Casinos are a good metaphor in spy fiction. The high stakes of international espionage are represented by the poker chip - tokens of currency for dangerous gambling, where one's life is the biggest, most ultimate gamble of all. It is a sophisticated, scintillating chandelier-filled world whose glamorous girls and cocktails intoxicate the audience with thrills, if not champagne. Win? Lose? Friend? Foe? The sensible secret agent never cuts his losses nor quits while he's ahead, but plays it through to the bitter end. Okay, I've probably built this up too much. I picked out some episodes of espionage television from the '50s and '60s that center around casinos. Obviously the number is very limited, and I included The Saint; a tenuous entry as Simon Templar isn't exactly a spy, although he does arguably fit many of the tropes of spy fiction. Principally, he is a suave globe-trotter, who is prone to investigating on unofficial basis, and getting mixed up with nefarious foes and succumbing himself and others to danger. Key: Climax! - 'Casino Royale' (S1E03; 1954) "Card Sense" Jimmy Bond is an American secret agent working for the Combined Intelligence Agency. His mission at the Casino Royale is to clean out 'Le Chiffre' at Baccarat - who has a penchant for heavy gambling using Soviet funds. Bond's contact is British 'Station S' agent Clarence Leiter, whom he communicates with initially by the use of secret codes. Real-life (at the time) agency the Deuxième Bureau is represented by Valerie Mathis, the love interest in this expertly acted live telecast. Quotes: Leiter: Well it looks like you're as lucky as they say. Bond: They? Leiter: You're a legend, old boy - Card Sense Jimmy Bond they call you. I knew you right away. Bond: I didn't know I had that much of a reputation. Leiter: Oh my dear fellow - look here - how about you give me the lowdown? How to play. Over a drink? Oh, I'm very sorry, my name's Clarence Leiter. Bond: Clarence, sure - what have I got to lose? Leiter: Do you ever lose, old boy. Bar's over there - lead on! Danger Man - 'The Battle of the Cameras' (S2E08; 1964) The charmless John Drake is an undercover agent working for British governmental department 'M9'. He is sent to the South of France to investigate the theft of confidential documents from an atomic laboratory. In a game of Baccarat at a glamorous casino he meets Martine, the very girl who had stolen those documents - but it is her employer, the facially disfigured Kent, who he is really after. Quotes: Martine: Pardonnez moi. May I have a light? Drake: Certainly. Martine: After what you have done to me at the table, I have no money even for matches. Drake: Well, that's soon remedied - you better hang on to these. Martine: [examining his book of complimentary matches] Oh you are staying there? You don't believe in roughing it. Drake: I find luxury just about adequate. Let me console you with a drink. Martine: The spoils to the victor. Anyway I would like to prove the French can lose as gracefully as the English. Mission Impossible - 'The Merchant' (S5E23; 1966) James "Jim" Phelps allows himself to be taken hostage so that illegal arms dealer Anderssarian will bargain for his release. Of course, Anderssarian also is a gambler - and Paris (Leonard Nimoy) is to play him in a game of Five-card Stud poker, elaborately rigged by the IMF in order to wipe out cash that he'd needed for a current arms deal. Will Anderssarian's trophy mistress Nicole be of help or hindrance? Quotes: Anderssarian: Nicole, I don't like your drinking all the time. Nicole: Well, it makes things a little easier. Like thinking about all those women and children that you kill. Anderssarian: Poor Nicole. So beautiful, and yet so saturated with alcohol. So ethical, and yet so immoral. Now, you see this gown you're wearing for instance - it must have cost at least four children. [grabbing her bracelet] And this - oh, about six. [gesturing to her necklace] And for this, you can figure about 20 children. And while you're wearing it, my dear, remember something; you have a very lovely body. But there are other lovely bodies, and I am getting rather tired of your virtue. Now, shall we go? The Saint - 'The Ex-King of Diamonds' (S6E17; 1969) In the French Riviera the Saint meets fellow gambler and wealthy Texan Rod Huston, as well as famed mathematician Henri Flambeau and his lovely daughter, Janine. Flambeau uses his mathematical talent to gain an advantage at the casino somewhat reluctantly, at the behest of his daughter. Meanwhile Boris, the gluttonously obese former king of the nation of Slavonia, is suspiciously lucky at the Baccarat table, and it is up to our heroes to work out how and why he is cheating at cards. Quotes: Templar: There goes Boris' revolution. Professor Flambeau: Ha! Janine: How lovely! Templar: Five... four... three... two... one... zero. [BANG] Professor Flambeau: What was that? Templar: Absolutely nothing. Poor Boris. Still, Janine - I suppose one must expect this sort of thing when... one is revolting. Conclusion My personal ranking: 4. 'The Ex-King of Diamonds' I feel The Saint loses something after it switched from B&W for the final two seasons. With the advent of color, the background sets and locations appear on-screen with more clarity and the show felt less glamorous than before as a consequence. It also got more action-heavy in order to capitalize on the visual spectacle. The good thing is that the majority of episodes are B&W ones with meaty dialogue and drama. As a season 6 episode, this one does get a bit more action-orientated in the second half. I feel the resolution to be a little quick and the ending not as satisfying as the usual standard, but I do like how this episode starts out. 3. 'The Merchant' I never could get into Mission: Impossible (the TV series). I find it too fantastical for the genre. My incredulity gets stretched further even than the rubber masks during a dramatic reveal. When something is focused so heavily onto the outlandishness of plot (in lieu of, say, characterization), details such as a quickly-made rubber mask fooling anyone are glossed over. That being said, this season does have Leonard Nimoy - and I always love how he plays the characters he plays. I swear there's much of himself in Spock, and I'm fascinated with how this affects his approach to acting in roles. As for this episode specifically, I would have preferred the balance between Plot A and Plot B to be that bit more in the favor of Paris rather than Jim, but on the whole I do recommend it. 2. 'The Battle of the Cameras' While I'm not the biggest fan of Danger Man, this was a really good episode. Excellent use of spy tactics and gadgets; and the plot has plenty of movement, including that thing of who's-playing-who, and the suspense of the protagonist putting himself in physical danger with enemies. Although the character of John Drake is not played as a ladies' man, in this episode we do get a glamorous woman who speaks in a sexy French accent and the two do have to, shall we say, "be charming to each other" for their respective missions. 1. 'Casino Royale' Was there any contest, really. The exotic locale, the bewitching leading lady, the rendezvous with a contact from another agency, the glitz, the glamorous setting, what's not to like? This was where it all began, Bond on screen. Yeah yeah I know the Daniel Craig reboot is supposed to be highly regarded and everything, but this is really the definitive and best screen adaptation of the original book. Honor(Blackman)able mention: The Avengers 'The Big Thinker' (S2E12;1962) Cathy Gale goes undercover at a supercomputer lab under the guise of researching dead languages. In her investigation she meets Dr. Kearns, whose haughty manner raises the ire of those around him. Inviting her to a party, she watches his mathematical genius fail him in a game of poker. His cockiness unhindered, he is relieved of his job at the lab by Dr. Clemens, but refuses to leave. Dr. Clemens is later found murdered and Kearns and Cathy become trapped in the computer by the saboteur. There are no casinos in this. What there is, is a small private venue with a modest bar entertaining a poker table, appearing in a brief couple of scenes (the second of which occurs after-hours). It is not apparent which form of poker is being played. Quotes: Dr. Kearns: Oh, will you excuse me a minute? I want to have a word with my bird. Oh I'm sorry. I know how formal you are. [to Cathy] How's it going? Cathy: Don't you think you better stop while you're ahead? Dr. Kearns: Oh, never, darling. Never. Cathy: You all right? Dr. Kearns: All right? I'm ballistic, sweetheart. I'm ballistic. Watch. Cathy: I'm watching. Dr. Kearns: You do that, huh? Marvelous. You do that. This is the only episode of The Avengers I have seen, and I am not left with a very positive impression - there are flubbed lines, cameras getting knocked, and boom mikes entering shot. More importantly, I find it somewhat of a mess of an episode. It didn't feel as though there was a strong enough through-line; it is hard for the audience to care about sabotage and murder at a computer lab when not enough time and attention is devoted to the subject throughout the show. With a conclusion that felt confusing, I found it incoherent and a bore to get through the end. Some nice bits throughout, but just not enough to be worth putting up with the rest of it - so not recommended.
Having said this, I couldn't take my eyes off Honor Blackman as Cathy. Past being a fresh-faced youth, she is a lady who speaks with such graceful elegance, whose perfectly smooth skin suffers nothing from hot studio lights. Neatly outfitted in tidy leathers, her slick features and smart blonde hair command her to return to Movie Stardom where she belongs.
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February 2023
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