Henry Calvin is the pseudonym for Scottish writer Clifford Hanley, and The Italian Gadget is his third thriller after The System and It's Different Abroad.
Fred Cannon and his fellow workmate Gary fly from England to Rome for a few days on the vaguest of missions, to check a new invention for their company. For Gary, it is a routine sales trip, and a chance to score with some Italian 'birds' at the Ritz Contessa, never mind he is happily married. Gary combines la Dolce Vita and Cherchez la femme on all his trips, but is mostly all talk. Fred is the brain of the team, and they meet with Ambrosio, a middleman for the inventor, who will only sell to their company, and not the larger conglomerate owned by Count Capucci. The product is as revolutionary as Marconi, a gadget for polarizing light waves into radio frequencies - but you don't need to know more, that is just the MacGuffin to propel the polt. They want to buy even if it doesn't work yet, yet Ambrosio will not let them meet the inventor or look at the plans.
Fred and Gary are guests of Count Capucci for a welcome dinner, where the elite rub shoulders, and they meet Francesca, nominally a secretary looking brilliant in vivid green; red haired and well built. She is smarter than they give her credit for, seducing Fred rather than Gary, and knowing quickly by Fred's rough notes that the gadget is at the pre-amp stage. When it turns out that the original plans may have been stolen from Capucci, to be sold on the market by Ambrosio, but are stolen again by unknown parties - then Ambrosio gets kidnapped, his daughter Pia gets kidnapped, and even Fred gets kidnapped - the action moves into high gear. Why all the subterfuge when the real inventor (whoever they are) can easily reproduce the plans?
This is all very deadly with a lowercase 'd', as they all act civilised like this is common practice in the foreign city of Rome. Fred breaks away from his kidnappeers to find himself in the Capucci mansion once again, another ball in progress. Yes, all parties involved are aware of the deviousness going on, but are above making such scenes. It is up to Fred to somehow outmaneuver and outsmart the Italians, and hightail it back to England.
While filled with intrigue, this is not the James Bond action version of a thriller, but more a gritty street version with real civilian players; less Goldfinger and more like a 1960's action film you would watch on TCM starring George Peppard (attractive and capable, but no Sean Connery), Claudia Cardinale as Francesca, and Herbert Lom as Capucci, but being an English-Italian co-production is mostly filled with actors you don't know.
It's interesting, but you don't need to see it again.
This is a capable thriller, offering a little adventure in Rome, and perhaps a romantic twist ending you didn't see coming. A curio that is a little hard to find.
1966 / Hardcover / 157 pages
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