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That was the real Captain Nash played by William Hill who was the production manager on the film and only played the part reluctantly.
Although I think it’s open to debate whether Campbell is an MI6 guy or not (in the film anyway): the first time we see him giving assistance Bond is technically off the case and working against orders, so he shouldn’t really be getting assistance from other MI6 officers. Plus he’s on a Draco construction site, so it almost seems more likely he’s one of Draco’s guys!
He’s Ronson, like Bond’s lighters. That’s probably why he remembers him :D
Blofeld makes a comment about "you, British" with reference to Campbell. I don't think he's a member of the Union Corse. Also, the equipment seems a bit "advanced" (for the times) to be in the hands of Draco. And most of Draco's important agents were introduced early on, but not Campbell. I think there are arguments for as well as against him being an MI6 operative. I believe the novel makes it clear that he is.
To be fair, if MI6 agent's all ended up well and good in Bond films, you wouldn't get a sense of danger. Yes, that makes them a bit red shirtish sometimes, but it does add drama. And it's not like it's not a dangerous job in real life.
My controversial opinion: as much as I love GE and Sean Bean in it, I always thought he looked very heroic for a villain. I always wondered how and why he got typecast as a badguy for so long.
Yes, the novel certainly does make it clear that Campbell works for the British Secret Service. In fact Shaun Campbell almost blows Bond's cover as Sir Hilary Bray. He recognises Bond as his colleague from the British Secret Service and appeals to him to provide his bona fides to Blofeld's men at Piz Gloria when he gets picked up. Bond of course flat out denies knowing who he is and suggests he's concussed. We're even told that Campbell has blond hair which Bernard Horsfall had in the film version too. Another point of accuracy between novel and film. Campbell is recognised by Bond as being Number 2 from Station Z in Zurich, Switzerland. It's a great scene not included in the film apart from the bit where Campbell argues with Gunther which at least alludes to what happens in the novel. See the end of Chapter 14 and the beginning of Chapter 15 of OHMSS for more details.
So he wasn t the real captain Nash after all, then?
He’s certainly British because we hear him speak. I’m British but that doesn’t make me MI6 :D
Don’t forget Draco’s own daughter speaks with a cut glass English accent so it doesn’t really mean too much.
Well it’s positively backward for MI6 equipment: in the previous film Bond had a Q gadget which could open a safe about thirty times faster and it fitted in his pocket! :)
Also, Bond has been relieved of duty: why would Q Branch be sending him gear? Even if it is massively out of date tech :D
The novel does yes, but the film is a separate thing.
I think he probably is intended to be a fellow spy, I just think it’s interesting that the film gives us more reasons to believe he’s Draco’s guy.
If he’s MI6 it actually gives us a plot blooper, or at best an unexplained issue in the plot.
True. I think it's a detail the script overlooked.
And what do you mean, you're British but not an MI6 agent? Wait, this isn't the real MI6? ;-)
I'll bet you he was the real McCoy, or rather Nash.
It's a great scene in the book. In the film, though, there's a sort of nod to that when Campbell looks directly at Bond/Bray when being interrogated by Blofeld. That couldn't have but helped raise Blofeld's suspicions that Bray is a fake. Then again, this guy was fooled as to Bond's identity by donning glasses. Maybe he got advice from Clark Kent.
On a separate note, what was Campbell trying to accomplish by going up to Piz Gloria? Surely there was nothing he could do to aid Bond. A guess is Bond was supposed to contact him at some point, such as when he seems desperate to take the afternoon off and Blofeld denies this, and maybe Campbell and Bond had arranged for him to try to go up if Campbell didn't hear from him, that he was in trouble.
Also, wouldn't Paula from TB qualify as an Mi6 operative who was killed in the line of duty? It's enough of an issue that Bond tells Pinder to inform London that Paula was dead. She's introduced by Bond as his assistant, but would he have bothered to make a point of telling Pinder that if she were just a local? Seems her position wasn't that different from Goodnight, who even got the benefit of having clothes fitted with Q-outfitted homers.
Doesn’t Paula chomp on a cyanide capsule? Definitely a spy if she does I’d say.
She’s probably one of the worst-treated characters in the whole series in that she’s an ally of Bond, there’s a whole action sequence about trying to save her, but she barely gets any screen time and the film doesn’t seem interested in her at all.
Re Blofeld not recognising Bond: I always understood that he was disguised as a Japanese in the previous movie. Kind of a retcon, but only a small one. Also, in the novel YOLT, Bond's disguise is good enough to have Blofeld fooled, at least to a degree.
Well, she's only a supporting character. Little as she does, I happen to like Paula.
So's Mathis: he gets some lines and a close-up or two! :) Any number of supporting characters get more interest from the camera.
Well, Mathis is a more important supporting character. Paula is almost a tagalong: she's part of the team, she looks good and she dies when the script requires it. I always imagined her as Bond's go to shag when he's on a mission in Nassau.
Yes I know: that's what I'm saying- she (and Pinder) is treated badly by the film considering that she is part of Bond's team. Compare to anyone else in a similar role, say Chuck Lee, and she gets short shrift. Bond isn't even introduced to her on screen: she's just there like a piece of furniture and we don't even see her most important scene. If you think she gets loads of screentime and a character then fine.
- Quarrel Jr is Quarrel's little brother. Can't be son because LALD Bond isn't as old as he would need to be to have worked with his dad in Dr No!
- Brad Whittaker suffered amnesia and a head injury that changed his personality. He then trained to be a CIA operative under a pseudonym.
- Dame Judi's M is the same character through GE to SF, just not in that order. She promotes Bond in CR and goes into QOS. Then we rewind to GE, Bond is still fresh enough to her to comment on her predecessor's alcohol cupboard. Go through the Brozza era and then
on to SF where M is fond of Bond after all these years. (It works of you squint a bit while not thinking too much)
I don't think she gets loads of screen time. I think she gets enough for what she does.
Let's get the obvious out of the way first, I think George and Tim got the best record of course: three films, three favourites.
But with the long-serving Bonds I always thought there was at least one entry, sometimes two, that I was not overly fond of.
Revisiting what I thought were my least-liked Moore films, LALD and FYEO, I must admit I like every single Rog film. It helps, naturally, that LALD and FYEO were phenomenal rewatches, while I still also love the rest of his tenure. Even when they slide-whistle or laser-shoot into absurdity, Rog's Bond always amuses me.
I don't have that with DAF, DAD or the later Craig films.
Same here.
I was replying to GoldenGun, who was surprised to discover that they enjoyed Roger's films.
Yep. Love Rog in the film. Though I appreciate his stance on it and why he wanted to lose the "edge" in subsequent films.
What would be some examples of this Americanised tone in TLD?