Review: Books on Civil War Spies

Reviews: Books on Civil War Spies

By Wesley Britton

Reviews in this file:

* Bakeless, John. Spies of the Confederacy. (Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1970)
* Varon, Elizabeth R. Southern Lady, Yankee Spy: The True Story of Elizabeth Van Lew, a Union Agent in the Heart of the Confederacy. (Oxford University Press, 2003)

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Bakeless, John. Spies of the Confederacy. (Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1970)

Written by a former intelligence officer known for his books and research on both Revolutionary War and Civil War spies, this extensive overview has a mixed reputation.

Beginning with the origins of Confederate espionage, Bakeless traces the well-known ease the South had in the early years of the war. In his first pages, he demonstrates how rebel sympathizers were largely already in place before the outbreak of hostilities while the North was still waiting to learn who the enemy was. Bakeless recounts how the Union didn’t help itself due to ineptitude, carelessness, and almost comic efforts at counter-espionage. Because of excellent intelligence, the South scored two quick victories in 1861 at Harpers Ferry and the first battle at Bull Run. And the good intelligence kept coming, especially for Generals Stuart and Jackson.

After setting the stage, Bakeless mixes the documented record with colorful anecdotes about Confederate spies. For example, rebel generals faced one dilemma similar to the CIA’s worries about KGB defectors—were deserters crossing the lines plants or real? Surprisingly, Bakeless only provides quick sketches of the beautiful Washington hostesses able to use feminine charms to pry secrets from high-ups and low-level clerks alike while hiding secret correspondence in their hair and shoes. And hiding spies under their petticoats, as in the slightly built, 91 pound super-spy, Frank Stringfellow. He not only fit under hoop skirts, he was able to disguise himself as a woman as well.

Bakeless is far more detailed recounting the exploits of Stringfellow and Captain Thomas Conrad, drawing mainly from their own accounts of their adventures. He gives considerable space to the spunky Belle Boyd and Tennessee and Arkansas spies Sam Davis and David O. Dodd, although he spends more time exploring the circumstances of their hangings than their spy work. Along the way, he points out secret messages were hidden in coat linings—writing on silk doesn’t crinkle when clothing was being searched. Even in the early days of photography, photographs of secret documents were shrunk and hidden in coat buttons. Just as modern, wiretapping was common, as in the exploits of George Ellsworth, a Southern telegraph operator proficient at giving the Yankees false information. Bakeless also briefly describes the Confederate “Secret Service” which had nothing to do with protecting officials or gathering intelligence but rather in procuring and developing new weapons. One of these, designed by John Maxwell, was the “Horalogical Torpedo,” a time bomb.

Since its original publication, scholars have complained about some points in the book while others have used it as a frequently cited source. As Bakeless quotes passages from books written by ex-spies, it’s true he’s repeating claims clearly exaggerated. Others note his inclusion of certain operatives is suspect as combat intelligence personnel aren’t technically spies and he ignores Confederate agents abroad. According to the “SPIES, SCOUTS AND RAIDERS HOME PAGE, Bakeless was incorrect in one description. “James Harrison was not the spy who warned Longstreet and Lee of federal troop movements. It was actually Henry Thomas Harrison. He also was not an actor like James Harrison but a spy for the CSA Secretary of War.” (To be fair, the accompanying article had its own errors, such as repeating the claim that Union spy Elizabeth Van Lew was known as “Crazy Bet” during the war years. See Varon below.) (note 1)

While these criticisms have merit, Bakeless did point out there are distinctions between scouts and spies while discussing both. His wide canvas—already broad enough—would have been unwieldy including European agents where Bakeless had not done primary research. One puzzling definition of a spy is when Bakeless repeatedly claims they must be in disguise and not in uniform, but this doesn’t fit the numerous “Girl Spies” and rural citizens who provided information and acted as couriers but were not part of military units. In many discussions, Bakeless makes it clear he is making speculations and drawing from what resources he could find, piecing together events that were reported in contradictory accounts.

Like many non-fiction books before and since, Bakeless both corrects previously erroneous errors and creates new ones of his own. Certainly, much scholarship since 1970 must be taken into account by any devotee of the period. General readers, however, still have a very readable overview of the subject and need realize no single volume ever contains the full story. It’s a book that remains useful as a starting point.


Notes

See

scard.buffnet.net/pages/spy/spy.html - 30k –

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Varon, Elizabeth R. Southern Lady, Yankee Spy: The True Story of Elizabeth Van Lew, a Union Agent in the Heart of the Confederacy. (Oxford University Press, 2003).

The title of this highly regarded, well researched “biography” of Elizabeth Van Lew, a “Unionist” sympathizer and spymaster in Richmond, is a bit misleading. While the exploits of Van Lew gives this very readable book its focal point, Varon offers much more than the life of one extraordinary woman.

Varon begins her narrative by painting a richly detailed portrait of Southern women before and during the war. The author explains why gender was both an aid and hindrance for those Virginian women seeing themselves as patriots in a culture expecting well-bred women to be naturally supportive of the rebel cause. Varon’s vista includes sketches of other agents, soldiers, and politicians for both sides with old family connections to establish how newspapers, the courts, and the government attempted to categorize women by their political correctness.

Thus, Southern belles like Van Lew, Abby Green, and Lucy A. Wright could, on one hand, demonstrate the Christian duty expected of 19th century women by visiting Union prisoners in hospitals while smuggling instructions to them to help in escapes. For example, while not involved with the 1864 Dalmon Raid, when a small Union band tried to invade Richmond, Varon uses Van Lew’s comments on the incident to illustrate how Van Lew’s sensibilities were shaped by her certainty that “slave power” was the reason for the war. These sensibilities led to her taking action beginning with her most famous escapade. Van Lew provided financial support to those who sheltered the escapees in the breakout at the Libby Prison, when 109 men tunneled their way to freedom. From that point on, she played a very dangerous game indeed.

While not really a spy per se in the early years of the war, Van Lew wore disguises as she assisted the new loyalist underground—the ironical situation of black slaves helping white soldiers go north to freedom. Then, in 1864, the emphasis of the underground, with Van Lew’s home its nerve center, shifted as Union troops came closer and closer to Richmond. Van Lew became spymaster for a wide network of Unionists, accepting orders from Generals Grant and Benjamin Butler and coordinated the activities of couriers and informants. This inter-racial network was able to provide Union forces an average of three useable intelligence reports a week, greatly aiding in the fall of Richmond. She was able to do all this, escaping arrest by the Confederates, by ironically creating the pose of a well-heeled woman who “talked too much,” and therefore an unlikely person to act on her beliefs. She avoided danger by over-estimating the skills of the watchers around her home while they under-estimated her.

Grant was grateful to Van Lew, the general eager for both reports of enemy defenses and the state of morale of Richmond citizens as the war entered its final phases. In 1869, President Grant rewarded her by appointing Van Lew postmaster of Richmond, an act that angered Southerners opposed to women’s suffrage, her hiring of black postal carriers, and her well-known reputation as a Federal spy. At the same time, much of her network found work as Federal detectives. Varon chronicles Van Lew’s legacy as a pioneer in the politics of the period, ended when Democrats reclaimed the White House. After that, Van Lew became a recluse, shunned by her neighbors as her once palatial home became a scene of squalor and disrepair. She was supported in her last years by donations from influential Bostonians, not by the much vaunted Southern Christian culture of which she had been one of its truest exponents.

With an even hand, Varon deals with the myths that have surrounded Van Lew’s legacy since her death in 1900. For example, Varon offers plausible explanations that a very special slave of Van Lew’s might have spied on Jefferson Davis in the Southern White House, but admits considerable doubt this occurred. She completely discredits the legend of "Crazy Bet," a spinster pictured as a mad old woman who wore odd clothes and had no friends. Quoting from Van Lew writings, she demonstrates the spymaster did not see herself as a spy at all—how could a patriot spy against their own government? In Van Lew’s view, she was a resister of “moral oppression,” racism pure and simple.

Varon clearly establishes the dual legacy of Van Lew—her own achievements as a spymaster and that she was not a lone activist but rather a member of a large number of Southerners who supported the Union. Then, Van Lew’s service in the male-dominated postal service shows how Van Lew opened doors for women in government service and the hiring of ex-slaves into respectable positions. She paid a heavy personal cost for all these accomplishments, both financially and suffering an unfair reputation that followed her until, well, the publication of this very important study.

Note: The Van Lew story was dramatized in a 1987 CBS TV movie, A Special Friendship, purporting to tell the story of Van Lew (Tracy Pollan) and Mary Bowser, (Akosua Busia), a former slave who was a principal member of the spy ring. Much of the script was obvious nonsense, including an interrogation by a Confederate officer said to have once been Van Lew’s fiancée. Another example of romance triumphing any attempt to be at least quasi-accurate in Hollywood.


WEBSITES OF NOTE

Civil War - Confederacy - Intelligence Specific
intellit.muskingum.edu/civwar_folder/civwarconfintel.html -

Female Spies of the Confederacy - Confederate Women Spies
Belle Boyd, Antonia Forc, Rose O'Neal Greenhow, Nancy Hart, Laura Ratcliffe, Loreta Janeta Velazquez and more.
womenshistory.about.com/od/civilwar/a/women_spies_con.htm - 24k - Jul 13, 2007 –

The Mossad: A Directory of Online Sources and Print Articles

THE MOSSAD: AN ANNOTATED DIRECTORY OF ONLINE SOURCES AND PRINT ARTICLES

By Wesley Britton

Because the number of short news items, articles, booklets, and opinion pieces on the Mossad and Israeli intelligence are legion, the listings below are intended only as good starting points for researchers and general readers. Other links can be found in the companion directories at this website, including the annotated bibliography of non-fiction books and the filmography. All these resources are works in progress, and I welcome any additions you may wish to send.

As of September 2007, this directory includes the following annotated lists:

A. Online sources, general information
B. Online sources, operations and agents
C. Online sources, Eli Cohen
D. Print articles, Eli Cohen
E. Online Sources, Victor Ostrovsky
F. Selective Articles In Print Periodicals
G. Obits about Ashraf Marwan

Addendum will include new information when it becomes available.

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A. Online Sources, General information

As the Mossad is a subject of numerous conspiracy theories and rumors, there are countless postings ascribing all sorts of activities to the Mossad. Below are sites purporting to be objective and/or at least informative. Any Google search will result in hits on many other sites. In addition, there are sites where you can order MOSSAD Israeli Secret Intelligence Logo T-Shirts for $7.99, if you're so inclined.

Note: Other useful sites that include items on Israeli intelligence along with other areas of interest are listed in "SPY BLOGS AND ONLINE FILES: AN ANNOTATED DIRECTORY" also posted at this site.

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The official site by the Israeli government:
www.mossad.gov.il

"Israel - Overviews - A-Z" contains many brief reviews and summaries of books and articles on Israeli intelligence. Invaluable.
http://intellit.muskingum.edu/israel_folder/... - 14k -

A short overview of the Mossad including links to recruitment ads:
http://www.fas.org/irp/world/israel/mossad/ - 8k -

Note: One link is of special interest--"James Bond, No Big Deal": Technological Aspects of Mossad Operations by Dan Yakhin, Globes (Tel Aviv), April 19, 2001. This is an interview with ex-Mossad agent "Or and" Gil who describes recruitment changes over the past 20 years and adaptations in technology. Extremely informative.

A sample chapter from the book, Historical Dictionary of Israeli Inteligence, is posted at

http://chapters.scarecrowpress.com/08/108/081085581Xch1.pdf

There are many news articles on the Mossad collected at "Real History and Mossad, the Israeli Secret Service."
http://www.fpp.co.uk/BoD/Mossad/index.html - 23k -

A somewhat helpful Wikipedia summary of the history, structure, missions, and links to a number of articles:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mossad - 67k -

Note: As usual with most Wikipedia articles, not completely credible. For example, date of the Mossad's creation is not correct and it wasn't the KGB who captured Eli Cohen but rather the Syrians using equipment provided by the Russian GRU.

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B. Online sources, operations and agents

"Arab-Israeli War, 1967 - July 2002" is an extensive bibliography on the topic.
http://www.jfsc.ndu.edu/library/publications/... - 63k -

Baxter, Sarah. "Iranian nuclear scientist 'assassinated by Mossad.'" The Sunday TimesFebruary 04, 2007.
www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=32855 - 7k - Feb 4, 2007 -

Britton, Wesley. "Before Munich: Black September on TV and Film." Summaries and analysis of TV documentaries, docu-dramas, and feature movies based on the 1972 massacre at the Munich Olympics and the aftermath."
Posted at this website.

"Champagne Spy, The." TIME.com. Nov. 23, 1970 -- Page 1. Summary of the career of and interview with Wolfgang Lotz.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/... -

"CIA and Mossad are Behind the Hrant Dink Murder." January 24, 2007.
www.whatreallyhappened.com/archives/cat_assassination.html - 356k -

"Covert Option: Can sabotage and assassination stop Iran from going nuclear?"
www.theatlantic.com/doc/200512/nuclear-iran -

“Early Operations of Israeli Intelligence.” Department for Jewish Zionist Education. 1992. Retrieved, Aug. 2, 2007. Overview of pre-Mossad history.
www.jewishagency.org/.../Jewish+History/Service/Early+Operations+of+Israeli+Intellig

Geller, Doron. "Inside the Israeli Secret Service:A History of its Growth and Missions." Transcripts of lectures on:

1. Early Operations of Israeli Intelligence
2. The Lavon Affair
3. Stealing a Soviet MiG
4. Wolfgang Lotz
5. Israel Beer
6. The Capture of Adolf Eichmann
7. Israeli Intelligence in the 1967 War
8. The Israeli Commando Assault on Green Island
9. The Cherbourg Boats
10. Operation Spring of Youth
11. Israeli Intelligence and the Yom Kippur War of 1973
12. Eli Cohen

http://jafi.org/JewishAgency/English/Jewish+Education/Jewish+History/Service/Inside+the+Israeli+Secret+Service.htm

“Haganah, The.”The Pedagogic Center, The Department for Jewish Zionist Education, The Jewish Agency for Israel. 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000. Retrieved, Aug. 11, 2007. History of intelligence operations before 1948.
www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/haganah.html -

Hitron, Haggai. "The monster is in handcuffs. Adolf Eichmann's captors recount how they snatched Hitler's henchman." Last Update: 16/01/2007 01:42
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArtVty.jhtml?sw=

Hockstader, Lee. "In Word Only, Israeli Spy Resurfaces: Published Testimony Recalls Furor Over 1986 Nuclear Case." Washington Post, 25 Nov. 1999, A30.
http://www. washingtonpost.com

"IRAN: NUCLEAR SCIENTIST DIES UNDER MYSTERIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES." January 31, 2007. WhatReallyHappened.com: ASSASSINATIONArchives
www.whatreallyhappened.com/archives/cat_assassination.html - 356k -

“Jewish Armed Forces in the British Mandate.” PALESTINE FACTS. Retrieved, Aug. 2, 2007. Includes discussion of pre-independence cover operations.
www.palestinefacts.org/pf_mandate_jewish_forces.php - 36k -

Klein, Aaron. “Former Mossad chief: Assassinate Ahmadinejad." World Net Daily. February 14, 2007. Retrieved August 14, 2007. Meir Amit’s comments on taking out terrorist leader.
www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54244 - 38k –

Lapidot, Yehuda. “THE 'HUNTING SEASON.’” ETZEL. Translated from Hebrew by Chaya Galai. Retrieved, July 27, 2007. Discussion of pre-independence covert operations in Egypt.
www.etzel.org.il/english/

“Lavon Affair - Israel and Terror in Egypt, The.” Middle East: MidEastWeb. August 22, 1999. Retrieved, Aug. 3, 2007.
www.mideastweb.org/lavon.htm - -

Leonhardt, Major Kent A., USMC. "Why Israel Was Surprised In October, 1973." (1990). An excellent overview and analysis of the intelligence failures.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/library/... - 42k -

Lilienthal, Alfred M. "Zionist Connection II --Chapter 10 -- Terror: The Double Standard. Online Selections From: The Zionist Connection II: What Price Peace? (1983). Extremely well-researched if detailed and biased complaint that the Western media has a double-standard when treating news stories regarding Middle Eastern violence. Discusses coverage of spy stories from Eli Cohen's hanging to Black September and later. (Broken link as of 9/07)
http://www.alfredlilienthal.com/zionchap10.htm - 149k -

"MASTER LIST OF DEAD SCIENTISTS." (1/27/07) Claims "more than 310 Iraqi scientists are thought to have perished at the hands of Israeli secret agents in Iraq since fall of Baghdad."
http://dr-david-kelly.blogspot.com

McLeod, Eric. " The Plumbat affair; The story of how Israel got its nukes." Shunpiking Online Vo.3 No.9. Good short review of the incident.
http://www.shunpiking.com/ol0309/

"Mossad assassinating Iranian nucular scientists?" Feb 2, 07
http://www.julescrittenden.com/2007...two-way-street/

Navon, Amit. "'Dipped His Head in Blood.'" Ma'ariv (Sofshayu'a Supplement) in Hebrew], 11 Apr. 2003.
http://www.fas.org/irp/world/israel/shin_bet/specops.html

“Of Hate & Espionage.” Time. Friday, March 5, 1965. Retrieved online, July 23, 2007. News item regarding executed and captured Israeli spies in Syria including Eli Cohen.
www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,839300,00.html - -

"Preemptive Attack on Iran's Nuclear Facilities: Possible ..."
cns.miis.edu/pubs/week/040812.htm - 60k -

RABINOVICH , ABRAHAM. “Revealing 'the Source.'” The Jerusalem Post Internet Edition, Jul. 5, 2007
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1183459203408&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Robarge, David S. "Getting It Right: CIA Analysis of the 1967 Arab-Israeli War " Studies in Intelligence 49, no. 1 (2005), 1-7. [
https://www.cia.gov/csi/studies/vol49no1/html_files/index.html]

Shpiro, Shlomo. "Know Your Enemy: West German-Israeli Intelligence Evaluation of Soviet Weapon Systems." Journal of Intelligence History 4, no. 1 (Summer 2004).
http://www.intelligence-history.org/jih/journal.html

Syed, Bashir A. "How Israel Killed For The Atom Bomb -With Timeline." 11-22-6
www.rense.com/general74/howiz.htm - 51k -

Thomas, Gordon. “Mossad - The World's Most Efficient Killing Machine.” Rense.com. Dec. 9, 2002. Retrieved, Aug. 12, 2007. Includes comments by Meir Amit about Mossad.
www.rense.com/general32/ruth.htm - 38k -

Tuck, Benjamin F. "The Whistleblower of Dimona: Israel, Vanunu, and the Bomb (review)". The Journal of Military History - Volume 69, Number 2, April 2005, pp. 607-608.
http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/... -

"World War III has already begun, says Israeli spy chief." Israel News and views. (1/27/07) Interview with former Mossad chief Efraim Halevy.
http://menorahblog.typepad.com

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C. Online Sources, Eli Cohen


Discussions on Eli Cohen include his mission in the 1960s as well as ongoing attempts to get Syria to return his remains.

Britton, Wesley. "The Story of Israel's Most Famous Secret Agent: Behind the Scenes of The Impossible Spy." Based on interviews with film producer Harvey Chertok, this is how the Eli Cohen story was turned into the 1987 HBO/BBC production. (Radio interviews with Chertok and Wesley Britton on the film are also linked here.)
Posted at this website.

" Cohen, Eli (1924-1965)." Short and questionable biography. It claims Cohen was captured by accident.
www.jajz-ed.org.il/100/people/bios/ecohen.html

Cohen, Maurice (as told to Carla Stockton). "Am I My Brother's Keeper?"
Poignant article in which former Mossad cryptographer Maurice Cohen describes how he discovered his brother, Eli Cohen, was Mossad's "Our Man in Damascus" and his feelings about being unable to stop Eli's eventual capture and execution.
Posted at this website.

“Counterintelligence News for the week of: February 1-7, 2004.” The Centre for
Counterintelligence and Security Studies (CI Centre), Alexandria, VA. Retrieved Aug. 2, 2007. News stories about campaign to get Syria to return Cohen’s body.
WWW.intelligencespeakers.com/CI_NEWS/2004_CI_News_Archive/NEWS_2004_Feb_1_to_7

"Eli Cohen: Israel's Most Famous Spy." Very brief bio from JewishGates.Com - The Definitive Source for Talmudic Learning.
www.jewishgates.com/file.asp?File_ID=292

Fine, Arnold. " Eli Cohen: Israel’s Master Spy." Detailed two part biography published by The Jewish Press Magazine June 22, 2001.
www.ourjerusalem.com/history/story/history20010701.html

Florsheinm, Ella and Avi Shilon. "The Handler." Based on an interview with Meir Amit, who had been head of the Mossad during the Eli Cohen affair. Provides insights not known previously about Cohen's capture and personality.
http://www.azure.org.il/magazine/magazine.asp?id=284

"Friends of Eli Cohen" website, established by Maurice and Belle Cohen, contains basic facts, links, and a petition seeking the return of Eli's body.
http://www.elicohen.org

Geller, Doran. " Lecture 12--Eli Cohen." Transcript of a lecture for Geller's "Inside the Israeli Secret Service" course. Posted at Israeli Intelligence Week 12. Excellent biography of Cohen including contexts of problems with Syria.
http://www.jajz-ed.org.il/juice/service/week12.html

Hockstader, Lee. “Could a Dead Israeli Spy Influence the Talks?” Washington Post Foreign Service Tuesday, January 4, 2000; Page A11. Retrieved online, July 29, 2007.
http://washingtonpost.com./wp-srv/WPlate/2000-01/04/042l-010400-idx.html

The Impossible Spy webside. Producer Harvey Chertok's site promoting the 1987 HBO/BBC film biography of Eli Cohen now available on a DVD "Special Edition."
www.tvshowbiz.com/pages/spy.html

Lieber, Joel. “In Arab Hands.” The Nation, Oct. 19, 1964. Retrieved online, July 29, 2007.
http://www.thenation.com/archive/detail/13231324

Nahmias, Roee. “Spy: Eli Cohen died because of failure.” Ynetnews. May 11, 2006, 17:51. Retrieved, Aug. 29, 2007.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3249853,00.html

Nahmias, Roee. “Syrian official: Israeli spy's grave located under neighborhood.” Ynetnews. May 14, 2007, 14:03. Retrieved, Aug. 29, 2007.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3399709,00.html

"PM's Speech at the Ceremony Marking 40 Years Since the Death of Eli Cohen." 27/06/2005
Includes photo of PM Sharon and Eli Cohen's widow, Nadia.
http://www.pmo.gov.il/PMOEng/Archive/Speeches/2005/... - 51k -

Sanua, Victor. "THE HISTORY OF ELIE COHEN : AN EGYPTIAN BORN JEW WHO BECAME ISRAEL'S GREATEST SPY." Short (and poorly edited) biography. One interesting citation: "Maurice Mizrahi, the author of «l'Egypte et ses Juifs». «Le temps révolu (19-20e siècles)», reports on the fact that Elie
Cohen worked in his business. Mizrahi noticed that Elie took a long time to carry out his duties outside the business."
www.sefarad.org/publication/lm/043/10.html

Simon, Roger L. “Is There a New Eli Cohen?” September 26, 2004. Retrieved, Aug. 4, 2007. Looking a new espionage in Syria, speculates a new Cohen-like agent is active in Syria.
www.rogerlsimon.com/mt-archives/2004/09/the_is_there_a.php - 28k -

Sofer, Ronny. “MK gives Assad letter from spy's wife.” Ynetnews. Nov. 9, 2005, 16:53. Retrieved, Aug. 29, 2007. Article about Nadia Cohen’s attempt to communicate with Syrian president.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3166634,00.html

Sofer, Ronny. “Olmert hopes for Turkey breakthrough on Eli Cohen.” Ynetnews. Feb. 14, 2007, 16:19. Retrieved, Aug. 29, 2007. Discussions on more attempts to communicate with Syrian leadership.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3365187,00.html

“Two Can Play: Issues in the News.” wrmea.com. Dec. 1988. Retrieved, Sept. 2, 2007.
http://www.wrmea.com/backissues/1288/8812039.htm

Weinstein, Jamie. “Bomb the eucalyptus trees!” Cornell Daily Sun. January 26, 2005. Retrieved, Aug. 29, 2007.
www.renewamerica.us/columns/jweinstein/050126 - 39k -

“WUJS to Assad: Repatriate Eli Cohen.” Ynetnews Dec. 22, 2006, 01:20. Retrieved, Aug. 29, 2007.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3343187,00.html

Yarid, Hani. “Eli Cohen: Spy Within Parts I & II.” Culture of Arabia Online. Retrieved July 27, 2007.
www.qchillel.org/news/011999. -

THE ZUNDELSITE. "Israeli Aggression, Militarism, and Terror." Compiling a list of published quotes demonstrating Israeli crimes, quotes a short passage from Eli Ben-Hanan's Our Man in Damascus which doesn't mention Cohen but rather underground operations in Egypt.
www.zundelsite.org/english/israeli_terror/

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D. Print Articles, Eli Cohen

Compiled by Belle Cohen.

Antler, Ronit. "Allow me to visit My Brother’s Grave." Yediot Achronot, April 8,
1987.

Aizban, Shmuel. "Eli Cohen Velcher Iz Geshtorben Oif der Tlieh in Damasek."
Der Tog Morgen Journal, June 14 , 1970.

Barr - Zohar, Michael. Damasek Koret le Tel-Aviv. (Damascus Callingg Tel-Aviv),
Ha’aretz (Weekly supplement), Nos: 51, 52, and 53, September 8, 15, and 22,
1967 ( reprinted in Midstream, Vol. 14, 9 November 1968.

"Eli Cohen 1924-1965- Eli You Will Never Be Forgotten."(Booklet). pub the Amuta, Chairman Efraim Chiram. (1996).

"Eli Cohen- A Lonely Hero in Damascus." (booklet) The Israeli Ministry of Education,
Culture and Sport, The Department of Educational Programs. (1998).

"Eli Cohen Hung in Damascus." Haolam Hazeh, May 19 1965

"Eli Cohen Lives." The Jerusalem Post, November 12, 1971.

"Eli Cohen Was Intimate of Syrian Leaders." The Jerusalem Post, May 19, 1965

"Fear On An Extreme Outcome From The Arab Summit." Davar, May 22, 1995.

"I Am No Better Than Anyone Else." Ma’ariv, May 19 1965

"Israeli Martyrs On Stamps." The Jerusalem Post, December 23 ??

"My Brother Eli Cohen." Bamachaneh, May 25, 1965

ROULEAU, Eric. "The Double Life of Eli Cohen." Atlas, 10 (July 1965), pp. 10-12.
(reprint of Rouleau, Eric. "La Vie Double d’Eli Cohen." Le Monde, May 23, 1965 and The Jewish Digest, December, 1965.)

Saab, Edward H. "Kamel Tabet’s s’appelait Elie Cohen." June Afrique, No 223,
March 14, 1965.

"She Mourns The Man She Barely Knew, interview with Nadia Cohen." The
Jerusalem Post, May 19, 1995.

"Syria Hangs Eli Cohen In Public Square As A Spy." The Jerusalem Post, May 19, 1965.

"The Israeli Spy, Eli Cohen Was Hung In The Morning In Damascus." Yediot
Achronot, May 18, 1965.

"The Israeli Spy Eli Cohen Was Hung In The Morning In Damascus." Ma’ariv 18,
1965.

PLAYS

Eli Cohen, a play written and directed by Gad Tsadaka 1998 Untitled by
Paul Darman

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E. Online Sources, Victor Ostrovsky

While his role in espionage history should not be overstated, Ostrovsky is the subject of a number of articles on the web. Readers can weigh the credibility on their own.

1. A promotional site for Ostrovsky's Fine Art work. From the site: "Today, Victor's insight and knowledge of the intelligence community facilitates his writing of fictional novels and screenplays, and serves as a basis for his enigmatic
and cryptic paintings. His canvases offer tantalizing images, evoking a mystical and otherworldly reaction from viewers. Hats, gloves, scarves and umbrellas
hide the identities of his inscrutable figures, provoking and teasing our imaginations with visual portrayals of adventure and intrigue. The activities
of his figures and the titles of the work reflect the enterprise and language of the international intelligence community, bringing several layers of meaning
to his paintings while creating stories for the viewer."
www.victorostrovsky.com

2. Making the reputation of Ostrovsky murkier, the "Free Encyclopedia" provides the briefest of biographies followed by a series of claims with frequent (citation needed) notations after them. One cited source: "Some critics, such as historian
Benny Morris and author David Wise have charged that the book [By Way of Deception] is essentially a novel written by a professional novelist, and that a junior employee would never have learned so many operational secrets." The rest of this compilation of uncredited notes isn't especially useful.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Ostrovsky - 26k -

3. Peter Myers, October 18, 2001; update December 3, 2006, provides many direct quotes from Ostrovsky books with inserted comments.
http://users.cyberone.com.au/myers/ostrovsky.html - 77k -

4. Alongside many Mossad related articles, this site post this piece including a transcript of a CTV interview on Oct. 21, 1995 where an Israeli journalist called for someone to kill Victor Ostrovsky. Ostrovsky responded with shock that the media didn't follow-up on this call and accused the media of a double-standard for not coming to his defense.
http://www.the7thfire.com/new_world_order/zionism/... - 77k -

5. "Victor Ostrovsky: How Mossad got America to bomb Libya and fight Iraq" is a reprint of the section from The Other Side of Deception where Ostrovsky describes the "Trojan Dick Trick" summarized in the book review of this title in a separate file at this website.
http://freemasonrywatch.org/libya.html - 34k -

6. Both these sites contain the same extracts from an article in the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs (October/November 1997) in which Ostrovsky wrote: "I am the target of a broad collusion between elements of the Israeli government and their gofers, mostly in the American Jewish community."
http://www.radioislam.org/islam/english/terror/... - 27k -
http://www.fpp.co.uk/BoD/Mossad/Ostrovsky.html - 17k -

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F. SELECTIVE ARTICLES IN PRINT PERIODICALS

Note: Here, I make no attempt to list every item I've run across, but rather include those from the most useful of journals for serious researchers. Most abstracts and annotations have been omitted when they are readily available elsewhere. Many of the journals require subscriptions to access online versions.

Even more listings can be found at "Mossad-Bibliography" at:
http://users.skynet.be/terrorism/html/... - 36k -

Bar-Joseph, Uri. "State-Intelligence Relations in Israel: 1948-1996." Journal of Conflict Studies 17, no. 2 (Fall 1997): 133-156.

Beres, Louis René. "The Iranian Threat to Israel: Capabilities and Intentions." International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence 9, no. 1
(Spring 1996): 51-61.

Doron, Gideon. "Israeli Intelligence: Tactics, Strategy, and Prediction." International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence 2, no. 3 (Fall 1988): 305-319.

Doron, Gideon. "The Vagaries of Intelligence Sharing: The Political Imbalance." International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence 6, no. 2 (Summer 1993):
135-146.

Doron, Gideon And Gad Barzilai. "The Middle East Power Balance: Israel's Attempts to Understand Changes in Soviet-Arab Relations." International Journal of Intelligence
and Counterintelligence 5, no. 1 (Spring 1991): 35-47.

Doron, Gideon And Reuven Pedatzur. "Israeli Intelligence: Utility and Cost-Effectiveness in Policy Formation." International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence 3, no. 3 (1989): 347-361.

Doron, Gideon And Boaz Shapira. "Accountability for Secret Operations in Israel." International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence 4, no. 3 (Fall 1990):
371-382.

Gazit, Shlomo. "Estimates and Fortune-Telling in Intelligence Work." International Security 4, no. 4 (Spring 1980): 36-56.

Gazit, Shlomo. "Intelligence Estimates and the Decision-Maker." Intelligence and National Security 3, no. 3 (Jul. 1988): 261-287.

Gazit, Shlomo. "Intelligence and the Peace Process in Israel." Intelligence and National Security 12, no. 3 (Jul. 1997): 35-66.

Indinopulos, Thomas. "Shin Bet's Blind Side." International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence 10, no. 1 (Spring 1997): 91-96.

Jones, Clive. "'A Reach Greater than the Grasp': Israeli Intelligence and the Conflict in South Lebanon, 1990-2000." Intelligence and National Security
16, no. 3 (Autumn 2001): 1-26.

Kahana, Ephraim. "Reorganizing Israel's Intelligence Community." International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence 15, no. 3 (Fall 2002): 415-428.

Caplan, Neil. "Ben-Gurion's Spy: The Story of the Political Scandal that Shaped Modern Israel. by Shabtai Teveth." Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 26, No. 2 (Winter, 1997), pp. 106-107

Katz, Yaron. "Global Media Influence on the Operational Codes of Israel's Intelligence Services." International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence
19, no. 2 (Summer 2006): 316-334.

McAllister, David H. [LT/USN] "Assessing Israeli Intelligence in Action." Naval Intelligence Professionals Quarterly 13, no. 4 (Oct. 1997): 1-5.

Melman, Yossi, and Dan Raviv. "The Journalist's Connections: How Israel Got Russia's Biggest Pre-Glasnost Secret." International Journal of Intelligence
and Counterintelligence 4, no. 2 (Summer 1990): 219-225.

“Murder of Mehdi Ben Barka, The.” Time, Monday, Dec. 29, 1975. From the article: “Also involved in the case was Israel's CIA equivalent, known as Mossad. Although Morocco later supported Arab confrontation states in the Middle East wars,
it had excellent relations with Israel after it became independent in 1956. For example, Morocco arranged, through the French, to have Mossad train its
own fledgling secret service. Mossad's chief Moroccan contact was [Mohammed] Oufkir. At one point after the Moroccans had decided to get rid of Ben Barka, Oufkir
asked Mossad to obtain some poison for him. The agency declined, but later agreed to help tail Ben Barka, who was then living in Geneva.”

Shpiro, Shlomo. "The Media Strategies of Intelligence Services." International

--

For related articles, see

WWW.WesleyBritton.com
Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence 14, no. 4 (Winter 2001-2002):
485-502.



G. Obits about Ashraf Marwan

Blum, Howard. “Who Killed Ashraf Marwan?” New York Times, July 13, 2007

Egyptian billionaire ‘who spied for Mossad’ found dead - Times Online
www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article1996680.ece

Egyptian chronicles: Ashraf Marwan ,the groom dies in London
egyptianchronicles.blogspot.com/2007/06/ashraf-marwan-groom-dies-in-london.html –

Obituaries: Ashraf Marwan, 62, the controversial son-in-law of Egypt's late President ......
www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/ - 80k - Jul 11, 2007 -

Who killed Egyptian billionaire Ashraf Marwan?- Topix
www.topix.net/news/blogs/2007/06/who-killed-egyptian-billionaire-ashraf-marwan - 45k

The Mossad and Israeli Intelligence On Screen: A Filmography

THE MOSSAD AND ISRAELI INTELLIGENCE ON SCREEN: A FILMOGRAPHY

By Wesley Britton

"It had been six months since he had been pulled from retirement and given a simple mission. Rebuild morale in an intelligence service badly damaged by a series of highly-publicized operational blunders and personnel scandals. Restore the esprit d'corps that had characterized the office in the old days. Shamron had managed to stem the bleeding. There had been no more humiliations . . . But there had been no stunning successes either. Shamron knew better than anyone that the office had not earned its fearsome reputation by playing it safe. In the old days, it had stolen MIGs, planted spies in the palaces of its friends and its enemies, rained terror on those who dared to terrorize the people of Israel . . . he wanted to leave behind an office that could reach out and strike at will, an office that could make the other services of the world shake their heads in wonder."
(Daniel Silva, Kill Artist, 2000)

Unlike the more formal bibliographies of books and articles on Israeli intelligence posted at this website, this directory includes films and TV projects that touch on or incorporate Jewish characters in espionage plots whether directly connected to the Mossad or not. It is in three parts:

Part I lists feature films employing Israeli or Jewish characters involved in espionage.

Part II lists documentaries.

Part III discusses and analyzes television movies and episodes from series related to Israeli intelligence.

For analysis of these films, especially the changing trends of Israeli agents from Nazi hunters to counter-terrorist operatives, see my Onscreen and Undercover: The Ultimate Book of Movie Espionage (Westport, CT: Praeger Pub., 2006).

---

Part I: Feature Films

Ambassador, The. (1984). Robert Mitchum as an idealistic, if inattentive husband, working for peace between Israel and Arab interests. Rock Hudson was the security officer bailing Mitchum out of violence his plans result in. As his wife (Ellen Burstyn) is having an affair with a PLO leader, the Israelis have means to blackmail the ambassador and erode his credibility with various factions.

Assignment, The. (1997). Donald Sutherland was Jack Shaw/Henry Fields, A CIA agent tracking Carlos "The Jackal" (Aidan Quinn). Originally titled The Carlos Project, the movie featured Ben Kingsley as an Israeli Mossad agent, connecting worries of the Middle East with Western concerns. For some critics, this was a mere retread; for others, the film was a success as its third act didn't disintegrate into a special-effects explosion fest .

Black Sunday (1977). While no overt connections to Israel are in this violent film, clear references to the "Black September" group featured in films like Sword of Gideon and Munich are central to the script. Robert Shaw and Bruce Dern were graphic in this story about Palestinian terrorists plotting to blow up Americans at the Super Bowl. A radio promo for the film summed up the situation: "A `Black September' broadcast in Beirut. A secret intelligence meeting in Washington. A Coast Guard alert in California. An FBI stakeout in Miami. It all comes together on--Black Sunday . . . It could be tomorrow." While the box-office was disappointing, noted director John Frankenheimer was lauded for his atmospheric location shots.

Boys From Brazil, The. (1987). Back in 1968, Borman was an odd Italian movie with CIA agent Bob Gordon (Robert Kent) going to South America to find out if ex-Nazi Martin Borman is being cloned. In 1978, The Boys From Brazil, based on the Ira Levin novel, took the concept more seriously with an all-star cast distinguishing this production including Gregory Peck, Lawrence Olivier, James Mason and Lili Palmer. Playing against his usual type, Peck was ex-Nazi Joseph Mengala plotting a comeback with 90 Hitler clones. Oliver tracks him down, but isn't an agent of any government but rather an independent Nazi hunter.

Death Merchants, The. (1975). Based on Jack Stackburg’s novel, Double Agent, many issues explored in this movie were ahead of their time. An Arab terrorist organization seeks a non-existent agent code-named Herzog" in Germany. But they go after the wrong man (Jason Robards) who's a Jew who has a love affair with one of the terrorists. The film has its moments, as when Robards and his Palestinian girlfriend debate the horrors of German atrocities vs. the Israeli occupation of Palestine. But the inserted narrations that explain points that could have been incorporated into the dialogue broke the flow in a well-intentioned effort.

Eye Witness (1981). A film with quasi-espionage motifs. Connecting news stories about Jewish dissidents in Russia with tried and true romance, William Hurt played a janitor in love with a reporter (Sigourney Weaver). To interest her, Hurt pretended to know more about a murder than he really does. They ran across a rich Jew who paid a former spy to get fellow Jews out of Russia but was murdered after being blackmailed by the evil Christopher Plummer.

Firefox (1982). Director, producer, and actor Clint Eastwood
cast himself as a reluctant Vietnam War vet pulled out of retirement by a Jewish dissident spy group to save U.S. from the "Firefox," the new Soviet airplane with special radar technology. Considered as another bad example of the Red bashing Hollywood fare during the Reagan era.

Funeral In Berlin (1966). Second Michael Caine vehicle as Len Deighton's Harry
Palmer. Includes a beautiful Israeli agent (Eva Renzi) seeking money from an
ex-Nazi who'd stolen it During World War II. (See “From Harry Palmer to Austin
Powers: A Spy-ography of Michael Caine” also posted at this website.)

Half Moon Street (1986). Sigourney Weaver played Dr. Slaughter, an expert in Arab affairs doubling as a paid escort. She becomes involved with a lonely diplomat (Michael Caine) negotiating top priority matters between the Arabs and Israelis. Some felt the film deserved Oscar nominations but lackluster audience response trumped critical favor.

House on Garibaldi Street, The. (1979). Well-done quasi-documentary starring Israeli actor Topol in the story of how the Israelis captured and kidnapped former Nazi Adolf Eichmann in 1959. (See Man Who Captured Eichmann, The below.)

Jerusalem File, The (1972). set during the Arab-Israeli Six Day War, an archeologist (Bruce Davison) got caught in the cross-fire. Israeli guerillas wanted him to work for them but allowed him to work for his girlfriend (Nicole Williamson) and an Arab group hoping he'll lead them to an Arab leader.

Judas (1965). Set before the formation of Israel, Sophia Loren played the wife of a Nazi who sent her to a concentration camp. There, she joins the Jewish underground and, after the war, seeks her husband out when he becomes an advisor for Arab states.

Little Drummer Girl, The. (1982). One of the lowest regarded adaptations of a John Le Carre' book. Diane Keaton starred as a young, politically naive actress recruited by Israeli Intelligence and sent to infiltrate a Palestinian terrorist organization. Directed By George Roy Hill, the cast included Yorgo Voyagis and a cameo by novelist Le Carre'.

Mossad. (1997). Director Jonathan Tammuz's arty love story between an Mossad agent and a poetic young girl. The conflict between his work and the destruction it brings to his lover is demonstrated in paintings and music. Starred Mili Avital, Dan Turgeman, and Christine Jones.

Munich (2005). Described in detail in "Before Munich: Black September on TV and Film" article at this website.

Operation Thunderbolt (1977). While this historical event doesn't directly relate to the Mossad, most overviews of Israeli intelligence pay homage to the July 1976 IDF rescue of hijacked hostages from an Air France flight forced to land in Entebbe, Uganda. 100 Jewish hostages were saved by a force of less than 500 Israeli commandos in one of the most successful military operations in history.

Two 1977 films attempted to depict the daring mission with realism and accuracy: Operation Thunderbolt was an Israeli project starring Yehoram Gaon As Col. Yonatan Netanyahu, the only Israeli casualty of the raid. He was the older brother of Benjamin Netanyahu, the future Israeli prime minister. Reviews note the most famous of the actors, Klaus Kinski and Sybil Danning, didn't have much to do, but due to the cooperation of the Israeli military and governmental figures, details were indeed accurate if the political point-of-view was clear and blatant. It should be noted the movie was very much a product of its cinematic times, so modern viewers may see some of the camerawork as out-dated. (See Raid on Entebbebe below.)

Point Men, The. (2001). Stars Christopher Lambert as Israeli agent Tony, a hit man who thinks his team killed the wrong man and then finds terrorists are killing them off in revenge. (A take on the actual Lilihamer debacle?) An action fest but a notable step down for Bond director John Glen. Plodding--not recommended.

Prisoner in the Middle (1974, A.K.A. Warhead). Low budget fare with David Jansen and Bond girl Karin Dor looking for a stolen atomic bomb that threatens Arab/Israeli relations. Not released theatrically, the movie was possibly cobbled together from two films. The final version was released on home video in the 1980s.

Requiem for a Secret Agent (1966). In this violent and sadistic tale, a British agent (Stewart Granger) worked for his government when not moonlighting as a double-agent or adventurer. Uncovering a neo-Nazi secret organization in Morocco, he worked with Israeli intelligence and killed off the duplicitous bad girl, played by former Bond girl, Daniela Bianchi.

Walk On Water--A Film by Eytan Fox. (2004). Lior Ashkenazi stars as a Mossad hit man given the mission to track down the very old Alfred Himmelman, an ex Nazi officer. Family relationships complicate life and the mission in Israel and Germany.

---
Part II: Documentaries

Archives of the Mossad: Israel's Secret Hunt for Nazi War Criminals. (Direct Cinema Limited - Educational. Filmmaker: Chanoch Zeevi and Dan Setton. VHS 1998) Includes the following four titles:

• Angels of Vengeance
• The Disappearance of Martin Bormann
• The Hunt for Adolf Eichmann
• Josef Mengele: The Final Account

Archives of the Mossad: Israel's Secret Hunt for Terrorists. (For grades 7 and up.) In the same series, this 1998 two-hour boxed set includes:

• Shaheed: The Making of a Suicide Bomber
• Mikdad: Into the Mind of a Terrorist

For more information, see:

http://www.directcinema.com/dcl/

Champagne Spy, The. (2007) Documentary written and directed by Nadav Schirman in English, Hebrew, and German. For the full story including an interview with the director, see “The Bigamist Bond: The Behind-The-Scenes Story Of The Champagne Spy” also posted at this website.

Spies: Undercover Spies. (1991). Spies is a video series dedicated to the secret wars that have raged through the past decades. Through archival footage, interviews, and excerpts from unpublished memoirs and recently declassified sources, this series attempts to put a human face on the missions of secret agents from various agencies. Material from the archives of the CIA, FBI, KGB, and Mossad are used extensively. “Undercover in Damascus” profiles Elie Cohen, an Israeli spy who infiltrated and compromised the Syrian high command with disastrous results for Syria during the 1967 Six Day War. See:

WWW.Spies: Undercover Spies - Trailer - Showtimes - Cast - Movies - New York Times

Spying Game--Mossad, The. (May 09, 2005). 45 minute documentary on the history of the Mossad. On DVD.

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Part III: Television Movies and Episodes

Danger Man (U.S. title, Secret Agent). “Judgment Day.” First Aired: November 11, 1965. British agent John Drake (Patrick McGoohan) is sent to an Arab country to retrieve a “package.” This turns out to be an ex-Nazi scientist who’s been discovered by an outlawed band of Israeli vigilantes out to avenge the scientist’s atrocities during World War II. Stranded on an abandoned airfield, the rogue group holds a kangaroo court where Drake tries to claim the Nazi was insane and therefore not eligible for the death penalty. But when the group learns Drake has had a message sent out for a rescue, they murder the Nazi and flee across the border back into Israel.

Typical of many Danger Man scripts, this episode explores the ethics and morality of violence in the name of a greater good. During the mock trial, Drake is caught with the dilemma of knowing his country wants the scientist for their own ends while recognizing the Nazi is a “moral imbecile,” unable to distinguish right from wrong. But he also accuses the Jews of being no better for not following legal procedures. In the end, Drake has to admit he has no answer to the problem.

Impossible Spy, The. (1987). HBO/BBC TV movie about life of Eli Cohen. Background to the film is detailed in "The Story of Israel's Most Famous Secret Agent: Behind the Scenes of The Impossible Spy" at this website.

I Spy, "CHILD OUT OF TIME." First broadcast on Jan. 11, 1967, written by Morton Fine & David Friedkin. This well-regarded episode may be of special historical interest for its early, perhaps first, use of Israeli agents on American network television.

The story was set in Madrid, Spain, revolving around a ten-year-old daughter of a former Nazi collaborator who becomes a pawn in her mother's plot to sell the names of war criminals to the highest bidder. Because of the child’s phenomenal memory, she has all the names in her head and Kelly Robinson (Robert Culp) and Alexander Scott (Bill Cosby) have to protect her as agents from both sides are on the trail. According to an e-mail from I Spy expert Marc Cushman, “The two Israeli agents are seen throughout the episode, and broke into Kelly and Scott's room and stuck guns in their ribs in an effort to get to the Nazi first. It was a race between the Israelis and the Americans, who were not working together, but were sympathetic to one another's agendas.” In the closing moments, after the Israeli assassins kill the mother, Kelly places a gun to the back of the child’s head and threatens to blow her brains out if the Israeli agents don't lower their weapons.

Several aspects of this drama are of special interest. First, in the years before Mossad agents became known for tracking down Arab terrorists, uses of such agents on film usually dealt with tracking down ex-Nazis, but network television normally had its stars uncovering the old Nazis either plotting comebacks or trying to resurrect the frozen body of Adolph Hitler (The Man From U.N.C.L.E., The New Avengers.) I Spy uniquely brought in Israeli agents and dealt with the theme of the cost of revenge, a concern not yet common in either film or small-screen broadcast. (For one exception, see Danger Man description above.)

In addition, another plot point of the hour worried both the network and viewers. One memo from NBC Broadcast Standards and Practices read: "The Broadcast Standards objection to Scott and Kelly sharing information on the locations of surviving Nazi death-camp officials with Israeli agents was based on the belief that our government would not place itself into the position of assisting another government that has used extralegal methods of bringing war criminals to justice. As discussed, I agreed that if you provide us with verification that our government would indeed permit the sharing of information under like circumstances, our objection would be withdrawn." Don R. Bay, Broadcast Standards.

A letter from one viewer read: "Dear Sirs: I am writing to protest the latest episode of your program, where two agents, presumably American, hand over information to agents of a foreign power. Such a program condones an action which is basically immoral; the agents are working to supply information to the agency that hires them, not to a foreign power. Even more basic, they are Americans, not Israeli agents. The more subtle issue of the propaganda value of the program, I will not question. Let me state, however, that this particular episode of I Spy, I found extremely offensive." Mrs. A.J.A., North Hollywood, California.

Ironically, these notes were written six months before the Six Days War, and a number of books have since claimed the CIA indeed provided Israel with information assisting their June 1967 success. While this claim remains debatable, the idea that the U.S. would share Intell to an ally being questionable prefigures these discussions by decades.

(Information for this item came from Marc Cushman and Linda J. LaRosa’s I Spy: A History and Episode Guide, 1965-1968. Jefferson, NC: Mcfareland and Co. 2007, pps. 230-231.)

Man Who Captured Eichmann, The. (1996). TV movie starring Robert Duvall and Jeffrey Tambor following the same line as The House on Garabaldi St. (See above.)

NCIS. (CBS). Beginning with the first episode of the 2005 season, Mossad Liaison Officer Ziva David joined the cast, played by Chilean born actress Cote de Pablo. In her first hour, David was assigned to the NCIS following the murder of Special Agent Caitlin Todd by a rogue Mossad operative. Soon after her assignment to NCIS, she killed a native Israeli named Ari Haswari in order to save Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon) and it is revealed afterwards that she is Ari's half-sister.

In the show, David is an expert marksman and carries two Firearms and a knife with her at all times. She frequently brags of her abilities as a Mossad agent but is annoyed to learn in the 2006-2007 season the Israelis have her under surveillance.

In a May 22, 2007 Chicago Tribune Watcher item, Pablo described her first visit to Israel, invited to come when their tourist center became aware of her role. She met “with a former Mossad agent -- one of the men who captured Nazi official Adolf Eichmann in Argentina and brought him to Israel for a trial. `How they did everything without technology -- I mean, how they smuggled Eichmann out of the country without any of that -- that's what intrigued me the most,’ she said.”

Raid on Entebbebe. (1977) American TV movie directed by Irvin Kershner, the film earned a Golden Globe. The all-star cast included Peter Finch (his last movie) as Yitzhak Rabin and Charles Bronson as Brig. Gen. Dan Shomron, leader of the commandos. (See Operation Thunderbolt for details about the historical mission re-created in this film.)

Return of the Saint, The. “Black September.” First aired on British ITV onSunday October 1, 1978. Simon Templar (Ian Ogilvy) joined forces with an Israeli agent, Captain Leila Sabin (Prunella Gee), to track down and capture an Arab terrorist on the loose in London. For more on the group that inspired this episode, see “Before Munich: Black September on TV and Film” also posted at this website.

Sword of Gideon, The. (1986). HBO production based on the George Jonas
book, Vengeance. Described in detail in "Before Munich: Black September on TV
and Film" article at this website.

---

For related articles, see

WWW.WesleyBritton.com

The Movie Spy's Bookshelf: A Selective Bibliography

THE MOVIE SPY'S BOOKSHELF: A SELECTIVE BIBLIOGRAPHY

By Wesley Britton

This annotated directory is intended to help general readers and researchers find the best full-length books with material related to espionage-oriented films. There's one major difference between the "TV Spy's Bookshelf" also posted at this site and this list. Books geared towards TV spies are a rather small family. Film studies are a bottomless pit from biographies, autobiographies, genre studies, to collections of reviews by noted critics. books on James Bond alone make for lengthy reading. So this list is "selective" in several ways:

1. Only books I've read or know enough about to intelligently comment on are included.
2. Few encyclopedias or reference works that talk about or list films in general are listed. If a work doesn't have considerable information about spy films, whether about one actor, director, character, etc., I didn't include it here.

This list is organic. So expect updates and expansions as time goes on. Please let me know of books you think should be included here. Write me at:

spywise@verizon.net


----

Amis, Kingsley. The James Bond Dossier. New York: New American Library. 1965. A classic study of the Fleming books, Amis has little to say about the films as the series was only 3 entries strong at the time of publication. Still, contains invaluable insights into who Bond was in the early '60s and his place in social consciousness.

Barson, Michael and Steven Heller. Red Scared: The Commie Menace In Propaganda and Popular Culture. San Francisco: Chronicle Books. 2001. This overview of anti-Communist propaganda during the '50s is a detailed, annotated survey of pamphlets, comic books, TV and radio shows, as well as movies of the period. Very useful resource about the era.

Biederman, Danny. The Incredible World of Spy-Fi: Wild and Crazy Spy Gadgets, Props and Artifacts, From TV and the Movies. San Francisco: Chronicle Books,
2004. Enjoyable coffee-table picture show of Biederman's collection. Has more TV related material, but discusses Austin Powers and B-movies of the '60s.

Black, Jeremy. The Politics of James Bond: From Fleming’s Novels to the Big Screen. Westport, CT: Praeger Pub. 2001. As the title implies, Black looks at both the books and films featuring 007 showing how they reflected political climates from 1953 to the publication date. For those interested in contexts and public responses to the films, not what went into their creation.

Britton, Wesley. Beyond Bond: Spies in Fiction and Film. Westport, CT: Praeger Pub. 2005. Discusses spy films in the context of their release, comparing espionage movies with historical incidents and spy literature through succeeding decades.

Britton, Wesley. Onscreen and Undercover: The Ultimate Book of Movie Espionage. Westport, CT.: Praeger Pub. 2006. History of the genre from silent releases through the publication date. Chapters are devoted to specific trends as in battling Nazis, the Cold War, exploitation films, and the roles of women.

Caine, Michael. What's It All About? An Autobiography of Michael Caine. Stokes Films Ltd. 1992. Detailed memories of the creation of the original "Harry Palmer" films as well as Caine's insights into other spy films he worked on including The Black Windmill and The Holcroft Covenant. Readable and enlightening. (See the "Spy-ography" of Caine posted at this website.)

D'Abo, Maryam and John Cork. Bond Girls Are Forever: The Women of James Bond. New York: Harry N. Abrams Pub. 2003. In 2002, D'Abo, who'd played Kara in The Living Daylights, hosted the notable television documentary with this title and co-wrote the companion volume for it. It was the first official Bond book to be authored by a James Bond actress. Includes short biographies of a number of Bond girls with their thoughts on how their 007 roles affected their careers.

Donovan, Paul. Roger Moore: A Biography. London: W. H. Allen. 1983. Most in-depth biography of the third theatrical James Bond. At the time of publication, Moore was still the reigning 007 (Octopussy came out in '83, A View to A Kill had yet to be scripted), so the book could use an update.

Giblin, Gary. James Bond's London: A Reference Guide to the Birthplace of 007 and His Creator. Dunllen, NJ: Daleon Enterprises. 2001. Photos and history of 007 in London pointing to locations used in both the books and films. A sequel, James Bond's England, is reportedly in the works.

Higham, Charles and Joel Greenberg. Hollywood in the Forties. New York: Paperback Library. 1968. Contains one chapter on spy films from the decade which is useful but not comprehensive. (Higham also wrote Errol Flynn: The Untold Story. New York: Doubleday. 1980. It contains much interesting but completely unreliable material about the actor's real-life role as a Nazi spy.)

Kiel, Richard. Making It Big in the Movies: The Autobiography of Richard "Jaws" Kiel. Kew Gardens: Reynolds and Hearn Ltd. 2002. Autobiography of "Jaws" from the Bond films. Besides discussing this role, Kiel talks about working in TV and movies in a very personable style.

Langman, Larry and David Ebner. Encyclopedia of American Spy Films. New York: Garland Pub. 1990. Alongside Mavis and Britton, an indispensable reference book. Offers different insights from Mavis for many films.

Leab, Daniel G. I was a Communist for the FBI: The Unhappy Life of Matt Cvedic. University Park: Pennsylvania Univ. Press. 2000. Detailed exploration about the life and uses by the media of the career of FBI informant, Matt Cvedic. Most thorough analysis and history of the film, I Was A Communist for the FBI, in print. Includes brief discussions of related Hollywood projects.

Lindner, Christoph. The James Bond Phenomenon: A Critical Reader.
Manchester: Manchester UP. 2003. Perhaps the most useful book on James Bond beyond coffee-table looks into the movies. A collection of essays by a number of authors, this one is indispensable reading.

Lisanti, Tom and Louis Paul. Film Fatales: Women in Espionage Films and Television, 1962-1973. Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Co. 2001. At first glance, one might think this is an elaborate pin-up book of beautiful actresses who starred in both major and obscure spy films. A careful reading reveals many details about television episodes and Euro-films not readily available in other sources. Indispensable.

Lycett, Andrew. Ian Fleming: The Man Behind James Bond. Atlanta: Turner Pub. Inc. 1995. Outstanding and lengthy biography of Fleming. Has much content on how 007 came to be filmed and the conflict between Fleming and apparent S.P.E.C.T.R.E. creator, Kevin McClory.

McGilligan, Patrick. Fritz Lang: The Nature of the Beast. New York: St. Martins. 1997. Outstanding biography of the director with considerable background into Lang's spy films from Doktor Mabuse to Cloak and Dagger. (See "Spy-ography of Fritz Lang" posted at this website.)

Mavis, Paul. Espionage Filmography: United States Releases, 1898-1999. Jefferson City: McFarland. 2001. This one is the Big Khona, in terms of American films and British-made movies released in the States. Contains complete cast lists and very good plot summaries. A hefty tome, it's indispensable and the center of any spy library. (Compare with Langman above.)

Miller, Toby. Spy Screen: Espionage on Film and TV from the 1930s to the 1960s. Oxford, NY: Oxford UP. 2003. While largely a textual and cultural study for students of film, general readers should find passages of interest in between long sections designed for theorists and scholars. For example, the first chapter contains historical notes not
frequently discussed in other sources, including concepts about early spy
novels. Miller has fresh insights into the Bond films, especially Live and Let Die, although his history of imperialism seems to stretch the page count and not add to the obvious--Bond represented the British Empire. Miller adds some interesting notes on fandoms for The Avengers, the subject of an earlier Miller study. (See review at my "TV
Spies Bookshelf" file at this website.) This one is better for
those interested in important films like Gilda, The 39 Steps, The Third Man
and cultural benchmarks like Honey West and Modesty Blaise. For library
shelves.

Mulay, James et al, editors. Spies and Sleuths: Mystery, Spy, and Suspense Films on Video Cassette. Evanston, ILL: Cinebooks. 1998. An invaluable guide on movies from detective dramas to spy films, this reference book has obvious limitations. Much has happened since 1998 and the editor's scope was limited to films then available on VHS. Perhaps 1/3 of the listed movies are spy-oriented, but for those included, there's a complete cast list and better synopses than in most reference books or the IMDB. If you can pick up a used copy, it's a keeper.

Pearson, John. The Life of Ian Fleming. New York: Macgraw-Hill. 1966. While this biography has been superceded (see Lycet, Andrew above), It still contains insights into how Fleming's character came to television and film.

Pfeiffer, Lee and Dave Worrall. The Essential Bond: An Authorized Guide to the World of 007. Boxtree Publishers, England; Harper Collins, USA. First printed
in 1998; Many different printings. 2002 edition titled The Essential James Bond: An Authorized Guide to the World of 007. Two words point to the strengths of this work-in-progress--"Essential" and "authorized." Straightforward writing with insights from the participants who've created the film series. Of course, newer editions are where to start--indispensable for any movie fan's bookshelf.

Pfeiffer, Lee and Philip Lisa. Incredible World of 007, The. Boxtree Publishers, England: Citadel Press, U.S. First printed in 1991; updated
edition printed 1995. The Lee Pfeiffer books benefit from his extensive knowledge of the Bond universe, the collaborators he's worked with, and the support of EON Productions who've granted him access to photo stocks and personal interviews not available to other authors. As noted above, later printings include discussions of films not in earlier editions. This one has been superceded by his The Essential Bond, but it's still an attractive photo-fest with anecdotes and opinion.

Rubenstein, Leonard. The Great Spy Films: A Pictorial History. Secaucus: The Citadel Press, 1979. One of the most readable and insightful studies of the genre. Rubenstein groups some 50 spy films into various categories and provides plot synopsis's and contexts to demonstrate themes and characteristics of sub-genres. Indispensable.

Shaw, Tony. British Cinema and the Cold War: The State, propaganda, and Consensus. New York: St. Martins. 2001. Detailed exploration of British-made films (and the influence of Hollywood) throughout the Cold War. Focuses on censorship and the role of the British government in shaping the course of many productions.

Solomon, ED et al. Men in Black: The Script and the Story Behind the Film. New York: New Market Press. 1997. For those who are interested in this delightful film.

Spoto, Donald. The Dark Side of Genius: The Life of Alfred Hitchcock. New York: Ballentine Books. 1983. Contains many insights into Hitchcock spy films, including some never made. Key resource for anyone interested in this director.

Strada, Michael and Harold Troper. Friend or Foe: Russians in American Film and Foreign Policy (1933-1991). Lanhan, MD: Scarecrow Press. 1997. Extremely useful overview of films during the years indicated that dealt with Russian characters, themes, and duels with Western governments and spy agencies.

Truffaut, Francois with the collaboration of Helen G. Scott. Hitchcock. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1967. A collection of interviews with the venerable director, there are many quotations from Hitchcock regarding his feelings about espionage and the creative process behind his spy-oriented films.

Wark, Wesley, ed. Spy Fiction, Spy Films, and Real Intelligence. London:
Frank Cass and Co. Ltd. 1991. This Collection of essays by various authors
was first published in the Journal of Intelligence and National Security (1990). It's one of the most insightful books on espionage fiction from an academic standpoint I've ever encountered. There's considerable detail regarding literature and history, but movies are usually included only in short passing references. David R. Booth's article on the history of spy films serves as an adequate introduction to the topic, but is a mere survey
of selective titles and not on the same level as other offerings in the
collection.

Wood, Robin. Hitchcock's Films Revisited. New York: Columbia UP. 1989. Feminist critique of the Hitchcock legacy including his spy films.

Youngkin, Stephen, James Bigwood, and Raymond Cabana, Jr. The Films of Peter Lorre. Citadel Press, NJ, 1982. Contains important background on the spy films that featured Peter Lorre from the "Mr. Moto" films, Lorre's work with Hitchcock, and his final years.



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Touring with 007: A Travel Guide for Spy Buffs

Traveling With 007: A Tour Guide for Spy Buffs

International Flavors

It all began with Ian Lancaster Fleming's richly descriptive James Bond novels. During the 1950s, when the first seven 007 books appeared, Bond was a globetrotting tourist with many travel scenes at a time when thrillers were Designed for an international market. Descriptions of gentlemen's clubs in London, the underwater scenery in reefs near Jamaica, and the habits of Sumo wrestlers appealed to readers themselves traveling after picking up their titles in airports and terminals. Fleming, who'd penned his own 1963 travelogue of favorite sites, Thrilling Cities, also looked to spy literature for inspiration. For example, he acknowledged fellow novelist Eric Ambler's contributions to the Istanbul sequences in his 1957 From Russia With Love by having Bond reading Ambler's The Mask of Dimitrous, the 1939 novel Fleming had used as atour guide during his first trip to the city.

Then, during the 1960s, television and movie scripts used travel to give stories realism and credibility. The production teams behind TV shows like Danger Man and I Spy tried to give their adventures a visual travel documentary look by filming on location to give us new vistas in which the heroes and heroines operated.

Spy movies too have begun with writers first finding exotic locations before fleshing out characters or stories. One famous example was screenwriter Earnest Lehman researching locales for Alfred Hitchcock's 1959 North by Northwest. Hitchcock wanted scenes in a U.N. lounge and atop Mt. Rushmore. Lehman went to the U.N., Grand Central Station, Chicago, South Dakota and ultimately tried to climb Mt. Rushmore himself before scripting the ultimate Hitchcock adventure. This process continues in nearly every action-adventure film produced with an international flavor in mind. For example, in DVD commentary for the 1983 Bond epic, octopussy, producer Michael Wilson admitted the planning began with trips to India to find exotic places 007 hadn't visited before. Once they'd found interesting visuals, then a script was devised to put the world's most famous secret agent in these places.

Tourism for Spy Buffs

After decades of these adventures, the modern tourist can now go where famous spies have gone before. If you're planning a trip to Switzerland, you can go high in the Alps to Piz Gloria, a ski lodge named after a setting in Fleming's On Her Majesty's Secret Service and see where the 1969 movie version was filmed. Likewise, Phuket, in southern Thailand, promotes boat trips out to see limestone formations seen in 1973's The Man With The Golden Gun. Thailand also heavily courts tourists to see "James Bond Island" where Roger Moore and Christopher Lee dueled during the energy crisis. This island has long been a dangerous place to visit due to serious pirate traffic in those waters. Now, that's getting a taste of the exotic!

On the literary side, Kent, England has developed tourism brochures highlighting their links to Ian Fleming's Bond novels. If you check out “SwindonWeb - Guide Connection - James Bond,” you’ll learn where you can visit Ian Fleming’s grave and two locations for Bond films. the Motorola factory at Groundwell was a double for a high tech oil pumping station in The World Is Not Enough, and the Renault building was used for filming a series of scenes featuring James Bond (Roger Moore) and Patrick MacNee (Sir Godfrey Tibbett). Capitalizing on these attractions, the town hosts occasional Bond events featuring stars from the 007 films, past and present.

Cons

But, for spy fans, there's nothing quite like the conventions that mix tourism, the opportunity to talk with celebrities, and the chance to play games and dress up like James Bond and take a crack at the roulette tables. According to Matt Sherman, who's been hosting "Bond Weekends for his Omnibilia and Gator Country Travel Agency since 1998, " Fans expect a fun if not glamorous location when chasing spy trails. I've
had much pleasure building brand new tourism itineraries for genre fans
Centered on exciting destinations." These include the 1999 weekend in Las Vegas, the setting for the 1971 Diamonds Are Forever. Visitors had the chance to see the sights and chat with Lana Wood who played Plenty O'Toole in the Sean Connery outing. In 2000, Sherman brought fans to New Orleans where scenes from Roger Moore's debut as 007, Live and Let Die, were set. Celebrities included Bond girl Gloria Hendry and guitarist Vic Flick, the man who played the signature 007 guitar hook.

Over the years, Sherman says, certain places have proved the most popular for espionage buffs. "My guests enjoyed San Francisco as a James Bond and genre location, the setting for A View to a Kill, Bullitt, and The Rock. Its sheer beauty and fabulous
sightseeing and dining" enhanced the 2002 weekend along side appearances by Richard "Jaws" Kiel, Lois Chiles, and Barbara Bouchet." Surprisingly, he observes, America hasn't yet tapped into its possibilities for secret agent tourism. "In the United States, only with the advent of the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C. has a municipality actively promoted spy tourism. I'm disappointed because marvelous U.S. locations include several hundred exteriors and interiors used for the 007 films." (note 1)

But things are changing. "Cities like Chicago and Miami have developed a good following for us as people enjoy local color and sightseeing along with spy history." And celebrity guests don't always have to be faces familiar from the screen. For the 2004 Miami weekend, the guests included Technical Advisor and Security Coordinator Paul Meyers and pilot Dan Haggerty for Tomorrow Never Dies and License to Kill. Perhaps the best mix of faces and places took place at the 2003 weekend in Los Angeles. Autograph seekers could meet David Carradine (Kill Bill), Robert Culp (I Spy), and actual KGB Major General Oleg Kalugin as the headliners who sat with dozens of authors, intelligence experts, and fans.

One outgrowth of these weekends is Jim Arnold’s Licence to Kill Exotic Locations: Key West Book Companion. This book of Floridian James Bond locations includes a DVD with extras including video of Licence To Kill locations and interesting tidbits on non-Bond epics filmed in Miami and Key West. (note 2)


Year Round Spy Travels

But spy aficionados don't have to wait for planned weekends to capture some flavor of secret agent work. In London, “The Spies" & Spycatchers" London Walk” takes place every Saturday afternoon at 2:30 pm. A bit of the flavor of this walk is shown in their online description:

Meet Spymaster Alan just outside the subway 3 exit of Piccadilly CircusTube.
He'll be standing by the Clydesdale Bank.
He'll be topped off with a black hat...and a green carnation. (note 3)

While you’re in England, you can also pick up Gary Giblin's 2001 James Bond's London: A Reference Guide to the Birthplace of 007 and His Creator and be your own tour guide. Using Giblin's photos and history of 007, you can find locations used in both the books and films.

In the U.S., there's a spy theme restaurant in Milwaukee, the Safe House, which has been in existence since the 1960s. Diners can share a mysterious ambiance, join in games, and can enjoy an espionage-only bookstore. Since 2003, the Culture Club of the Chicago Cultural Center has produced an annual "Spy Ball," an espionage-theme party in February featuring music, circus performances, video clips from spy movies and interactive surveillance camera demonstrations.

One popular attraction has been doing some travels of its own. In 2000 and 2001, author Danny Biederman's Spy-Fi Exhibit" was on display at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, the National Atomic Museum in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and then at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. Biederman's artifacts were also displayed at the Strategic Air Command and the Pentagon before a collection of them were shown at the International Spy Museum from late 2005 to June 2006 before being an exhibit on the Queen Mary in 2007. "My Spy-Fi Archives," Biederman notes, "is the world's largest collection of props, wardrobe, and original art from half a century of spy movies and TV shows. It ranges from the Cold War '60s classics to more recent spy fare, such as Alias and Austin Powers." These include the prop shoe phone from Get Smart, the prop tarantula from Dr. No, secret documents from Mission: Impossible, and a pair of leather trousers worn by Diana Rigg in The Avengers.

Clearly, the main draw for spy enthusiasts and the general public alike is the International Spy Museum in Washington D.C. Since 2002, this attraction has boasted two floors of exhibits including artifacts from a 1774 letter from George Washington establishing a New York spy network to a KGB lipstick gun to radio transmitters hidden in shoe heels and tree stumps. "This is the largest number of espionage artifacts on public display anywhere in the world -- a truly unique opportunity!" says Museum Executive
Director Peter Earnest, a 36-year veteran of CIA's Clandestine Service. Here's the place to learn about all things espionage in an interactive environment. All visitors are invited to choose a "legend," a false identity to play for the day. Throughout the museum, in between crawling through heating ducts and listening to videos describing various eras in espionage, crowds of young would-be agents hang around interactive devices to learn how well they can play at being their legend.

According to Amanda Ohlke, Manager of Adult Education for the museum, "Though predominantly focused on real spies, we don't skip famous fictional spies. Crowds gather every few minutes as an Aston Martin DB5 displays its amazing features including machine guns, tire slashers, bulletproof shield, oil
jets, dashboard radar screen, rotating license plate, and ejector seat,
just like the car in the 1964 James Bond thriller Goldfinger." And check out the museum's website and you can also catch evenings with lectures by spy authors, screenings of rare films, and memories of actual veterans of spycraft.

But there’s more. The National Cryptologic Museum is the National Security Agency’s principal gateway to the public. Being the first and only public museum in the Intelligence Community, located adjacent to NSA Headquarters, Ft. George G. Meade, Maryland, the Museum collection contains thousands of artifacts about the history of American cryptology, the people who devoted their lives to cryptology and national defense, the machines and devices they developed, the techniques they used, and the places where they worked. the Museum hosts approximately 50,000 visitors annually for the perfect admission price—free!

And, in 2005, the government of Kagawa Prefecture in Japan even established a museum dedicated to Bond novelist Raymond Benson's 2002 book, The Man With the Red Tattoo, which was partially set on Naoshima Island in Kagawa Prefecture. They'd like to see the Bond film people make a movie there.

With all this to explore, there's no reason not to join in the adventure, history, fantasy, and camaraderie of fellow undercover spy tourists. As we learn about other attractions, we’ll add them here. Please send us notes on anything we missed!

Notes

1. In 2007, a new pamphlet from the U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command
(INSCOM) History Office describes locations in and around Washington,
D.C. that have significant associations with the history of U.S.
military intelligence.

"The sites selected span two centuries of military intelligence in
support of the Nation and its Army, starting with George Washington in
the Revolutionary War and ending with William F. Friedman in World War
II," according to the introduction.

A dozen or so sites are described, and directions for finding them are
provided. The locations of grave sites of notable figures in military
intelligence at Arlington National Cemetery, including cryptologists
William Friedman and his Elizebeth (misspelled here as "Elizabeth"),
are provided.

The new INSCOM pamphlet was published this year in hardcopy only, but a
scanned version is now available online. See "On the Trail of Military Intelligence History: A Guide to the Washington, DC, Area," U.S. Army INSCOM History Office, 2007 (36 pages, 2.6 MB PDF):

http://www.fas.org/irp/agency/inscom/trail.pdf

2. For information about Jim Arnold’s Licence To Kill Exotic Location: Key West book companion check out:

www.kingego.com

3. For more information about “The Spies" & Spycatchers" London Walk,” check out:

http://www.walks.com/

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Very Honorable Mentions: More Spy Film Recommendations

VERY HONORABLE MENTIONS: MORE SPY FILM RECOMMENDATIONS

By Wesley Britton

After revising "THE INDISPENSIBLES: THE BEST SPY FILMS OF ALL TIME" for this website, I realized many excellent movies hadn't been listed. Admitting many of my choices in that directory reflect my particular tastes in spy movies and acknowledging many other titles are arguably as good as some of the films discussed in that list, it seems appropriate I note other films meriting consideration.

Movies discussed here are mainly productions from both major and independent studios now readily available on DVD. In a separate file, "NEGLECTED NUGGETS AND OBSCURE CLASSICS: COLLECTING RARE SPY MOVIES," look for rarities worthy of consideration that are only available from less common sources.

Without reservation, good spy films to spend your time with include:

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The Amateur (1981). One exception to the trend of explosion-fests in the 1980s was director Charles Jarrott's The Amateur based on Robert Littell's novel of the same name. CIA cipher expert Charlie Hiller (John Savage) wanted to be a field agent after his girlfriend was killed by terrorists. To get the information and training he required, Hiller blackmailed the agency as no one seemed interested in avenging the death. While the agency seeks the file Hiller has hidden and puts a killer on his trail, the agent went behind enemy lines in Czechoslovakia where he met up with a CIA contact (Marthe Keller). She was also motivated by the same drive as many spies in the decade, revenge.

While critical and audience response was mixed, The Amateur enjoyed a distinctive European flavor with believable accents and motivations. While slow paced, the film carried over some of Littell's philosophical thinking. For example, Hiller and the captain of the secret police (Christopher Plummer) explored the themes of truth and ciphers. Each member of the cast must determine where the lines go between emotional, personal needs and those of governments whose concerns are questionable and brutal. In the spirit of films like The Marathon Man, the movie is intended for audiences interested in character development, new wrinkles in spy stories, and cinematography that provides realism and atmosphere.

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Casablanca (1942). While debates continue over whether or not this classic can be considered a spy film, many have noted that the characters of Major Strasser (Conrad Veidt) and Ilsa Lund Laszlo (Ingrid Bergman) come to Humphrey Bogart's "Rick's Café" seeking letters of transit signed by General Weygand. Rick had obtained these from Ugarte (Peter Lorre) before his arrest by the Vichy police. Along with Ilsa came Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreied), a Resistance fighter who's escaped from a concentration camp. No one is a spy per se, but the action of seeking secret papers and plotting an underground escape are typical elements in espionage-oriented scripts, so Casablanca, in this context, deserves a Very Honorable Mention.

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The Falcon and the Snowman (1985). This Cold War classic earned wide acclaim for its treatment of a true story about two young men, Dalton Lee (Sean Penn) and Christopher Boyce (Timothy Hutton), who'd sold secrets about U.S. satellites to the Russians in 1977. Boyce was the idealistic son of a former FBI agent disillusioned by the Vietnam war. After further disillusionment when he learns the CIA was meddling with the internal affairs of Australia, he contacted friend Dalton Lee, a drug dealer, who acted as courier for Boyce in Mexico. A very human drama, a study in contrasts between the young men's motivations and resulting corruption.

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Hopscotch (1980). A witty chase yarn with Walter Mattheau as a disheveled ex-agent gathering files to write his memoirs as he wants to embarrass the intelligence agencies of the world. Glenda Jackson was his old flame who gets caught up in the action helping him elude the CIA, British, West Germans, as well as the Russians. Based on the Brian Garfield novel, who was an associate producer of the film version, the movie was and is highly regarded.

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The Lady Vanishes (1938); Foreign Correspondent (1940); The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956). In my "Indispensables" file, I described 3 Hitchcock films likely his very best--The 39 Steps, Notorious, and North by Northwest. But no spy--or movie--buff should stop there. The 3 Hitchcock films noted here are well worth an evening, and each has earned wide critical and audience accolades. There are 6 other Hitchcock spy films and all are worthy of continued interest. The titles in these lists are just the best starting points.

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My Favorite Blonde (1942). Now, don't turn your nose up like that! While versatile comic Bob Hope and his "cowardly wolf" persona may be distant memories now, at one time Hope was something special in entertainment. And if you're into spy comedies--well, he did more than anyone else, then and now.

In spy spoof Nothing But the Truth (1941), Hope co-starred with Paulette Goddard before the first of a quasi-trilogy, My Favorite Blonde (1942), My Favorite Brunette (1947), and My Favorite Spy (1951). Of these, Blonde was perhaps the best, co-starring Madeline Carroll as Karen Bently, an English agent who attaches herself to second-rate vaudevillian Larry Haines (Hope) and his partner, Percy the Penguin, at an airport to throw off enemy agents.

Trademark Hope wisecracks are also in They Got Me Covered (1943), in which Hope played reporter Robert Kittredge who's been fired after missing the story of the Nazi invasion of Russia. Iron Petticoats (1946) was a disaster on all levels pairing Hope with Katherine Hepburn, a Russian lady pilot who landed a plane in the American zone in post-war Germany. In Call Me Bwanna (1963), the only non-Bond project made to date by EON Productions, Hope was a phony explorer hired by the government to find a lost space probe in African jungles. Finally, in 1968, Hope paired with his "Road" picture buddy Bing Crosby for one last time in The Road to Hong Kong. All these light efforts are uneven, but most have more laughs per minute than many comedies to follow.

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Pascali's Island. (1988). James Dearden wrote and directed this Australian film based on the Barry Unsworth novel. Set in 1908, the story centered on Basil Pascali (Ben Kingsley), an agent for the Turkish government left on an unimportant island about which he's been sending unanswered reports to the Sultan for 20 years. At film's opening, he's pondering the lack of meaning in his work. He meets an English archeologist, Anthony Bowles (Charles Dance), who salts a ancient site with fake artifacts to get access to a valuable Greek statue. At the same time, Pascali slowly learns his Ottoman Empire is crumbling and European influence is on the rise. In addition, an American ship is giving Greek rebels arms who will end up retaking the island which had been once theirs.

In the poignant tale, Pascali learns he hasn't been much of a spy--he didn't see the coming problems, and discovers the Sultan was working on buying up property containing bauxite without his agent aware of the activity. To make one last gesture of solidarity
with his people, Pascali arranges for the authorities to capture Bowles to save the statue only to see friends killed for his betrayal. Too late, he realizes the Greeks will come for him and recover a statue that didn't belong to the Turkish culture to begin with.

While this story took place before World War I, it's easy to see it as a metaphor for the final days of the Cold war which would become clearer in 1989 with the fall of the Berlin Wall. Unintentionally prophetic, the film dealt with questions that circulated in the 1990s--why hadn't anyone seen the collapse of the Soviet Union coming? Pascali's Island was also an obvious extension of books and films from the 1960s and 1970s when writers like John Le Carre' mulled over the meaning of it all. What were we fighting for and were the good guys really good? And the tragedy of Pascali revisited the themes of so many spy dramas--what was the role of one agent who doesn't know the big picture, what his superiors were about, and what was the cost of acting without this knowledge in the lives of innocent people?

I admit, when I first viewed this one, I was astonished I'd not heard of it before. It's a wonderful movie, spy elements or no. Highly recommended.

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The Quiet American. (2002). For a detailed discussion on this Michael Caine effort, see "From Harry Palmer to Austin Powers: A Spy-ography of Michael Caine" posted at this website.

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The Quiller Memorandum (1965). This exceptional contribution to the spy genre was distinguished by author Harold Pinter's script adapting Adam Hall's Berlin Memorandum starring George Segal as agent Quiller sent out to investigate a neo-Nazi group in Berlin. Other well-cast actors included Senta Berger, Alec Guiness, George Saunders, and Max Von Sydow. The film earned high critical praise for the script, acting, and director Michael Anderson's use of locations to make West Berlin seem at once substantial and fantastic.

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The Spy in Black (AKA U Boat 29 (1939). During World War II, movie makers also went to war and ground out endless films as much poorly scripted propaganda as entertainment. One exception was director Michael Powell's clever, intelligent, and very human story starring the reliable Conrad Veidt and Valerie Hobson in the film about a German submarine commander assigned to spy on the British in the Orkney Islands. Based on the J. Storer Clouston novel, an above-average musical score distinguished the movie which was a precursor to many films based on O.S.S. operations, only from the other side of the war.

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The Tamarind Seed (1973). Based on the 1971 novel by Evelyn Anthony, director Blake Edwards cast his wife Julie Andrews as a British civil servant swept off her feet by a dashing Russian (Omar Sharif). Under Caribbean skies, he fails to recruit her, decides to stay with her, but both have to battle an English double-agent. Novelist Anthony was known for books featuring unmarried women engaged in spycraft, and fans praise the film's keeping to the storyline and spirit of the book. Character driven with above-average dialogue, this one isn't A-list but worthy of continued viewing.

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Topkapi (1964). Based on an Eric Ambler novel, this comedy had jewel thieves hiring Arthur Simpson (Peter Ustinov) as a courier. But Turkish security apprehended him and forced him to spy on his employers. Turns out, it's not jewels being smuggled but rather arms to disrupt an official occasion. One complication is that Simpson believes one informant who mistakenly thinks the gang are Russian spies. He's not especially reliable--the informant thinks the word "official" has something to do with bad fish. The elaborate scheme to steal a special daggar was a clear model for Mission: Impossible and all future such projects. Entertaining on several levels.

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The Indispensibles: The Best 30 Spy Films of All Time

THE INDISPENSIBLES: THE BEST 30 SPY FILMS OF ALL TIME


By Wesley Britton

The directory below is not an annotated list of my favorite spy films nor a compilation of the movies that have earned the best reviews and revenues at the box office. Instead, I pulled together what I believe are the most significant spy films based on two things: were they important in some way to the history of the spy genre and are they still enjoyable in today's market?

The movies below are listed in chronological order to avoid any appearance of "ranking."

If readers wish to point out sins of omission or emphasis, I'll gladly add other views as updates to this file. If one of your favorites isn't in this list, check out "VERY HONORABLE MENTIONS: MORE CLASSIC SPY MOVIES" and "NEGLECTED NUGGETS AND OBSCURE CLASICS: COLLECTING RARE SPY FILMS" files also posted at this website.

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The 39 Steps (1935)
Notorious (1946)
North by Northwest (1959)

Without question, much of Alfred Hitchcock's canon shaped the entire genre of spy films. He was keenly interested in espionage and drew from important writers like Eric Ambler, W. Somerset Maugham, and John Buchan.

Few would contest The 39 Steps as being the best of his British black-and-white films as it established many of the templates and formulas for spy movies ever afterward. Taking some of his cues from Buchan's 1915 novel, Hitchcock gave us the reluctant amateur drawn into undercover investigations. Robert Donet is Richard Hannay, a loner on the run unable to trust law enforcement and criminals alike. Hitchcock added the character of Pamela Stewart (Madeline Carroll) who is the equally reluctant love interest who strikes early blows for female equality. All these aspects were re-worked in films from Three Days of the Condor to The Bourne Identity. On top of this, the script, style, and dialogue make this film still enjoyable and watchable for any movie fan who doesn't need classics colorized.

Later, Hitchcok's highly-regarded Notorious was considered the best film to come out of the Nazi Spy Cycle of films that ran from 1940 to 1950. The cycle included such films as The Whip Hand (1952) and Orson Welles's The Stranger (1946), a film worthy of an "Honorable Mention" in its own right. For Notorious, Ben Heck's screenplay was a character study of a love affair between a stoic American agent (Cary Grant) and a disreputable daughter of an American Nazi (Ingrid Bergman). The film played on the "patriotic spy" motif with Bergman's Alishia Sebastion claiming such spies wave the flag with one hand while picking pockets with the other. Still, Sebastion worked for her country despite mixed motives and nearly died for her efforts, forced to marry a German agent in Brazil seeking secrets to build an atomic bomb.

Hitchcock worked for simplicity and "reasonable evil" in his story, and his "Macguffan" of uranium ore hidden in wine bottles was a precursor to so many films dealing with atomic menaces. In addition, the themes of changing gender roles and the darkness of the plot were early examples of what would become film noir.

Hitchcock's North By Northwest remains classic cinema beyond any genre description. It's another film with a "Everyman" hero (Cary Grant again) pulled into strange business who becomes enlivened by his experiences. The film features some of the best set pieces in movie history, and some have said the Bond series is but a parody of what Hitchcock created in this contribution to his "Golden Period."

For more Hitch titles, see “Very Honorable Mentions” posted at this website.

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The Mask of Dimitrious (1944)

For many, this film based on an Eric Ambler book remains a classic. In particular, Peter Lorre is praised for his role as an author of mystery novels who becomes obsessed with tracking down information on the career of arch-criminal, Dimitrios. Part of Dimitrios' long list of criminal activities includes political assassination for hire. Victor Francen plays master spy Grodek. Excellent script, acting, and direction. (For more on this film, see "From Madman to Icon: A Spy-ography of Peter Lorre" posted at this website.)

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House on 92nd Street (1945)

When producers got to work on the quasi-biographical I Was A Communist for the FBI in 1951, they had to admit their far fetched and heavily melodramatic project wouldn't be in the same league as House on 92nd Street. At the time, House was held up as the best documentary style spy movie ever filmed, including newsreel footage inserted to augment the movie's realism. Taking the title from the address of a German spy leader, the story centered on a Federal investigator named George Briggs (Lloyd Nolan) who aids a German student contacted by Nazis. A precursor to similar outings in the 1950s, an atomic bom scientist was a Nazi agent, merging concerns of a war winding down and one about to begin. The production was clearly intended to reassure the American public that J. Edgar Hoover's agents were ready to stop the nefarious hidden threats to America, both those recently past and now beginning to seep up from under the woodwork. Hoover himself made an appearance. Nothing fanciful here, but rather a transitional film that reveals much about a key period in undercover history.

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pickup on South Street (1953)

While most spy films of the 1950s were marked by Hollywood's mood of appeasement to the blacklisters in Washington D.C., occasional projects rose above the moralistic propaganda of the era. Director Samuel Fullers Pickup was well above the pack and retains much of its style and watchability for modern DVD viewers.

Pickup is a Brutal New York drama starring Richard Widmark as Skip McCoy, a weazely, "shifty as smoke" petty crook who steals a wallet containing microfilm from Candy (Jean Peters), an inadvertent Communist courier. Thelma Ritter, the over-the-hill police informant MO, was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in the film. By design, Fuller wanted his "anti-social" types to be human even if they weren't the normal sort of heroes audiences "root for." Skip, Candy, and MO were, in his mind, apolitical, not caring about such matters and were not impressed by FBI agents waving the flag. Critically praised, then and now, this film noir nugget is for those who like gritty, hard-boiled characters from the backstreets who are not international jet setters.

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The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

As explored in my Beyond Bond, many films gained unexpected publicity boosts when headlines about contemporary events made Hollywood fare seem prophetic or at least in sync with what was going on in actual espionage. When film director John Frankenheimer finished work on his adaptation of the 1950 Richard Condon novel, the process almost worked in reverse.

In a project that did indeed intentionally warn about ill uses of both science and politics, Lawrence Harvey starred as a Korean War POW who'd been brainwashed to assassinate a Presidential Canidate after his release. Frank Sinatra was the company commander who beat his own brainwashing to figure out the plot. But the landmark film was nearly killed by United Artists who feared the movie about such assassins might pollute the air when President Kennedy scheduled a summit with Soviet Secretary Nikita Kruschev in Geneva. According to Sinatra, the movie was saved when he told studio executives he had just met with Kennedy, then a personal friend, who was enthusiastic about the film. Ironically, the tale about an assassination plot against a U.S. president seemed prophetic when Kennedy later lost his life in Dallas.

Now a staple on cable television and available with many extras on a 2004 DVD edition, The Manchurian Canidate remains popular among film critics.

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From Russia With Love (1962)
Thunderball (1965)

For any Bond fan, it's impossible not to think of the first four Connery epics as a whole as they define the entire phenomena. For my money, FRWL and Thunderball are the cream of the crop. Both show 007 as one man against a vast criminal conspiracy where we get inside the plans and designs of Ernst Stavro Blofeld and his SPECTRE. Dr. No and Goldfinger, of course, have much to recommend them. In both, Connery takes on a megalomaniac and his henchmen and, er, hench-women. All of these films are closest to what Ian Fleming wrote, and the closest of all was From Russia With Love, arguably Fleming's best novel.

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Charade (1963)

In one of the most influential films of the 1960s, Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn starred in director Stanley Donin's admitted homage to Alfred Hitchcock. Charade even managed to outdo Hitchcock in an era when the influential director wasn't faring as well as his imitators. In this case, wanting to make a new North by Northwest,Donin said he wanted a scripbased on aman who didn't exist. Writer Peter Stone provided it.

In the Paris set comedy, Hepburn was Regina Lamford, the widow of a murdered thief who stole a fortune he was supposed to split with four Army buddies and they want it back. They included George Kennedy, wearing a metal hand, and James Coburn as "Tex" before his fame as Derek Flint. Walter Matthau was a character claiming to be Bartholomew, a CIA agent. Grant was a character who has many names before revealing he's a treasury agent in the last scene.

According to critic Barry Paris, "the structure and tone were full of smart dialogue, red herrings, single and double bluffs, and Parisian style." Charade was a surprise hit at the box-office, clearly Donin's biggest hit in his career, breaking all records at Radio City in New York. It was the year's fifth most profitable film, grossing $6.15 million dollars and inspiring a flock of comic thriller imitations with similar titles--Mirage, Caprice, Masquerade, Kaleidoscope, Blindfold. In a decade of considerable dross, Charade stood out and it still does.

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The Ipcress File (1965)

The first of the "Harry Palmer" films starring Michael Caine was intended to be very different from the Bond pictures even though its producer, Harry Saltzman, was co-producer of the most popular franchise in movie history. He looked to the Len Deighton novels about an unnamed agent and the results were three movies that all contributed to fictional espionage for various reasons. Funeral in Berlin (1965) emphasized script over special effects, with the final moments pulling together two plotlines leading to the unlikely scene of a thief trying to get into East Berlin instead of the other way around. Billion Dollar Brain (1967) showed how times had changed from the 1950s. Once, the idealistic American general who wanted to instigate World War III would have been praised as a patriot out to blast the Reds. In the more cynical '60s, he was defeated by both British Intelligence and the KGB together as both wanted a contained, limited Cold War.

But Ipcress remains the best of the trilogy as it established Harry Palmer as the antithesis to Bond, an irreverent, ironic, working-class agent who is coerced into government service because of his criminal skills. He'd prefer cooking to spying, doesn't want to spy on weekends, and would prefer not to carry a gun. Director Sidney Furie used experimental techniques to illustrate the eavesdropping nature of espionage including camera angles from under cars and through lampshades. In addition, the scene in which Palmer thinks he's being brain-washed in Albania while actually still being in London set the stage for the formula for mission: Impossible. MI creator Bruce Geller admitted this influence and shaped the concept for sting operations based on what he liked in Ipcress. Beyond all this, the fact the film is character driven with a good script makes it classic viewing even after the end of the Cold War. (For more details, see “From Harry Palmer to Austin Powers: A Spy-ography of Michael Caine” posted at this website.)

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Our Man Flint (1965)

During the 1960s, the Americans tried their best to outdo 007. Would-be heroes included Frankie Avalon, Dean Martin, Peter Lawford, and Sammy Davis, Jr. None of them came close to challenging Sean Connery with the possible exception of James Coburn as Derek Flint.

OMF was a lucky blend of factors including the still-beloved music by Jerry Goldsmith, the perfect tone of straight-faced parody in the script, production, and supporting cast, as well as the male ruggedness of the lead. The combination didn't really jell in the sequel, In Like Flint, but the original still makes later efforts like Austin Powers and Spyhard seem like exercises in the redundant.

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The Spy Who Came in From the Cold (1966)

For nearly forty years, the novels of John Le Carre' have been adapted for the screen, and the results have been uneven at best. When two of his George Smiley books were adapted into scripts, Le Carre' chose to have them turned into TV miniseries. He felt Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Smiley's People were too complex for a two-hour retelling.

Not so for Spy. When it debuted during the 007 heyday, the film was praised as a gritty anti-dote to the fantasies dominating drive-ins and Saturday afternoon matinees. Uniquely, Spy was a member of a rare breed, a movie that retained the flavor, tone, and spirit of the original novel. In this case, it's difficult to say which is better, the 1962 book or the Richard Burton, Claire Bloom drama about the costs paid by individuals caught up in the plans of bureaucracies that value secrets more than humanity.

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On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)

I don't know who coined the phrase, but Australian-born George Lazenby was dubbed "the human Bond" for his one contribution to the 007 saga. The unknown actor was helped by a script that was the last attempt to keep close to an Ian Fleming story. In a sense, OHMSS was sandwiched between the two most Moore-like of the Connery vehicles, You Only Live Twice and Diamonds Are Forever. Lazenby also benefited from a story that was the only true attempt at giving 007 a human relationship with his female lead, and its hard to imagine a better casting choice than ex-Avenger Diana Rigg. In fact, this film would have been an excellent action-drama no matter what the name of the main character might have been.

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The Day of the Jackal (1973)

When it first appeared, director Fred Zinneman's adaptation of the 1971 Frederick Forsythe novel was praised for being a film that kept to the spirit, suspense, and intentions of a book many consider a landmark in espionage fiction. Kenneth Ross's screenplay starred Edward Fox as the "Jackal," a killer out to get French President Charles De Gualle. This cipher, a man of disguise and deception, was tracked by Michel Lonsdale as Detective Claude Lebel who had to work outside of legal constraints and a French cabinet secretly hoping for the "Jackal"s success. Supported by an international cast and location shoots throughout England, France, and Italy, this film brought the assassination thriller into the mainstream. It's remembered for the clever gun "The Jackal" smuggles into France and the duel between two equal opponents, a formula often repeated but rarely, as it were, equaled.

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Three Days of the Condor (1975)

director Sidney Pollack's adaptation of James Grady's novel, Six Days of the Condor (1974), can be seen as The 39 Steps of the 1970s. In this case, Robert Redford starred as an enthusiastic, if naïve, CIA researcher. His job was to read adventure literature and journals to find new ideas and uncover possible leaks. Inadvertently, he stumbled across a conspiracy and found himself on the run in an obvious homage to themes from Alfred Hitchcock. Another Hitchcock twist was Redford's pulling an even more reluctant innocent, Faye Dunaway, into his chase, the two becoming partners after Redford convinced the fearful Dunaway about the truth of his circumstances. the story is typical of the '70s in that the hero flees his own agency rather than any international or independent adversary. While the style of the film is clearly dated, Condor is one of the best examples of a shift in movie making, that of looking for the enemy within rather than threats from evil madmen or ruthless Reds.

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Marathon Man (1976)

MM was a case where a novel and screenplay were as close as a writer could make them, especially since novelist William Goldman wrote them both. Both projects were seen as setting a new trend in spy fiction, that of a secret agent-turned-vigilante where heroes must act on their own when their organizations refuse to provide justice and retribution in the name of secrecy or agendas they view as more important. The dark, tense film starred Dustin Hoffman as a graduate student preparing for an Olympic marathon. He's haunted by memories of his father who was unfairly hounded into drink and suicide by Congressional hearings during the McCarthy era. Roy Scheider played Hoffman's secret agent brother, "Doc," who worked for a unit called the "Division" which took on jobs "in the gap between what the FBI can't do and what the CIA won't." After Doc's murder, Hoffman was chased and tortured by a Nazi fugitive (Laurence Oliver) who, in the end, left behind a trail of destruction simply to ensure he could safely collect diamonds from a bank without being robbed.

Co-starring Marthe Keller, directed by John Schlesinger, the film is remembered for its clever series of accidents and a notable torture scene in Olivier's dentist chair. The film won the year's Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor (Olivier) who was also nominated for an Academy Award.

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Eye of the Needle (1981)

Another Hitchcockian drama--in the sense of suspense and not dark humor. This major motion picture, based on a Ken Follett novel, involved Nazi spy Faber (Donald Sutherland) shipwrecked on a remote English island. Lonely and violent, Faber became involved with Kate Melligan who discovers she's alone with the murderer of her husband and must rely on herself to stop Faber's mission. For most reviewers, Sutherland was chilling in this underrated, Old-fashioned adventure. (For more details, see “Snarling and Skulking: A Spy-ography of Donald Sutherland” also posted at this website.)

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Hunt for Red October (1990)
Patriot Games (1992)
Sum of All Fears (2002)

It's well known that one spy-writer who doesn't like Tom Clancy films is Tom Clancy. Of course, his main beef is that Hollywood finds it difficult to streamline his complex novels into workable scripts. That is, if one expects literal adaptations.

Still, three of the Clancy films to date are very decent cinema for different reasons. Director John McTiernan's Hunt for Red October didn't do much for the character of Jack Ryan as played by Alec Baldwin. By all accounts, he was outshined by Sean Connery as
Soviet skipper Marko Ramius. in the film, Connery's sub commander had chosen to defect to preserve the balance of power while Ryan, a CIA annalist, finds his job is to persuade his American bosses not to overreact to what they perceive. At the time, reviewers felt this was a nod to the peace overtures from Russian Premier Gorbochov. The film can be seen as suggesting a promise of healthy revolution in the Soviet Union, the peaceful co-existence between East and West, and a shift in Hollywood as a Russian is the dominant hero in the film. Hunt stands as a significant artifact of its times, and few films with Sean Connery in a strong role loose value as the years pass.

Director Philip Noyce's version of Patriot Games was not on the same level, but was rather a condensed adaptation of the novel becoming essentially a duel between Ryan (Harrison Ford) and vengeful terrorist Sean Miller (Sean Bean). While Clancy thought Ford was too old for the part, audiences liked the Ford version of Ryan, a mature hero concerned with family matters as he protected his pregnant wife, his daughter, and their waterfront home from terrorists. Spies in the Ryan mold were no longer loners out for sexual conquest but were now "Everymen" with responsibilities grounding their purposes and adventures. Still, Ford’s 1994 return in Clear and Present Danger was uneven in audience response as Ryan battled Colombian drug cartels, outsmarted Oval Office conspirators, and told off the president of the United States. The original 1990 novel was one of Clancy’s more layered and complex outings, which made for great literature but not a two-hour drama.

For my money, Sum of All Fears is one of the most under-rated films in the genre and is in some ways the best Clancy film to date. Purists complain that Ryan was deputy director of the CIA in the 1991 book, but in the movie Ben Affleck took Ryan back to being a neophyte CIA analyst. Maybe so, but no film tried as hard to retain the core of Clancy's themes and approaches. In addition, times had changed after 9/11. The plot of terrorists to explode a nuclear bomb at the Super Bowl now had cautionary overtones. While Clancy again grumbled the film was not the same as his book, he sat with director Phil Alden Robinson to share his commentary for the DVD version and grudgingly admitted the film was a good piece of work. It is.

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True Lies (1994)

One above average Bondian blend of action-adventure, comedy, and big-budget special effects was director James Cameron's 1994 True Lies. Special agent Harry Tasker (Arnold Swartzeneger)worked for the ultra-secret, heavily technological Omega Sector headed by eye-patch wearing Charlton Heston. Tasker's wife Helen (Jamie Lee Curtis) thinks her husband is a boring computer salesman. While he's infiltrating the "Crimson Jihad," she's being pursued by a car salesman pretending to be a secret agent. Trying to teach her a lesson, Harry inadvertently pulls her into his dangerous world where she proves almost as adept as the 15 year veteran in deceit. By film's end, they've turned into Scarecrow and Mrs. King as both are now an undercover team. Good, clean fun.

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Men in Black (1996)

Throughout the history of espionage stories, the importance of science-fiction has been so prevalent that it's often hard to determine what genre to classify certain books, films, and TV shows. As discussed in other files at this website, script-writer Danny Beiderman coined the term, "Spy-Fi," to describe television shows from The Man From U.N.C.L.E., The Avengers, to the Wild Wild West. Very arguably, the best Roger Moore Bond outing, Moonraker (1979), was an obvious reflection of then popular movies like
Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

MIB, in fact, has many connections to the espionage genre. The film's title came from an actual NSA team of commandos who dress in black paramilitary uniforms and wear special headgear equipped with potent weapons. Film director Barry Sonnenfeld cast Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones as “MIB” agents of a shadow organization merging the NSA, CIA, and Immigration and Naturalization Services. In some reviews, the film was seen as using deadpan humor to parody Cold War melodramas like The Hunt for Red October and Crimson Tide where Secret Agents fought against apocalyptic nuclear war. The writers claimed they had their agents wearing suits and ties as a reference to the television series, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. There are plenty of other parodies to choose from and spy-comedy seems a bottomless pit of interest. Few films are as clever, innovative, and entertaining as Men in Black.

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Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)

Careful readers will already have noticed I didn't include either of the Timothy Dalton Bond entries, The Living Daylights (1987) or License to Kill (1989). For the record, I thought Dalton was a very worthy actor to pick up the mantle, and his desire to bring back Flemingesque aspects to the series was more than welcome. But the scripts seemed, to me, missed opportunities. Well, this is a discussion for another place.

Pierce Brosnon's debut in Goldeneye (1995) justly brought with it renewed excitement for the franchise. For my tastes, this new energy was best manifested in TND largely because Jonathan Price's Elliott Carver was a bad guy in the best Bond tradition. But he was a modern villain, a man who sought world domination in the form of profit and media control. Because of this new twist, the film had a touch of prophecy. In April 2001, a Red Chinese jet hit an American Navy spy plane working for the NSA over the China Sea, an incident reminiscent of the opening scenes in Tomorrow Never Dies. Elliott Carver had wanted to start a war between China and the U.S. by staging just such a confrontation to boost the ratings of his new CNN-like network.

In TND, we saw more of the new female "M" (Judy Dench), Bond operating in a terrorist weapons camp, and we saw poor Q witnessing first hand the destruction of one of his cherished special cars. In fact, the film was packed with everything any fan of Bond adventures love. Die Another Day (2002) tried to top it, and I imagine there are those who think it did. Very well, add DAD to your list. Bond girls, guns, and gadgets are forever.

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Enemy of the State (1998)

Director Tony Scott's prophetic 1998 film resonates with contemporary themes now even more than when it was originally released. Written by David Marconi and starring Will Smith, Gene Hackman, Jon Voight, and Lisa Bonet, the film opens with legislation being
Proposed to expand governmental surveillance powers. The NSA has a rogue element willing to kill those who seek to block these plans, and Smith becomes the film's "innocent" civilian drawn into the schemes with bugging devices planted in his house, phone, and clothes. Gene Hackman plays an independent electronics expert who helps Smith fight fire with fire.

The intelligent script clearly reflected its agenda of warning in the dialogue, situations, and "Mission: Impossible"-like use of electronic gadgetry. Enemy works as an above-average cinematic thriller, but its depth makes it a film for the 21st Century when debates over civil liberties vs. intelligence gathering remain fresh in news headlines. This one should have a long shelf life.

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Spy Game (2001)

Tony Scott returned to the spy biz with Spy Game starring Robert Redford and Brad Pitt. By any standard, this is one of the best espionage films ever made and certainly the best at trying to capture the history of the CIA--far better than 2006's The Good Shepard. The film is grounded in realism, human relationships, and a scope far beyond what most other films even attempt. On top of all this, the art direction in Spy Game was innovative as Scott filmed flashbacks in the style of movies from different time periods. For example, the Vietnam sequences were edited to look black-and-white with a green tint. The Berlin of the 1980s was filmed with the enhanced colors characteristic of movies of the era.

In his DVD commentary, Scott pointed to the father-son relationship of the Redford-Pitt characters as the central theme of the movie, a very different spin on the learned mentor-wise-ass novice motif in other films. In this story, Redford sacrificed his life savings to go around the agency on his last day of work to get Pitt out of prison. On another level, Spy Game was one of the first espionage films to feel the impact of 9/11. Spy Game's climactic moment involved a suicide bomber bringing down a building in Beirut, so Scott found he needed to make the scene "less operatic" and mor linear. Screenings 10 days after 9/11 showed audience response even more favorable than before, although Scott speculated for a few seconds, audiences would be out of the movie, thinking on its parallels to recent events. For a brief time, Universal held off release of the film, but all Hollywood quickly saw audiences were quickly rebounding from the images of the Trade Towers collapse. But the thought that went into the production on all levels paid off in a film that is artistic, fast-paced, and very human.

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The Bourne Identity (2002)
The Bourne Supremacy (2004)

Like many movies based on popular novels, director Doug Liman's version of the Robert Ludlum classic suffered most criticism from purists who don't like Hollywood taking liberties with sacred texts. In many cases, keepers of literary flames have a point. In this situation, former independent producer Liman took on the project for his own love of the book and gained support from Ludlum, taking five years to make the Matt Damon vehicle a reality. He kept the premise of Ludlum's book, that of a secret agent with amnesia, but added many details based on his knowledge of the Iran-Contra affairs of the Reagan administration.

Liman must be credited with a screenplay emphasizing character development and drama first, action second. While the director doesn't like the term "thinking man's spy," he stressed the fights in the film were character driven, as Damon's Jason Bourne had to discover his skills even though he didn't know where they came from. To demonstrate mind over fists, Damon tore a map off a wall and consulted it before a getaway. In promotions for the film, Damon pointed to this as an example of the quality of the script--most secret agents just jump in a car and race off as if they know where they're going. Filmed in seven countries, including Hungary, Italy, and France, the attention to detail gave the film's series of settings a level of realism unneeded in other blockbusters where explosions and allegedly witty dialogue are the point. But, of course, connections to past masters remain obvious. Bourne and Maria (Adewale Akinnuoye-Adbeje) are but the newest pair in the tradition of The 39 Steps, a reluctant couple pulled into matters far removed from ordinary life.

In various interviews publicizing the 2004 The Bourne Supremacy, Damon claimed there had been no plans for a sequel after the release of the first Bourne film. However, he liked the script for the follow-up saying the first movie was a story of "Who am I" and the second, "How did all this begin?" Shot in Moscow, Berlin, and Italy, Supremacy had nothing to do with the Ludlum book beyond the title and lead character. But critics still praised it as one of the best action-adventure releases of the summer. In this version, Bourne seeks to find out why his wife, Maria, was killed while the CIA tracked him down, believing he'd killed two agents in Berlin. In the end, Bourne and the agency alike learned he'd been framed and Bourne discovered the origins of his clandestine identity. Earning $53 million its first weekend, the film was said to be the highest-grossing spy film ever in its first week.

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Spartan (2003)

The highly-praised, if under watched Spartan deserves special recognition for writer-director David Mammet's script and the thoughtful character portrayals by Val Kilmer and the rest of this well-chosen cast. In this story of a President's daughter kidnapped and sent into white slavery, "nameless agents in nameless organizations" are called on to do the nation's business and are often on their own knowing their missions are unsanctioned and their orders only inferred and not stated. This theme was underlined in the unspecified situations in the film. For example, it's never stated the missing girl is the President's daughter but only hinted at in the discussion over her missing Secret Service protection and the cover-up that results.

The values in the film, according to Val Kilmer, are carried by the "nameless agents" who are efficent, poised, mentally and physically tough, and who expect to die in service to their country. True, the story included obligatory scenes as when the younger disciple has information his experienced mentor doesn't. But, in Kilmer's view, the movie showed what spies must act like in today's world, often out in the cold whether they play by the book or act in ways both illegal and not officially sanctioned.

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Casino Royale (2006)

How long has it been since a Bond film has been lavished with so many accolades? Audience and critical favor clearly signaled EON hit on something hot--resulting in the historical number of 9 BAFTA nominations.

Daniel Craig was the first Bond nominated for his role followed by:

THE ALEXANDER KORDA AWARD for the Outstanding British Film of the Year
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Neal Purvis/Robert Wade/Paul Haggis
THE ANTHONY ASQUITH AWARD for Achievement in Film Music: David Arnold
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Phil Meheux
EDITING: Stuart Baird
PRODUCTION DESIGN: Peter Lamont/Simon Wakefield
SOUND: Chris Munro/Eddy Joseph/Mike Prestwood Smith/Martin Cantwell/Mark Taylor
ACHIEVEMENT IN SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS: Steve Begg/Chris Corbould

These honors are but part of the response to what many feel was the best Bond of all. Simple said—more, please!

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