Lemmy Caution is a fictional character created by British writer

Peter Cheyney Reginald Evelyn Peter Southouse-Cheyney (22 February 1896 – 26 June 1951) was a British crime fiction writer who flourished between 1936 and 1951. Cheyney is perhaps best known for his short stories and novels about agent/detective Lemmy Ca ...

(1896–1951). Caution was first portrayed as a

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

(FBI) agent, and in later stories as a

private detective A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI and informally called a private eye), a private detective, or inquiry agent is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private investigators of ...

. Cheyney's first book with the character was published in 1936. When ''

This Man Is Dangerous ''This Man Is Dangerous'' (U.S. title: ''The Patient Vanishes'') is a 1941 British thriller film, directed by Lawrence Huntington and starring James Mason and Gordon McLeod. The film is based on the 1934 novel ''They Called Him Death'' by Da ...

'' was released, Cheyney was working as a policeman, but the novel's success enabled him to become a professional author. Cheyney wrote eleven Lemmy Caution novels between 1936 and 1946. The Lemmy Caution radio series was broadcast in the 1940s in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. Although Caution is an American character created by a British writer, he has yet to appear in an English-language film. However, he has appeared in around 15 European films, most of them French, from 1952 to 1991. In all but the first of these films, he was always played by the same actor,

Eddie Constantine Eddie Constantine (born Edward Israël Constantinowsky; October 29, 1917 – February 25, 1993) was an American singer, actor and entertainer who spent most of his career in France. He became well-known to film audiences for his portrayal of se ...

, who was indelibly associated with the role for life. The first seven of the Eddie Constantine films, from 1953 to 1963, were straight detective films in the

film noir Film noir (; ) is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of American ' ...

style; later films tended to be

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when ...

or comedic. Today the best-known of these films is the 1965

Jean-Luc Godard Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as Fran� ...

film '' Alphaville'', which placed Caution in a

dystopian A dystopia (from Ancient Greek δυσ- "bad, hard" and τόπος "place"; alternatively cacotopiaCacotopia (from κακός ''kakos'' "bad") was the term used by Jeremy Bentham in his 1818 Plan of Parliamentary Reform (Works, vol. 3, p. 493). ...

science fiction setting. Some initial criticism for his creation of an American hero led Cheyney to develop a British-based protagonist

Slim Callaghan Slim Callaghan is a fictional London-based private detective created by the writer Peter Cheyney. Like another of Cheyney's characters, the FBI agent Lemmy Caution, he was constructed as a British response to the more hardboiled detectives of Amer ...

who appeared in seven bestselling novels from 1938.

Novels

* ''

'' (1936) * ''Dames Don't Care'' (1937) * ''Poison Ivy'' (1937) * ''

Can Ladies Kill? ''Can Ladies Kill?'' is a crime novel by British author Peter Cheyney first published in 1938 by William Collins, Sons & Co. Ltd. Set in San Francisco and featuring Cheyney's creation, G-Man Lemmy Caution, it belongs to the hardboiled school o ...

'' (1938) * ''Don't Get Me Wrong'' (1939) * ''

You'd Be Surprised "You'd Be Surprised" is a song written by Irving Berlin in 1919 which Eddie Cantor interpolated it into Ziegfeld's ''Follies of 1919''. Cantor soon recorded it and it became a major hit. Other popular versions in 1920 were by the All-Star Trio a ...

'' (1940) * ''

Your Deal, My Lovely ''Your Deal, My Lovely'' is a 1941 thriller novel by the British writer Peter Cheyney. It is the seventh in his series of novels featuring the FBI agent Lemmy Caution. Much of the action takes place in wartime London. Caution is called in to inv ...

'' (1941) * '' Never a Dull Moment'' (1942) * '' You Can Always Duck'' (1943) * '' I'll Say She Does!'' (1945) * '' G-Man at the Yard'' (1946)

Film adaptations

After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, many French people had a strong attachment to American culture and American heroes. Against that background, Cheyney's books were promoted successfully all over France, and consequently the

French film industry French cinema consists of the film industry and its film productions, whether made within the nation of France or by French film production companies abroad. It is the oldest and largest precursor of national cinemas in Europe; with primary infl ...

found them suitable material for a series of popular films. Lemmy Caution was first played by Dutch actor

John van Dreelen John van Dreelen (born Jacques Theodore van Drielen Gimberg; 5 May 1922 – 4 September 1992) was a Dutch actor, who frequently performed on television from the 1960s to the 1980s. Early years Van Dreelen was born in Amsterdam, the son of Dutch ...

Henri Verneuil Henri Verneuil (; born Ashot Malakian; 15 October 1920 – 11 January 2002) was a French-Armenian playwright and filmmaker, who made a successful career in France. He was nominated for Oscar and Palme d'Or awards, and won Locarno International Fi ...

's 1952 all-star detective omnibus '' (Full House)''.

Bernard Borderie Bernard Borderie (10 June 1924 in Paris – 28 May 1978 in Paris) was a French film director and screenwriter. His father, Raymond Borderie, was one of the producers of ''Children of Paradise, Les Enfants du Paradis'' (''Children of Paradise'', 1945 ...

had the chance to produce the first full-length French adaption. He was searching for somebody who had the looks of a gangster, and picked

, who was already known as a singer. So far he had merely played one supporting role in a film of the very same year, and his lack of experience as an actor was rather obvious, even without comparing ''

La môme vert-de-gris ''La môme vert-de-gris'' ( French for "The Greyish-Green Dame"), released in the USA as ''Poison Ivy'', is a 1953 French crime film. It was French director Bernard Borderie's first film, as well as American-born French actor Eddie Constantine's ...

'' to his later films. However, he came through as an actor. Audiences liked his personality, and that led to a whole series of films with Lemmy Caution. Lemmy Caution was portrayed as a witty, crafty womanizer who never hesitated to do what he considered right. When playing Lemmy Caution, Eddie Constantine often approached attractive women with a glass of whisky in one hand and a cigarette in the other. Lemmy Caution and Eddie Constantine were confused in the popular consciousness, and Constantine could never remedy this mix-up. The film adaptions of Peter Cheyney's book showed Lemmy Caution as a strong and optimistic character who would win even when totally outnumbered, so it came as a shock to many fans when they saw Eddie Constantine's portrayal of Lemmy Caution in '' Alphaville'' (1965). In this film he appeared as a tired, elderly, gloomy-looking man, due to Jean-Luc Godard not allowing Constantine to wear make up in harshly lit scenes, with Constantine wearing the kind of trenchcoat associated with

Humphrey Bogart Humphrey DeForest Bogart (; December 25, 1899 – January 14, 1957), nicknamed Bogie, was an American film and stage actor. His performances in Classical Hollywood cinema films made him an American cultural icon. In 1999, the American Film In ...

and looking as if he was spaced out and lost in a future world. Lemmy Caution returned later on several times in the 1980s as a cameo in German feature films like

Udo Lindenberg Udo Lindenberg (born 17 May 1946) is a German singer, drummer, and composer. Career Lindenberg started his musical career as a drummer. In 1969, he founded his first band Free Orbit, and also appeared as a studio and guest musician (with Micha ...

's ''

Panic Time ''Panic Time'' (German: ''Panische Zeiten'') is a 1980 West German comedy film directed by Peter Fratzscher and starring Udo Lindenberg, Vera Tschechowa and Walter Kohut. Hake p.180 The film's sets were designed by the art director Toni Lüdi ...

''. In 1988 a French TV movie called ''Le retour de Lemmy Caution'' appeared, with Lemmy Caution once again as the leading character, but this Lemmy was far away from that of Peter Cheyney.

Films

* ' (1952) English Title: Full House * '' La môme vert de gris'' (1953) English Title: Poison Ivy * ''

Cet homme est dangereux ''This Man Is Dangerous'' (French: ''Cet homme est dangereux'') is a 1953 French thriller film directed by Jean Sacha and starring Eddie Constantine, Colette Deréal and Grégoire Aslan. It is an adaptation of Peter Cheyney's 1936 novel '' This M ...

'' (1953) English Title: This Man is Dangerous * '' Les femmes s'en balancent'' (1954) English Title: Dames Get Along * '' Vous pigez?'' (1955) English Title: Diamond Machine * '' Comment qu'elle est!'' (1960) English Title: Women Are Like That * ''

Lemmy pour les dames ''Lemmy pour les dames'' is a 1962 French eurospy film directed by Bernard Borderie. Synopsis Lemmy Caution is on holidays. While he seeks recreation he happens to get entangled in a murder investigation. Soon it is revealed that the female vic ...

'' (1962) English Title: Ladies' Man * '' À toi de faire... mignonne'' (1963) English Title: Your Turn, Darling * ''

Alphaville, une étrange aventure de Lemmy Caution ''Alphaville: une étrange aventure de Lemmy Caution'' (''Alphaville: A Strange Adventure of Lemmy Caution'') is a 1965 French New Wave science fiction neo-noir film directed by Jean-Luc Godard. It stars Eddie Constantine, Anna Karina, Howard Ve ...

'' (1965) * '' Le retour de Lemmy Caution'' (TV movie) (1989) * '' Allemagne année 90 neuf zéro'' (1991)

Cameo appearances

* ''

'' (1980) * ''

Kottan ermittelt ''Kottan ermittelt'' is an Austrian television series that was aired by Austrian television ORF (broadcaster), ORF between 1976 and 1984. The satirical 19-episode series about a policeman from Vienna now sports cult status. Police major Adolf Kot ...

'' (1983) * ' (1984) * '' Makaroni Blues'' (1986)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caution, Lemmy Literary characters introduced in 1936 Film series introduced in 1952 Fictional Federal Bureau of Investigation personnel Fictional secret agents and spies Characters in American novels of the 20th century French film series British crime novels Crime novel series Male characters in literature

Novels

Film adaptations

Films

Cameo appearances

See also

References