| BENSON: Definitely, "From Russia With Love." I think Fleming really got it all together for the first time in the series. He's quintessentially put it all together. I think it's got the best plot...the best storyline. It's really a Cold War espionage thriller. It's the most realistic in its depiction of fantasy spies; how sex might be used as a means to an end, for example. It's just really well-done and well-written.
HMSS: Which of the novels was brought most effectively to the screen? BENSON: "Goldfinger." I think it's actually the only movie that's better than the novel. I think Richard Maibaum improved Fleming's story. HMSS: The relationship between James Bond and Playboy magazine has been rekindled with "Blast From the Past," and excerpts from "Zero Minus Ten" in the April and May (1997) issues. How did this come about?BENSON: Well, I've been friendly with Hugh Hefner for a couple of years. I had sent him the "Bedside Companion" because I knew he was a big Bond fan. He wrote me back, and we had some correspondence. I met him for the first time in 1994; and we talked about Bond; and he mentioned how he might like to re-establish that literary link with the magazine. At that time, of course, I was not doing Bond, and basically said that I agreed; it would be really cool. Then, when I got the job, I mentioned to Peter Janson-Smith that I had a friendly relationship with Hefner, and that we should propose a short story. It just so happened that the fiction editor at Playboy had also contacted Glidrose at about the same time, expressing an interest in publishing a Bond piece. So I wrote the short story before I wrote the novel; it was published; and now that link has definitely been re-established.
| HMSS: Last question: Ginger or Mary Ann?
BENSON: On a desert island? How about both? (Laughs) OK, if I had to choose... Ginger.
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