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Hopscotch (Brian Garfield Novel)
''Hopscotch'' is a 1975 novel by Brian Garfield, in which a CIA field officer walks away from the Agency in order to keep from being retired and placed behind a desk, and invites the Agency to pursue him by writing an exposé and mailing chapters of it piecemeal to all the major intelligence agencies around the world, including the CIA. ''Hopscotch'' won the 1976 Edgar Award for Best Novel. In 1980, the novel was made into a film with the same name, for which Garfield also cowrote the screenplay. The film starred Walter Matthau. Although the novel has a dark, cynical tone, the film is a comedy, but the plot follows that of the novel fairly closely. Historical context The book came out during the period of the Church Committee Congressional investigations of the Intelligence community in the mid-1970s. The popular image of the CIA had been under attack before the committee was convened, and the Agency's image was not helped by the spate of spy novels like ''Hopscotch'', in which ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brian Garfield
Brian Francis Wynne Garfield (January 26, 1939 – December 29, 2018) was an Edgar Award-winning American novelist, historian and screenwriter. A Pulitzer Prize finalist, he wrote his first published book at the age of eighteen. Garfield went on to author more than seventy books across a variety of genres, selling more than twenty million copies worldwide. Nineteen were made into films or TV shows. He is best known for '' Death Wish'' (1972), which launched a lucrative franchise when it was adapted into the 1974 film of the same title. Early life Garfield was born in New York City, the son of George Garfield and Frances O'Brien, a portrait artist and friend of Georgia O'Keeffe. O'Keefe had introduced the pair. He was the nephew of chorus dancer and stage manager Chester O'Brien, and a distant relation of Mark Twain. Career In the 1950s, Garfield toured with The Palisades, who released a single on the Calico label. He attended the University of Arizona and served in the U.S. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edgar Award
The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America, based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction, television, film, and theater published or produced in the previous year. Active author categories Robert L. Fish Memorial Award The Robert L. Fish Memorial Award was established in 1984 to honor the best first mystery short story by an American author. The winners are listed below. Lilian Jackson Braun Award The Lilian Jackson Braun Award was established to honor Lilian Jackson Braun and is presented in the "best full-length, contemporary cozy mystery as submitted to and selected by a special MWA committee." Sue Grafton Memorial Award The Sue Grafton Memorial Award was established in 2019 to honor Sue Grafton and is presented to "the best novel in a series featuring a female protagonist." ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hopscotch (film)
''Hopscotch'' is a 1980 American comedy spy film, produced by Edie Landau and Ely A. Landau, directed by Ronald Neame, that stars Walter Matthau, Glenda Jackson, Sam Waterston, Ned Beatty, and Herbert Lom. The screenplay was written by Bryan Forbes and Brian Garfield, based on Garfield's 1975 novel of the same name. Former CIA field officer Miles Kendig is intent on publishing an explosive memoir that will also expose the dirty tricks of Myerson, his obnoxious, incompetent, and profane former boss. Myerson and Kendig's protégé Joe Cutter are repeatedly foiled in their attempts to capture the former agent and stop the publication of his memoir. He cleverly stays one step ahead of his pursuers as the chase hopscotches around America and Western Europe. Garfield took the name of his book from the children's playground game, "wherein a player has to retrieve 'an elusive object' while hopping on a sidewalk from space to space. One false step or clumsy move could mean falling an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Walter Matthau
Walter Matthau (; born Walter John Matthow; October 1, 1920 – July 1, 2000) was an American actor, comedian and film director. He is best known for his film roles in '' A Face in the Crowd'' (1957), ''King Creole'' (1958) and as a coach of a hapless little league team in the baseball comedy ''The Bad News Bears'' (1976). He also starred in 10 films alongside Jack Lemmon, including ''The Odd Couple'' (1968), ''The Front Page'' (1974) and '' Grumpy Old Men'' (1993). Matthau won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the Billy Wilder film ''The Fortune Cookie'' (1966). Matthau is also known for his performances in Stanley Donen's romance ''Charade'' (1963), Gene Kelly's musical '' Hello, Dolly!'' (1969), Elaine May's screwball comedy '' A New Leaf'' (1971) and Herbert Ross' ensemble comedy ''California Suite'' (1978). He also starred in ''Plaza Suite'', ''Kotch'' (both 1971), ''Charley Varrick'' (1973), ''The Sunshine Boys'' (1975), and ''Hopscotch'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Church Committee
The Church Committee (formally the United States Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities) was a US Senate select committee in 1975 that investigated abuses by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), National Security Agency (NSA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Chaired by Idaho Senator Frank Church ( D- ID), the committee was part of a series of investigations into intelligence abuses in 1975, dubbed the "Year of Intelligence", including its House counterpart, the Pike Committee, and the presidential Rockefeller Commission. The committee's efforts led to the establishment of the permanent US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. The most shocking revelations of the committee include Operation MKULTRA involving the drugging and torture of unwitting US citizens as part of human experimentation on mind control; COINTELPRO involving the surveillance and infiltration of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Six Days Of The Condor
''Six Days of the Condor'' is a thriller novel by American author James Grady, first published in 1974 by W.W. Norton. The story is a suspense drama set in then-contemporary Washington, D.C., and is considerably different from the 1975 film version, '' Three Days of the Condor''. It was followed by a second novel by Grady titled ''Shadow of the Condor'', released in 1978. Two more sequels, ''Next Day of the Condor'' and ''Last Days of the Condor'' came out in 2015. Plot Ronald Malcolm is a CIA employee who works in a clandestine operations office in Washington, D.C. responsible for analyzing the plots of mystery and spy novels. One day, when he should be in the office, Malcolm slips out a basement entrance for lunch. In his absence a group of armed men gain entrance to the office and kill everyone there. Malcolm returns, realizes he is in grave danger, and telephones a phone number at CIA headquarters he has been given for emergencies. When he phones in (and remembers to give ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Grady (author)
James Grady (born April 30, 1949) is an American writer and investigative journalist known for his Thriller (genre), thriller novels on espionage, intrigue, and police procedurals. Early life Grady was born on April 30, 1949, in Shelby, Montana. He graduated from Shelby High School in 1967 and the University of Montana School of Journalism in 1974. Career During college he worked for U.S. Senator Lee Metcalf of Montana.Guide to th"James Grady Papers, 1971–2006"at the University of Montana. In 1971 Grady worked as a staff aide for the Montana Constitutional Convention, which adopted a renewed Constitution of Montana, state Constitution in 1972. From 1974 to 1978, during the post-Watergate scandal, Watergate era, he worked with pioneering Muckraker, muckraking investigative journalist Jack Anderson (columnist), Jack Anderson. Grady is the author of the 1974 espionage thriller novel ''Six Days of the Condor'', which was famously adapted to film as ''Three Days of the Condor'' (19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Three Days Of The Condor
''Three Days of the Condor'' is a 1975 American political thriller film directed by Sydney Pollack and starring Robert Redford, Faye Dunaway, Cliff Robertson, and Max von Sydow. The screenplay by Lorenzo Semple Jr. and David Rayfiel was based on the 1974 novel '' Six Days of the Condor'' by James Grady. Set mainly in New York City and Washington, D.C., the film is about a bookish CIA researcher who comes back from lunch one day to discover his co-workers murdered, and tries to outwit those responsible. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Film Editing. Semple and Rayfiel received an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best Motion Picture Screenplay. Plot Joe Turner is a bookish CIA analyst, code named "Condor". He works at the American Literary Historical Society in New York City, which is actually a clandestine CIA office. The seven staff members examine books, newspapers, and magazines from around the world and compare them to actual operatio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spy Fiction
Spy fiction is a genre of literature involving espionage as an important context or plot device. It emerged in the early twentieth century, inspired by rivalries and intrigues between the major powers, and the establishment of modern intelligence agencies. It was given new impetus by the development of fascism and communism in the lead-up to World War II, continued to develop during the Cold War, and received a fresh impetus from the emergence of rogue states, international criminal organizations, global terrorist networks, maritime piracy and technological sabotage and espionage as potent threats to Western societies. As a genre, spy fiction is thematically related to the novel of adventure (''The Prisoner of Zenda'', 1894, ''The Scarlet Pimpernel'', 1905), the thriller (such as the works of Edgar Wallace) and the politico-military thriller (''The Schirmer Inheritance'', 1953, ''The Quiet American'', 1955). History Commentator William Bendler noted that "Chapter 2 of the He ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1975 American Novels
It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman are found guilty of the Watergate cover-up. * January 2 ** The Federal Rules of Evidence are approved by the United States Congress. ** Bangladesh revolutionary leader Siraj Sikder is killed by police while in custody. ** A bomb blast at Samastipur, Bihar, India, fatally wounds Lalit Narayan Mishra, Minister of Railways. * January 5 – Tasman Bridge disaster: The Tasman Bridge in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, is struck by the bulk ore carrier , killing 12 people. * January 7 – OPEC agrees to raise crude oil prices by 10%. * January 10–February 9 – The flight of ''Soyuz 17'' with the crew of Georgy Grechko and Aleksei Gubarev aboard the ''Salyut 4'' space station. * January 15 – Alvor Agreement: Portugal an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edgar Award-winning Works
Edgar is a commonly used English given name, from an Anglo-Saxon name ''Eadgar'' (composed of '' ead'' "rich, prosperous" and ''gar'' "spear"). Like most Anglo-Saxon names, it fell out of use by the later medieval period; it was, however, revived in the 18th century, and was popularised by its use for a character in Sir Walter Scott's ''The Bride of Lammermoor'' (1819). People with the given name * Edgar the Peaceful (942–975), king of England * Edgar the Ætheling (c. 1051 – c. 1126), last member of the Anglo-Saxon royal house of England * Edgar of Scotland (1074–1107), king of Scotland * Edgar Angara, Filipino lawyer * Edgar Barrier, American actor * Edgar Baumann, Paraguayan javelin thrower * Edgar Bergen, American actor, radio performer, ventriloquist * Edgar Berlanga, American boxer * Edgar H. Brown, American mathematician * Edgar Buchanan, American actor * Edgar Rice Burroughs, American author, creator of ''Tarzan'' * Edgar Cantero, Spanish author in Catalan, Sp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
