Rex Carver is a fictional British private eye created by the prolific writer Victor Canning. [1] He appeared in four fast-paced, irreverently narrated novels in the 1960s. [2]
In the book preceding the novels, The Limbo Line (1963), the Government agency that Carver is unwillingly drawn into is described for the first time. [3] It introduces Richard Manston, a retired agent drawn back into the world of spies, who also appears as a character in some of the later Rex Carver books.
Although strictly a private investigator, Carver knows a number of people who work for a shadowy British undercover agency and he frequently runs into both enemy agents and hostile British agents during his adventures. It is by no means a stretch to call his adventures spy thrillers or to consider Carver himself a secret agent of sorts. [4]
French Kiss is a 1995 romantic comedy film directed by Lawrence Kasdan and starring Meg Ryan and Kevin Kline. Written by Adam Brooks, the film is about a woman who flies to France to confront her straying fiancé and gets into trouble when the charming crook seated next to her uses her to smuggle a stolen diamond necklace. French Kiss was filmed on location in Paris, the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur région of southeastern France, and Cannes. The film was released in the United States on May 5, 1995, and received mixed reviews. The film was a success and went on to earn a total worldwide gross of $101,982,854.
Kiss of Death is a 1995 American crime thriller film directed and produced by Barbet Schroeder, and starring David Caruso, Samuel L. Jackson, Nicolas Cage, Helen Hunt, Ving Rhames and Stanley Tucci.
Victor Canning was a prolific British writer of novels and thrillers who flourished in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. He was personally reticent, writing no memoirs and giving relatively few newspaper interviews.
Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District is an 1865 novella by Nikolai Leskov. It was originally published in Fyodor Dostoyevsky's magazine Epoch.
Per Fine Ounce is the title of an unpublished novel by Geoffrey Jenkins featuring Ian Fleming's James Bond. It was completed c.1966 and is considered a "lost" novel by fans of James Bond because it was actually commissioned by Glidrose Productions, the official publishers of James Bond. It was rejected for publication, however, missing the opportunity to become the first continuation James Bond novel. The Adventures of James Bond Junior 003½, a novel written by the pseudonymous R. D. Mascott, was later published in 1967 featuring James Bond's nephew; Colonel Sun written by Kingsley Amis under the pseudonym Robert Markham was published in 1968 as the first adult continuation novel following Ian Fleming's The Man with the Golden Gun (1965).
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is a 2005 American neo-noir black comedy crime film written and directed by Shane Black, and starring Robert Downey Jr., Val Kilmer, Michelle Monaghan, and Corbin Bernsen. The script is partially based on the Brett Halliday novel Bodies Are Where You Find Them (1941), and interprets the classic hardboiled literary genre in a tongue-in-cheek fashion. The film was produced by Joel Silver, with Susan Levin and Steve Richards as executive producers.
Breaking Glass is a 1980 British film starring Hazel O'Connor, Phil Daniels and Jonathan Pryce. It was co-produced by Dodi Fayed and written and directed by Brian Gibson, his feature film debut.
Paul Finch is an English author and scriptwriter. He began his writing career on the British television programme The Bill. His early scripts were for children's animation. He has written over 300 short stories which have appeared in magazines, such as the All Hallows, the magazine of the Ghost Story Society and Black Static. He also edits anthologies of Horror stories with the overall title of Terror Tales. He has written variously for the books and other spin-offs from Doctor Who. He is the author of the ongoing series of DS Mark Heck Heckenberg novels.
To Catch a Thief is a 1952 thriller novel by David Dodge. The scene is the French Riviera, and the time is 1951.
The Brighter Buccaneer is a collection of short stories by Leslie Charteris, first published in the United Kingdom by Hodder and Stoughton in June 1933. This was the eleventh book to feature the adventures of Simon Templar, alias "The Saint". It was the first volume to make use of the short story format; previously Charteris had written either short novels or full-length novels featuring the character. This format would dominate the series during the late 1940s and through the 1950s.
Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself is a 2002 Danish-Scottish drama film directed by Lone Scherfig and starring Jamie Sives, Adrian Rawlins, Shirley Henderson, Lisa McKinlay, Mads Mikkelsen, and Julia Davis. Harbour and his suicidal brother, Wilbur, inherit their father's secondhand bookshop in their native Glasgow. Their lives become entangled with a woman called Alice and her young daughter, Mary, after the two visit the shop. Idealistic Mary captures Wilbur's heart, and may be able to help save his life or help him find peace.
The Heart of the Matter is a 1953 British drama film based on the 1948 book of the same name by Graham Greene. It was directed by George More O'Ferrall for London Films. It was entered into the 1953 Cannes Film Festival.
Marathon Man is a 1976 American thriller film directed by John Schlesinger. It was adapted by William Goldman from his 1974 novel of the same title and stars Dustin Hoffman, Laurence Olivier, Roy Scheider, William Devane and Marthe Keller. In the film, "Babe" Levy, a graduate student (Hoffman), becomes embroiled in a plot by Nazi war criminal Christian Szell (Olivier) to retrieve stolen diamonds from a safe deposit box owned by Szell's dead brother. Babe becomes unwittingly involved due to his brother Doc's (Scheider) dealings with Szell. It was a critical and box office success, with Olivier earning an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Szell, the film's antagonist.
"Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang" is the first episode of the second series of British science fiction television series Torchwood, which was broadcast on BBC Two on 16 January 2008.
An American Affair, also known as Boy of Pigs, is a 2008 American independent period drama film directed by William Olsson and starring Gretchen Mol, James Rebhorn, Noah Wyle, Perrey Reeves, Mark Pellegrino, and Cameron Bright. It was released theatrically by Screen Media Films on February 27, 2009.
"Rendition" is the second episode of Torchwood: Miracle Day, the fourth series of the British science fiction television series Torchwood. It was originally broadcast in the United States on Starz on 15 July 2011, in Canada on Space on 16 July 2011, and in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 21 July 2011.
The Limbo Line is a 1963 spy thriller novel by the British writer Victor Canning. A former British secret service agent Richard Manston is called out of retirement to tackle a Soviet spy network kidnapping recent defectors to be taken back to Moscow.
The Whip Hand is a 1965 spy novel by the British writer Victor Canning. It is the first in a series of four novels about Rex Carver, a private detective drawn back into his old profession of espionage. The novel also features the secret service agent Manston who had previously appeared in The Limbo Line, Canning's previous novel.
Doubled in Diamonds is a 1966 spy thriller novel by the British Victor Canning. It is the second in a series of four novels about Rex Carver, a private detective drawn back into his old profession of espionage.
The Melting Man is a 1968 thriller novel by the British Victor Canning. It is the fourth and final entry in a series novels about Rex Carver, a private detective drawn back into his old profession of espionage. It features the French secret agent Aristide de la Dole, who had previously appeared in Doubled in Diamonds.