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The Daily Star, Oneonta, N.Y., Friday, April 15, 2016 2 By Jacqueline Spendlove TV Media I f "Game of Thrones" has taught us anything, it's that some stories just can't be told in two hours, so don't even try it. These days, TV is the medium you turn to if you want to do a book justice in its translation to screen. Two big-screen attempts at John le Carré's "The Night Manager" have failed to get off the ground, but the new six-part TV miniseries has been a huge hit across the pond. By all accounts, the British espio- nage drama, adapted from the 1993 novel, is more than de- serving of the longer format needed to flesh out its story and characters. Now, North American audiences can get a taste of the juicy spy series. "The Night Manager" is set to debut Tuesday, April 19, on AMC. Airing on BBC One in the U.K., the series premiered in February to more than 10 mil- lion viewers, and has received heaps of praise in reviews. Le Carré's best-selling novel — his first post-Cold War work — has been updated with a present-day setting and boasts a fantastic cast, most of whom you'll probably recog- nize. Tom Hiddleston, best known for playing Loki in the Thor and Avengers movies, leads the cast of "The Night Manager" as former British soldier Jonathan Pine. Follow- ing service in Iraq, Pine re- treated into a solitary life as a nighttime hotel manager, but everything changes when he's approached by Angela Burr (Olivia Colman, "Broad- church"), who runs a London enforcement agency. Pine soon finds himself drawn into a world of crime and espio- nage as he's tasked with infil- trating the inner circle of inter- national arms dealer Richard Roper, played by Golden Globe winner Hugh Laurie. English actor Laurie has had a long and often comedic ca- reer in film and television, but American audiences may best recognize him as the curmud- geonly and acerbic Dr. Gregory House in "House." He dons his not-such-a-nice-guy hat again as Roper, who's described as "the worst man in the world," despite his charm, philanthro- py and good breeding. His one weakness is his son, and in saving the boy's life, Pine earns Roper's trust and a place in the home Roper currently shares with his willowy lover, Jed Marshall (Elizabeth De- bicki, "The Man From U.N.C.L.E.," 2015). There's a lot Pine has to contend with as he feigns his way into the criminal under- world, not the least of which is Maj. Lance Corkoran (Tom Hol- lander, "Rev."), Roper's right- hand man and "fixer." He's fiercely loyal to Roper and doesn't trust Pine in the slight- est, and his determination to expose the spy as a fraud proves a constant challenge for the protagonist. Moral ambiguity plays a big part in the story, as Pine must essentially become a criminal himself in order to get the job done. "Because Roper gives his monstrosity and the evil things he does a kind of logic, a glamor, there are moments when Pine teeters on the brink of the dark side, when you wonder which way he will go," Laurie told Stuff. "The au- dience has to judge for them- selves where Pine and Roper come close to crossing the line in opposite directions — where Roper might plunge the dagger into his own chest and where Pine might become the very thing he set out to de- stroy." Laurie knows what he's talking about. A longtime ad- mirer of le Carré, he's been a huge fan of the book for more than 20 years, and has long desired to be involved in bring- ing the story to the screen. Of course, in this type of project, there's always the risk that diehard fans of the book will decry any deviations from the source material, but show- runners have handled these inevitable changes well. "We did depart from the novel in some ways," director Susanne Bier told Radio Times, "but we assured David Corn- well [le Carré's real name] that these changes would be viable and would still follow his im- portant goal — to hold true to the substance of the original story." For his part, the author has had a solid involvement with the project — besides a blink- and-you'll-miss-it cameo role. Additionally, his son, Simon Cornwell, is one of the show's executive producers. So if nothing else, the material is in good hands. Indeed, the show has been extremely well received, with The Huffington Post and oth- ers calling it "James Bond for the small screen." It might just mean even bigger things for Hiddleston's future as well, with the actor's name being bandied about as a potential to play the next 007 on the big screen. In the meantime, however, love for "The Night Manager" has been strong enough to warrant murmurings of a po- tential second season. Noth- ing's confirmed, but le Carré is reportedly involved in discus- sions to that effect with the BBC, as a second season would require him to write new material that would allow the series to extend beyond the scope of his original work. For now, though, it remains to be seen whether the series will enjoy the same success with North American audi- ences as it has across the pond. Tune in when "The Night Manager" makes its U.S. debut Tuesday, April 19, on AMC. A/Bulls Head Inn B/Laura Reyda 2 x 2 coverstory By the book John le Carré's best-selling spy novel comes to AMC By Adam Thomlison TV Media Q: What is David James Elliott's next project? He is an excellent actor. Is there any chance he will be the next James Bond? A: Coming off a pretty big role in the high-profile 2015 film "Trumbo," David James Elliott's next project is a modest indie picture called "Camera Store." As for his chances at one day playing James Bond, let's say they're slim. "Camera Store" is a quiet-sounding ensemble drama set in a suburban shopping mall, and also stars fellow TV veteran John Larroquette and the great character actor John Rhys-Da- vies. It recently wrapped filming, but there's no word yet on a release date (being an indie pic, a distribution deal has to be negotiated first). Elliott, who is still best known for starring in the late-'90s/ early-'00s legal drama "JAG," is coming off the role of a life- time, playing film legend John Wayne in "Trumbo," a biogra- phy of the blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo. Elliott was nominated, along with the rest of the cast, for a Screen Actors Guild Award. Even so, and despite fitting the profile in a number of other ways (including being an established star with a pretty distin- guished look), Elliott stands little chance of taking over the Bond role from Daniel Craig. In fact, Elliott was more or less ruled out the day he was born in Toronto, Canada. Q: Is it true that someone died during the filming of "Ben-Hur"? A: Yes, but probably not who you're thinking of. Assuming you're talking about the 1959 "Ben-Hur" (the third of five adaptations of the original novel — a sixth is due out this summer), there was a persistent rumor that support- ing star Stephen Boyd's stuntman died during the filming of the chariot race. Some even said that footage of this death was left in the final cut of the movie. However, it's not true. It was done with dummies and editing (this was, of course, prior to the days of computer graphics). However, someone did die during production: the film's pro- ducer, Sam Zimbalist. He died of a heart attack, reportedly shortly after leaving the set one day, just weeks before the film was finished. Adding to the tragedy (or subtracting from it, depending on how you look at it), "Ben-Hur" won the Oscar for Best Picture that year. Zimbalist's widow, Mary, collected the award on his behalf. Have a question? 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