She is listed on freeones since 20 and is currently ranked 10446th place. These characters are important to blaises adventures throughout most of the published stories. In these columns i hope to shine a light on some underappreciated films, books, comics, and albums. Modesty blaise alexandra staden is in tangier working at the casino owned by her. Modesty blaise is an orphan with a dark and troubled past who was head of a criminal syndicate before she was 20, and retired wealthy before she was 30. History 1945 modesty blaise modesty blaise was a young amnesiac that escaped from a displaced persons, or dp camp. Its the novel, which emphasizes modestys origins, that reminds me of lisbeth salander. Peter odonnells novels and comic strip was previously brought to film by actress monica vitti and director joseph losey in an eponymous. A popular british comic strip series served as inspiration for this lighthearted espionage adventure, which if nothing else certainly shows the marks of its origins in the mid1960s.
Spotlight on peter odonnell and jim holdaways modesty blaise. When her surrogate father who owns the casino she works in gets murdered, modesty blaise takes on those that killed him and are now at the casino to rob it. Screenplay by evan jones, based on the comic strip by peter odonnell, jim holdaway. It stars monica vitti as modesty blaise, terence stamp as willie garvin, and dirk bogarde as the villain, gabriel.
Modesty blaise is a 1966 british comic spyfi film directed by joseph losey, produced by joseph janni, and loosely based on the popular comic strip modesty blaise by peter odonnell, who cowrote the original story upon which evan jones and harold pinter based their screenplay. Linkmeister, the modesty blaise phenomenon grew to include quite a number of novels and the awful 1966 movie in addition to the comic strip. When shes unable to prevent the owners murder at the hands of an old foe, modesty is hellbent on seeking revenge. Peter odonnell wrote the script for the movie, and of course hes the man, and he is modesty blaise, so the script was full of goodness. In 2004 miramax, who still hold the rights to the character, made a film my name is modesty featuring alexandra staden as young modesty. My name is modesty cleverly introduces modestys background and wiles in a thriller set during an armed takeover of the casino. In the books lob was totally helpless without modesty, and modesty first learned.
The film is loosely based on the modesty blaise comic strip created and written by peter odonnell. Todays inaugural column focuses on the stellar 1960s actionadventure comic strip modesty blaise, written by peter odonnell and illustrated in its initial run by jim holdaway. They travel from london to the south of france, across the mediterranean to cairo before battling, against impossible odds, a private army of professional killers. An adaptation of the modesty blaise novels and comic strip by peter odonnell. One of the first things that came to my mind after seeing the film and after passing. The strip follows modesty blaise, an exceptional young woman with many talents and a criminal past, and her trusty sidekick willie garvin. It was interesting and it was meant to be a prequel for the real modesty blaise adventures to. The internet movie database has entries for the original 1966 film, the 1982 tv movie and 2002s my name is modesty. Aug 14, 2016 modesty blaise is a young woman with many talents and a criminal past, who along with her trusty sidekick willie garvin, accepts requests for assistance from sir gerald tarrant, a highranking official of the british secret service. Willie garvin is a multitalented cockney former street kid who became modesty s trusted righthand man and followed her into wealthy retirement.
My name is modesty a modesty blaise adventure 2004. This first film focused entirely on blaises backstory, as it takes place. Not the newspaper strips, comics, or graphic novels. A large departure for director joseph losey, better known for brooding interpretations of harold pinter works the servant, accident, the film is emphatically. Thats when it hit me that this would be the ideal antithetic forename for her. A modesty blaise adventure 2003 a woman alexandra staden spins a tale about her past while she spins a roulette wheel in a game of chance with thugs holding her hostage. He didnt do the art work for the strip that was done by four successive artists altogether, but he was responsible for the storylines and printed matter during the whole 38year run, continuing until 2001. Raymond cruz, fred pearson, eugenia yuan, nicolaj coster waldau.
Alexandra staden celebrity profile check out the latest alexandra staden photo gallery, biography, pics, pictures, interviews, news, forums and blogs at rotten tomatoes. My name is modesty is a 2004 american action film directed by scott spiegel. This is the third production that brings peter odonnell s character modesty blaise to. A modesty blaise adventure pics, images, clips, trailers, production. Meet the cast and learn more about the stars of my name is modesty.
In her first adventure for british intelligence, modesty blaise and her loyal lieutenant, willie garvin, attempt to foil a multimillion pound diamond heist. My name is modesty cleverly introduces modesty s background and wiles in a thriller set during an armed takeover of the casino. This one was a lot better, which is not saying much. A 1966 movie based on peter odonnells creation, modesty blaise, was made anyway, with monica vetti and terence stamp.
Though, titled modesty plays, it was supposedly written as a theme song for a modesty blaise tv show that never was made. A modesty blaise adventure pictures and movie photo gallery check out just released my name is modesty. For those of you who saw my previous post youll know that the 1966 classic camp film, modesty blaise, was shown in the early morning hours on amc. It stars monica vitti as modesty, opposite terence stamp as willie garvin and dirk bogarde as her nemesis gabriel. Modesty, raised by a casino owner after being abandoned by her parents, has become skilled in the ways of fighting and now acts as the casino owners bodyguard. The impossibly intimate but entirely non sexual nature of the relationship. But hey, celebration day, so on we go with modesty blaise, 1966.
Staring nikolaj costerwaldau, alexandra staden, eugenia yuan and fred pearson. The second book of the modesty blaise series is a very well written novel and takes us on from the first book in the series modesty blaise which i believe was a novelization of the script of the original film. Enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing modesty blaise near you. Series of novels and short stories by peter odonnell, spun off from his longrunning adventure comic of the same name. These characters are important to blaise s adventures throughout most of the published stories. This went straight to dvd and was felt by many as an attempt to regain the rights rather than a serious try to launch the character. But it never got the chance to survive the nonmodesty blaise that the 1966 film delivered. There is some continuity between the books and they are best read in the order below. I feel that this small, engaging and highly entertaining picture was just dumped haphazardly on the video market because the almighty miramax didnt know what to.
British writer peter odonnell created the modesty blaise comic strip in. Modesty blaise is a 1966 comedy actionspy fiction film directed by joseph losey. British author peter odonnell created the iconic character of modesty blaise in 1963 as the heroine of an action adventure comic strip. Deflecting demands by a terrorist leader nikolaj costerwaldau while also creatively keeping hostages alive, modesty agrees to a game of roulette with the strongman. On imdb tv, you can catch hollywood hits and popular tv series at no cost. It would be almost forty years later that anyone would try again. Jul 17, 2009 for those of you who saw my previous post youll know that the 1966 classic camp film, modesty blaise, was shown in the early morning hours on amc.
You could turn him into a woman but it would be an entirely. A modesty blaise adventure is the cinema equivalent, a movie made quickly and cheaply to satisfy a contractual obligation and let the studio hold on to the film rights author existence failure. A modesty blaise adventure with exclusive news, pictures, videos and more at. But even so, this relatively obscure movie that inspires a loveitorhateit reaction, as well as the enigmatic modesty blaise.
Thats just one symptom of the loose, meandering way this film is put together. Modesty in the movies, played by the actress monica vitti. Willie garvin is a multitalented cockney former street kid who became modesty s trusted righthand man and followed her. It was adapted into films in 1966, 1982, and 2003, and from 1965 onwards eleven novels and two. A modesty blaise adventure 2003, produced by quentin tarantino. Modesty blaise is a british comic strip featuring a fictional character of the same name, created by author peter odonnell and illustrator jim holdaway in 1963. Open library is an initiative of the internet archive, a 501c3 nonprofit, building a digital library of internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form. In the comic strips modesty blaise is the former head of the network. Abandoned by her parents, modesty blaise is raised by a casino owner who trains her to fight.
A modesty blaise adventure mar 06, 2009 a small oddity action drama with what appears to have originated out of eastern europe. Series of novels and short stories by peter odonnell, spun off from his longrunning adventure comic of the same name modesty blaise is an orphan with a dark and troubled past who was head of a criminal syndicate before she was 20, and retired wealthy before she was 30. Willie garvin is a multitalented cockney former street kid who became modestys trusted righthand man and followed her. Because as i was checking online for information about that old movie, i stumbled on a 2004 movie in which no less than quentin tarantino was involved my name is modesty, a modesty blaise adventure. Presented by quentin tarantino, my name is modesty is the thrilling adventure about a. The result was my name is modesty, a small directtovideo movie that introduces the character. See more ideas about modesty, pulp fiction art, pulp art. It was interesting and it was meant to be a prequel for the real modesty blaise adventures to come. Blaise of no glory modesty blaise and my name is modesty tor. Based on the popular british comic strip, modesty blaise recounts how the titular heroine emerged with amnesia from a greek refugee camp in 1945 and wandered postwar europe until connecting. Diabolik has a round rotating bed, modesty has a round rotating bedroom. I was looking for a dramatic name but nothing appealed.
The modesty blaise collection the movie database tmdb. The movie was, unfortunately, not a great success, and the blame falls largely to the fact that movie people seem unable to not fuck everything up. Also sign me up for fanmail to get updates on all things movies. Select any poster below to play the movie, totally free. Welcome, dear readers, to the first in a new ongoing column spotlight. A modesty blaise adventure 2003 despite toiling as a sexy spy, the comicstrip character modesty blaise never quite caught on in america. And modesty blaise also inspired one of the best, lesserknown songs by sparks. The film is based on the early years of the character modesty blaise, a former crime boss turned secret agent. A modesty blaise adventure january 1, 2004 modesty, raised by a casino owner after being abandoned by her parents, has become skilled in the ways of fighting and now acts as the casino owners bodyguard. Just as the comedy is occasional and the sixties glam is occasional, we also have action stuntery and derringdo supplied on an occasional basis. The original artist, jim holdaway, dropped dead suddenly in 1970, causing a lengthy period of rotating artists that lasted for much of the. My name is modesty on dvd 096009774592 from echo bridge home entertainment. The name modesty blaise emerged for me long after devising the character.
The late don marksteins toonpedia an excellent reference for all things comicrelated has this overview of the newspaper strip. This comic strip follows the life of modesty blaise, whos a remarkable young woman whos very talented but has a criminal history. With alexandra staden, nikolaj costerwaldau, raymond cruz, fred pearson. The film directed by joseph losey was a self indulgent ego trip and should be avoided at all costs. The reason i bring all this up is because my name is modesty, released under the miramax banner, totally deserved the attention that the dimension films name often adds to a genre pic. Monica vitti looks like she never held a gun before in her life. Ive read the first novel, modesty blaise, and one collection of the comic strips. A woman alexandra staden spins a tale about her past while she spins a roulette wheel in a game of chance with thugs holding. Modesty blaze is a adult model from united kingdom. My name is modesty on dvd 786936223743 from disney buena vista. This movie spends a lot more time talking up the mystique and prowess of modesty blaise than showing it.
The 1960s film never happened, it was a horrid figment of your imagination, but the later film, my name is modesty, fits the background reasonably well. It turns out she is more than just a modest worker. Vitti belongs in a movie with a lot of wine and olives. Modesty blaise and peter odonnell and the last great. Nov 03, 2019 but hey, celebration day, so on we go with modesty blaise, 1966. Then one day i was typing a script for garth when i mistyped the adverb modestly and it came out modesty. Aug 17, 2015 in these columns i hope to shine a light on some underappreciated films, books, comics, and albums. The movie does not introduce willie garvin or sir gerald. It seems fans of the character of modesty blaise, created by author peter odonnell, may finally have something worth their wait in this film, my name is modesty.
995 876 1487 1331 824 1162 615 1585 384 1036 805 1200 472 272 931 1139 900 1540 219 208 1512 1475 1276 1094 5 584 1133 1531 1130 1614 448 1401 1513 108 942 455 547 1378 129 1236 1027 661 1283 1268