Cheers, Dustin. I expect I'll watch Losey's MODESTY BLAISE at some point, but I won't exactly be falling over myself to do so. At best, and to quote Dr Johnson, it looks like it's worth seeing but not worth going to see. Maybe I'll catch it on TV one day.
I'm much more interested in O'Donnell's book.
Well, you know, these days we rediscover an awful lot of stuff that's been forgotten by pop culture, swept away by the next big thing and the latest fad. But some of it was forgotten for a reason, and I strongly suspect MB-TMP may belong into that category. You can find fans of the 60's BATMAN series (lots of!), fans of the Dean Martin MATT HELM films (still a considerable number) and fans of 1967's CASINO ROYALE (have to look a bit but they are there).
Fans of the MODESTY BLAISE film are few and far between. And I have yet to find a single one that defends the film as a depiction of O'Donnell's characters and work. There is a trailer and a few clips on youtube, giving an authentic idea of the actual film and revealing the terrifying truth about what kind of material actually could make it on the silver screen - if circumstances are just right, that is. Not a pretty sight.
The book. Now, that's an entirely different matter.
As you know the Evening Standard strips were already going for a couple of years when the film project came into play. The pressure was on to find source material with 'spy/agent' written above, but also somehow different, so the decision to take this very popular comic then probably seemed quite natural. They got a script from O'Donnell, thanked him warmly, and before he was ushered out of the exec's office someone apparently asked him in an afterthought if he was willing to do a film tie-in. It's difficult to say exactly what their reaction was when O'Donnell agreed. But an educated guess might see us imagining a brief look of surprise and relief, because it meant they would not have O'Donnell troubling them with all sorts of complaints he didn't have any business voicing.
O'Donnell wrote the book as an origin story. His comic up to then had been quick to establish the basics, Modesty the former head of The Network, a freelance crime syndicate, Willie her lieutenant and platonic friend. A strong and assertive woman able to deal with unwanted attentions as well as the deadliest and most ruthless characters in crime and espionage. Both Modesty and Willie helping out Sir Gerald Tarrant, an M figure who has become a friend. And friendship is the entire motivation for Modesty and Willie, both having all the financial means they are ever likely to need. 'Honorary basis' it's called at the end of Modesty's first adventure. Modesty and Willie aren't looking for trouble, it finds them. And usually it regrets meeting them.
The second comic story sees Tarrant trying to get Willie to help him with an issue alone, but Willie insists on asking Modesty and she is of course involved from the start. So right from the start the emphasis is on the team of Modesty and Willie, and Modesty here clearly is the leader. Yet Willie isn't merely the muscle, he provides secret weapons and the most curious intelligence. And he's far from lacking initiative, can (and does) work quite independent whenever the situation asks for it.
All that was already there when the film loomed, but had yet to be given a literary form. O'Donnell didn't want to reinvent the character from scratch, but the different medium and readership also called for a deeper explanation of characters and a different timing. That's very evident in the first MODESTY BLAISE novel and if one is familiar with 63's strip 'La Machine' you can clearly see where O'Donnell retraced his own steps and ever so gently changed details to better fit what by then had become of Modesty Blaise and Willie.
This first book is still not what you'd call 'perfect'. But thankfully it was so well received and successful that it spawned the entire series of novels, so this at least is something we have to thank the ignominious film for. Setting and timing always remind me a bit of COLONEL SUN but it has much stronger characters and a better climax going for it. Mrs Fothergill alone would keep a half-dozen books by lesser writers going.
The second book SABRE-TOOTH ('66) already feels more comfortable in its shoes (there's irony for you, it deals with the invasion of Kuwait by a mercenary outfit) and I, LUCIFER ('67) then shows the Modesty-Willie-Tarrant chemistry in full working mode, together with the 'ordinary' characters that came to be an important element of the series and a favourite amongst fans. By this time the books have established a whole cosmos of lovingly drawn support characters that lend the series an added depth and credibility way beyond the outlandish themes and plots. And the mixture here really is a strong one, blending such unlikely elements as statistics, extra sensoric perception, blackmail, psychosis, pørn-marionette plays, dolphin conditioning and contract killings. If you want to see how all this adds up - and have a hell of a read in the bargain - pick up a copy of I, LUCIFER and rejoice in one of the most remarkable thrillers period.
