William F. Buckley's Blackford Oakes Novels

There seems to have been a slew of films about the CIA coming out of Hollywood, like The Good Shepherd and The Bourne Ultimatum (both starring Matt Damon) upon the theme that the Agency was and is a force for evil in the world. The Cold War was a lie. The War on Terror is a lie. They are just excuses for some hidden game that does not stand up to close scrutiny.

As much of what passes for history or political science coming out of tinsel town, this view is very wide of the mark. In fact, it cries out for films that offer another point of view, perhaps closer to reality.

Fortunately there is a property available that would make a great series of films. I'm referring to the Blackford Oakes series by William F. Buckley. The Blackford Oakes novels were written precisely as an antidote for the far left, anti Western fare put out by the likes of George Smiley and the subject of many films, starting with Three Days of the Condor. It assumed that while our side certainly made mistakes, our side was and is still aligned with good things like freedom.

The Wikipedia entry for Blackford Oakes lists the novels.

Saving the Queen - Set in 1952. Oakes' first mission. He goes to England looking for a British double agent.

Stained Glass - Oakes is sent to keep tabs on a German politician who is trying to unify East and West Berlin against the wishes of both American and Soviet intelligence agencies.

Whos On First - Set in 1956 during the space race and uprising in Hungary.

Marco Polo, if You Can - Set in 1958. Oakes is captured while flying a U2 aircraft over Soviet airspace.

The Story of Henri Tod - Set in 1961. Oakes is in Germany during the Berlin Wall crisis.

See You Later, Alligator - Set in Cuba in the early 1960s, Oakes meets Che Guevara and tries to ease tensions between Cuba and America after the Bay of Pigs incident.

High Jinx - Set in 1954. Oakes works behind the scenes to avoid an internal Soviet power struggle that could lead to a Stalin protégé gaining in power in Moscow.

Mongoose R.I.P. - Set in 1963. Oakes is in Cuba working to overthrow Castro after the Cuban missile crisis.

Tucker's Last Stand - Set in 1964. Oakes is in Vietnam to cut off Viet Cong supply lines.

A Very Private Plot - Oakes in 1995 is called to testify about operations he conducted in the 1980s, especially one in particular involving a domestic Soviet plot to assassinate Mikhail Gorbachev.

Last Call for Blackford Oakes - Set in 1987, Oakes confronts the infamous Soviet defector, Kim Philby.

One can see the possibilities right away. The short descriptions do not do justice, of course. How Blacky saves the Queen of England has to be read to be believed., for example. What he has to do in Stained Glass is heartbreaking.

I wouldn't cast a big star for the role of Blackford Oakes, since it seems to me to call for a young, unknown, much like Sean Connery was unknown before the Bond films. If we did Saving the Queen as the first film, the actor would be in his mid twenties, handsome, erudite. Think of Buckley himself at that age. Sally, Blacky's long term, long suffering girl friend should also be played by someone little seen before.

One difference between a Blackford Oakes series and the Bond films is that there would be less of an emphasis on strange gadgets and impossible stunts and more on suspense, witty dialogue, and sly political and historical commentary. It would be a spy series for adults who do not think their country is, on the whole, evil.