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List Price: $24.95 | | Label: A&E Home Video
Salesrank: 26654
Released: December 28, 2004 |
| Our Price: $3.84 |
| Used Price: $2.92 |
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MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Famed British spy novelist John Le Carré wrote the screenplay for A Murder of Quality, adapting it from his novel of the same name. Former Intelligence agent George Smiley investigates a murder within an elite British school. Storyline takes aim at the British class system. Stars British character actor Denholm Elliot (Noises Off), Glenda Jackson (Salomé’s Last Dance) and a young Christian Bale (Little Women, American Psycho).
John Le Carre's A Murder of Quality Reviews:
John Le Carre 
2009-11-16 - Story of quality! What else can any one say. See it, understand it, enjoy it (?). I did!
Conventional British Mystery 
2009-10-24 - Denholm Elliott, Joss Ackland, and Glenda Jackson are fine actors. Le Carre here gives them a chance to perform in one of his first post-cold-war vehicles as he searched for a substitute for the espionage-counterespionage thrillers on which his reputation was based. Somehow, however, George Smiley, his hero, seems diminished in the role of volunteer investigator into a situation at an English public school. The three stars do their best in these low-key roles but it is swimming against the tide of the many other similar British mysteries which have populated the TV airways with Morse, Frost, Dalgliesh and others doing the investigating. Nevertheless, these stars are what provide the interest in this film.. The remainder of the cast also meet the high standards set by British television for this type of show. Those of us who are addicted to the British "non-violent" detectives will find the film a suitable way to spend a couple of hours; others may find it a bit slow and unclear. Oh, yes, as one reviewer indicates, there is some problem at times in making out the dialogue with no subtitles to help.
Terrible sound quality 
2009-04-26 - I love George Smiley stuff, even when it does not feature Sir Alec, but I have not been able even to finish this DVD to the end. Even with the volume turned up fully on my Gateway laptop and ear phones plugged in, the dialog is virtually unintelligible much of the time. I have noticed this problem with BBC productions on DVD over the years, although their content quality is almost always excellent. Customers with laptop speakers or no separate speakers may want to be cautious about this product, but only for that reason.
A Movie for a Rainy Afternoon
2008-07-21 - Having the George Smiley movies played by Alec Giuness,
I looked forward to A Murder Of Quality.Unfortunately
eventhough I like Denholm Elliot,this was not one of
his best performances.I just couldn't believe that he
had the brains to solve anything,let alone a complicated
murder such as this.I do admit that if I hadn't seen
Alec Guiness play the part first,I might have been more
disposed to Elliot's performance.
As usual,Glenda Jackson is her brilliant self.
I never tire of seeing Joss Ackland,who is completely
believable as the snotty wanna be uppercrust Britisher.
Read the other reviews for a plot synopsis.
Being a MEGA fan of Glenda Jackson,it really ticked me
off that the picture they used of her in the biography
section of this dvd is actually a picture of the actress
Diane Fletcher( House of Cards)who played Shane Hecht in
this movie.Look for a scene with Diane playing squash,
and you will see that she is wearing a white shirt and
a bandana in her hair and it is this that they used as
a picture of Glenda Jackson.Pretty sad when a studio
doesn't recognize a two time oscar winning actress.
Murder Most Civilized...
2007-05-27 - Denholme Elliot does an understated but solid turn as John Le Carre's quintessential master spy George Smiley in this excellent made-for-TV version of "A Murder of Quality."
George Smiley is asked by a wartime colleague to visit the wife of a teacher at Carne, an exclusive English Prep School. The wife, who does not fit into the existing social set, fears for her life. By the time Smiley arrives, she has been murdered. The balance of the movie is Smiley's patient unpeeling of the complicated and most uncivilized lives of the faculity and students of Carne. In the end, and with the assistance of an often baffled local police chief, Smiley cleverly unmasks the killer.
Denholme Elliot lacks the world-weary qualities and understated ruthlessness of Alec Guiness's later portrayal of George Smiley; this is George Smiley at an earlier, less cynical, and more sociable stage of his career in espionage. Elliot is surrounded by a very solid cast that include Academy Award-winner Glenda Jackson and veteran British actor Joss Ackland. A young Christian Bale (Batman Begins) features as one of the students. Le Carre's novel was hard to follow in the original; this film version will challenge viewers to pay close attention to the storyline. The end result will be entertaining and worthwhile.
