THE FILM
FILM DIRECTOR: Ralph Thomas
SCREENWRITER: Victor Canning
FILM STARS: Richard Todd, Eva Bartok, John Gregson, George Coulouris, Margot Grahame, David Hurst, Walter Rilla, Sid James, Eric Pohlmann
COUNTRY: Great Britain
THIS BOOK
AUTHOR: Victor Canning
TYPE: Novel
PUBLISHER: Pan
THIS EDITION PUBLISHED: 1957
COUNTRY: Great Britain
COVER: Paperback
THE ORIGINAL BOOK
ORIGINAL AUTHOR: As Above
YEAR FIRST PUBLISHED: 1950
ORIGINAL BOOK TITLE: The film title
NOTES
GENRE: Crime
WORDS: The book by Canning has its twists and turns (many of them) but could have been set anywhere. Canning sets his novel in post war Italy (specifically Venice) but the politics and intrigue that was cold war Northern Italy circa 1950 isn’t really captured. The hero, a detective, if from the familiar worldly, weary but still searching and honourable deep down school.
The film (also known as “The Assassin” in the US) is wonderful in capturing in time and place, mainly because the exteriors were shot entirely on location in Venice. The story is more straightforward, or comes across that way, so we end up with a great whodunit mystery which also serves as a travelogue of Venice of 1952. What’s there not to like. Richard Todd is, great. Much underrated and, largely, forgotten today.
Love the cover art … Bond before Bond?
FILM EXTRACT
Venice at night circa 1952, romantic and alternatively dangerous (and a nice lack of tourists in cargo shorts with bum bags)
Richard Todd was in a number of English war movies in the 1950’s such as “The Dambusters”. He played a paratrooper in “The Longest Day” in charge of an attack on a bridge- in real life he took part in the actual attack.
The poster is striking- he looks like the depiction of Bond in some of the early paperbacks covers.
I must check the movie out on YouTube.
Are you going to do the “Third Man” as part of your series?
I just noticed that Sid James, pre-carry on, was in the cast. I didn’t know he did straight dramatic roles.
Often thought there should have been a Carry On Spying film parodying Bond etc.
Sid could do it all. He was in a lot of straight roles. Hew was busy. It seems he was in just about every English film made in the 50s
Yes, I like Richard Todd. He isn’t remembered as well as some of the other English stars. And, yes, good observation the book does look like one of the Pan Bond paperbacks.
I don’t think I have a movie version of “The Third Man” …. though I might