Plot summary
Sir Gerald Tarrant, head of a secret service department in the British Government, and good friend of Modesty Blaise, is being driven by his chauffeur along a narrow road on the edge of the gorge of the Tarn River in S. France. His chauffeur stops to help two nuns change a tire on their car, and Sir Gerald is taken prisoner – by the nuns, no less.
On the other side of the gorge lies Quinn, only semi-conscious after having stumbled and fallen while hiking. But he is sufficiently aware that he sees the two cars stopped on the road, and he tries to summon help by waving his handkerchief. Unknown to him, he is spotted by Mr. Sexton, who is the leader of the kidnapping operation.
This starts a long chain of events. Modesty rescues Quinn the next morning, and then later Quinn provides the missing information that convinces Modesty that Sir Gerald has been kidnapped. (Until now everyone had believed that Sir Gerald had died together with his chauffeur when his car went tumbling down into the Tarn River.) Modesty and Willie Garvin have by chance already determined the probable location of Sir Gerald's captivity: Chateau Lancieux in the foothills of the Pyrenees in S. France.
A hasty rescue mission is set in action. Modesty and Willie gain access to the chateaux via a deep cave, but on entering into the basement they are captured by the formidable Mr. Sexton, who prides himself on being the world's greatest unarmed combat man. Now Modesty and Willie are scheduled to die at Mr. Sexton's hand, one at a time, to further the process of softening Sir Gerald up for interrogation.
Alexander Knox was a Canadian actor on stage, screen, and occasionally television. He was nominated for an Oscar and won a Golden Globe for his performance as Woodrow Wilson in the film Wilson (1944).
Modesty Blaise is a British comic strip featuring a fictional character of the same name, created by author Peter O'Donnell and illustrator Jim Holdaway in 1963. The strip follows Modesty Blaise, an exceptional young woman with many talents and a criminal past, and her trusty sidekick Willie Garvin. It was adapted into films in 1966, 1982, and 2003, and from 1965 onwards, 11 novels and two short-story collections were written.
Peter O'Donnell was an English writer of mysteries and of comic strips, best known as the creator of Modesty Blaise, an action heroine/undercover trouble-shooter. He was also an award-winning gothic historical romance novelist who wrote under the female pseudonym Madeleine Brent, in 1978, his novel Merlin's Keep won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award by the Romantic Novelists' Association.
Willie Garvin is a character in the long-running British comic strip series Modesty Blaise, as well as a series of novels based upon the strip. The character was created by Peter O'Donnell in 1963 and, alongside Modesty Blaise, made his first appearance in the story La Machine, appearing for the first time in strip no. 21. Willie Garvin also appears in every volume of the Modesty Blaise book series.
My Name Is Modesty is a 2004 American action film directed by Scott Spiegel. Quentin Tarantino executive produced. It was released direct-to-DVD. The film is based on the early years of the character Modesty Blaise, a former crime boss turned secret agent. This is the third production that brings Peter O'Donnell's character Modesty Blaise to the screen, following the feature film Modesty Blaise with Monica Vitti in 1966 and the TV pilot Modesty Blaise with Ann Turkel in 1982.
Cobra Trap is the title of a short story collection by Peter O'Donnell featuring his action/adventure heroine Modesty Blaise. The book was published in 1996, and is the thirteenth, and final book in the Modesty Blaise series which began in 1965. Cobra Trap was released 11 years after the previous book in the series, Dead Man's Handle. It was the final book to be written by O'Donnell before his death in 2010.
Pieces of Modesty is a short story collection by Peter O'Donnell featuring his action heroine, Modesty Blaise, first published in 1972. It was O'Donnell's first such collection of stories.
I, Lucifer is the title of an action-adventure novel by Peter O'Donnell which was first published in 1967, featuring the character Modesty Blaise which O'Donnell had created for a comic strip several years earlier. It was the third novel to feature the character.
Modesty Blaise is an action-adventure/spy fiction novel by Peter O'Donnell first published in 1965, featuring the character Modesty Blaise, whom O'Donnell had created for a comic strip in 1963.
Sabre-Tooth is the title of an action-adventure novel by Peter O'Donnell which was first published in 1966, featuring the character Modesty Blaise which O'Donnell had created for the comic strip of the title. It was the second novel to feature the character, though technically it was the first original novel as the preceding volume was a novelisation of a movie screenplay.
A Taste for Death is the title of an action-adventure novel by Peter O'Donnell which was first published in 1969, featuring the character Modesty Blaise which O'Donnell had created for a comic strip several years earlier. It was the fourth novel to feature the character. The book was first published in the United Kingdom by Souvenir Press.
The Impossible Virgin is the title of the fifth novel chronicling the adventures of crime lord-turned-secret agent Modesty Blaise. The novel was published in 1971 and was written by Peter O'Donnell, who had created the character for a comic strip in the early 1960s. The book was first published in the United Kingdom by Souvenir Press.
Last Day in Limbo is the title of the eighth novel chronicling the adventures of crime lord-turned-secret agent Modesty Blaise. The novel was first published in 1976 and was written by Peter O'Donnell, who had created the character for a comic strip in the early 1960s. The book was first published in the United Kingdom by Souvenir Press.
Dragon's Claw is the title of an action-adventure novel by Peter O'Donnell which was first published in 1978, featuring the character Modesty Blaise which O'Donnell had created for a comic strip in the early 1960s. It was the ninth book to feature the character.
The Xanadu Talisman is the title of an action-adventure/spy novel by Peter O'Donnell that was first published in 1981, featuring the character Modesty Blaise. This was the tenth book to feature the character. It was first published in the United Kingdom by Souvenir Press.
The Night of Morningstar is the title of the eleventh book chronicling the adventures of crime lord-turned-secret agent Modesty Blaise. The novel was first published in 1982 and was written by Peter O'Donnell, who had created the character for a comic strip in the early 1960s. The book was first published in the United Kingdom by Souvenir Press.
Dead Man's Handle is the title of a 1985 action-adventure/spy novel written by Peter O'Donnell. It was the eleventh and final full-length novel chronicling the adventures of O'Donnell's comic strip creation, Modesty Blaise. Although O'Donnell continued to write the comic strip, he did not write any further Modesty Blaise prose until the 1996 volume, Cobra Trap, which consisted of short stories.
Modesty Blaise is a 1966 British spy-fi comedy film directed by Joseph Losey, produced by Joseph Janni, and loosely based on the popular comic strip Modesty Blaise by Peter O'Donnell, who co-wrote the original story upon which Evan Jones and Harold Pinter based their screenplay. It stars Monica Vitti as "Modesty", opposite Terence Stamp as Willie Garvin and Dirk Bogarde as her nemesis Gabriel. The cast also includes Harry Andrews, Michael Craig, Alexander Knox, Rossella Falk, Clive Revill, and Tina Aumont. The film's music was composed by Johnny Dankworth and the theme song, Modesty, sung by pop duo David and Jonathan. It was Vitti's first English-speaking role.
Keene Holbrook Curtis was an American character actor.
Modesty Blaise was a 1982 American-produced one-hour television pilot produced for the ABC Network and based upon the comic strip Modesty Blaise, created by Peter O'Donnell.
