Lemmy Caution

Created by Peter Cheyney
(1896-1951)

“It’s hot as hell. Away down the dirt road some guy’s playin’ one of them wailin’ Mexican fandangles which give me that twilight feelin’… maybe it’d be a relief to start dyin’.”
— Don’t Get Me Wrong

Arguably his most popular creation, Australian writer Peter Cheyney’s LEMMY CAUTION started out in This Man is Dangerous (1936), as a crudely efficient, booze-swilling, machine gun-toting FBI agent who always got his man (preferably some greasy ethnic type), and wasn’t always very nice about how he “got” him.

Fortunately for the “reputation” of the Bureau,  in subsequent stories the lunkhead occasionally became a private investigator, although for the most part, he remained as nasty and menacing as ever. Critic Julian Symons once referred to Cheyney’s works as “unlovely books,” which may be the most diplomatic thing I’ve ever heard in crime fiction criticism.

And since the stories are narrated in first person (and in present tense!), full of allegedly “American” dialect (dropped Gs and slang– some of it imagined), Lemmy comes off as an ignorant knuckle-dragging git, dumb as a bag of rocks.

Cheyney knew next to nothing about America (sand cared less), but he set about aping the popular American pulp fiction of the time, with awkward and sometimes inadvertently hilarious results.

And the Brits loved it! And the French possibly even more!

It was the success of This Man Is Dangerous, Cheyney’s first novel, that allowed the writer to chuck his job as a police officer and part-time hack writer, and turn to writing full time–a gamble that certainly paid off. Besides a load of novels and short stories, Lemmy inspired a hugely successful string of French films, starring ex-pat American singer Eddie Constantine as a particularly Bogart-like Lemmy, a popular radio show in Australia and New Zealand, comic strips and more.

Although crazy popular back in the day, the spin-offs–like the books themselves–today are almost forgotten, relics of a distant age.

Except, that is, for the 1965 Jean-Luc Godard film Alphaville, which placed Caution as a private eye searching for a missing scientist in a futuristic Paris run by robots and overseen by a dictator.

It’s a slice of artsy-fartsy sci-fi noir that wandered back and forth between parody and homage, that I’m still trying to figure it out…

Contributor Philip Eagle describes it as:

“… the oddest of Cheyney-derived projects–Jean-Luc Godard’s famous dystopian art movie Alphaville. It was originally subtitled ‘A Strange Adventure of Lemmy Caution’ and featured Cheyney’s character thrust into a surreal SF thriller with heavy philosophical overtones. Caution was played, as usual, by Eddie Constantine, who had played the role in most of the earlier, mainstream, French Caution films.

The film credited Cheyney as writer of the original novel. I haven’t read any Cheyney myself, but from what I’ve heard I sincerely doubt that the film was actually based on a Cheyney book. The credit was probably simply an acknowledgement of the character’s origins. I don’t know if you like philosophical French art-house films, but I’d recommend you see it, if only to see one of the stranger uses to which the hard-boiled archetype has been put.”

 

UNDER OATH

• “… for those who love total absurdity, and appreciate the wild stylistical flights of Robert Leslie Bellem and Henry Kane and Richard S. Prather, a treat of comparable dimensions is in store when they tackle the adventures of Lemmy Caution.:
  — Francis M. Nevis (1001 Midnights)

NOVELS

• This Man Is Dangerous (1936) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
• Poison Ivy (1937) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
• Dames Don’t Care (1937) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
• Can Ladies Kill? (1938) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
• Don’t Get Me Wrong (1939) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
• You’d Be Surprised (1940) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
• Your Deal, My Lovely (1941) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
• Never a Dull Moment (1942) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
• You Can Always Duck (1943) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
• I’ll Say She Does! (1945) | Buy this book | Kindle it!

FILMS

 

• BRELAN D’AS
  (1952;  English Title: “Full House”)
  Directed by Henri Verneuil
  Produced by Bernard Borderie
  Starring John van Dreelen as LEMMY CAUTION
  Essentially a grab bag featuring several popular detectives of the time, all clamoring to solve a mystery. The character of Lemmy intrigued the French public, and so…
• LA MOME VERT DES GRIS
  (aka “The Gun Moll” and “Poison Ivy”)
  (1953, Pathe Consortium)
  Based on the Lemmy Caution novel Poison Ivy by Peter Cheyney
  Screenplay by Jacques Berland & Bernard Borderie
  Directed by Bernard Borderie
  Starring Eddie Constantine as LEMMY CAUTION
  American ex-pat singer and actor Eddie Constantine made a strong impression as Lemmy, and went on to play him in a long string of  French films, as well as making numerous cameos in several German films.
• CET HOMME EST DANGEREUX | Buy the DVD | Watch it now!
  (aka “This Man is Dangerous”)
  (1953, Sonofilm)
  Based on the novel This Man Is Dangerous by Peter Cheyney
  Screenplay by Jacques Berland
  Directed by Jean Sacha
  Starring Eddie Constantine as LEMMY CAUTION
• LES FEMMES S’EN BALANCENT
  (aka “Dames Get Along”)
  (1954, CICO-Pathe)
  Based on the Lemmy Caution novel Dames Don’t Care by Peter Cheyney
  Screenplay by Bernard Borderie & Jacques Vilfrid
  Directed by Bernard Borderie
  Starring Eddie Constantine as LEMMY CAUTION
• VOUS PIGEZ?
  (aka “Diamond Machine”)(1955, France)
  Based on the Lemmy Caution novel Don’t Get Me Wrong by Peter Cheyney
  Screenplay by Victor Trivas & Jacques Doniol-Valcroze
  Starring Eddie Constantine as LEMMY CAUTION
• COMMENT QU’ELLE EST!
  (aka “What a Girl!”)
  (1960, Prodis)
  Black & white
  Based on the Lemmy Caution novel I’ll Say She Does! by Peter Cheyney
  Screenplay by Marc-Gilbert Sauvajon & Bernard Borderie
  Directed by Bernard Borderie
  Produced by Charles Borderie, Raymond Borderie
  Starring Eddie Constantine as LEMMY CAUTION
  Also starring Françoise Brion, André Luguet, Françoise Prévost
• ÇA VA ÊTRE TA FÊTE
  (1960)
  Based on characters created by Peter Cheyney
  Screenplay by Norman Krasna, Pierre Montazel, Clarence Weff
  Directed by Pierre Montazel
  Starring Eddie Constantine as LEMMY CAUTION
  Also starring Barbara Laage, Stefan Schnabel, Claude Cerval, Saro Urzì, Norma Burgo, Clarence Weff
• COMMENT QU’ELLE EST?
  (aka “Women Are like That)
  (1960)
  Based on a novel by Peter Cheyney
  Screenplay by Bernard Borderie and Marc-Gilbert Sauvajon
  Directed by Bernard Borderie
  Starring Eddie Constantine as LEMMY CAUTION
  Also starring Françoise Brion, Alfred Adam, Renaud Mary, Robert Berri, Nicolas Vogel, Françoise Prévost, André Luguet, Fabienne Dali, Jacques Seiler
• LEMMY POUR LES DAMES
  (aka “Ladies’ Man)
  (1962)
  Starring Eddie Constantine as LEMMY CAUTION
  Also starring Françoise Brion, Claudine Coster, Éliane d’Almeida, Yvonne Monlaur, Jacques Berthier, Robert Berri, Guy Delorme, Lionel Roc, Paul Mercey, Jacques Hilling, Carita
• À TOI DE FAIRE, MIGNONNE
  (aka ““L’agente federale Lemmy Caution,” “Your Turn, Darling”)
  (1963, Prodis)
  A French/Italian Production
  93 minutes
  Black & white, mono
  Based on Your Deal, My Lovely by Peter Cheyney
  Screenplay by Marc-Gilbert Sauvajon & Bernard Borderie
  Directed by Bernard Borderie
  Starring Eddie Constantine as LEMMY CAUTION
  Also starring Elga Andersen, Guy Delorme, Gaia Germani, Philippe Lemaire, Christiane Minazzoli, Enrico Pranzetti, Noël Roquevert
• ALPHAVILLE | Buy this video | Buy this DVD
  (aka “Une etrange Aventure de Lemmy Caution,” “Alphaville: A Strange Case of Lemmy Caution” and “Tarzan Vs. IBM”)
  (1965, French)
  100 minutes
  Based on characters created by Peter Cheyney
  Screenplay by Jean-Luc Godard
  Directed by Jean-Luc Godard
  Starring Eddie Constantine as LEMMY CAUTION
  Also starring Anna Karina, Akim Tamiroff, Howard Vernon, László Szabó, Jean-Louis Comolli, Michel Delahaye, Jean-André Fieschi, Christa Lang, Jean-Pierre Léaud
• ALLEMAGNE ANNÉE 90 NEUF ZÉRO
  (1991; aka “Germany Year 90 Nine Zero”)
  Based on characters created by Peter Cheyney
  Screenplay by Jean-Luc Godard
  Directed by Jean-Luc Godard
  Starring Eddie Constantine as LEMMY CAUTION
  Also starring Hanns Zischler, Claudia Michelsen, Nathalie Kadem, André S. Labarthe, Robert Wittmers, Kim Kashkashian, Anton Mossine
  The second collaboration between Godard and Constantine, although not officially a sequel to Alphaville. Also the final time that Constantine would play Lemmy.

CAMEO APPEARANCES IN FILM & TELEVISION BY EDDIE CONSTANTINE AS LEMMY CAUTION

• PANISCHE ZEITEN
  (aka “Panic Time”)
  (1980; German)
  Film
• KOTTAN ERMITTELT
  (1976-83; Austrian)
  TV series
  A long-running TV series, Eddie showed up in two episodes in 1983.
• TIGER – FRÜHLING IN WIEN
  (aka “Springtime in Vienna)
  (1984; German)
  Film
• MAKARONI BLUES
  (1986; Norweigian)
  Film

FILM COLLECTIONS

• COFFRET EDDIE CONSTANTINEÇA | Buy this set
  Includes Ça va Barder, L’Homme et L’enfant and Cet homme est dangereux

RADIO

• LEMMY CAUTION
  (1940s)
  Broadcast in Australia and New Zealand

COMICS

• THIS MAN IS DANGEROUS | Buy the comic | Kindle/ComiXology it!
  (1951-52, Western Mail [Australia])
  Based on the novel by Peter Cheyney
  First strip: November 29, 1951,
  Last strip: October 23, 1952
  Art by Bradford

GRAPHIC NOVELS & COLLECTIONS

• THIS MAN IS DANGEROUS | Buy the comic 
  (2018, CreateSpace)
  Collects (most of) the 1951-52 comic strip.

GRAPHIC NOVELS & ALBUMS

• THIS MAN IS DANGEROUS | Buy this book
  (2018, CreateSpace)
  Based on the novel by Peter Cheyney
  First strip: November 29, 1951,
  Last strip: October 23, 1952
  Art by Bradford
  Collects almost the complete run of the daily strip, plus promotional comics for Alphaville.

TELEVISION

• LE RETOUR DE LEMMY CAUTION
  (1989)
  (TV mini-series)
  Starring Eddie Constantine as LEMMY CAUTION

RELATED LINKS

• Peter Cheyney
  An extensive bibliography.

Respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith. The Alphaville poster was by Spanish artist by Macario “MAC” Gomez.