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MICHAEL KELLS

quayle_peter_mv_dc quayle_peter_bk_sinister_errand quayle_peter_bk_ladieswontwait
 
Full Name: Michael Kells
Nationality: British
Organization: British Secret Service
Occupation Agent

Creator: Peter Cheyney
Time Span: 1945 - 1952

ABOUT THE SERIES

Michael Kells is an agent with the British Secret Service.

I have categorized his employment for the two recorded adventures we have of him as working under the direction of renowned spymaster Peter Quayle who, during the Second World War was in charge of a small cadre of highly dedicated and extremely deadly field agents. I put it this way because in the those two missions, he talks about his boss and even has meetings with him but Quayle's name never actually is mentioned. All references to his boss is using the (apparently to Kells) affectionate term "Old Man". In a different, non-Kells adventure, though, reference to his working alongside other agents who definitely worked for Quayle is enough to set in my mind Quayle being the Old Man. Certainly, Kells is part of the so-to-speak Quayle-verse.

When we first encounter Kells, he is suffering from what might be the unpleasant results of too much imbibing the night before. He tries to make sure we do not think badly of him for this, though. "You wouldn't get any funny ideas about me, would you? You wouldn't come to the conclusion that I was just another of those people who've become bored with the war and try to "sublimate" their annoyance by getting cockeyed all the time? I'm not a bit like that. But-and I think I should point this out now-when one has been in the sort of racket that I've been playing around in for the last few years, it's a very good thing for a man to relax occasionally-if you get me-just to stop himself going entirely nuts." Still, he does also let us know that the first thing he does upon waking and finding his trousers was to check his hip pocket to make sure the flask of whisky was present. It was and he soon made sure it had a bit less in it.

Kells is an interesting man in that he seems a bit interested in studying other people, gauging who they might be working for and how they might interact with him but he is definitely not the least bit interested in how those same people might view him. He can be a wee bit acerbic and while his tone is seldom insulting or argumentative, he can be short in conversation. This extends to his dealings with the Old Man.

In action, though, he is decisive and definite. He does not hesitate to ask questions or get physical if answers are not forthcoming.

BOOKS

Number of Books:2
First Appearance:1945
Last Appearance:1951

In the two adventures we have of Michael Kells, he is first working with fellow Quayle-verse operative Ernie Guelvada and then later teamed - sort of - with an agent named Horace Greeley.

He is also mentioned in the Shaun O'Mara and Ernie Guelvada team-up Dark Interlude.


1 Sinister Errand Sinister Errand
aka Sinister Murder
Written by Peter Cheyney
Copyright: 1945

"Agent Michael Kells is in pursuit of Nazi spies in London, who have been tasked with the job of pinpointing the actual landing places of V1 bombs to improve their accuracy. Through the strange byways of Kells's sinister errand flit the mysterious 'Auntie', the alluring Janine, the beautiful Mrs Vaile and the delightful and unfortunate Alison Fredericks."
Working closely with him and ofttimes off on his own is fellow operative Ernie Guelvada.
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2 Ladies Won't Wait Ladies Won't Wait
aka Cocktails And The Killer
Written by Peter Cheyney
Copyright: 1951

"Michael Kells is a British secret agent hanging out in France and waiting for his next assignment when he comes across a beautiful woman—almost too beautiful to be true—who seems extraordinarily interested in him. When he finally has a chance to sidle up beside her, he’s a bit surprised when she works the current code phrase into her conversation. “Ladies won’t wait.” They arrange a less public rendezvous, but Kells arrives to find his fellow agent dead.
Following up what few leads he has, he discovers links to the disappearance of another agent, a possible German defector who has been working for the Russians, a highly-sought scientist, and a deadly female agent who will stop at nothing to get what the Russians want. . ."
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MOVIES

Number of Movies:1
First Appearance:1952
Last Appearance:1952

Only one of Peter Cheyney's 'Dark' series of espionage adventures made it tot he silver screen. Being Hollywood and making the film initially for American audiences, they changed the main character to American and had him working for the State Department. At least they kept the names of the two operatives, Kells and Guelvada, untouched. Quayle apparently became Cagle.


1 Diplomatic Courier Diplomatic Courier
Director: Henry Hathaway
Writers: Casey Robinson, Liam O'Brien, Peter Cheyney
Actors: Tyrone Power as Mike Kells, Patricia Neal as Joan Ross, Stephen McNally as Col. Cagle, Karl Malden as Ernie Guelvada
Released: 1952

Film adaptation of Sinister Errand but with both Kells and Guelvada becoming American and Kells working for the State Department.
Mike Kells, a courier for the Department of State, is coerced by the Military Police to get deeper into an assignment than he ever expected. Helping out along the way is Ernie Guelvada.
"A US State Department courier tangles with Soviet agents and seductive women in post WW2 Europe."

MY COMMENTS

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GRADE

My Grade: B

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