Sun 18 Oct 2020
Reviewed by David Vineyard: PETER O’DONNELL – I, Lucifer.
Posted by Steve under Reviews[3] Comments
PETER O’DONNELL – I, Lucifer. Modesty Blaise #3. Souvenir Press, UK, hardcover, 1967. Doubleday, US, hardcover, 1967. Fawcett Crest T1234, US, paperback, 1969. Mysterious Press, US, paperback, 1984.
Enter Lucifer, the strange young man whose belief that he is Satan incarnate is matched only by his ability to predict the death of those soon to die of natural causes.
In the hands of the sinister Seff, killer Jack Wish, and nervous Dr. Bowker, Lucifer is the key to a murderous extortion racket with Seff extracting ransom from the wealthy whose death Lucifer predicts — helped along when needed by Wish, Seff’s executioner.
But Lucifer has a wild talent and Seff needs more control in order to insure their continued profit.
A young man named Stephen Collier, who just happens to be a close friend of Modesty Blaise and Willie Garvin, whose unexpected presence will put them both in deadly danger at Lucifer’s rocky island fortress in the North Sea Hau Lobrigo.
Exotic Modesty Blaise and her Cockney partner Willie Garvin first appeared in a hit comic strip written by veteran comic strip writer Peter O’Donnell and artist James Holdway. With the popularity of the James Bond craze, O’Donnell decided to branch out to books as well, with Modesty soon appearing in the a bestselling hit bearing her name, which also produced a film with Monica Vitti and Terence Stamp as Modesty and Willie (the less said about that, the better). Sabre Tooth, the second Modesty Blaise novel followed, and in 1967, I, Lucifer.
Of the twelve novels and two collections of short stories that followed (not including the collections of the long running comic strip), I, Lucifer is my favorite.
Collier is involved with Modesty, whom he finds as mysterious as her history (one time head of the criminal organization the Network turned very wealthy and well connected sometime helper to Sir Gerald Tarrant and the British government). Nor does he quite understand the non-sexual but close relationship with Willie Garvin, a former kick boxer she rescued and made into her second in command and most trusted friend. Willie purchased a pub with his profits and lives near Modesty.
Readers of the long running series know the Platonic but close friendship of the two is the most intriguing mystery the series offers, and O’Donnell keeps that puzzle and that relationship at the heart of the series front and center, even as others move in and out of their lives. It’s a question O’Donnell cleverly doesn’t answer even in Cobra Trap when he writes the final story in the series.
Somehow Modesty never did successfully transfer to the screen despite a television pilot with Ann Turkel, and a Quentin Tarantino produced movie My Name Is Modesty, made to keep the rights to a bigger production that never came.
But the books are more than enough compensation, along with the internationally syndicated comic strip.
Modesty and Willie are put onto Seff and Jack Wish by their friend Sir Gerald, but their plan to infiltrate Hau Lobrigo is thrown a loop when Modesty gets in only for Willie, observing from binoculars, to find Stephen Collier there as well ready to blow Modesty’s cover.
As complications arise it becomes clear to Modesty she not only has to get Collier free, but also the innocent Lucifer, victim of his own delusion and Seff’s deadly plans despite Collier’s objections of how dangerous her plan is.
“He’ll blow you Modesty!â€
“You’re getting the jargon aren’t you. But you blew me once yourself, remember?†The soft-spoken words were unjust and hurt badly. He knew she had used them deliberately, to stop argument by crushing him. Before he could form an argument she went on. “Do as I say, Steve. And as Willie says when you get back to him. Otherwise you’ll wreck the job. Haven’t you learned this is our kind of business?â€
Through battle, near death, serious injury, and scrapes so close there are tooth marks in them Modesty and Willie will triumph and the bad guys will meet the kind of fate they deserve in the most satisfying of ways. It is indeed, their “kind of business.â€
And as always Modesty remains Modesty, she and Willie enigmatic as her American millionaire friend John Dall (Sabre Tooth) explains to Collier.
“Well then…maybe one day she’ll call you,†said Dall. “Or maybe she’ll call me. Or not. Of course, you can figure you’re not the kind of guy that waits for a girl to say when. She won’t mind. She doesn’t reckon to have you on a string, so there will be no hard feelings. You can always say you’re busy.â€
“And what will you say?
Dall laughed. “I’m always busy. But not that busy, by God.â€
Which pretty much sums up my long relationship with Modesty.
I’m never so busy I won’t answer her call.
October 19th, 2020 at 2:29 pm
A couple of thoughts:
1. With all that she has going for her — a good looking female agent at the top of her game — it’s my impression that Modesty Blaise has been nowhere nearly as popular in this country as she is/was in England. Am I wrong about that? And if not, why do you think that’s so?
2. The movie and TV movies she has been in have been abysmal, and I don’t think that’s an understatement. What aspect of the Modesty stories are the movie-makers missing out on?
October 19th, 2020 at 5:22 pm
I’ll take the second question first, movie makers tend to make Modesty too super human, her strength in book and comic strip is based on long hours of work and practice much the way James Bond often goes into training before a mission, and they never get the relationship with Willie Garvin right.
That last is key.
The filmmakers always try to create a sexual tension between Modesty and Willie that does not exist. While there is no brother/sister thing going, the nature of the relationship based on deep friendship, loyalty, and trust is almost impossible to portray in film. In that first film they misunderstood so much they had Modesty and Willie (Monica Vitti and Terence Stamp) singing about whether they should kiss or not during a gunfight!
They are a perfectly matched fighting machine, each absolutely trusting the others ability, and perfectly balanced emotionally and physically. What “rivalry” exists is more play than serious in that they are always making ridiculous bets to test each other.
In one book Modesty is captured by the bad guys, where Willie is undercover as a gang member, and he has to standby while she is sexually assaulted and even pretend to attack her himself. Such is their relationship, trust, and almost inhuman professionalism that they use it to their advantage to outsmart the bad guys. I cannot imagine pulling that off in a film, but it is typical of the trust and faith they have in each other. It is also a tribute to O’Donnell that the scene is not exploitive and the characters reactions are both sensitive to what happens and realistically willing to use something that can’t be avoided to their advantage.
It is no mean feat that the scene is not the least sexual and the characters both humanly vulnerable and inhumanly capable. One key factor in the books is that Modesty and Willie both often have to take time after an adventure to rebuild emotionally and physically. Despite the super human aspects of their adventures the emotional and physical toll is always shown.
Another problem is Modesty is a totally free spirit. She just doesn’t play as most female characters, there are no mystery men, no one soulmate (other than Willie), in fact her “type,” if she has one, tends to be a bit wounded and often immature or childlike and is almost totally different than what most screenwriters would do. The only competent man in her romantic life is John Dall, an American millionaire, who often comes to her aid when government can’t, but who absolutely trusts her physical ability to out think and out fight him.
Perhaps the most interesting thing is few if any in the series, good or bad, underestimate Modesty because she is a woman, and those who do end up dead. I can’t think of another major female series lead who has no romantic entanglements with anyone who is her equal save maybe Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor. In the whole series not one single man anywhere near equal to Modesty in brains or ability is ever romantically tied to her.
The whole setup goes against basic screenwriting 101, a strong woman must only be attracted to an equally strong man.
The few films that come close to Modesty seem incapable of portraying a strong woman without also having her somehow trained and tied to a strong attractive male. Ironically the film that felt more like Modesty than any other was THE LAST GOOD KISS with Geena Davis teamed with Samuel Jackson though SALT had its moments too and LITTLE NIKITA.
I have some hope for Black Widow since the character was modeled loosely on Modesty.
As for her American popularity, she has a large, but still select American following, but two factors work against her. The first is there was never a decent film to introduce her to American audiences and the second is that the frequent nudity, mild sexuality, and violence in the comic strip meant it had limited circulation in American papers.
The books and strip collections sell well still on Amazon, but aren’t available in e-book form, a major mistake.
If most Americans know her today it is from a really bad camp movie that got almost everything wrong foisted on us by Joseph Loesy who, while a fine director, had no businss directing a Modesty Blaise movie since he didn’t understand the appeal at all.
Still the rights to film the books are usually in option from someone. I think Tarantino lost the rights eventually, but I would not be too surprised to see Modesty on the screen again. Done right the books have a timeless quality, and Modesty’s origin as a stateless war orphan is not all that hard to update in this violent world.
I just hope they finally get it right.
Incidentally MY NAME IS MODESTY is a decent introductory story to the character. The actress playing Modesty may be a bit slight, and the fact there is no Willie Garvin is a disappointment, but it works, and that last line is simply a delight. It serves as a decent intro to the character.
October 19th, 2020 at 6:38 pm
Thank you, David. Between your original review and this long followup, I believe this to be the definitive statement on Modesty Blaise. Her books are fairly easily available, especially the British paperback editions, but you’re right. I think they would sell quite well as ebooks, and who ever owns the estate should look into it. I hope this review will have people out looking!