Created by Jimmy Sangster
(2011)
JOHN SMITH used to work for British Intelligence, but he decided it wasn’t for him. So he blackmailed his way out, and now toils as a private investigator with an office right in the midst of swinging London in the swinging sixties. But don’t expect some Carnaby Street, or anything–Smith’s world is one of dirty secrets and dirtier compromises.
And he’s no treasure, either–he’s middle-aged, overweight, balding and in need of dental work. He also drinks too much, is a lousy lover, and gets pushed around hard and often by everyone from his ex-wife to his former employers. Meanwhile, his one-man agency is going down the drain.
So, in his debut, private i (1967), he jumps at a job offer from Max, his former handler: to go to Moscow and do a little job for him. In and out. Easy-peasy. No problem, right?
Except of course, things go wrong. Very wrong.
private i is some kind of classic–a very clever romp’ a sleazy take on the spy game, delivered with cheeky wit, featuring a shop-worn spy who’s about as far from James Bond as you can get. Although the sequel, Foreign Exchange (1968), may take it even further. In that one, Smith finds himself once more reluctantly behind the Iron Curtain, once again at the bequest of his former masters–only this time they’re threatening to throw him in the looney bin if he refuses.
ABC, the American television network, must have believed in the premise. They turn both private i, and its 1968 sequel, Foreign Exchange, into made-for-TV movies starring Robert Horton as John Smith.
Well-received at the time, Sangster’s crime novels have gained a small but devoted cult following in the ensuing years, and in 2019 or so, Lee Goldberg’s Brash Books began reissuing them.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Born in North Wales, Jimmy Sangster was a film writer, director and novelist who enjoyed success on both sides of the Atlantic, becoming one of the key players at Hammer Films, writing the juiced-up screenplays for Hammer classics like The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), Dracula (1958) (aka “The Horror of Dracula”), The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958), The Mummy (1959), The Horror of Frankenstein (1970) and Lust for a Vampire (1971). For other studios he scripted Blood of the Vampire (1958), The Crawling Eye (1958), Scream of Fear (1961), Paranoiac (1963) and the Bulldog Drummond flick, Deadlier Than the Male (1967). By the early seventies, he had relocated to Hollywood, where his screen-writing credits would include Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? (1972), The Legacy (1978) and Phobia: A Descent into Terror (1980), as well as a slew of TV episodes, mostly crime and detective shows, including Banacek (1972), Cannon (1971), Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974), The Concrete Cowboys (1979), and made-for-TV P.I. flicks like Ebony, Ivory and Jade (1979) and Murder in Music City (1979).
UNDER OATH
- “An exquisite series launch. A tight and often violent tale of intrigue. Spy fiction fans will revel in this dark, witty story.”
— Publishers Weekly on Private i - “There’s nothing ordinary about this adventure. It’s big league intrigue.”
— Kirkus Reviews on Private i - “A deadly, cold, serious drama of counter-espionage.”
— Atlanta Constitution on Private i - “Breathlessly paced, wickedly funny, with a naughty, but hilarious climax.”
— St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Foreign Exchange - “Sangster’s light-hearted approach gives the novel sprightly animation. The startling twist in the very last sentence is as ironic as it is unexpected.”
— The Pittsburgh Press on Foreign Exchange
NOVELS
- private I (1967; aka “The Spy Killer”) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
- Foreign Exchange (1968) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
TELEVISION
- THE SPY KILLER | Buy the DVD
(1969, ABC)
Made-for-TV movie
Based on the novel private i by Jimmy Sangster
Teleplay by Jimmy Sangster
Directed by Roy Ward Baker
Music by Johnny Pearson
Starring Robert Horton as JOHN SMITH
Also starring Jill St. John, Sebastien Cabot, Eleanor Summerfield, Lee Montague, Douglas Sheldon, Robert Russell, Barbara Shelley - FOREIGN EXCHANGE
(1969, ABC)
Made-for-TV movie
Based on the novel private i by Jimmy Sangster
Teleplay by Jimmy Sangster
Directed by Roy Ward Baker
Music by Johnny Pearson
Starring Robert Horton as JOHN SMITH
Jill St. John, Sebastien Cabot, Dudley Foster, Clive Graham, Eleanor Summerfield, George Roubicek, Eric Pohlmann, Eric Longworth
