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Ironically, TMWTGG was at one point going to be GL’s next film. I wonder how that would have followed OHMSS, hit or not.
I suppose they could have just made it so that Bond was depressed about Tracy and M didn't want him to be a 00 any more as per the YOLT novel, but instead of making him 7777 and sending him to Japan on a diplomatic mission, they just send him to Scaramanga on a suicide mission per that novel.
If they could have figured out a way to include Ferzetti and Savalas in that plot, I might have preferred that to DAF. Honestly anything would have been preferable to DAF.
Maybe throughout the film there is a shadow stalking Bond and Bond isn't sure who it is, but at the end it's revealed to be Draco who was following him as he figured Bond would lead him to Blofeld so he could get his own revenge for Tracy... but it's Scaramanga he leads him to and maybe Scaramanga kills him; Bond is enraged which leads to their climactic duel. Not sure how Blofeld would play into it but maybe he's not needed.
EDIT: Possibly Scaramanga is a pseudonym for Blofeld (like Shatterhand was in YOLT)... just transform TMWTGG entirely into YOLT. :))
I kind of like the idea of Blofeld, throughout his career as criminal mastermind, moonlighting as internationally renowned assassin Scaramanga, just so he can get his own hands dirty every once in awhile... Blofeld and Scaramanga both serve as pseudo-foils to Bond in their own ways so it would make sense IMO...
EDIT2: I keep coming back to think about this. I know in the current TMWTGG it isn't Scaramanga that sends the golden bullet with 007 on it to MI6 but in this version, it would make sense if he did issue this challenge personally after Bond foiled his plots in Miami and Switzerland... Maybe Scaramanga is his true identity and Blofeld is the pseudonym?
Fun to think about!
And it's great, especially if Cristophee Lee would have played him!
Just imagine.....
THE SPY WHO LOVED ME
Unsurprisingly Fleming at his most experimental, not including Bond until halfway through, is a divisive entry.
It was given last place on seven occasions, the most of any of the contestants. On the other hand, it also ended up 5th twice and 6th, 7th and 8th once.
In total TSWLM acquired 65 points.
But it's quite a decent novel, I still would liked to see Vivienne Michel as a Bond Girl though.
Also the motel shoot out could make for a great Pre Title Sequence.
My main issue with the book is that Viv isn't one of Fleming's stronger female characters. She's gone through a couple of very bad relationships, but I never got the sense she was particularly cynical or hardened. By the end (from what I remember anyway) she doesn't seem to want to accept that the situation will have some sort of lasting impact on her, and does indeed seem to be infatuated by Bond.
I know a few Bond fans on here like the idea of adapting some of this novel for film as a PTS, but I do think that misses out on the more interesting aspects of this novel. Truth is even if this book could be adapted for film (I'm not sure if Fleming's wishes allow this) it's a book about how Viv (and by extension the reader) views James Bond and even builds him up as this heroic figure, all despite his moral ambiguity, despite his very obvious flaws. In that sense I think this book is an interesting experiment. Like TMWTGG I enjoy it, but it doesn't gel quite as well as many of Fleming's other novels.
That's the problem with the female characters in the later works of Fleming (at least after Thunderball), the one who preceded this, Tracy also suffered the same (that highlighted paragraph).
When I've read that paragraph, it's Tracy who also comes to my mind as another example.
What happened to Viv also happened to Tracy, just about the same, gone through a couple of bad relationships but there's no sense of cynical or being hardened, and at the end, just been cured by Bond and turned subservient to him instead.
But Fleming seemed to realized this mistakes and fired back with Kissy Suzuki.
Tracy I think is much better written, but I can definitely understand those criticisms. The film has the benefit of Rigg and the fact that Tracy's mental illness/erratic behaviour is played down in favour of a character who is more... well, hardened and cynical really.
Fleming certainly wrote some interesting female characters though. Tiffany Case, Honey Rider, Domino all being examples. I appreciate what he was trying to do with TSWLM, and it's interesting getting to see Bond through the eyes of a woman. Again, if any of the book is to be adapted for a film in the future, I don't necessarily want to see the motel scenes in a PTS, but a character like Viv. Someone who Bond rescues out of pure circumstance, and whom becomes infatuated with him in the same way Viv did. Perhaps after a time jump the Bond girl once again gets embroiled in another of the same villain's schemes and has to seek out Bond's help again. Her character arc could be about slowly coming to realise that despite Bond's 'heroism', he too is wrapped up in the same world of danger, crime and espionage as the villains are, and decides to part ways with him at the end.
Couldn’t have said it better myself. I adore this one, it ranked 6th for me.
I didn't have TSWLM quite this low, but I surprised myself a bit in placing it lower than I expected I would. That's not to say it isn't well written or exciting in its own way. I think applaud Fleming for being experimental and daring to tell a Bond tale from a female POV. There's a lot that really works here. The third act is particularly compelling. It's just up against some pretty tremendous competition.
Early 70's? I wonder how old are you sir?
Of course it is. Your perspective is a first time impression perspective. It is valuable to have some of those still in the mix.
DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER
Four last places were noted for DAF. Adding five more bottom 5’s to the mix and the overall bottom 3 was always going to be difficult to avoid for this one.
DAF’s best rankings were three 6th places and two 7th places.
In total DAF obtained 82 points.
The romance between Bond and Tiffany was probably the best part of this novel, much more developed, better and believable than Bond and Vesper relationship and Bond and Tracy relationship (Probably the best Romance that Fleming ever wrote).
It's #10 in my rankings, just above OHMSS for me (mainly because of the romance and Tiffany Case being a more fleshed out and tough Bond Girl than Tracy), though in the film, it's quite the opposite.
The Spang Brothers could have still adapted, but make it more like the Goldfinger treatment where it's improved upon the source material.
recently! There are great passages in it, and really liked Tiffany Case here, moreso than in the film. Wint and Kidd come across as more thug like here, than the colourful characters of the movie! Agree it has a great climax too!
There's a lot to like. Tiffany Case is one of Fleming's best female character in my opinion. There are some genuinely tense scenes such as Wint and Kidd killing the jockey, the climax in Spectreville. The opening always stood out for me too with the description of the scorpion (it's actually a very skilled bit of writing).
I think the reason this one isn't higher for me are the usual ones people cite with this novel. The Spang Brothers are pretty weak. They don't feel like the main villains of a Bond adventure but the 'heavies' Bond has to get through to get to the actual baddie. Compared to LALD - a good chunk of which also takes place in America - this book also feels a bit too 'grounded' for my taste. Personally, I think Fleming's novels worked best when there was a sense of the fantastical - Bond having to investigate something routine and eventually finding himself wrapped up in this world of otherworldly, megalomaniac villains and unusual, but dangerous situations. It's all presented in a way that feels realistic and plausible in the context of the novel, but it's fundamentally absurd. For me, LALD had that - a sort of strange, dark edge to it with its references to voodoo and its otherworldly villain. There are shades of this in DAF with Spectreville, but overall the novel feels at points like it could be from any old detective novel, not necessarily a Bond novel.
I'd love to see Spectreville in a future movie (I'm surprised it's not been done). I'd also like to see elements of Wint and Kidd adapted (I actually really like the film version of these characters which are certainly more fun/memorable, but the idea of two henchmen donning hoods to kill their victims would be great to see). Perhaps even the Spang Brothers could make an appearance - just hopefully not as the main villains.
Looks like @Birdleson and I dragged this one down with the last place votes. I’m a little surprised to see more love for it, but I’m glad others were able to find more enjoyment than myself! It’s a good book to be sure, but for me it really is a matter of just preferring other ones. A small trend I’ve noticed at least for myself is that I’m not as crazy about the stories that use gangsters, like this one and GF. I find SMERSH and SPECTRE more interesting. I do like Tiffany - a LOT more than in the movie - and it’s still a good read of course, but yes this just had to be my last place entry.