Smiley vs Bond: how different were John le Carré and Ian Fleming's creations, really? One looks like a movie star – the other a frog. But are James Bond and George Smiley more alike than we think? 14 December 2020 • 6:10pm Cut from the same cloth? Gary Oldman as Smiley and Sean Connery as Bond Credit: Film Stills/Bettmann Archive A spy and his master walk into a bar. “The name’s Bond, James Bond, and I’ll have a martini,” says the first. “What about you, George?” His plump, frog-like companion considers the choices, wiping his thick glasses with the end of his tie. “Just tea, please” he says finally. “And James? Do stop telling everyone your name.”