W. Somerset Maughm's Ashenden

[NickNascati]

All,
      I am a great fan of Maughm's work.  I've been reading "Ashenden", which is a fictionalized version of his actual experiences with the War Department.  The book is a series of short stories, each describing a mission the title character has been assigned.  It strikes me that these would be great scenarios for Pulp Alley, .45 Adventure or similar rules sets.  I would think that Artizan could provide suitable figures.

                                                                                              Nick

[Steve F]

If you haven't seen it, Alfred Hitchcock adapted some of Maugham's stories into a film called, confusingly, Secret Agent* starring John Gielgud as Ashenden, with Madeleine Carroll and Peter Lorre as the Hairless Mexican (who, as you can see below, is neither hairless nor a Mexican in this version!).  It loses some of the restraint of Maugham's stories and goes for both suspense and action, which might help with adapting the stories to a game format.

There was also a BBC TV series in the early 1990s, but I haven't seen that.

* Confusingly because he then made a film of Joseph Conrad's novel, The Secret Agent, which he had to call Sabotage.  And then he made another film called Saboteur.  Oh, Hitch, stop messing with our heads!

[NickNascati]

I'm aware of the film, but didn;t realize it was an adaptation of Maughm.  I will have to look for it.

[Mad Lord Snapcase]

Nick,

I too am a big W. Somerset Maughm fan. I love the short stories from this collection, all sorts of Pulp scenarios in the far-flung outposts of Empire. I look forward to seeing where you go with this.

[NickNascati]

Possibly nowhere, I just thought it wiuld be smething useful to share.
Steve, I tried to watch "Secret Agent".  I am a fan of Hitchcock, but the film varies too much from the book.

[warrenpeace]

Interesting find. Thanks for the heads up!