from: http://video48.blogspot.com/The very first James Bond film, Dr. No, appeared in 1962. Other notable spies and spy films which appeared during the 60's but just on TV include The Man from U.N.C.L.E, Danger Man and I Spy; spies were also parodied in Get Smart.
The Pinoys had its own version of James Bond - called James Bandong. James Bandong was Chiquito, the suave, slender sometimes flamboyant actor who was a jockey in his other life.
Of course, there was also the more popular actor, Dolphy, who starred in numerous parodies of Hollywood films. He starred as James Batman, (James Bond and Batman, combined) in 1966.
The genre of spy films, simply called spy thrillers or spy-fi, has grown tremendously over the last twenty years, and the most recent films which can be classified under this is the Borne Series, of
Matt Damon.
Ordinary mortals also love to engage on spying. So today, we have professional hackers, internet snoop dogs, Mommy looking behind while kids chat on line, and spouses or lovers checking on the beloveds' text messages, emails and instant messages innocently left on computers, laptops, cell phones, and blackberry's.
The snooping could have been taken up just for fun. Computer geeks out to prove they're smart; wives/lovers out to sniff stains left not just on shirt collars. But they could end up as destructive, poisonous games. The geek may graduate on to become a virus-troll, or worse, a criminal stealing financial info. The wife/lover may so get the hang of it that she becomes addicted to the scent coming not just from the perfume in his man's trousers but from a spam or a lucky mail.
Amateur spies fumble a lot. They become easily detected. A recent news item of a thief accidentally leaving his cell phone in the house he just robbed, is an example of a similar foolish act.
Or sometimes the amateur spy leaves traces so s/he can be found out. Reverse psychology at play.
At any rate, both pro and amateur spy, who snoops and formulates assumptions or worst, conclusions, based on incomplete, stolen goods is a danger to the organization and individual s/he vows to serve and love, and for the amateur, also a menace to her/his own self.
I got to reading this old material from the CNN website :http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/08/19/mf.snitches.in.history/
FAMOUS SPIES AND SNITCHES
4. Elia Kazan: Snitch to the stars
The Tale: Between 1945 and 1957, Elia Kazan enjoyed a hot streak few in Hollywood could even dream about. He directed 13 acclaimed motion pictures (including "A Streetcar Named Desire" and "East of Eden") and was nominated for four Best Director awards. Kazan was riding high when Hollywood entered the blackest period in its history (barring the second and third installments of the "Matrix" trilogy): the Communist witch hunts of the 1950s.
The Tattle: A philosophical and politically passionate man, Kazan had been a founding member of the leftist Group Theater in New York and, for a little more than a year, was a member of the Communist Party. In 1934, however, Kazan's ideals began to diverge sharply from those of the Party, and he soon found himself a zealous anti-Communist.
Wanting names, the government pressured Kazan to spill the beans, even threatening to have him blacklisted by major Hollywood studios. After wrestling with the question of whether or not he should sacrifice his career for people whose ideals he disdained, Kazan decided to share his knowledge of Communists in Hollywood with the House Committee on Un-American Activities. In 1952, he went before the Committee and named eight of his Group Theater buddies who had been members of the Communist Party with him.
The Aftermath: After Kazan's testimony, the government was fast on the tails of those he'd named, pressuring them for yet more names, and it was officially witchhuntin' season! Many actors, writers, and directors were blacklisted, and scores of careers were ruined. The era remains one of the least tinselly in Tinseltown history.
Not surprisingly, pretty much everyone not already in the business of rooting out Commies reviled Kazan. His longtime friend and confidant, Arthur Miller, explained his feelings on the matter in his allegorical play "The Crucible." Not to be outdone, Kazan shot back by crafting a sympathetic informer character in his film "On The Waterfront," which Miller rebutted in "A View From The Bridge."
(Jeez, guys, just pick up the phone or something.)
But the controversy surrounding Kazan was yet to abate. In 1999, Kazan was presented with a lifetime achievement award at the Oscars, and more than 500 people showed up to protest. Writer and director Abraham Polonsky, whom 20th Century Fox had fired and blacklisted for his refusal to cooperate with the House Un-American Activities Committee, said of the event, "I'll be watching, hoping someone shoots him." Um, Mr. Polonsky, do you think you could put that in the form of a play?
No comments:
Post a Comment