavements, muttering to himself - known at large as that mild eccentric who is loved by everyone, or does he pick up the threads of his marriage with the wayward Lady Ann who simply says "George, why can't we just be an old-fashioned couple." Does George Smiley continue to be tolerant of his wayward wife, or is this a moment of decision and separation?

If I have got the quotes slightly wrong, you must forgive me writing from memory, but I think that I have got the gist of it right.

P.S. I hope that I don't have to wait two years for an answer.......

[–] matt-nde 15 years ago

*Possible spoilers*

I think that, like many of the best stories, what happens next is left up to the viewer/reader, however, I do think there's a certain significance to Smiley not picking up the lighter that Karla stole. Smiley does appear in "The Secret Pilgrim", but not as the main character - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_Pilgrim

The one question I would like to ask Le Carre, is what he thinks Smiley would make of this post-911 world.

[–] finnegansword 15 years ago

"The one question I would like to ask Le Carre, is what he thinks Smiley would make of this post-911 world." see matt-nde

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With reference to the above response, Ned in "The Secret Pilgrim" invites Smiley to lecture to the passing-out class, (at Sarratt). He continues:

"I'll not bother you with the finer points of Smiley's introductory tour of the globe. He gave them the Middle East, which was obviously on his mind, and he explored the limits of colonial power in supposedly post-colonial times. He gave them the Third World and the Fourth World and posited a Fifth World and pondered aloud whether human despair and poverty were the serious concern of any wealthy nation. He seemed pretty confident they weren't."

Cynical stuff........

[–] Kaserynofthegyre 15 years ago

Only Mr LeCarre and he seems disinclined.

Personally I've always hoped George would get a happy ending (as he appears to have had a pretty miserable journey...)

[–] meldrone 15 years ago

Since Cornwell divorced a woman named Ann(his first wife), I believe we have a strong inference available about the fate of the Smiley marriage.

Post-911 world? Cornwell wrote a newspaper piece in 2003 in which he stated that America had gone insane. Smiley's American friends would be treated similarly.

[–] finnegansword 15 years ago

I take your point about the John le Carre novels having an autobiographical streak running through them. This applies especially to 'A Perfect Spy' which is based upon his con-man father as well as his youthful experiences in Switzerland. He explains all this with great frankness in one of the interviews to be found on the dvd’s. I must admit that I had forgotten, if I ever knew, that he had been through a divorce.

As regards your second point, the Bush era seems to have few friends either here or in the States.

[–] meldrone 15 years ago

Ann tragically drowned in a vat of pancake makeup.

[–] alfa-16 15 years ago

Ann: And after that?
George: Goodbye

He means forever. TTSP and SP both end with bad news for Ann. The extraordinary look as Smiley puts on his specs at the end of TTSP and the fact that he ignores the famous lighter after Karla drops it at teh end of SP.

[–] finnegansword 15 years ago

Yes, this was my impression as well but, (there is always a "but") we are not told for sure. Perhaps this is the secret of the storytellers art?

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"the fact that he ignores the famous lighter after Karla drops it"
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Cigarette lighters do play an important part in the story. When Smiley asks for a light in order to destroy the fatal 35mm negative when clearing up at the house near London Airport, he is offered one. He loses his own when interviewing Karla in India, and then that final scene by the Berlin Wall. I think we get the message - with its hollow inscription.........