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5. THE SCARLATTI INHERITANCE (1971)
TIME PERIOD: Pre-World War One Era on up through the start of the Great Depression with an epilogue set during World War Two.
This was Robert Ludlum’s very first novel and it’s a shame that the planned movie starring Ingrid Bergman never panned out. In my opinion there has never been a very good screen adaptation of a Ludlum novel. Or at least not when it comes to adaptations that are actually like their source material.
The successful Jason Bourne movies bear virtually no resemblance to the trilogy of novels that inspired them. Other films or mini-series’ adapted from Ludlum’s writings have tended to be so far off the mark that some of them qualify as classically bad, for instance The Osterman Weekend.
HEROINE: (This novel has a female and a male protagonist) Elizabeth Wyckham Scarlatti, an 1890s adventuress from American Old Money who – in her youth – spurned plenty of bloated rich pigs for not being as high-spirited and daring as she was.
Her heart and loins are finally stolen away by Italian-American Giovanni Scarlatti, a laborer in her father’s factory. Though he speaks broken English, Scarlatti’s mechanical genius is first-rate. The rebellious Elizabeth combines her own business acumen with Giovanni’s aptitude for inventions and before long the two lovers are married and have taken over the companies run by her father and plenty of his friends.
The Scarlattis continue to thrive financially through the expected hardball methods and after having three children they change the family name to Scarlett. Eventually Giovanni dies of natural causes and eldest son Roland is killed during World War One.
Making her own version of Sophie’s Choice, Elizabeth allows her brawling, bullying wastrel of a son Ulster to enlist in the Army to romantically take Roland’s place in the World War while keeping third son Chancellor in America with her to prep him to take over Scarlett Industries when she dies.
HERO: Matthew Canfield, an accountant and investigative agent for the American government – specifically Group Twenty, Ludlum’s fictional agency. Group Twenty was operative during the 1920s, when the bulk of this story takes place. Their agents specialized in uncovering financial hanky-panky in that gray area where dishonest business practices and outright criminality mingle. Continue reading
Oh, I know, Democrats. Only touching letters that further your political goals count. If the letter below helped push your politics the letter and the little girl who wrote it would be world-famous. 
Years ago Balladeer’s Blog ran a post examining which Nobel “Peace” Prize winner killed more people: Republican Henry Kissinger or Democrat Barack Obama. It used to be too close to call but Obama’s recent fathering of the Iranian Nuclear Weapons Program has since given him the theoretical edge. 
Anyway, with blood-soaked figures like Barack, Henry and even Yasser Arafat polluting the list of Nobel Peace Prize winners you can see how that prize has become a meaningless, dark-humored joke. 
6. THE ROAD TO GANDOLFO (1975) 
VILLAIN: General MacKenzie Hawkins, living legend and a cross between George Patton and Peter Falk’s manipulative CIA agent in the original version of The In-Laws. 
Exiled to a diplomatic post over his tendency to make waves the General’s hard-drinking Bad Boy behavior caused an international incident between the U.S. and China. 
It’s been just over two weeks since the finale of the 18 episode run of new Twin Peaks chapters on cable. Like many other fans I’m still digesting some of those new episodes in light of the gloriously dark and nightmarish conclusion, so this particular blog post applies ONLY to the original Twin Peaks television series, the 1992 film Fire Walk With Me and its deleted scenes from The Missing Pieces. 
On Meet The Press on Sunday, Senator Bernie Sanders – the candidate from whom Hillary “No Billionaire Left Behind” Clinton stole the Democrat presidential nomination last year – once again stated the obvious: The current model of the Democratic Party obviously is not working.” 
(NOTE FROM BALLADEER: That’s because Democrats have become such irrational and hate-filled fascists. They literally try to destroy people simply for expressing disagreement with them. Nobody likes the Republicans, those political seats are unearned and are about people despising Democrats, not liking Republican garbage like Paul Ryan . The Democrats need to get rid of the clueless Left-Wing Archie Bunkers who have driven so many of us away from the party.) 
Balladeer’s Blog takes a look at the espionage novels of the late Robert Ludlum. I know it’s odd for me to write about a figure as popular as Ludlum but I’m addressing ONLY his novels in terms of my rankings. Even the novels he wrote under other names.
7. THE GEMINI CONTENDERS (1976) 
Vittorio was the sole survivor of the family. Sobered up into a more serious worldview over the massacre of his loved ones, Vittorio became a deep cover intelligence agent sabotaging Mussolini’s war effort. His twin sons are the major characters of the 1970s portion. 
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