MARCUS ORLANDO

Full Name:	Marcus Orlando
Nationality:	British
Organization:	British Secret Service
Occupation	Agent

Creator:	Gilbert Frankau
Time Span:	1933 - 1934

ABOUT THE SERIES

Marcus Orlando is an agent with Department Y.

Department Y is a secret division in the British Intelligence community. We are told at the beginning of one adventure that it "has no politics. It serves whatever Government may be in power to the best of its not inconsiderable ability". The period of time for our following its activities is ostensibly the early 1930s but there is a feel to the tales that it really happens a decade earlier. There is intrigue abounding in the UK and in Europe but no hint yet of fascism. There is occasionally a question of whether monarchies should be allowed to continue or overthrown in different parts of the Continent and the fear of Bolsheviks on the one hand and just straight-out anarchists on another is displayed.

Orlando is likely the best operative that Department Y has and from descriptions, that organization has a fair number of agents working not only in the UK but throughout Europe keeping His Majesty's government officials aware of the situations. How long Orlando has been with the organization is not mentioned but we are given the feeling it has been some time. One thing for certain is that Orlando loves his job and would not think of changing professions - something he is given a chance to do at one point.

He has an "elaborate flat in Park Lane", made very comfortable through efforts of his devoted butler, Ivan Dolgourki and that man's wife, Nadja, Orlando's cherished cook. Orlando also has a Harlequin Dane named Bismarck he loves but who he will admit is one very dumb animal. We also learn that Orlando is wealthy enough to own a home beside a lake in the country where he loves to retreat to for solitude, taking Ivan and Nadja with him for comfort, of course.

Orlando is very good at his job. He keeps a steel card-index filled with secret information such as addresses, phone numbers, and other pertinent details, all this kept from inquisitive eyes by the use of Old Turkish script, extending so far as to encrypt it all with a code of his own creation. Also helping him in his work is considerable skill at disguises, able to assume identities to let him into any place with almost ease. When he takes on a role, he really takes it on.

BOOKS

Number of Books:	2
First Appearance:	1933
Last Appearance:	1934

Successful author Gilbert Frankau has already produced an impressive amount of works, many of which found print first in magazines and then in book form, by the time he created the character of Marcus Orlando.

His first book was a collection of poems and he would apparently return on occasion to that medium. His biggest successes, though, came from his romance novels and his many, many short stories, much of which would be reprinted in collections.

Even as he continued to have success as a writer, Frankau fervently desired to enter into politics. His having been married and divorced (he would eventually have tied the knot three times) would prove an impediment as the Conservative Party in Britain at the time frowned on such things. Though he never got elected to Parliament as he so long wished, he did imbue much of his fiction with his right-wing attitudes.

The fascinating aspect to me about these tales of Marcus Orlando is how in the first appearance, the full-length book, we see him dealing with marital infidelity (by his first two wives, not by him) and how to deal with romance when it again calls - all the while alluding to but never expounding on his occasional missions for Department Y.

And then, apparently having gotten to like the character of Orlando, he would subsequently pen for magazine publication a handful of fascinating adventures on behalf of Department Y - but never really commenting on any of his romantic turmoils.

The differences between his full-length novel and his several short stories, all dealing with Marcus Orlando, is fascinating.


1			The Lonely Man Written by Gilbert Frankau Copyright: 1933 Subtitled A Romance of Love and the Secret Service. Tells the lengthy story of how Marcus Orlando, having been betrayed horribly by his first wife and left to raise their daughter alone, and then abandoned by his actress second wife, is determined to never trust another woman. Even after he meets Alix, who cannot stand him at first, he resists his feelings for the longest time. All this while and during their lengthy eventual courtship, he disappears on missions - which are never detailed but just briefly mentioned - for Department Y.

2			Secret Services Written by Gilbert Frankau Copyright: 1934 A collection of 13 short stories previously published in The Strand or The Story-teller and all dealing with espionage in one form or another. The first seven in this anthology all deal with Marcus Orlando. They are: The Secret in Harley Street The Secret in the Citronen Gasschen The Secret in the Slums The Secret in the Suburb The Secret at Sainte Marie Sur Mer The Secret in the Steppes The Secret of His Sire

NOVELLAS AND SHORT STORIES

Number of Stories:	7
First Appearance:	1933
Last Appearance:	1934


1			The Secret In Harley Street short story Written by Gilbert Frankau Copyright: 1933 Story 1 of 7 in The Seven Secrets of Marcus Orlando series, published in The Story-teller, December 1933. Reprinted as part of the anthology A Century of Spy Stories edited by Dennis Wheatley, 1938. Reprinted in Secret Services, a collection of espionage stories by Frankau, 1934. A British Bolshevik agitator recently returning to the UK with a new plan to bring down the existing government makes the mistake of needling Marcus Orlando who, already planning to stop him, now has extra incentive. Marcus Orlando is exercising his new horse around a London park when he spots an infamous agent for the Soviet Union attending a Bolshevik rally. Orlando knows the man, a former British physician struck down from practicing, is in the country for no good reason and Orlando wants to know what that is.

2			The Secret Rendezvous short story aka The Secret in the Citronen Gasschen Written by Gilbert Frankau Copyright: 1934 Story 2 of 7 in The Seven Secrets of Marcus Orlando series, published in The Story-teller, January 1934. Reprinted as The Secret in the Citronen Gasschen in Secret Services, a collection of espionage stories by Frankau, 1934. She has been given the unflattering nickname of Frankfurt Fanny but this femme fatale is the cause of several French officers killing themselves after, each in their own way, betraying their country. Marcus Orlando is given the task of bringing this German operative down.

3			The Secret Of The Riviera short story aka The Secret at Sainte Marie Sur Mer Written by Gilbert Frankau Copyright: 1934 Story 3 of 7 in The Seven Secrets of Marcus Orlando series, published in The Story-teller, February 1934. Reprinted as The Secret at Sainte Marie Sur Mer in Secret Services, a collection of espionage stories by Frankau, 1934. Marcus Orlando is on vacation in a small community a short distance from Cannes and Monaco. On a pleasant hike along the coast, he comes across a piece of paper he is certain is not just detritus, enough so that he alerts French Intelligence as he digs into a mission to undermine the Monaco government.

4			The Secret Of The Tenements short story aka The Secret In The Slums Written by Gilbert Frankau Copyright: 1934 Story 4 of 7 in The Seven Secrets of Marcus Orlando series, published in The Story-teller, March 1934. Reprinted as The Secret In The Slums in Secret Services, a collection of espionage stories by Frankau, 1934. Marcus Orlando is a firm believer in leaving crime to the experts in CID and when CID asks for his help, he is surprised. The matter at hand is very serious and deals with an unusually higher level of infant mortality in the 12 slums of London - far more than poverty could explain, When Orlando looks into the matter, he is upset with what he finds, and with who is at fault.

5			The Secret Of The Steppes short story aka The Secret In The Steppes Written by Gilbert Frankau Copyright: 1934 Story 5 of 7 in The Seven Secrets of Marcus Orlando series, published in The Story-teller, April 1934. Reprinted as The Secret In The Steppes in Secret Services, a collection of espionage stories by Frankau, 1934. When Flitter hands him a coin, Marcus Orlando instantly recognizes the scratching in it - coordinates and the call for help from a fellow Deparment Y operative. This will take Orlando into an Easter European country and a horrific plot involving forced slavery at a facility.

6			The Secret In The Suburb short story Written by Gilbert Frankau Copyright: 1934 Story 6 of 7 in The Seven Secrets of Marcus Orlando series, published in The Story-teller, May 1934. Reprinted with the same name in Secret Services, a collection of espionage stories by Frankau, 1934. Marcus Orlando enjoys living in London but he also has a wonderful place in the country where he can escape. But recently across the large lake his house borders, a nightclub is causing him considerable stress with its music. When he looks for a way to quiet the place, though, he is surprised to find something very sinister and deadly to the government going on.

7			The Secret Of His Sire short story Written by Gilbert Frankau Copyright: 1934 Story 7 of 7 in The Seven Secrets of Marcus Orlando series, published in The Story-teller, June 1934. Reprinted with the same name in Secret Services, a collection of espionage stories by Frankau, 1934. Marcus Orlando is less than thrilled to be forced to be a part of a diplomatic mission to the Eastern European nation of Gjidar, a country where Orlando had spent a good deal of time before becoming a Department Y. He will find considerable unrest there as the fight over whether to keep the monarchy - with a now-empty throne - or bring in a different form of government. Orlando will find a particularly personal involvement.

MY COMMENTS

What a wild difference between the book and the short stories!

The book is fascinating and almost mesmerizing in its depiction of the romantic turmoil that Orlando goes through. First remembering his first love/wife and how she turned out to be not so loving, then moving on to his second great love and how that woman also broke his heart, and finally moving on to a third woman that would capture his affections. And all the while, Orlando would on occasion be pulled away from home to go on a mission which was never really described or detailed. It is easy to see why the book was subtitled 'a romance'.

Then comes the seven short stories which are all very, very interesting but which are so drastically different in tone and content as to make the reader confused - is this the same Marcus Orlando?

GRADE

My Grade: B

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