He wasn't a hero. Not really. If you’ve watched the 1983 miniseries Reilly, Ace of Spies starring a young, incredibly sharp Sam Neill, you might think you're looking at a proto-Bond. You are. But the real Sidney Reilly—the man who inspired Ian Fleming—wasn't just a suave guy in a tuxedo. He was a con artist. A polyglot. A cold-blooded opportunist who probably juggled three different wives and four different passports while trying to overthrow the Bolshevik government.
Most people know Reilly Ace of Spies as a piece of classic British television. It’s great TV. But the actual history of Sigmund Georgievich Rosenblum (his birth name) is a tangled web of lies that makes the show look like a simplified bedtime story. Honestly, even today, historians at the Imperial War Museum or MI6 archives struggle to separate the man from the myth he built for himself. He lied to everyone. He even lied to his employers.
The Man Who Sold the World (Twice)
The core of the Reilly legend starts in the shadows of the late 19th century. He wasn't British. He was likely born in what is now Ukraine, then part of the Russian Empire. He didn't just walk into the British Secret Service Bureau (the precursor to MI6); he maneuvered his way there through a series of high-stakes scams and potentially a murder or two in the East End of London.
By the time the 1983 show picks up his trail, Reilly is already a ghost.
The show gets the atmosphere right. The damp streets, the paranoia, the feeling that a revolution is always five minutes away. But what it misses—what it had to miss to make him a protagonist—is just how much of a "mercenary of the soul" he was. He worked for the British because they paid him and gave him status. He worked against the Russians because they were an obstacle to his personal power. In the series, Sam Neill plays him with this flickering intensity, a man who is always calculating the distance to the nearest exit. That part? That’s 100% accurate.
Why Ian Fleming Obsessed Over Him
Ian Fleming didn't just stumble upon the name James Bond. He grew up in the shadow of the legends of the "Great Game." Bruce Lockhart, a British diplomat and spy who was actually arrested alongside Reilly in 1918, was a close friend of Fleming. Lockhart told him the stories. He told him about the man who could infiltrate a German high command meeting by simply wearing the right uniform and looking like he belonged.
Reilly was the blueprint.
But where Bond has a sense of duty to the Crown, Reilly had a duty to Reilly. This is the nuance that makes Reilly Ace of Spies such a compelling watch even forty years later. You aren't watching a man save the world; you’re watching a man try to own it.
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The Lockhart Plot: What Really Happened in 1918?
This is the big one. The centerpiece of the Reilly mythos. The plot to assassinate Vladimir Lenin and overthrow the Bolsheviks.
In the TV series, this is portrayed as a daring, almost cinematic operation. In reality, it was a mess. A beautiful, chaotic, doomed mess. Reilly claimed he had corrupted the Latvian Strelki (the Kremlin guard). He believed he could walk into a meeting, arrest the entire Soviet leadership, and install a pro-Western government.
It failed. Spectacularly.
The Cheka—the Soviet secret police—were already inside the loop. Reilly barely escaped, fleeing through the woods and using various disguises to get back to a British ship. The Soviets sentenced him to death in absentia. He didn't care. He went back to London and tried to convince the British government to fund another coup. He was a salesman as much as a spy.
The Sam Neill Factor
We have to talk about the acting. Sam Neill's performance is why the show is still the gold standard for espionage drama. Before he was outrunning dinosaurs in Jurassic Park, he was showing us how a spy actually functions: through silence.
Most modern spy thrillers are loud. There are explosions and car chases. Reilly Ace of Spies is about conversations in backrooms. It’s about the way a man adjusts his cufflinks before telling a lie that will get fifty people killed. Neill plays Reilly as a man who has no "true" self. When he’s with his mistress, he’s one man. When he’s with Mansfield Smith-Cumming (the original 'C' of MI6), he’s another.
Is it historically perfect? No.
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Is it psychologically perfect? Absolutely.
Separating Fact from BBC Fiction
It’s easy to get lost in the romance of the "Ace of Spies." However, if you look at the research by historians like Andrew Cook, who wrote the definitive biography Ace of Spies: The True Story of Sidney Reilly, a darker picture emerges.
- The Origins: The show hints at mystery, but the reality was likely more mundane. He was a middle-class kid who stole money and ran away to South America before landing in London.
- The Finances: Reilly was obsessed with money. He wasn't just spying; he was brokering arms deals. He was a war profiteer. He made a fortune in Port Arthur during the Russo-Japanese War by selling supplies to both sides. The show glosses over the "business" side of his life to keep him suave.
- The End: The way he died is still a point of obsession for Cold War buffs. In 1925, he was lured back to Russia by a fake anti-Bolshevik organization called "The Trust." It was a sting operation. A classic "honey trap" of ideology.
The Soviets didn't just kill him. They interrogated him for weeks. They wanted to know everything. Then, they took him to a forest and shot him. For decades, rumors persisted that he had turned and was working for the Soviets, or that he had escaped to South America. But the opening of the KGB archives in the 1990s confirmed the grim reality: the Ace of Spies was outplayed by the very system he tried to destroy.
Why You Should Re-watch the Series Now
In an era of CGI and hyper-fast editing, Reilly Ace of Spies feels like a relic, but in the best way possible. It’s slow. It demands your attention. It assumes you know a little bit about the collapse of the Romanov dynasty and the rise of the Soviet Union.
You should watch it for the production design alone. They filmed in locations that actually look like pre-revolutionary Russia. The costumes aren't just "period clothing"; they feel heavy, lived-in, and restrictive.
But mostly, watch it to see the birth of a trope. Every "shadowy agent" you see in movies today, from Jason Bourne to John Wick, owes a debt to the way this show framed the professional spy. Not as a soldier, but as a ghost who haunts the halls of power.
How to Tell if You're Watching the "Real" History
If you're digging into this, keep an eye out for these specific details that the show (and most articles) get slightly skewed:
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- The Medals: Reilly did actually receive the Military Cross. He wasn't just a civilian contractor. He was a commissioned officer in the Royal Air Force.
- The Women: The show portrays his many relationships as romantic entanglements. In reality, they were often tactical. He married for money, for status, and for cover. He was a serial bigamist.
- The "Ace" Moniker: He didn't call himself that. The British press gave him that nickname after he died. He probably would have hated it—too much attention.
The Legacy of the Ace of Spies
What can we actually learn from Sidney Reilly?
Beyond the entertainment value, his life is a case study in the transition from 19th-century "gentleman" spying to 20th-century "industrial" intelligence. He lived through the moment when spying stopped being about letters and started being about destabilizing entire nations.
He was the first modern operative.
If you want to understand the current geopolitical climate—the "active measures," the disinformation, the shadow wars—you have to look at the 1920s. You have to look at what Reilly was doing in Moscow and Baku. He wasn't just a man; he was a symptom of a world that was becoming increasingly cynical.
Actionable Insights for History and Film Buffs
If this story grabs you, don't just stop at the TV show. The rabbit hole goes much deeper.
- Read the source material: Find a copy of Memoirs of a British Agent by R.H. Bruce Lockhart. It’s the firsthand account of the Moscow plot. It’s gripping and surprisingly funny in a dark, British way.
- Compare the eras: Watch the 1983 series alongside the 2011 film Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Notice how the concept of "the spy" evolves from the flamboyant Reilly to the invisible George Smiley.
- Check the archives: The National Archives in the UK have declassified several files related to Reilly. You can actually see the memos where British officials wonder if they can actually trust him. (Spoiler: They couldn't).
- Audit the "Bond" connection: Read Casino Royale with Reilly in mind. Look at the way Bond treats women and money. It’s not just Fleming’s imagination; it’s a reflection of the "Reilly-esque" men he met during the war.
The story of the Reilly Ace of Spies isn't just a history lesson. It’s a reminder that the most dangerous people in the room are usually the ones who seem to have the most interesting stories. Usually, because they're making half of them up as they go.
Go find the series on DVD or a streaming niche site. Watch Sam Neill’s eyes in the final episode. That look of a man who finally realized the game was over? That’s the most honest thing about Sidney Reilly.
The myth ended in a forest outside Moscow, but the legend of the Ace of Spies is still very much alive in every spy thriller we consume today.