 |
BRIEF #4 – WHEN BOOK AND FILM INTERSECT 1 – Films and books – links or broken links? The newsgroup often notes that Sean Connery's films did not, for the most part, stray far from Fleming's novels in term of storyline. While continuity was altered and some stories forgone the general consensus is that until Moore took over the film series was a successful adaptation of Ian Fleming's character. His titles lasted a bit longer. Every film from Dr. No through The Living Daylights was a Fleming title. (EON shortened "'From a View to a Kill".) By then they had run out of usable ones. But some of the screenplays, notably Thunderball, Moonraker and A View to a Kill, bore little resemblance to the original Fleming story. EON has never used a Bond novel written by anyone other that Fleming, either by title or plot. There is no reason in their viewpoint to do so. They would have to pay for use of the material and title, and choose instead to hire script makers to create original stories. This is why no Gardner or Benson novel has been made into film, and why they doubtfully ever will be. 2 – Explain the names "M" & "Q" When Mansfield Cumming was head of the real SIS he would sign documents he finished reading with a single letter "C". His replacement continued using "C" as a title though it had no bearing on his name. Fleming could have, one easily surmises, borrowed this fact for his creation. Fleming did name the character Admiral Sir Miles Messervy (though the name did not appear until "Golden Gun") but in keeping with the real C, it holds that any replacement would continue using M. It cannot be conclusively stated that Fleming didn't just borrow the title from the way he actually addressed his mother or that it is a coincidence that the female M is named Barbara Mawdsley. Q Branch is the Quartermaster Branch, the supplier of weapons and protective devices for the Double-O section. The head of the Branch, from the novel Doctor No, is Major Boothroyd, dubbed the "Armourer". (A real man, Geoffrey Boothroyd, was a weapons expert who convinced Fleming that Bond should use a Walther instead of a Beretta, but the fictional character is never called "Geoffrey".) The first EON Bond film of the same name also uses the Major's real surname. Peter Burton played him, succeeded afterward by Desmond Llewelyn, who was also called Boothroyd in The Spy Who Loved Me. Nicknamed the "Armourer" at first, the James Bond of the movies began using the Branch's first letter as a shorter moniker for Boothroyd. That is Q. Llewelyn died tragically in December 1999. John Cleese, hired before his death as an eventual replacement, was called both "Quartermaster" and "Q" in Die Another Day. His character's real name is unknown. 3 – What other "00" agents are mentioned?
In the James Bond films, a number of 00 agents have been depicted over the years: 002 - Bill Fairbanks, assassinated in Beirut by Francisco Scaramanga in 1969 (The Man with the Golden Gun); replaced by another agent who is quickly captured during a training mission at Gibraltar ( The Living Daylights ) 003 - Found dead in the Siberian ice (A View to a Kill) 004 - Assassinated during a training mission at Gibraltar (The Living Daylights) 006 - Alec Trevelyan, listed dead by MI6 at the hands of Soviet Colonel Ourumov during a mission with 007 to blow-up a Soviet nerve gas factory...at least for a while (GoldenEye) 008 - Bond's replacement, should he be unable to complete his mission (Goldfinger and The Living Daylights ) 009 - Assassinated in West Berlin by a circus knife-thrower after stealing a Faberge egg (Octopussy); a new 009 was named as the man who put the bullet in Renard's head (The World Is Not Enough) 0012 - Technically unnamed in the film, the novelization The World Is Not Enough has Bond avenging his death in the opening scene. On screen he is simply referred to as an MI6 agent In addition, the movie Thunderball has Moneypenny state the "every Double-O man in Europe" is in the conference room, and Bond arrives as the ninth agent to be briefed. Whether this means that the agents are 001 through 009 or not is never stated, as it COULD be 002 through 0010, for instance. And perhaps we should consider that some Double-0's were not in Europe and missed the meeting. Sharp eyes also could not miss the moment in The World Is Not Enough when Moneypenny distributes assignment folders to other agents, one of which is a woman. While Miranda Frost in Die Another Day is an MI6 agent, it is never stated she is a "Double-O", and we only learn that her experience was three years in cryptography before the Graves' assignment. For the novels according to Ian Fleming, James Bond was originally the senior member of only three agents in the Section. At the time of the "Moonraker" mission, 008 (known only as 'Bill') had just escaped from East Berlin, while 0011 had vanished in Singapore just two months before. Although 008 surfaced again in Goldfinger (listed as Bond's replacement, should he have failed), 0011 was never heard from again. 009 was briefly mentioned in Thunderball. In On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Bond was even odds to "get" Mary Goodnight first with an ex-Royal Marine Commando who was 006, making Fleming's total of 00 agents -- including 007 -- five. Kingsley Amis' Colonel Sun noted that the head of station G in Athens had served as "005" before "an eye defect had begun to impair his ability with firearms." (Submitted by Donal Rogers.) In Zero Minus Ten Raymond Benson includes a scene with the "Single-O's" who are working toward a "00" classification. 4 – The Walther and other machinations
In the Fleming novels, Bond started out with a .25 Beretta. In Doctor No he was ordered to begin carrying a Walther PPK 7.65mm as his standard issue firearm, though he used other guns here and there during the series. Gardner introduced Bond to a variety of weapons, including a Browning 9mm, the Ruger Super Blackhawk .44 Magnum (which Bond carried in violation of regulations), and the ASP 9mm. Raymond Benson's tenure saw Bond reclaim the PPK, and also begin using the Walther P99, concurrent with the films Benson novelized. Also of note, Bond mentions in the novel Doctor No that he has used larger weapons, like the .45 Colt with a long barrel, when needed, but for concealment he preferred the Beretta. Though he would keep the PPK the remainder of the series, at the time he was ordered to use it he made his preference for the Beretta known. (Submitted by James Tox) As the first Bond film was Dr. No, we see Bond ordered to give up the Beretta for the PPK without ever seeing the former in action. Bond did handle other equipment from time to time but the PPK has been the film's mainstay, though Tomorrow Never Dies and The World Is Not Enough featured the P99 in their ad campaigns and in the films as well, and it is now seemingly Bond's standard issue. Bond has gone through a few cars as well. The novels initially had him using a Bentley and in Goldfinger Q Branch issued him a souped-up work vehicle, the Aston Martin DB3. (Submitted by Barry King.) The films recreated this scene, with the since-released DB5. Since then Bond has used other Aston Martins, Lotuses and BMWs. The novels and the films never had the chance to follow a continuous pattern. Bond meets Leiter for the first time in the initial showing of each, but in different stories. In the novels, Leiter's second appearance, in Live and Let Die, has him brutally maimed by a shark. He returns on occasion after that. The films used him often, but did not feature the shark attack until License to Kill, some sixteen films into the series. When the movie came out, Bond author John Gardner decided to try to fit the scene into Fleming's continuity when writing the novelization, and explained that Felix was fed to a shark again. Perhaps the two mediums should remain split. BRIEF #5 – MORE SOURCES ON JAMES BOND There are many interesting, exciting and grand websites dedicated to James Bond. Here are some of them that the FAQ feels merit special attention. Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
The Official James Bond Website.
Bondian.Com
Raymond Benson.com
James Bond Agent 007, OHMSS
The Bond Film Informant
Art of James Bond
Commanders Club
007.com
Nuv's OO7 Shrine
PublishingOnline.com
Her Majesty's Secret Servant
There are several fan clubs devoted to Bond. Before joining any of them, however, you might want to ask around the newsgroup for opinions, since some clubs have better reputations than others. Below are some of biggest fan clubs and organizations. The Ian Fleming Foundation
Club James Bond France 119 avenue Félix faure 75015 Paris France E-mail: clubjamesbond@online.fr The James Bond 007 Fan Club
Hopefully this FAQ has answered your general questions about James Bond. If not please send an E-mail to the FAQ editor Ronald Miehls. Any errors or corrections should be sent there as well, and please include the specific Brief and Section. Please remember, a FAQ covers FREQUENTLY asked questions and is not meant to show off arcane or trivial knowledge, however original it may be. Keep this is mind if you have a submission request. Remember, alt.fan.james-bond welcomes you to join in the thrill of James Bond. This is your FAQ and you are entitled to voice your opinion about it. Thank you. |
