ringsider

Can I ask on a bright sunny morning a pretty morbid question re cyanide tablets (or other suicide devices) in films and TV.
In certain war and spy films the tension mounts mid film when the hero or heroine is given a pill in case they get into a spot of bother (or whatever other deliberate understatement is used). However, I cannot think of a single occasion in a British production when said hero or heroine actually does the dreaded deed. Even more puzzling, I cannot remember an occasion when the possibility even arises later in the story.
I can recall one James Bond sidekick killing herself, and I can think of at least two US films where a false pill is given and used by the agent. The failed suicide attempt then breaks the agents spirits to the delight of the superior officers who sent them on their intentionally doomed missions.
Is it perhaps our national character that we cannot actually condone such an act? Grateful for any thoughts.


Regards - Bernie

orpheum

Remember that all SOE agents in WW2 were given L pills,to be hidden in a suitable space.I have read histories of SOE particularly the one by MRD Foot and i cannot actually recalll reading of any agent who took the pill and committed suicide.

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CaptainWaggett

Perhaps the Germans were very efficient at finding the tablets? The only prisoner I can think of who committed suicide that way was Himmler but presumably there were others? The shockingly high suicide statistics would indicate that there's nothing in the national character that stops Brits killing themselves but SOE agents may not be typical in this respect.

batman

One of Dr No's henchman killed himself with a cyanide pill hidden in a cigarette in Dr No. The Bond agent was Kwang in Licence to Kill.

ringsider

Re the Bond example, I was actually thinking of Martine Beswick in Thunderball. Or did she just die because of clumsy torture?

Re the SOE point - exactly! Why give the pill if, in real life or in the films, nobody chooses to use them or if clever German searches always find them.

By the way, one of my "US" examples was Circle of Deception (1960), but now that I have washed the sleep from my eyes, I am now not certain it did involve a suicide pill. Also, is it perhaps a British film?

Bernie

P.S. Don't suppose anyone has a copy of Circle of Deception. I would love to see the film again.

Marky B

I remember Michael Moriarty as Erik Dorf killing himself with cyanide tablets at the end of the epic TVM Holocaust. Whilst being questioned by an American,he took the hidden tablets from the hem of his jacket.
Good series!
Ta Ta
Marky B

I once shot an elephant in my pyjamas - how he got in my pyjamas,I'll never know

orpheum

Remember the Violette Szabo actually refused to take the L pill with her.Look at the ordeal that she had to submit to.

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batman

You're quite right ... Paula does commit suicide in Thunderball, I forget about her.

dylan

Women of the Third Reich

HILDE MONTE (MEISEL) (1914-1945)
Jewish poet and writer for the Berlin paper 'Der Funke', representing the Socialist International. Living In England when Hitler became Chancellor, she joined the campaign of resistance against the Nazis (ISK: Internationalen Sozialistischen Kampfbundes, led by Willi Eichler). To carry on the struggle against Hitler she decided to return to her homeland and in 1944 had reached Switzerland via Lisbon. In Vienna, she established a secret intelligence chain with a group of anti-Nazis. In attempting to cross the border into Germany she stumbled into an SS patrol. A shot was fired that shattered both her legs. As the SS rushed to arrest her, Hilde Monte (Meisel) code-named 'Crocus,' bit hard into her suicide pill. She died instantly. (Thr ISK was dissolved on December 10, 1945. A memorial plaque to Hilde Meisel can be seen at Landhausstrasse 3, Berlin Charlottenburg, where she lived for a time)

D.

Pricey

Sorry to lower the tone but this thread reminds me of one of my favourite moments in “Team America: World Police” when Mr Spottswoode tells the hero Gary that he may want to kill himself if he is captured on the forthcoming mission, so he should “take this”. Of course, you think he is referring to a well disguised cyanide capsule, but when the camera cuts to what Mr Spottswoode has in mind, we see a disgusting old rusty hammer with gaffer tape round the handle etc. Well, I thought it was hilarious anyway!

Steve Crook

Yes, she refused to take the pill with her on her second mission.

Odette Hallows took various boxes of pills with her. The 'L' pill, amphetamines and some other powders to give someone a stomach upset. But then the nasty Nazis broke into the hotel room where she was staying and had her pinned down before she could use her 'L' pill - even if she had wanted to.


Some senior Nazis had cyanide capsules buried into their teeth in case they were captured. A bit of careful manipulation and then just bite down on it.

Hermann Göring also committed suicide with cyanide, the evening before he was to be hanged. He had been thoroughly searched, including his teeth, and didn't have it during his trial. It is suspected that it was smuggled in amongst some personal effects.

Steve

Steve Crook

The more traditional method was to leave the disgraced officer alone in a room with a glass of whisky and a loaded revolver

Steve

julian_craster

y the way, one of my "US" examples was Circle of Deception (1960), but now that I have washed the sleep from my eyes, I am now not certain it did involve a suicide pill. Also, is it perhaps a British film?

Yes indeed....it was the last film to be made at the studios at WALTON ON THAMES before demolition.....

Harleybloke

I thought it was optional for SOE agents?

For all we know, maybe they were used? After all, many disappeared after arrest. I doubt the Gestapo would trumpet that their quarry had evaded them?

I guess you'd only have seconds to grasp what was happening, find the pill and then choose to use it? All the hours spent awake at night deciding that you'd do it - that's the hypothetical part - but when reality kicked in.................?

.....You couldn't hear it, if they were shooting at me with howitzers!

glyn horton

I remember an old WW2 b/w film where one of the British agents takes a cyanide pill. Was it 'Against the Wind'(1948)?

It's funny but only a couple of days ago I was watching an episode of 'The Sandbaggers' where a double agent takes cyanide. Not really to avoid interrogation but because he's tired of his life of treachery and also possibly to avoid shame.