Graham Greene (1904-1991)

Novelist. Spy. World traveler. Literary critic. Catholic. Throughout a long and eventful career, Graham Greene's travels and acquaintances provided raw material for novels and screenplays which were both critical and popular successes. They probed the internal mental, emotional, and spiritual lives of his characters. In novels of international politics and espionage -- The Quiet American, Our Man in Havana and The Comedians -- he wrote about a world he knew well: He was recruited into Britain's MI6 (by his sister), posted to Sierra Leone during the World War II, working for Kim Philby, (later revealed as a Soviet double agent), and reported to British intelligence throughout his life.

His lean, realistic prose carried a visual sense that lent itself to the movies. He wrote the screenplay and novella (1950), for The Third Man (1949). directed by Carol Reed, with film noir expresssionist cinematography marked by harsh lighting and distorted camera angles. Combined with unique theme music (the zither score by Anton Karas was a best seller in 1950.), seedy locations, and acclaimed performances from the cast including Joseph Cotten and Orsen Welles, the style evokes the atmosphere of an exhausted, cynical post-war Vienna at the start of the Cold War.

His novel, The Honorary Consul, published in 1973, was made into a Hollywood movie entitled "Beyond the Limit," featuring Sir Michael Caine and Richard Gere, released in 1983. Other movies include Stamboul Train (1932), adapted as the film Orient Express (1934), Brighton Rock (1947), The End of the Affair (in 1955 and 1999), and The Quiet American (in 1958, and again in 2002).

Film review: The Quiet American (Slate)

Spy story resources:

From NPR, a spy-obsessed librarian picks her favorites

In "Operation Spy Novel", Fred Kaplan reconsiders le Carre's Absolute Friends. [Slate 2/13/04]

The first modern spy novelist: "Eric Ambler and the invention of the spy novel." By Stephen Metcalf [Slate 5/25/06]

Top-grossing spy movies

Official CIA website, which offers a virtual tour of Langley headquarters.

England's MI5 website includes a history of its Thames House headquarters.