Brian Cruikshank

Brian Cruikshank is the deuteragonist of the 1963 movie Charade.
He was portrayed by . 
==Biography==
During World War II the , which later became the after the war, decided to send $250,000 in gold to the French resistance. They assembled a team of agents consisting of Carson Dyle, Herman Scobie, Leopold W. Gideon, Charles Lampert, and Tex Panthollow to deliver the gold to the resistance. The group successfully infiltrated occupied France but instead of delivering the money to the resistance the group stole the money. The group was ambushed by the Germans with Dyle being left for dead by his compatriots. Lampert double crossed the group and made off with all the money by himself. 
After the war, Lampert married a young woman named Regina "Reggie" (played by ) and the couple lived in Paris. He used the gold to purchase a set of rare stamps. By the early 1960s Reggie had decided to divorce Lampert, feeling that the marriage was a loveless one. Meanwhile Cruikshank was assigned to track down and retrieve the stolen money from the rogue OSS agents. Learning that Reggie was at an alpine ski resort, he followed her there, and assumed the alias of Peter Joshua during his initial meeting with her. Back in Paris, Dyle came looking for Lampert and the money. Dyle killed Lampbert before he could escape Paris. The other rogue OSS, unaware that Dyle was still alive, learned Lampbert was dead and came to Paris looking for the stolen money.
With Reggie and Lampbert's apartment emptied out and her being in shock over her husband's death, Cruikshank put her up in a small Parisian hotel, taking a room next door so he could protect Reggie from the other agents. Cruikshank told Reggie he was in league with the other men and that he was Carson Dyle's brother Alexander, trying to bring them down from the inside.
Obtaining access to the U.S. Embassy at Paris, Dyle found that CIA administrator Hamilton Bartholomew was in the habit of leaving his office unlocked while he and his secretary were at lunch. Posing as Bartholomew, Dyle contacted Reggie and convinced her that he was trying to ensure her safety and find out what happened to the money so the government could retrieve it. When Reggie contacted him to ask about Dyle's brother, Dyle told her Dyle didn't have a brother. Cruikshank then told her that he was a professional thief named Adam Canfield who was trying to steal the money from the rogue OSS agents.
Using information he obtained from Reggie, Dyle murdered Herman, Leopold, and Tex in turn while making it appear that Brian and Reggie were guilty of the crimes in the hopes that the French would decide they were guilty of multiple murders and guillotine both of them. After Reggie found that the gold was used to purchase rare stamps, she was able to retrieve them after giving them to her friend's son Jean-Louis, who had sold them to a trader for ten francs. The trader confirmed the value of the stamps, but willingly returned them. Dyle convinced Reggie that Cruikshank (who was then using the Adam Canfield alias) was on to her and would target her next. Dyle then told Reggie to meet him at the Colonnade at the Palais-Royal.
Seeing that Cruikshank was following her and fearing that her life was in danger, Reggie called the embassy and reached Bartholomew's secretary, who informed her that Bartholomew was away from the office. After Reggie insisted she was in mortal danger the secretary called the real Bartholomew, who had no idea who Reggie was, but said that the embassy should contact the local police for assistance. At the Colonnade, Dyle revealed his actual identity to Reggie, and demanded she give him the stamps. Cruikshank arrived and got in a shootout with Dyle. Running into the theater, Reggie tried to hide in the stage's prompt box, but Dyle found her. Below the stage, Cruikshank located the controls for the trap door and opened the door Dyle was standing on, causing him to fall to his death just as he was going to shoot Reggie.
The following day Cruikshank (still using the Adam alias) and Reggie went to the embassay where a young marine told her that stolen government property could be returned to the Treasury department offices at the embassay. Walking up to the office Cruikshank declined to go in, using another door to gain access to his office in the time it took Reggie to enter the office and speak to the Treasury Agent. Entering the inner office Reggie was shocked to see that the agent was none of than the man she knew as Peter, Alexander, and then Adam. Cruikshank then revealed his actual identity to Reggie and proposed marriage to her. Reggie responded by saying hoping they had enough boys to name them all after his various aliases. Cruikshank also asked his secretary to compose a memo to the real Bartholomew suggesting a tightening of security measures at the embassy - namely that all offices should be locked when not in use.
==Trivia==
* Being twenty-five years older than costar Audrey Hepburn, Cary Grant was concerned about the age difference between them and the romantic interplay between Reggie and Cruikshank. In response the filmmakers added dialouge where Grant's character remarks on his age, and portrayed Hepburn's character as being the one pursuing Grant's character.
Category:Movie Heroes
Category:Protectors
Category:In Love
Category:Officials
Category:Secret Agents
Category:Lawful Good
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Category:Male
Category:Live Action Heroes