![]() ![]() Julian Fellowes ( Gosford Park) is rumored to adapt. for the movie rights, paying Macintyre about a million dollars in a deal struck by CAA’s Bob Bookman. ![]() The problem for Chapman, his many lovers and his spymasters was knowing who he was. Dashing and louche, courageous and unpredictable, the traitor was a patriot inside, and the villain a hero. His name was Eddie Chapman, but he would shortly become MI5s Agent Zigzag. A fan of all things English, but especially folk dancing, Praetorius eventually left the secret service and was appointed dance instructor to the Wehrmacht in the middle of the war. His mission: to sabotage the British war effort. Well, it turns out the story might be a movie, as we’re hearing New Line just outbid Warner Bros. In the course of Agent Zigzag, there are many charming and touching vignettes, none more so than the case of Praetorius, one of Chapmans Abwehr minders. He also partied hard enough to be hung-over during missions and spent his free time rigging dog races. He fed the Germans fake plans, passed German technology along to England, and even got close enough to Hitler to suggest assassinating him, while still being awarded the Iron Cross by the Nazis. Did you, as we did, read last week’s review of Ben Macintyre’s book Agent Zigzag in the New York Times and think, Boy, does that sound like a movie? After all, it’s a nonfiction book about a greedy ex-con turned double agent who spied for England during World War II even as Germany thought he was spying for them. ![]()
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