You might not have heard of the name "Sidney Reilly", but you've heard of a literary character, whom he inspired: James Bond. In this 1983 miniseries, Reilly is played by Sam Neill. A few years after this, Neill auditioned to replace Roger Moore as 007.
I've read two books about Reilly (well, one. Plus one, where Reilly was one of the four famous spies touched upon). This miniseries was based on a book by Robin Bruce Lockhart, which I have not read. By all account, that book was based on anecdotal stories that Reilly had told friends, colleagues and acquaintances. A number of myths have been created around the man known as Sidney Reilly, over the years, and become part of folklore. Some of those were fabricated by Reilly himself, then repeated in blind faith by others. Other myths have been born, since his death, through wishful thinking and poor research. Even the man's origin is shrouded in mystery, with numerous stories having been told (and I'm not going to go through them all).
Episode 1: "An Affair with a Married Woman".
Part of the plot deals with Reilly (then Rosenblum) meeting his future wife, Margaret, in 1901. Then marrying her, after the death of her husband in 1902 (followed by Rosenblum changing his last name to "Reilly"). Based on Andrew Cook's book, those depictions are incorrect. Reilly met Margaret and her husband in 1897. Her first husband, a reverend, died in 1898. The material that Cook (and the other book I've read) presents makes it possible that Reilly killed him. Reilly and Margaret married that same year, with a passport for him with the last name "Reilly" being issued in 1899.
Reilly interacts with Mansfield Smith-Cumming, who was the first director of the Secret Intelligence Service. Minor trivia about him: he would sign papers with "C" in green ink. Resulting in him, and subsequent SIS director to become called "C". Which is where Ian Fleming got "M" from.
Really felt for Margaret in her unhappy marriage.
Quite like the opening credits, with the music and archive footage from the early 20th century.
Episode 2: "Prelude to War".
Reilly is involved in the upcoming Russo-Japanese War, in 1904. Must admit, that I had probably never heard of said war, before watching this episode for the first time, years ago. David Suchet guest stars as Inspector Tsientsin... in yellow face (ugh). Thought his actual performance was okay (really felt for him, when he was running around in the streets, and you could hear women and children suffering. You understand a need for him to kill Reilly, beyond him having been ordered to do so, if a war broke out), but kept being distracted by a non-Asian playing a Chinese man, wearing obvious and terrible (and racist) make-up. Suchet seemingly never blinks (he couldn't, because then you'd really be able to tell that those aren't his real eyelids).
Poor Margaret. After her first, unhappy, marriage, she remarries... only to find herself in another unhappy marriage.
I've read two books about Reilly (well, one. Plus one, where Reilly was one of the four famous spies touched upon). This miniseries was based on a book by Robin Bruce Lockhart, which I have not read. By all account, that book was based on anecdotal stories that Reilly had told friends, colleagues and acquaintances. A number of myths have been created around the man known as Sidney Reilly, over the years, and become part of folklore. Some of those were fabricated by Reilly himself, then repeated in blind faith by others. Other myths have been born, since his death, through wishful thinking and poor research. Even the man's origin is shrouded in mystery, with numerous stories having been told (and I'm not going to go through them all).
Episode 1: "An Affair with a Married Woman".
Part of the plot deals with Reilly (then Rosenblum) meeting his future wife, Margaret, in 1901. Then marrying her, after the death of her husband in 1902 (followed by Rosenblum changing his last name to "Reilly"). Based on Andrew Cook's book, those depictions are incorrect. Reilly met Margaret and her husband in 1897. Her first husband, a reverend, died in 1898. The material that Cook (and the other book I've read) presents makes it possible that Reilly killed him. Reilly and Margaret married that same year, with a passport for him with the last name "Reilly" being issued in 1899.
Reilly interacts with Mansfield Smith-Cumming, who was the first director of the Secret Intelligence Service. Minor trivia about him: he would sign papers with "C" in green ink. Resulting in him, and subsequent SIS director to become called "C". Which is where Ian Fleming got "M" from.
Really felt for Margaret in her unhappy marriage.
Quite like the opening credits, with the music and archive footage from the early 20th century.
Episode 2: "Prelude to War".
Reilly is involved in the upcoming Russo-Japanese War, in 1904. Must admit, that I had probably never heard of said war, before watching this episode for the first time, years ago. David Suchet guest stars as Inspector Tsientsin... in yellow face (ugh). Thought his actual performance was okay (really felt for him, when he was running around in the streets, and you could hear women and children suffering. You understand a need for him to kill Reilly, beyond him having been ordered to do so, if a war broke out), but kept being distracted by a non-Asian playing a Chinese man, wearing obvious and terrible (and racist) make-up. Suchet seemingly never blinks (he couldn't, because then you'd really be able to tell that those aren't his real eyelids).
Poor Margaret. After her first, unhappy, marriage, she remarries... only to find herself in another unhappy marriage.
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