25Jan13 The Two Edged Sword

Author: L.B. Earle
Publisher: Horwitz
Published: 1965
Book No: 31

Following on from Tuesday’s post about Prisoner of War pulp fiction, published in Australia in the 1960s. Here’s another one, The Two Edged Sword. Once again, I have not read this one, but it would appear that this time American Marines are the target for brutality inflicted by the Japanese.

As with all Horwitz books, there is little information available on the author (the National Library of Australia lists this as his only work).

Front:

Here, in this hell camp, the bestiality of the inquisitors revealed war in its most terrible aspect.

Back:

The two edged sword became the symbol of Captain Yakahito’s rule of terror on the lonely outpost of Wake Island, the Japanese and American marines are locked in deadly combat. The unequal struggle is soon over, the island is taken by the enemy and the surviving marines are taken prisoner by the Japanese.

Captured, interrogated, beaten and tortured, the men are taken to one of the infamous prison camps deep in the Burmese jungle on the Thai border.

Menaced by the sun, ravaged by disease, with starvation and despair their only companions, they plan to escape – but their only hope is help from the outside.

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23Jan13 1966 NBC Promo Posters


I SPY NBC 1966 POSTER


MAN FROM UNCLE NBC 1966 POSTER


GET SMART NBC 1966 POSTER

These posters were part of a lot sold in May, 2011 at Heritage Auctions. The UNCLE poster is by an artist named Allison (from the signature), and went for $84. The I Spy poster is by Gustav Rehberger, and went for $179. The Get Smart is by Mad Magazine veteran Jack Davis and went for $120. Originally, these were sold by NBC for just a few bucks, apparently. The best source I’ve seen on the posters is at the I Spy forum, where Tatia writes:

“The eleven promotional posters produced to be given to NBC’s major affiliates as decorations for parties celebrating their 1966 season premieres were Bonanza, Daniel Boone, Flipper, Get Smart, Hey Landlord, I Spy, The Monkees, Star Trek, T.H.E. Cat, The Girl From U.N.C.L.E., and The Man From U.N.C.L.E. NBC did offer the Bonanza, Get Smart and I Spy for sale for a very limited time afterwards.”

This post first appeared on the Mister 8 website in December 2011.

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22Jan13 Beasts of Bushido

Author: Michael Owen
Publisher: Scripts
Published: 1967
Book No: 13

I have not actually read this book, which I picked up in a second hand shop last year. But I have a fascination with the strange sub-genre of war action adventure books that came out in Australia in the mid 1960s.

Rather than being stories about heroes routing the Japanese in a series of fierce encounters, these stories are more about survival. The heroes are men captured by the Japanese and imprisoned. They prove their courage and worth by being the most resilient – or even giving their lives for a just cause.

In Australia, at that time, there was a lot of resentment towards the Japanese for their treatment towards Australian (and other) P.O.W.s in WWII. As such, and I am guessing because I am too young to truly know (and understand), the popularity of these books was in part, because they celebrated those that never came back. As the blurb says, as you can read below, Of more than 2,500 men who slaved for the Bushido in Borneo only 16 survived. This is the story of one of them…

So in a sense, the books are a celebration of death. As I have mentioned before, my great uncle Jim, died working on the Burma Railway. The family has few details of what happened. I guess a book like this offers an insight into what many of the ‘boys’ went through – an ultimately a sense of closure (for some).

When I first picked up a few of these books, my first reaction was that they were slightly distasteful; exploitative; trading in human misery. But I think I was wrong – or at least that was not the writer’s intention. The Kent and Slater Nazi and Japanese romances may be an exception. But that is a discussion for another day.

Front:

An Australian P O W struggles for survival against inhuman odds in the hell camps of Malaya and Borneo.

Back:

“Saito ordered the Warrant Officer to execute the first prisoner.”

The W.O. stepped forward, raised he is sword and brought it down hard across the man’s neck. Cole closed his eyes quickly, hearing only the swish of the long sword and the dreadful hard as a connected with the prisoners neck. He tried to keep his eyes closed but some appalling force over which he had no control forced him to open them. The stroke had not severed the man’s head…”

Private James “King” Cole thought wall was hell, until he was taken prisoner by the Japanese in the fall of Singapore… And from then on and he found out what the hell was really like!

Of more than 2,500 men who slaved for the Bushido in Borneo only 16 survived. This is the story of one of them…

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21Jan13 Raw Deal (1977)

Country: Australia
Director: Russell Hagg
Starring: Gerard Kennedy, Gus Mercurio, Rod Mullinar, Christopher Pate, Hu Pryce, Norman Yemm, John Cousins, Michael Carman
Music: Ronald Edgeworth

In the 1970s, two of the most popular actors in Australia were Gerard Kennedy and Gus Mercurio who starred in the television series Tandarra (1976), which was a period piece set in colonial Australia. I remember thinking it was the best show on television as a kid – I couldn’t have been more than eight or nine years old. It seems strange now, to realise that there were only 13 episodes made. I must have watched a lot of repeats – or get it confused with Cash and Company, which was made a year earlier, and starred Mercurio as the same character.

The chemistry on screen between Gus and Kennedy was a key ingredient to the show, and it was not so surprising that they were teamed up once again for Raw Deal, a kangaroo western. I saw Raw Deal in the mid 1980s, when it was release on VHS, and thought it was pretty damn good. But it is one of those movies that has all but disappeared off the face of the earth. I have spent the last fifteen years hunting high and low for a copy.

At last a copy has landed in my lap. Is the film as good as I remember? Short answer: Yes!

Gus Mercurio discusses the benefits of a Winchester rifle

The story starts in an un-named rural settlement. A gang of marauders, known as the Tyrones ride into town, assemble the town folk, and then begin to steal their money and jewelery. However two men refuse to acquiesce to the Tyrone’s wishes. They are Palmer (Gerard Kennedy) – a man with a reputation as a mercenary; and Ben (Gus Mercurio) – and American gun salesman, who just so happens to have a supply of the latest Winchester repeater rifles.

Naturally enough, a gunfight ensues – with Palmer and Ben, despite being outnumbered, proving their gun-fighting prowess.

Gerard Kennedy & Gus Mercurio teaching the Tyrones some manners

Palmer and Ben’s fighting prowess bring them to the attention of an English powerbroker named Sir Charles (John Cousins). Sir Charles is worried about the Tyrone’s increasing numbers. They are almost like a small army, and it is feared they may start a rebellion (remembering that when this movie is set, Australia was still an English colony). He attributes their strength to their charismatic and daring leader, an Irishman named, O’Neil (Norman Yemm). Sir Charles figures if O’Neil was assassinated, the threat would be contained.

But he needs assassins, and Palmer and Ben appear to be perfect for the job. For a hefty fee, they agree to do Sir Charles’ dirty work.

Young Dick (Christopher Pate) about to be cured of his virginity

However, as brave and undoubtedly talented with a gun they may be, two men against an army is sheer folly. So they recruit some men to assist with their daring raid. They include: womanising ‘dandy’, Alex (Rod Mullinar), seasoned soldier, Ned (Hu Pryce), and young con-man, Dick (Christopher Pate).

The five men, armed with a hearse full of dynamite, set off across the desert to take on the Tyrones. And of course, the odds are stacked against them, but never for a moment does it appear like they are outmatched.

However, as the movie is called ‘Raw Deal’, there is some treachery involved at the climax – and once again Palmer and Ben’s gun fighting skills are put to the test.

Kennedy and Gus blasting their way to freedom

As Raw Deal has no nudity, or ultra violence, it flew under the radar when Ozploitation became popular due to the documentary, Not Quite Hollywood. The film still remains MIA, but I hope someone like Madman or Umbrella choose to seek it out, and get it out there on DVD or Bluray. It’s a good solid western, that should have a better reputation, and deserves to be seen.

Thanks to ST, for helping me acquire a copy of this gem of a movie.

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20Jan13 Harry Palmer Files – 002 – The IPCRESS File Board Game

Every Sunday, we’ll be looking at the Harry Palmer series of novels (in which the character doesn’t actually have a name), their author — Len Deighton, the films based on them, the star of those films — Michael Caine, and the television movies that followed, and giving my thoughts on all I encounter. I’ll inevitably be drawing heavily on the collection of Kees Stam, author of The Harry Palmer Movie Site, and Rob Mallows, creator of the Deighton Dossier, and other odds and ends that I’ve turned up over the years.

I first saw this item in a photograph advertising the Geppi’s Entertainment Museum of Baltimore and have been curious about it since. This week, I found one online in an ebay auction. I’ve contacted the seller, Joe, and he has kindly consented to let us use pictures of the board and game pieces here for our Harry Palmer discussion.

Joe describes the game as follows:

“The IPCRESS File,” a board game issued in 1966 by Milton Bradley. Game No. 4643. A suspense / espionage game modeled after the popular 1965 British espionage film starring Michael Caine as “Harry Palmer, the cool British agent,” and Len Deighton’s 1962 novel, “The IPCRESS File.”

* For 2 to 4 players
* For ages 10 to adult
* Object: Get the “Double Agent” before he gets you
* Average play time 25 minutes

The game is 100 percent complete. It includes board, 24 cards, four agent pieces, four stands (one for each agent piece), two red-and-gold dice and original box.

IPCRESS File game box

IPCRESS File game board

IPCRESS File game pieces

Another view of IPCRESS File game box

This post originally appeared on the Mister 8 website, July 3rd, 2009.

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19Jan13 In their own (code) words: 2

Welcome to this week’s installment of ‘in their own (code) words’, one of a series of posts, featuring excerpts from the writings of the world’s spymasters.

I’m taking from Allen Dulles’ The Craft of Intelligence, written in 1963. Dulles (1893-1969) had a long and storied career in intelligence, including a role as the first civilian director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Today’s excerpt deals with the planting of Soviet spies that Dulles calls “illegals”:

…Outside the embassy and buried away under the guise of some harmless occupation, perhaps in a bookstore or a photography shop, was quite another center devoted to the “dirty” operations. This was headquarters of the “illegal residentura,” composed mainly of officers who over a period of years had carefully been turned into personages whom it would be almost impossible to identify as Soviet nationals, much less as intelligence personnel. The illegal, unless apprehended with the agent or betrayed by him, can disappear into the woodwork if something goes wrong. There will be no trail leading to a Soviet diplomatic installation to embarrass or discredit it…

…A man chosen for illegal work in any of its aspects will be sent to live abroad for as many years as it takes him to perfect his knowledge of the language and way of life of another country. He may even acquire citizenship in the adopted country. But during this whole period he has absolutely no intelligence mission. He does nothing that would arouse suspicion. When he has become sufficiently acclimatized, he returns to the Soviet Union, where he is trained and documented for his intelligence mission, and eventually dispatched to the target country, which may be the same one he has learned to live in or a different one. It matters little, for the main thing is that he is unrecognizable as a Soviet or Eastern European. He is a German or a Scandinavian or a South American. His papers show it, and so do his speech and his manners…

…When an intelligence service goes to all the trouble to retool and remake a man so that he can succeed in losing himself in the crowd in another country, it naturally does so in the expectation that the man will stay put and remain active and useful for a long period of time. There is no rotation here of the sort that is common among officials of most diplomatic and intelligence services. Also, for obvious reasons, if the “illegal” has a family, the family does not accompany him. The wives and children cannot also be “made over.” He goes alone, and even his communications to his wife and children must necessarily be limited and must pass through secret channels…

This post first appeared on the Mister 8 website (November 27th, 2009).

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13Jan13 Harry Palmer Files – 001 – RIP Karl Malden / Leo Newbegin


This post originally appeared on the Mister 8 website, July 3rd, 2009 and coincided with the passing of actor Karl Malden

Starting today, and continuing every Sunday, we’ll be looking at the Harry Palmer series of novels (in which the character doesn’t actually have a name), their author — Len Deighton, the films based on them, the star of those films — Michael Caine, and the television movies that followed, and giving my thoughts on all I encounter. I’ll inevitably be drawing heavily on the collection of Kees Stam, author of The Harry Palmer Movie Site, and other odds and ends that I’ve turned up over the years.

I’ve been intending this series of posts for awhile, and it’s unfortunate that the sad news of the death of Karl Malden serves as the kick-off to the series, but so it goes…

Karl Malden credit in Billion Dollar Brain

In the last film of the Palmer trilogy, Billion Dollar Brain, Malden played Leo Newbegin, an old acquaintance of Harry’s who wants to get him involved in a profitable venture involving a supercomputer and a megalomaniacal Texas billionaire. Newbegin’s true goals aren’t cooperative or altruistic, but self-serving. In the end, he’s brought down by that commonplace Achille’s heel, love for a cold and uncaring, yet beautiful blonde.

Billion Dollar Brain was certainly not the highlight of Malden’s career (actually, it’s hard to put a finger on a single highlight — was it How the West Was Won? On the Waterfront? Patton? His role on television’s Streets of San Francisco?), but even here, in a mostly thankless role, he excels. In his character’s debut, he’s nude in a sauna, greeting the secret agent turned detective who once saved his life:

“It’s a bit warm in here for me, Leo,” says Palmer.

“Well don’t be shy, take your clothes off,” replies Newbegin. Then, responding to Palmer’s hesitation: “Oh, come on, don’t be so British!”

In fact, why don’t we enjoy that entire scene, which may have also been, as you’ll see in the end, an influence on nude scenes in the Austin Powers films:

Malden was one of those classic character actors, always recognizable from the bulbous nose he got from twice breaking it as a youth, but also melting into any character put before him. Malden would substantially improve any film that he was a part of, this one included.

Kees was kind enough to upload an interview with Malden from the set of Billion Dollar Brain. I thought this exchange was especially interesting:

Interviewer: It seems that the heroes of films today are the new ugly so-called, as opposed to the pretty boys of yesterday.

Malden: I think they’re coming to their fore — they’re just beginning to come to their fore. I think you take a look at Burt Lancaster. You take a look at Lee Marvin, you take a look at Ernest Borgnine, who is kind of the leader of this whole thing. I think we’re gonna have our day, and I belong in that category, the leading man, the ugly leading man…

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12Jan13 In their own (code) words: 1

Welcome to the first part of a six part series, ‘in their own (code) words’. This series first ran in November/December 2009, on the Mister 8 website.

I’m looking at Allen Dulles’ rather stolid The Craft of Intelligence, written in 1963. Dulles (1893-1969) had a long and storied career in intelligence, including a role as the first civilian director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Operating in countries which have recently obtained their freedom from colonial status, the Communist movement endeavors to present itself as the protector of the liberated peoples against their former colonial overlords. In support of these activities, promising young men and women from the target areas are invited to Moscow for education and indoctrination in the expectation that they may become the future Communist leaders in their homelands. Also they bring to the bloc for training in intelligence and subversion individuals of a different type who on their return will help to direct the local Communist party apparatus.

As a part of the apparat, Moscow also vigorously uses all the instrumentalities of its propaganda machine. In one year, according to the Soviet Ministry of Culture’s report, the Soviets published and circulated approximately thirty million copies of books in various foreign languages. This literature is widely and cheaply distributed through local bookstores, made available in reading rooms and in their information and so-called cultural centers. In many countries throughout the world, they control newspapers and have penetrated and subsidized a large number of press outlets of various kinds which do not present themselves openly as Communist.

With some of the most powerful transmitting stations in the world, they beam their messages to practically every major area of the world. They step up their propaganda to the particular target areas which they consider to be the most vulnerable, and adjust it as their policy dictates. An organization known as the All Union Society for Cultural Relations Abroad, which poses as an independent organization but is strictly controlled by the Communist party of the Soviet Union, endeavors to establish cultural ties with foreign countries, supply Soviet films and arrange programs to be given by Soviet artists.

Then the foreign news agency of the Soviet Union, well known as Tass, a state-controlled enterprise, has offices in more than thirty major cities of the Free World. It adjusts its “news” to meet Soviet objectives in the recipient country. All these instruments of propaganda are part and parcel of what is called the agitprop.

These organizations and assets teamed together are, in a sense, Moscow’s orchestra of subversion. many of these instruments, and in some cases all of them, can be and are used under Moscow’s careful supervision to bring pressure on any country they are seeking to subvert, or as a background to prepare for future subversion. They keep the orchestra playing, even to those countries like the United States, where the burying process, even by their estimation, is far removed.

Such is the apparatus of subversion we face today in the cold war the Communists have forced upon us, and I have added a glance at the history of the immediate past in dealing with it. To meet this threat we will need to mobilize assets and apply them vigorously at the points of greatest danger and in time–before a take-over, that is before a new Communist regime becomes firmly installed. Experience so far has indicated that once the Communist security services and the other elements of the apparat get their grip on a country, there are no more free elections, no way out.

This post first appeared on the Mister 8 website (November 20th, 2009).

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10Jan13 Rumble in the Jungle: Available Now!

My second Fight Card novelette, Rumble in the Jungle is now live and available for kindle (the paperback shouldn’t be far away).

The Fight Card books are a blast to write, so when I finished up my first entry in the series, King of the Outback, I immediately knew I wanted to write another. However, I thought I had gone as far as I could with the characters in that story. That is to say, I couldn’t write a direct sequel. So I had to look for a new tale to tell. My first thoughts drifted toward a tale set in the seedy American underworld. But other writers in the Fight Card series – such as Eric Beetner and Heath Lowrance – had already written fantastic books showcasing boxing, intermingled with the American underworld. I knew I couldn’t walk down that path, or if I did, all I would be doing, was writing a limp pastiche of what had gone before.

So to move forward, I knew I had to look for other ideas and settings. The first flash of inspiration came on the train to work. I happened to be listening to an audio book of Ian Fleming’s Moonraker, and a passage described how James Bond looked to casual observers. Here’s the passage.

Moonraker. Ian Fleming (1956) – page 28 of the Pan paperback (24th printing, 1969).

And what could the casual observer think of him, ‘Commander James Bond, CMG, RNVSR’, also ‘something at the Ministry of Defence’, the rather saturnine young man in his middle thirties sitting opposite the Admiral? Something a bit cold and dangerous in that face. Looks pretty fit. May have been attached to Templer in Malaya. Or Nairobi. Mau Mau work. Tough looking customer. Doesn’t look the sort of chap one usually sees in Blades.

Mau Mau work. The idea of setting the story during the Mau Mau rebellion in Kenya peaked my interest. It suited the time frame perfectly, as the Fight Card books are all set in the 1950s. And on the surface, the Mau Mau seemed like a ready-made villain. I thought it would be great to drop a boxer, smack dab into the middle of that conflict.

However, the conflict was far too complex and multi-faceted to provide an entertaining framework to build a story around. At least, without spending many thousands of words on lengthy explanations of the conflict – certainly not suitable for a 25,000 word novelette. Also, history has changed the perception of the Mau Mau conflict greatly. What was once considered a violent rebellion is now considered a turning point to Kenyan democratic freedom. So unlike in Fleming’s time, the Mau Mau are now the good guys.

Instead, I created the fictitious country of Sezanda, and the villains are not so much the Sezanda Socialist Army (standing in for the Mau Mau), but a group of neo-Nazis who are behind a similar style of rebellion.

I was sad to see the Mau Mau go, but if I continued with the style of story I wanted to write, I would have appeared as a blinkered, ignorant, racist – which was certainly not my intention. I simply wanted a conflict as background, to drop my protagonists into. But that’s the thing with any conflict I guess, there is always two sides.

So I had a setting. Now I needed a hero. In King of the Outback, Tommy King is a ready-made hero. Right from the get-go, he has the tools (his fists) and attitude to fight for what’s right. In some ways he is a ‘superman’, albeit one who bleeds – a lot! This time I wanted the main protagonist to be somewhat more of a ‘reluctant hero’.

As it happened, I was watching an old Chuck Norris film, A Force of One (please don’t hold that against me). What struck me, was how much more enjoyable it was than many of Chuck’s later offerings, in which he would play pretty much a superman. In A Force of One, Chuck, despite his formidable skills, refuses to be drawn into the local police’s attempts to track down a karate killer. Chuck does not want to get involved. But of course, after the bad guys mess with Chuck’s family (bad move), he does become involved, and when that happens, there is a palpable frisson. It is a Hell Yeah! moment. We know Chuck didn’t start the fight, but he is damn well going to finish it.

In Rumble in the Jungle, I wanted to use a similar style protagonist. A man who does not want to fight, but has no other option. In the story, that man is Brendan O’Toole, a man who has lost everything and wants to be left alone. But as civil war breaks out in Africa, O’Toole is left with very little choice but to fight.

I am proud of Rumble in the Jungle. I think it serves up the kind of characters and pugilistic action fans of the Fight Card series have come to expect. It contains more action than two full length novels, and hits harder than a Mack truck. But it also brings something new to the series. It is a story of love, loss, redemption and ultimately standing up to tyranny and oppression. I hope you enjoy it.

Hell’s Kitchen, 1953

Brendan O’Toole is on a downward slide. When his wife dies in a freak car accident, he quits his job and hits the bottle hard. Half tanked in the ring, he allows himself to be knocked out, ending his boxing career.

O’Toole, hits rock bottom, after a night of boozing, he is brutally mugged and left for dead. But O’Toole has friends, even if he can’t see it. One of them is Danny Reilly, the barman with a heart of gold. He arranges for O’Toole to join a construction crew, set to work on a hotel being built in the Central African jungle nation of Sezanda. It O’Toole’s last shot at redemption.

Sezanda, Central Africa, 1954

As things begin to look up for O’Toole, the Sezandan government is overthrown in a military coup. All foreigners are taken prisoner, and locked in concentration camps. O’Toole is sent to the worst, HELL CAMP XXI, under the control of a brutal ex-Nazi, Kommandant Krieger. Krieger has a special way of keeping the prisoners under control. In the camp, he has erected a boxing ring. And anyone who steps out of line is forced to face off against his man-mountain, wrecking machine, Crator – a man whose sole purpose is to inflict pain.

Fate has destined Brendan O’Toole to don the gloves one more time, in a fight not just for his life, but his very soul.

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3Jan13 From Hong Kong With Love

From Hong Kong With Love (Original Title: Bon Baisers De Hong Kong) is a film I have been trying to track down for years. It is naturally enough, a Bond spoof, and it features Bernard Lee and Lois Maxwell (which makes it an interesting curio for Bond fans).

I have never found an English version of it – but on Youtube, there is this French version. I have only watched the first five minutes (I have to hit the road today, and return to Melbourne), but the set up at least, is very easy to follow. Enjoy.

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