The Cold War just got hotter. Typical poster (note the Sean Connery look-alike) for a Eurospy film.
In the early 1960s James Bond was the coolest fictional character ever. He weathered life-threatening situations with humor and aplomb, handled fisticuffs as well as martinis and expensive suits, and was always able to bed beautiful women. Dr. No, released in 1964, inspired a whole trend of spy movies and parodies of spy movies, like Casino Royale (1967) and Doris Day’s The Glass Bottom Boat. Such movies drew from their cultural roots in the Cold War and rendered its very real dangers into fantasy. The U.S. had knock-off secret agents Matt Helm, Flint, and Napoleon Solo, and the Europeans a whole subgenre of cheaply produced, exploitive — and thus terribly fun — movies known collectively as Eurospy. (The Glorious Trash pulp fiction site reviews a bunch of them here.)
Characters in Eurospy films were always running from one country to another and referencing obscure Cold War people, places, and things. If you’re writing a historical thriller set in those times, a parody, or a spy spoof, here’s some randomly generated creations you can use.
Eurospy Names
| FRANCE
Parembrys Osseilles Chegboux Gruyrobles
RUSSIA Kuniv Vosdrozh Ulskygrod Pelyabinsk
SPAIN Rudras Murmad Igoza Palananca |
ENGLAND
Wistonden Chesscastle Liverwood Stousetint
NETHERLANDS Imsverdam Drusjfels Untwerth Unydhoven
CZECHOSLOVAKIA Schagia Vnodzka Znojri Plebyrny |
GERMANY
Ruthenhofft Viermaisse Brumbergnen Gürlin
FINLAND Hjarinki Sjasa Peinajika Soesjoki
TURKEY Aurasymky Issayul Byapsari Zamukallu |
