The original Rin Tin Tin won the Academy Award vote for “Best Actor of the Year 1929,” but at the last moment the academy decided to give it to a human—Emil Jennings—who was many votes behind the extraordinary canine who was called the ‘John Barrymore of dogs,’ and the original Rinty ‘could really act.’ This extraordinary story should not be missed.

Brenda Wise.

www.RinTinTintheBook.com

Copyright 2012

BY

RONALD PAYNE

…..As a youth growing-up near Pretoria, South Africa, bestselling author Geoffrey Jenkins dreamed of someday writing stories of high adventure and romance.  His favorite writers were H. Rider Haggard, the author of “King Solomon’s Mines” and Joseph Conrad, who’s “Heart of Darkness,” with its deep, dark interiors depicting the evil slave traders of the Belgium Congo, thrilled him.

Jenkins also obsessed over Conrad’s powerful sea stories where men could be turned into heroes with one life changing event—or—turned into monsters ready to murder their own crews in a single heartbeat.

Jenkins put these obsessions to work for him by first becoming a successful newspaper reporter in Cape Town, and later in London at “The Sunday London Times,” where he first met the very urbane Ian Fleming in his pre-James Bond day’s right after World War 2.

The two men soon became fast friends, drinking in some of the world’s most exotic bars—“Hong Kong is still the best place to get a dry martini, shaken not stirred,” Fleming told him with smiling self-confidence.

Soon, Jenkins and Fleming were working on a whole series of intriguing projects both for “The Sunday Times” and for various and sundry book publishers “excited at the prospect of finding the next Edgar Wallace—England’s greatest thriller writer,” Jenkins lamented in 1962, after the publication of his second bestseller “A Grue of Ice,” which firmly established him along with Fleming and Alistair MacLean as one of the greatest thriller writers of the 1960s.

There is no doubt that Fleming coached and mentioned the younger author—Jenkins was thirteen years younger—born in 1921.

And it was through Fleming that Jenkins stepped into the shadowy world of espionage—meeting and forming lasting friendships with some of its greatest players—particularly those who had been so important to the success of Great Britain during World War 2.  Roald Dahl, who later became famous for his children’s books (See “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and “James and the Giant Peach”), had worked with Ian Fleming in New York and Washington, D.C., under the great spymaster, Sir William Stephenson—‘The Man Called Intrepid’—(later Fleming’s model for James Bond’s M).  Dahl, who collected information on his American allies from Washington, D.C. socialites (using many of Bond’s persuasive tactics) for Prime Minister Winston Churchill, would later become a huge Jenkins fan after the publication of ‘A Twist of Sand” (1959)—a book Ian Fleming actually liked and sponsored—and in the process of praising it lavishly in print—“jump started one of the most successful literary careers in the history of the modern thriller genre.”

Geoffrey Jenkins did not come to the writing of “A Twist of Sand” out of the cold.  One of the things that distinguish this very great suspense novel is its intricate plotting—which would become a familiar hallmark of all of Jenkins 16 novels.  It is also the book that introduces the world to Commander Geoffrey Peace—who in many ways—though a nuclear submarine Captain in the later “Hunter Killer,” (1966) one of Jenkins’ best known and greatest sellers—is a much tougher version of James Bond 007—a fact that delighted Fleming.

During the 1950s Fleming and Jenkins worked on two more very important projects.  Fleming did the writing and Jenkins “did most of the research and legwork.”  Those books derived from all this combined energy were “Diamonds Are Forever,” (1956), the fourth James Bond 007 thriller—set primarily in South Africa and “The Diamond Smugglers,” which Fleming originally accepted to do as a series of articles for “The Sunday Times.”  It was later published as a non-fiction thriller in which the real inner-workings of the diamond industry were revealed for the first time.  Fleming’s debt to Jenkins for his assistance in researching “The Diamond Smugglers” is incalculable today.

By the time of Ian Fleming’s premature death at age 56 in 1964 (The third Sean Connery Bond film ‘Goldfinger’ was in the middle of production in London and ‘The Beatles’ had just laid serious siege to all the teenage girls in America)—Geoffrey Jenkins was firmly established as Billy Collins’s “hottest writer.”  Collins was the head of ‘William Collins & Sons’—now Harper Collins—and “Geoffrey Jenkins was his boy,” Collins told rival publishers.  “He can do everything Fleming could do,” Collins boasted.  “And, he’s the best plotter in all of the U.K. or anywhere else.  Not even Daphne DuMaurier can touch him.”

Jenkins conceded with his typical modesty that “he thought Ian was a better stylist—one of the finest—but I do believe my plots are better, because I work very hard at building them and getting them right.”

After the worldwide success of “Hunter Killer” in (1956)—a thriller in which Commander Geoffrey Peace races his nuclear powered submarine to the North Pole while protecting the Vice President of the United States and averting World War 3 with the Soviet Union—Geoffrey Jenkins accepted and signed a contract with the Ian Fleming estate which included Ian Fleming’s widow, Anne Charteris Rothermere Fleming and his brother, Peter Fleming, for the writing of the first James Bond continuation novel entitled “Per Fine Ounce.”

The manuscript was written, completed and submitted—and both Fleming’s publisher ‘Jonathan Cape, Ltd’ and Jenkins publisher ‘William Collins & Sons, Ltd’ wanted to publish it.  The James Bond film producers, Harry Saltzman (who shared the same attorneys in London with Jenkins—‘Harbottle & Lewis’—and Albert R. ‘Cubby’ Broccoli read the original manuscript and wanted to produce it as a feature film.

The rejection of the manuscript that followed was a hard emotional blow for Jenkins—who kept his advance for writing it, but never discussed it afterward,” not even with his wife, the writer Eve Palmer—or their only child, David—who today is the heir to the Geoffrey Jenkins estate.  “He was a closed book on ‘Per Fine Ounce,’ David Jenkins would recall later.  “He never talked about it.”

What has become clear in the forty-five years since is that “Per Fine Ounce,” thanks to James Bond fans on the internet has “become the most famous unpublished book in the world.”

To add more fire to the story which is now being called “the holy grail of Bond”—it seems all copies of the original ‘Per Fine Ounce’ manuscript have disappeared from archives and private collections around the world.

People who had at one point claimed they had seen the manuscript suddenly recanted and declared that they had never seen it—or—that they were misquoted.

The mystery value of all this has created an aura around the book’s author that no large amounts of money could buy, even if millions-of-pounds were spent.  Geoffrey Jenkins is more famous today in 2011—and remember his books sold 140,000,000 copies in 26 languages before the invention of the internet—than he ever was in his lifetime.

More surprisingly—and Jenkins would have been amused by all the rattling of literary swords in the matter—is the fact that he is quickly becoming more famous than Fleming for “writing a James Bond novel that never saw the light of print.”

In 2012, Geoffrey Jenkins’s “Per Fine Ounce” by Peter Borchard is set for international release by Geoffrey Jenkins Publications.  Commander Geoffrey Peace, Jenkins most famous character from “A Twist of Sand” and “Hunter Killer” replaces James Bond as the book’s hero.

For more on Geoffrey Jenkins and ‘Per Fine Ounce,’ go to www.audioentertainment.org/dwp  (Past Programs for January 20, 2010 to hear Ronald Payne, agent for the Geoffrey Jenkins estate, discuss Geoffrey Jenkins, James Bond and the “most famous lost manuscript in the history of modern publishing.  “The program is hosted by Dr. Wesley Britton  www.spywise.net  at “Dave White Presents.”

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All opinions are strictly those of the author and do not reflect the feelings or opinions of the publisher~~~~~~B.A. Wise Consulting

RONALD PAYNE

I am a stickler for hard facts, but Bond 23 has kept everyone guessing. First, we hear that Jeffery Deaver’s Bond continuation thriller, “Carte Blanche,” has been bought by Danjaq, the producers of the Official James Bond films. Then, we hear and read about the similar plot lines between the Deaver book and the script of Bond 23. Then we see the name Danjaq on the cover of the American edition of Mr. Deaver’s book. Then, we learn that Danjaq is not producing a “continuation novel and that the title is not ‘Carte Blanche’ which only adds to the mystery.” Personally, I would be delighted if they called the new Bond 23 either “The Property of A Lady” or “The Diamond Smugglers,” as both seem suitable to the South Africa locale. (2.) A second rumor that appeared on the internet was that ‘Blofeld’ would be making his first appearance since “For Your Eyes Only.” Either way it gives us all something to look forward to in 2012.

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All opinions are strictly those of the author and do not reflect the feelings or opinions of the publisher~B. A. Wise Consulting

RONALD PAYNE

A FAN WROTE IN THE OTHER DAY AND ASKED, “Dear Mr. Payne, Considering all the dirt and slime now being tossed at media mogul–Rupert Murdoch–would you ever consider working for him? I always read your articles on the internet and I was just wondering why the two of you have never teamed-up?…” Sincerely, Paula J. M.

(2.) I appreciated the email, but it took me several days of consideration before I decided to answer. I wasn’t certain to reply. The straightest and shortest answer would have been: “I wouldn’t want to be slimed, as you say, like Mr. Murdoch. End of question.”

However, as I am a stickler for details and was very much in love with a girl once named Paula and almost married her (we would have had 29 kids, by now) I decided to answer my inquisitor (fan) this way: “A lot of honest people still work for Rupert Murdoch. Just because Mr. Murdoch has been “slimed”—by of all places—”the international media”—does not mean that he would make a bad employer. (I just wouldn’t go around chanting, “What’s on the barbie, boss…?” As it could be him, and if it’s him then I would be soon to follow…right?…That’s no good.) Nor, does the “media sliming of Rupert Murdoch make him a megalomaniac of the Eliot Carver variety, as seen in the Pierce Brosnan James Bond 007 film, “Tomorrow Never Dies.” (That was really based upon the late media tycoon, Robert Maxwell, but that’s just a wild guess…!) The actor Jonathan Pryce was nothing short of magnificent as the evil media baron who owns a newspaper called “TOMORROW” that prints tomorrow’s tragedies “today.” Carver, of course can start WW3 and ruin entire nations with a single headline or broadcast.” Simple “phone hacking,” while acceptable to Carver, would soon find him bored-out-of-his-gourd.

Rupert Murdoch, like William Randolph Hearst (aren’t the comparisons always inevitable, folks…?) possessed all of the advantages that wealth could buy when he entered the newspaper business more than sixty years ago in his native Australia.

I UNDERSTAND MEN LIKE MR. MURDOCH and MR. HEARST, though I don’t think W.R.H. would have ever crossed the line into “phone hacking” and “the stealing of emails and other electronic media meant for private use” to get an exciting story. I still DO NOT KNOW if Mr. Murdoch has committed any such crimes (he claims no knowledge of the phone hacking scandal) but his NEWS OF THE WORLD was notorious for it…!

Hearst would always “push-the-envelope to the edge” but he had a sense of personal decorum—that forbade him from crossing the line into illegality. But, getting back to Mr. Murdoch—he is a totally different black bear. With the many steadily advancing technologies in communications at his finger-tips, Mr. Murdoch and his “News Corporation” can go places that Mr. Hearst—who died in 1951—could have only dreamed about.

IT IS A SHAME that with all this advanced technology Mr. Murdoch couldn’t have done better than ‘hacking phones’ at the now defunct NEWS OF THE WORLD. What the NEWS OF THE WORLD had going for it was a weekly readership of 2.7 million—though they claimed 7.5 million Sunday readers—one of the largest readerships not only in the U.K. but in the entire world. Its power and influence frightened movie celebrities and Prime Ministers alike.

MR. MURDOCH THROUGH HIS EDITOR and protegee’–REBEKAH BROOKS—who later became CEO of its parent company NEWS INTERNATIONAL used its intimidating power and influence to “strong arm and shakedown” politicians such as Prime Ministers Brian Brown and current P.M. David Cameron. In England—unlike theUnited States—to quote a recent Time Magazine article, “Nobody thinks not to take the popular press seriously.” That’s because mass market newspapers such as Mr. Murdoch’s set agendas and presume to make or break Prime Ministers and their governments.

IN 2009, ‘THE GUARDIAN’ NEWSPAPER REVEALED THAT ‘NEWS INTERNATIONAL’ HAD PAID OUT MORE THAN ONE MILLION POUNDS ($1.6 million dollars in secret out-of-court-settlements with victims of the hacking spree. REBEKAH BROOKS became a high-end-social-icon as a large part of her job which was getting “close to powerful and influential people” to learn their secrets and their strengths and weaknesses—particularly their weaknesses.

IT WASN’T UNTIL AFTER THE MURDER of 13 year old MILLY DOWLER and deleted voice mails leading her parents to think she was still alive—that claimed (and nailed) Mr. Murdoch’s NEWS OF THE WORLD once and for all. Mr. Murdoch was forced to close its doors at NEWS OF THE WORLD for good on 10 July 2011, after 143 years of continuous-non-stop publication. It was the U.K.’s most popular and bestselling newspaper. What is even more remarkable is the number of Scotland Yard Police Officers on Mr. Murdoch’s alleged “secret payroll” at NEWS INTERNATIONAL, who kept THE NEWS OF THE WORLD informed about their enemies, friends and just about everyone else of interest to the Murdoch organization. Their main targets were power hitters inside the British government and movie star celebrities.

HERE IS A PROFILE OF SOME OF THE MURDOCH HOLDINGS: (1.) Motion Pictures:  20th Century-Fox Film Corporation, $7.6 billion; (2.) Cable TV: Fox News; National Geographic Channel; Fox; $7.0 billion; (3.) Newspapers: The Times (London);  The New York Post;  The Sun; The Wall Street Journal, $6.1 billion; Network TV: Fox, $4.2 billion; Satellite TV, $3.8 billion; Book Publishing: Harper Collins (original publishers of Geoffrey Jenkins’ ‘A Twist of Sand’ and ‘Hunter Killer’); Marketing Services, $1.2 billion; Other: hulu, $1.5 billion. (All are calculated in U.S. dollars.)

AS THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT INVESTIGATES THE MIS-DOINGS OF THE MURDOCH EMPIRE IN THE U.K. AND THE F.B.I. PROBES INTO MR. MURDOCH’S AMERICAN INTERESTS, Rupert Murdoch has surrounded himself with a team of international legal experts.

I have never met Mr. Murdoch, but until recently he was one of my heroes. He started in newspapers as a teenager and so did I. I admired his understanding of how to make newspaper publishing work. He also made his papers exciting, entertaining and profitable. All this at a time when other newspaper publishers across the world were shuttering their doors—particularly the evening papers here in the United States.

MR. MURDOCH WAS A RUTHLESS FIGHTER determined to succeed when many great editors and publishers I knew (noble to a fault) were dejected, depressed and cashing in their chips. How could one not admire a leader who would not give up? (Of course, he had the cash reserves to sustain himself…) But few that I knew of would have taken the risks necessary to build such an empire as his—one newspaper and one television station and one cable network and one movie studio at a time (brick-by-brick.)

I will never condone what NEWS OF THE WORLD did, basically using “criminals to gather information on celebrities” from every walk of life including personalities such as British movie  star, HUGH GRANT and politicians such as former Prime Minister Brown and the current Prime Minister David Cameron. THE NEWS OF THE WORLD HIT A NEW LOW when it started its campaign to eves-drop on ordinary citizens who could not protect themselves such as the child victim, MILLY DOWLER and her grieving parents.

As for Rupert Murdoch, all I can say is that the old Aussie is still a “tough and wily old bird.” He claims he knows nothing about the hacking that went on in his organization. In the United States”a man or woman is always innocent until proven guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt.” Even Mr. Murdoch deserves his day in court.

There has been much speculation about the fall of Rupert Murdoch with his critics and enemies alike betting on his soon-to-be-demise from News International—and his separation from both his power and his empire. My feeling is that Mr. Murdoch is going to be around for a long time—or at least as long as he wants to be—or they throw him in the box first. After all, even Rupert Murdoch himself would tell you, “The loss of one newspaper in the UK, is NOT ‘THE END OF THE WORLD.’

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All opinions are strictly those of the author and do not reflect the feelings or opinions of the publisher~~~~~B. A. Wise Consulting

It was May 1950. A year earlier in Washington,DC, I was close to completion of three years of Russian language study leading to qualifications as a Russian interpreter and translator of the Russian language. Since World War Two when I flew thousands of Navy airship flights in antisubmarine warfare, except for flying four hours a month proficiency airship flights to maintain my qualifications as a Naval Aviator (Airship), I had no contact with airship operations or Navy matters of any kind. Upon graduation from the U.S. Navy Language School I was looking forward to an assignment using my new career as a Russian linguist.

It came as a shock when I abruptly received news that in June I would receive orders to report for duty at Airship Squadron One in Weeksville,North Carolina. All appeals made to the Navy detailer’s were to no avail. Augment that ability in a foreign language is a perishable skill, when not spoken, found no success. Detailers informed me that my many airship flight hours in WW2 provided experience needed now for a new mission for Navy airships in hunter-killer operations.

For a year after arriving at Naval Air Station Weeksville I made many airship landings and take offs to and from the small escort carriers, Mindoro, Sicily, and Siboney. Then on May 23, 1950 the Chief of Naval Operations boarded the escort carrier USS Mindoro (CVE-120) to observe a demonstration of landings by my crew and also to witness an in-flight refueling of an airship. I flew the ZP2K-93 on the same day from NAS Weeksville to rendezvous with the CVE-120 and conduct the demonstration./ The Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Forrest P. Sherman, was so favorably impressed with this demonstration on May 23 that on a day during the following month, June 26, 1950, he boarded the USS Midway (CV-41) with the Commander-in-Chief Atlantic Fleet, and Commander Naval Air Atlantic to observe a second carrier landing demonstration with an added display of airship antisubmarine tactics. CNO sent Rear Admiral Robert Hickey, Commander Air Wings Atlantic, to NAS Weeksville to board my flight in the ZP2K-80 to view the demonstration from inside the airship. The Commander Airship Wing One, Captain Herbert Graves, also joined the flight.

I was permitted to choose my own crew and chose as copilot, past Naval Airship Association President Herman Spahr who manned the rudder control for the landing aboard the aircraft carrier. As the command pilot of the airship, I manned the elevator control. This historic landing, observed by four senior flag officers, helped convince the U.S. Navy to retain airships in the fleet during the 1950 decade.

ABOUT COMMANDER FAHEY. Commander John Fahey has been called “The American James Bond” for his spying activities during the 1960s in East Germany. To learn more, read “LICENSED TO SPY,” his autobiography, originally published by Naval Institute Press. Find it at Amazon on the internet.

NICHOLAS ‘NICK’ SPICER

Malibu,California—I just happened to be on a “working vacation” in St. Petersburg,Russia three days ago when I learned the news that “HUNTER KILLER” was being made into a Hollywood motion picture by “Relativity Media” and a company I had never heard of called “Neal Moritz’s Original Films.”

At first I was delighted. I had brought along my laptop and a spanking brand new big paperback edition (from iUniverse) of Geoffrey Jenkins’s “Hunter Killer,” and I was readying to telephone congratulations to both David Jenkins—son and heir to the Geoffrey Jenkins estate in Durban, South Africa—and to Ronald Payne, the Jenkins literary agent in the United States. That’s when I read more….and what I read totally shocked me, and I am very hard to shock.

The new movie script of “Hunter Killer,” by Jamie Moss, Junn Kolvenboll and Arne Schmidt from a little known novel entitled, “Firing Point” by George Wallace and Don Keith was ripping-off one of the most famous thriller titles on the planet—namely Geoffrey Jenkins’ classic 1966 thriller “HUNTER KILLER,” that features his most famous literary character Commander Geoffrey Peace, who through sheer guts and determination averts WW3 against the Russians, but also ferries the Vice President of the United States to safety. The script not only rips-off the famed Jenkins title but most of its plot lines, concepts and characters.

Captain Joe Glass is nothing more than a watered-down version of Commander Peace as he heads his nuclear powered submarine “Toledo” toward Russian waters. Jenkins is not the only writer who suffers from this pilferage. Many concepts and characters created by Tom Clancey and others are also used in their script. After reading about the proposed film—which was to have been directed by Philip Noyce who directed the Tom Clancy based Jack Ryan films (he bailed-out earlier this week stating that their version of ‘Hunter Killer’ was too similar to other films in the genre he had already directed) and was set to tentatively  star Gerard Butler (The only film I have seen Mr. Butler in is Pierce Brosnan’s ‘Tomorrow Never Dies,’ though he is one of cinema’s best and fastest rising stars) and its creation, I thought Mr. Neal Moritz should change his company moniker from Neal Moritz’s Original Films to Neal Moritz’s Very Un-Original Films—as ripping-off one of the great literary masters of the 20th century does not lend itself to a whole lot of originality. Or, integrity either for that matter.

But, it is the Geoffrey Jenkins classic thriller, “Hunter Killer,” first published in 1966 and with sales approaching 40 million copies in 24 languages that is purloined the most and hardest hit.

I have since talked by telephone with 5 separate entertainment attorneys in Los Angeles who have advised me that the “Geoffrey Jenkins estate can win an injunction and punitive damages against the producers” if this derivative “Hunter Killer” is produced and released under the Trademark protected Jenkins title. This might mean the Jenkins estate collecting more than one-half of all Relativity Media’s box office receipts in damages. I have passed my findings on to the Geoffrey Jenkins estate for their immediate consideration and for their attorney’s diligent perusal.

On top of that because there are so many similarities to the works of other bestselling writers—primarily concepts not only from Geoffrey Jenkins, but Tom Clancy—and the producers of “Crimson Tide,” that a class action suit involving all the infringed Copyright and Trademark holders might be legally justified. This is not only a pseudo “Hunter Killer,” but should not be allowed to be confused with the classic Jenkins thriller, which has hundreds of thousands of fans across the globe.

As stated earlier, “Hunter Killer, ” “Geoffrey Jenkins’s Hunter Killer” and ‘Commander Geoffrey Peace’ are all Registered Trademarks of the Geoffrey Jenkins estate. Those trademarks are recognized everywhere in every free country in the world. As Captain Joe Glass helms his ‘Toledo’ toward Russia, Commander Geoffrey Peace is more popular than ever…! (He made his novel debut in “A Twist of Sand,” (1959) and in the movies in 1968—when “A Twist of Sand” was made into a motion picture starring Richard Johnson ( Terence Young’s first choice for James Bond 007, before Sean Connery accepted the role. Johnson did not wish to be shackled to a long 7 year James Bond contract, at the time. His co-star was ‘Goldfinger’ and former ‘Avenger’ star, Honor Blackman.) Peace is currently being written into the new movie script for “Hunter Killer.” He is also being re-introduced in Peter Borchard’s new update of Geoffrey Jenkins’s “PER FINE OUNCE,” which was originally created as a James Bond continuation novel before all the rights reverted to the Jenkins estate.

Both Commander Peace and Captain Joe Glass are tough-minded leaders, but Peace is more experienced—and much more lethal in a pinch. Both are carrying VIP’s aboard their nuclear powered vessels in order to avert world war with Russia. The script for Geoffrey Jenkins’ HUNTER KILLER is more detailed, using recently declassified materials from the United States government. Yes—there was a live counterpart to Commander Peace—and has the back-story unavailable to the producers of the Relativity rip-off….

I, personally, do not intend to go see a flagrant rip-off of a major Geoffrey Jenkins classic. For those of us who need our immediate submarine adventure movie fix, there is always ‘Crimson Tide’ and Tom Clancy’s “The Hunt for Red October,” starring Sir Sean Connery in one of his absolutely best performances.

THE GEOFFREY JENKINS ESTATE is “writing its own version of ‘HUNTER KILLER’ based upon the famous novel. No one—including the writers of this ‘Hunter Killer’ rip-off writes better of espionage and underwater sea adventure than Geoffrey Jenkins. Geoffrey Jenkins is in ‘top-form’ all throughout his story and keeps his readers in suspense from beginning to end. There is never a dull moment for his readers and he absolutely DOES NOT BORROW OR TAKE from other writers, particularly famous authors who have sold millions of copies. Hear Ronald Payne, agent for the Geoffrey Jenkins estate at www.audioentertainment.org/dwp (Past Programmes) for 20 January 2010, “Dave White Presents,” as interviewed by Dr.Wesley Britton, who writes of Geoffrey Jenkins and Commander Geoffrey Peace at www.spywise.net  . Only Tom Clancy has shown the same high level of Geoffrey Jenkins in his recent bestsellers. (See “The Hunt for Red October,” “Patriot Games” and “A Clear and Present Danger” as examples of Mr. Clancy’s work.)

When it comes time for me to go to the cinema I know which of the two “HUNTER KILLER” films I will visit for two hours or so. My “firing point” here is that no one should want to subsidize a film that clearly steals a title and its plot elements and lays it on the unexpecting public as “new and original.” HUNTER KILLER by GEOFFREY JENKINS NEEDS NO INTRODUCTION!…It is like a fine “Guiness Stout” or an an American favourite like “Budweiser” beer—-enjoyed by millions and renowned throughout the world.

“Hunter Killer” from Neal Moritz’s Original Films and Relativity Media is not an Original Anything. It is based upon a little known book by two authors whose names I cannot remember. If their film were a beer, I would be forced to go look it up on the internet. How did this obscure novel—”Firing Point”— warrant the title HUNTER KILLER based upon a classic thriller?….A classic thriller by GEOFFREY JENKINS, at that…! A little like stealing ‘GOLDFINGER’ from Ian Fleming or ‘THE BIG SLEEP’ from Raymond Chandler. In my life experience, if it looks like a ‘Budweiser’ and it smells like a ‘Budweiser,’ it had better damned certain taste like a ‘Budweiser.’ If it READS BUDWEISER ON THE LABEL and IT ISN’T THE ORIGINAL, I’M TELEPHONING THE FEDS…! NO RIP-OFFS ON BEER and NO RIP-OFFS at the cinema either will be tolerated…! Imitation is the best form of flattery the poets tells us, but when you steal a Geoffrey Jenkins title—or the name BUDWEISER— we know that there is a certain patina that colours our thinking—our perception of everything. A “certain skunk taste our senses warn us is soon to follow…” The same here with the Relativity version of HUNTER KILLER. Like many imitation lagers that go stale quickly, this one will most likely go flat in a hurry before reaching DVD sales markdowns.

THESE PRODUCERS are creating a home brew that no one should wish to drink—and a genuine “Guiness Stout”—or—”Budweiser” it CAN NEVER HOPE TO BE…And, that ladies and gentlemen and the millions of Geoffrey Jenkins fans across the world is my “Firing Point” for the day. Cheers to all, NICK SPICER…..

P.S.—A Special Note Addressed to Ronald Payne, Esq., Agent for the Geoffrey Jenkins Estate.

RON, I HOPE YOU WILL NOT TAKE OFFENCE at what I am about to say as offending you is not my objective. But I must aggressively tell you “NOT TO BE SO PASSIVE” in this matter with Relativity Media regarding HUNTER KILLER. I insist as if my insistence really means something to you that you take an aggressive and pro-active stance in defending the rights of the Geoffrey Jenkins estate…! Neal Moritz’s Original Films and Relativity Media are completely wrong in their desire to take a title as famous as HUNTER KILLER and attempt to wrench it away from the body of work created by a world class writer like GEOFFREY JENKINS—the legitimate protégé’ of James Bond author IAN FLEMING who championed the first Jenkins novel “A TWIST OF SAND” about COMMANDER GEOFFREY PEACE and his naval vessel H.M.S. TROUT. “HUNTER KILLER” is one of Geoffrey Jenkins’ most famous novels and it will soon be adapted from his original story for the screen.

As agent for the Geoffrey Jenkins estate “it is your duty to step forward and protect the existing Copyrights and Trademarks of the Geoffrey Jenkins estate and to aggressively prohibit their exploitation by interloping carpetbaggers of the type aforementioned.

Personally, and you know me well, sir—being a proud fighting Brit—I would rather meet these dubious lads in a back-alley in Soho for a ‘knuckle-busting’ tussle for justice in the Jenkins case than let it go away to deceive others. They would soon find out what a real HUNTER KILLER is, but the world being what it is, I know the world is run by lawyers/attorneys/solicitors of all sorts. I leave the matter of Geoffrey Jenkins’s HUNTER KILLER in your capable hands, sir….I leave it to your own “well healed discretion’s in the affair,” as the late George Raft once said. And, George Raft, whether in the movies or in real life “always meant business.” George Raft had real contacts and he usually got what he wanted. I suggest that you do the same. Cheers for a Happy and Progressive Day, my friend. NICHOLAS.

RON PAYNE’s RESPONSE TO NICK SPICER:

“Thanks, Nicholas. The entertainment attorneys in L.A.are currently investigating the matter and its parameters. As the HUNTER KILLER incident might affect all 16 Geoffrey Jenkins titles—”worth millions-of-pounds as protected intellectual properties”—we are not taking this matter lightly, but “proceeding steadily as she goes.” Best to you, RON PAYNE, agent for the Geoffrey Jenkins estate of Durban,South Africa

All opinions are strictly those of the author and do not reflect the feelings or opinions of the publisher-B.A. Wise Consulting

When it was decided that PER FINE OUNCE would not be published most participants in the matter I am certain thought the matter closed. I am most certain Geoffrey Jenkins himself who went on from strength-to-strength and success-to-success would be happily amused by all the attention he is getting today (2011) about a manuscript written so long ago (1966.) Jenkins was a great man and a great author and he never looked back.

But 1966 was indeed then and now is now and things are quite different. Jenkins furor is building around the world as James Bond fans assert their right to read PER FINE OUNCE (with Bond or without Bond as the central hero.) Indeed, PER FINE OUNCE has become the “most famous unpublished book in the world,” thanks to James Bond fans clammering to get their Geoffrey Jenkins 007 fix. Jenkins’ writing, let’s face it, is some of the most addictive writing since Conan Doyle or Fleming himself.

The name Geoffrey Jenkins is now so carefully linked to the James Bond universe—thanks in part to James Bond fans on the internet—that one wonders what would happen if the original manuscript—considered lost—-suddenly re-appeared. Would the magic—the holy grail legend and karma that surrounds it—prevail? We, at Geoffrey Jenkins Publications, believe it would.

IT IS A CURIOUS PHENOMENA to me to realize that Geoffrey Jenkins is today more famous for a James Bond 007 novel that went unpublished than all the other Bond continuation novelists combined who did publish their James Bond stories. The Geoffrey Jenkins name and his Bond thriller PER FINE OUNCE are quickly overshadowing his contemporaries, Kingsley Amis writing as Robert Markham in “Colonel Sun” and John Gardner ( Licence Renewed, Scorpio, and others) in the claim to fame department. While their stars are slightly dimming into the past—no, they will never be forgotten—the Geoffrey Jenkins star is constantly ascending (rising high in the Bond literary firmament) in the east—a reminder that a great adventure writer (See “A Twist of Sand” and the wonderful “Hunter Killer”)—a man whose works were compared to a modern day H. Ryder Haggard (King Solomon’s Mines) and to Alistair MacLean (The Guns of Navarone)—for sheer story telling power and suspense. Jenkins has few equals.

THE TRUE BOND FANS who write to me and the Geoffrey Jenkins estate (we get as many inquiries now as Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc., the Burroughs estate that owns “Tarzan’) want to read PER FINE OUNCE and the best we can do here is to ask them to wait until the publication of GEOFFREY JENKINS’ PER FINE OUNCE by PETER BORCHARD, which is set for publication next year. The Bond fans do not seem to care that James Bond 007 was removed from the original story—”They Want the Story…!” He is replaced, of course, by COMMANDER GEOFFREY PEACE, that handsome-robust hero of “A Twist of Sand” and Jenkins’ second most famous thriller, “Hunter Killer.”

“HUNTER KILLER,” of course, was a novel greatly admired by Bond producer HARRY SALTZMAN. This renowned thriller pre-dates by one year (1966) the Sean Connery James Bond film, “YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE,’ in which Bond is blown through a torpedo tube into the Sea of Japan from a “hunter killer” class nuclear powered submarine. IAN FLEMING never wrote such a scene. GEOFFREY JENKINS DID and it’s in the original HUNTER KILLER—NOT THE PROPOSED FILM from RELATIVITY MEDIA due out in December, 2012.

IT HAS ONLY RECENTLY COME TO MY ATTENTION that Mr. Saltzman, who shared the same London attorneys—HARBOTTLE & LEWIS—with Geoffrey Jenkins—may have been considering doing a Commander Peace film series starting with a film of the now classic novel, HUNTER KILLER. It is also suggested that Mr. Saltzman only abandoned the plan due to his involvement as producer in the LEN DEIGHTON inspired films, “THE IPCRESS FILE,” “FUNERAL IN BERLIN,” and “THE BILLION DOLLAR BRAIN,” all of which starred Sir Michael Caine as low-tech secret agent HARRY PALMER. A forth Michael Caine-Harry Palmer film, “HORSE UNDER WATER,” was cancelled by Mr. Saltzman after sagging box office receipts of “The Billion Dollar Brain.” By that time—any thoughts of doing HUNTER KILLER were abandoned and Harry Saltzman concentrated on his next James Bond film, “ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE,” starring the incomparable GEORGE LAZENBY—considered by many fans today as an “outstanding 007″—ranked equally with SIR SEAN CONNERY—”as the best James Bond ever in the best James Bond film ever made…..”

“THE GEOFFREY JENKINS ESTATE HAS EVERY INTENTION OF FOLLOWING-THROUGH WITH THEIR “HUNTER KILLER,’ REGARDLESS IF HOLLYWOOD PRODUCES FIFTY ‘HUNTER KILLERS,’ AS WE WERE FIRST AND FOREMOST,” RONALD PAYNE, AGENT FOR THE ESTATE OF GEOFFREY JENKINS SAID EARLIER THIS WEEK. “YES, THE PRODUCERS IN LOS ANGELES CAN REGISTER A TITLE—BUT TITLES CANNOT BE COPYRIGHTED—AND SO RATHER THAN TAKE THEM TO COURT, WE ARE SIMPLY GOING TO PROCEED WITH WHAT HAS BEEN IN THE WORKS NOW FOR MORE THAN EIGHTEEN MONTHS. OUR BOOK HAS SOLD MILLIONS OF COPIES THROUGHOUT THE WORLD. THERE IS NO REASON FOR US TO GO INTO RETREAT. WE WISH THEM THE BEST OF LUCK AS WE OUTLINE ‘HUNTER KILLER ONE’ AND THE MANY SEQUELS TO FOLLOW.”

PAYNE, WHEN ASKED LATER IN THE DAY BY A PRESS REPORTER HOW HE THOUGHT ALL THIS MIGHT WORK OUT: “NOT TO WORRY, SON. WE’RE ALREADY THINKING ABOUT CHANGING THE TITLE OF ‘HUNTER KILLER’ TO ‘FIRING POINT…” (THAT’S THE NAME OF THE ORIGINAL SOURCE MATERIAL FOR THE OTHER PRODUCTION….)

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*All opinions are strickly those of the author and do not reflect the feelings or opinions of the publisher-This Site.  Brenda Wise

As posted credit to:  http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=81304
Read more: Phillip Noyce Won’t Direct Hunter Killer – ComingSoon.net http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=81304#ixzz1YauIgIfB

JUST AS THE GEOFFREY JENKINS ESTATE IS NEGOTIATING A THEATRICAL MOTION PICTURE ENTITLED “HUNTER KILLER,’ BASED UPON THE FAMOUS 1966 THRILLER BY GEOFFREY JENKINS, IT HAS BEEN ANNOUNCED IN HOLLYWOOD THAT A SECOND MOTION PICTURE ALSO ENTITLED “HUNTER KILLER” TO BE DIRECTED BY PHILIP NOYCE IS IN THE WORKS. THE SCREEN WRITER FOR GEOFFREY JENKINS’  “HUNTER KILLER” WAS BROUGHT ON BOARD EARLIER THIS YEAR  AND A SCREENPLAY IS BEING WRITTEN.

“THE GEOFFREY JENKINS ESTATE HAS EVERY INTENTION OF FOLLOWING-THROUGH WITH THEIR “HUNTER KILLER,’ REGARDLESS IF HOLLYWOOD PRODUCES FIFTY ‘HUNTER KILLERS,’ AS WE WERE FIRST AND FOREMOST,” RONALD PAYNE, AGENT FOR THE ESTATE OF GEOFFREY JENKINS SAID EARLIER THIS WEEK. “YES, THE PRODUCERS IN LOS ANGELES CAN REGISTER A TITLE—BUT TITLES CANNOT BE COPYRIGHTED—AND SO RATHER THAN TAKE THEM TO COURT, WE ARE SIMPLY GOING TO PROCEED WITH WHAT HAS BEEN IN THE WORKS NOW FOR MORE THAN EIGHTEEN MONTHS. OUR BOOK HAS SOLD MILLIONS OF COPIES THROUGHOUT THE WORLD. THERE IS NO REASON FOR US TO GO INTO RETREAT. WE WISH THEM THE BEST OF LUCK AS WE OUTLINE ‘HUNTER KILLER ONE’ AND THE MANY SEQUELS TO FOLLOW.”

PAYNE, WHEN ASKED LATER IN THE DAY BY A PRESS REPORTER HOW HE THOUGHT ALL THIS MIGHT WORK OUT: “NOT TO WORRY, SON. WE’RE ALREADY THINKING ABOUT CHANGING THE TITLE OF ‘HUNTER KILLER’ TO ‘FIRING POINT…” (THAT’S THE NAME OF THE ORIGINAL SOURCE MATERIAL FOR THE OTHER PRODUCTION….)