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Comments
Savalas was a good physical Blofeld, but he was a far cry from the novel's Blofeld. That is a problem with the character as he was made in the movies: he is a composite. First he is he voice of Erich Pohlmann, the hands and hair of Anthony Dawson. Great presence, but when he is revealed it was bound to disappoint. Should they decide to have a new Blofeld, the actor playing him will need to be akin to the novels' and embody all of what makes Blofeld menacing: the voice and the physique. And he needs to have penetrating eyes too. Not a small task. My bet would have been on Ciaran Hinds a few years ago, but he is now too old.
You raise some intresting points (Most of which i wasn't even aware of),but yet i fail to be convinced. First of all, neither Holmes nor Bond are jacks of all trades in the Books. Holmes is seriously handicaped in the socializing Département and Bond isn't really very bright or Knowledgeable (again - in the Novels. The Thesaurus like Bond is strictly an Invention of the Movies.). Also to me it doesn't matter if Holmes was meant to be a Real World figure,as he just doesn't comes across as such. I read quite a few of the Holmes Stories when i was a Child and always found their knitting of Plot and Story very Second to third class compared to Agatha Christie,which at least gives you the Chance to solve the Chase yourself. All Doyle is usually giving us is Holmes walking around,acting brillantly,snoozing at all the dumb heads around him and giving us a monologue a the end about "Matches that are only Sold in a Special Part of Shanghai or Boots only worn by Mine workers in belgish congo for instance. That's just cheap!
But i would like to maintain an altogether different Point. The Producers of the Bond Movies are making huge wads of Money with us. Is it really too much to ask from them to Show some creativity on their Own? Shouldn't they be able to deliver sound Storylines and convincing villains themselfs? SF and all the other BS brought to the Screen these days notwithstanding, i am still convinced there Must be talented Script Writers Out there which should be given their Chance instead of warming up decades Old ideas,Plots and villains created by Mr Fleming ( who wasn't - despite what some People like to think - wearing the Black,or even Brown Belt of Thrillerwriting himself ).
P.S.: The "some of the worst" Bond Movies were - of course - YOLT and DAF
Regarding Blofeld, what is uncreative about going back to Fleming, which is after all the source material? Especially if it is to adapt and develop the character in a different way than it was before. This is, IMO, just as creative (if not more) than inventing a villain from scratch. Nobody complained, as far as I know, that Nolan used in his Batman movies villains that had been seen before: the Joker, Two-Face and Bane. They were obviously radically different than their previous movie incarnations. Blofeld is a great villain, he never was used to his full potential in the movies, we now had a reboot, thus a new continuity, so there is no objection for a reintroduction of Blofeld, obviously revamped.
Concerning your Statement about the archetypal Ancestor, this should come as a surprise to Edgar Allen Poe,who created his Auguste Dupin ( of which Holmes is a shameless rip Off) Long before Doyle was even born. I also fail to See the realism in Crime Stories, that don't give you the slightest hint of what might be going on, but i Sure won't Tell you what to like or not.
Speaking of Blofeld, i have to admit, that i read the Novels starring him Long before i even Hit teenagedom, but as far as i recall, exept his German greek descendence and his "Looks " he wasn't that much fleshed Out enough(Please correct me, if i'm wrong!) to warrant a resurection. I also feel,that by mentioning Batman you are unwillingly emphasizing my Point. Bond is not a Comic figure fighting his external Fight with some archvillain or Nemesis. At least in my view, we should leave those in the greek mythology or the Marvel / DC Universe, Since it tends to Take out realism (or at least the feel of it) and intensity of the Story.
Actually, Bond of the novels had nemesis: SMERSH at first then SPECTRE and... Blofeld. Fleming used him three times, he had Blofeld killed Bond's wife, Blofeld was instrumental to some of the most important events in Bond's life: his fall after Tracy's murder, his ''death'', his return... And he was fleshed out more than maybe any villain in the novels, another proof of his particular place in the canon. How many other Bond villains were refer to as a devil that took human shape?
I've said this before but I'd love to see the YOLT Blofeld in the films. "A demon in human form" (I know I've probably quoted that wrong but Tanaka definetly called him something similar).
I wouldn't mind it if he kept his cat though. A nod to the old (film) version of the character and something to keep the public happy.
I think that they would at least have to give a clever nod to the cat if they re-introduced Blofeld, and there are a number of different ways to do that. I really like the idea of the cat being a white tiger or an albino lion.
Yes, a little visual trick they played there with the cats in Hemingway House. The M as a kind of Bond villain vibe is something I could write a blog article on at a later date.
Yes that would be a good idea.
Yes, it is, isn't it? I've always been meaning to write such an article, but then that's the story of my life. Amis was a key believer of the M as a villain theory - he had him kidnapped in Colonel Sun and vented his dislike of the character M in The James Bond Dossier!
Cool why dont you do one now then?
I'd noted this one down years ago. I'll get around to it sooner or later. One needs many references for even the shortest of articles if one is to do it right.
Ok old buddy, think I'll start calling people that now.
Yes, have a wee look here, if you want to read a little of my posted work on the blog so far:
http://www.thebondologistblog.blogspot.co.uk
It came up with cant connect I'll look later.
'Who is going to play Ernst?'
Moreover, I think a second question should be in place now:
'How realistic is it that Ernst Stavro Blofeld as head of QUANTUM and/or SPECTRE will return in the upcoming 24th official James Bond film?'
Some facts that we already know:
--> Bond 24 will not be based on Sebastian Faulks novel 'Devil May Care'.
--> John Logan was hired for Bond 24 way before Sam Mendes officially came onboard on the Bond 24 pre-production team.
--> John Logan will also write the screenplay for Bond 25, making it more likely that there will be a bigger storyline encompassing two films.
--> Back in September 2011 during a BAFTA screenplay lecture John Logan reacted with a wry smile: "Bond should always fight Blofeld ;-)"
--> EON Productions not only acquired the rights for the previously Columbia Pictures owned 'Casino Royale', they also acquired the rights for the McGlory/Fleming created names 'Ernst Stavro Blofeld' and 'SPECTRE'.
--> SPECTRE is shown in the 2004 videogame 'GoldenEye: Rogue Agent', actually risking copyright problems.
It didn't help naming the terrorist organisation Quantum in the first place just so they could justify the title. It's such a daft name.
If Blofeld was to return, which would mean the legal issues have been resolved, then that would pave the way open to reintroduce SPECTRE. And I'll be more than happy with that.
I really wanted to see James Gandolfini play a Bond villain at some point but sadly he'll never get that chance.
It is not impossible that Blofeld is revealed as the head of Quantum, however I find it unlikely. But Blofeld was the head of criminal organisations before he founded SPECTRE, so who knows. I see two possibilities: 1)the head of Quantum will be Blofeld-like without being Blofeld by name. 2)Blofeld will show up as the revamped leader of a revamped SPECTRE, not necessarily for Bond 24.
What could be done is the following for Bond 24 then?:
--> As Dominic Greene said in 'QOS': "'We've been compromised!!". John Logan could refer to that in his screenplay for Bond 24.
--> QUANTUM is therefore dead or either hiding somewhere else in complete secrecy.
--> Certain ex-QUANTUM members could therefore be assinated as punishment by a newly, more effective syndicate.
--> An entire alternative ending has been filmed for 'QOS' by Marc Forster, but it hasn't been used.
--> This was a wise idea if you ask me, as now it appears that Mr White, played by Jesper Christensen, is still alive.
--> Mr White could return as a Largo-esque villain with more screentime than Silva had.
--> In the meanwhile a Blofeld-like character could be introduced as the actual real power behind a revived SPECTRE. The guy who's pulling the strings, also those of Mr. White.
--> That Blofeld-esque character will be uncredited, already causing rumours to surface for Bond 25.
--> And perhaps not credit this new 'Blofeld' in Bond 25 either.
I think that sounds perfect no ;-)? You slowly introduce a recurring, well-written, revived Blofeld, that many Hollywood stars would love to play. Write this character around one specific actor, like it has been done with Javier Bardem in 'Skyfall'. Names like Philip Seymour Hoffman, Christoph Waltz, Daniel Day Lewis, Anthony Hopkins and Michael Shannon could be nice names for such a role. And you could even bring better continuity to the character than it has been done in the 1960's (Blofeld with black hair in 'FRWL', Blofeld with grey hair in 'TB', Blofeld with no hair and scars in 'YOLT', Blofeld doesn't know Bond in 'OHMSS', Blofeld as transvestite in 'DAF').
My idea is that there will be some sort of continuity between the previous Craig Bond movies and Bond 24 and 25. As the time is to reboots, the time is also to continuity between movies in a same franchise: in Batman for instance you have many recurring characters and the events of the previous movies influence the following ones. I don't think Bond 25 will be a direct sequel to Bond 24, but there will be a certain continuity. And if it is not Blofeld Logan uses, it will be a Blofeld-like character.
Stewart is too old and Cumberbatch too young. beside, if they want to go away from the movies cliché image of Blofeld, they better not go for a bald guy.
Completely agreed here. The focus should be acting experience, not looks. The looks comes later. Like it was done with Silva.