Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy -- the mini series of 1979

This is the best piece of ensemble acting I've seen. This was a mini-series in 1979, directed by John Irvin and starring Alec Guiness. The cast works together as the characters did, and they make the mini-series rise above the genre.

It's based on the novel by John le Carre, and we find George Smiley (played by Sir Alec) called back from retirement to ferret out a mole in the British Secret Service. It would be the usual spy-vs-spy stuff but for the camaraderie shown by the cast (a camaraderie I was disappointed to find missing in the sequel "Smiley's People").

The material is top-notch, the screenplay is excellent, and the story moves along crisply and with intrigue, lots of subtle things going on that add depth to the characters, but it's a real winner because of the performance of the cast.