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Foreign titles of Bond novels

GerardGerard
edited May 2012 in Literary 007 Posts: 5,996
As I said in the thread about foreign titles of Bond movies, we are lucky that those who named the movies didn't chose the first french titles of the novels. Why ? Well, a bit of history is in order here.

When James Bond came to France, in the late Fifties, it was under two different publishers. The first one, Inter-Espions, got most of the novels, except for Moonraker and Diamonds are Forever, which were published by Gallimard, in their famous Série Noire imprint (which had published the works of Dashiel Hammett and Raymond Chandler, among numerous others). But each publisher had to have smoked something, because the titles they chose for the novels were... a bit strange, to say the least. After the first movies came out, a new publisher, Plon, bought the right of the novels, minus Moonraker and Diamonds, still under Gallimard, and redid the translations. They also changed the titles to make them more faithful to the movies, or to what Ian Fleming had written (with a few exceptions). So, here are the various french titles of Ian Fleming's books:

Casino Royale:

- Espions, Faites vos Jeux (Spies, Place your Bets)
- Casino Royal

Live and Let Die:

- Requins et Services Secrets (Sharks and Secret Services)
- Vivre et Laisser Mourir

Moonraker:

- Entourloupe dans l'Azimuth (Dirty Trick in the Azimuth)
- Vise-Lune (in an omnibus book)
- Moonraker

Diamonds are forever:

- Chauds les Glaçons ! (lit. Hot Ice, but it's a wordplay on the traditional shout of grilled chestnuts sellers, "Chauds les marrons!")
- Les Diamants sont éternels

Bons Baisers de Russie:

- Échec à l'Orient-Express (Checkmate for the Orient-Express)
- Bons Baisers de Russie

Dr. No

- Dr. No
- James Bond 007 condre Dr. No

Goldfinger

- Opération Chloroforme
- Goldfinger

For Your Eyes Only:

- James Bond en Danger (James Bond in Danger)
- Bons Baisers de Paris (From Paris with Love)

Thunderball

-Opération Tonnerre

The Spy who loved me:

- Motel 007

On Her Majesty's Secret Service

- Au Service Secret de Sa Majesté

You Only Live Twice

- On ne vit que deux fois

The Man With The Golden Gun

- L"Homme au Pistolet d'Or

Octopussy:

- Meilleurs Voeux de la Jamaïque (Best Wishes from Jamaica)

So, how were Fleming's novels translated in other countries ?

Comments

  • marketto007marketto007 Brazil
    Posts: 3,277
    Haha, nice. Loved the "Dirty Trick In The Azimuth" for Moonraker.

    xxx
  • SaintMarkSaintMark
    edited May 2012 Posts: 7,653
    And here are the Titles from the Netherlands

    1953: Casino Royale (Casino Royale)
    1954: Live and Let Die (Moord onder water = Murder under water)
    1955: Moonraker (Hoog spel = High stakes)
    1956: Diamonds Are Forever (Doden voor diamanten = Dead for diamonds)
    1957: From Russia With Love (Veel liefs uit Moskou/De moordkuil van het hart = wearing your heart on your sleeve)
    1958: Doctor No (Doctor No)
    1959: Goldfinger (De man met de gouden vingers)
    1960: For Your Eyes Only (Van een blik tot een moord = from a view to a kill)
    From a View to a Kill (Van een blik tot een moord)
    For Your Eyes Only (Voor uw ogen alleen)
    Quantum of Solace (De kwantum solace theorie)
    Risico (Risico)
    The Hildebrand Rarity (De Hildebrand rariteit)
    1961: Thunderball (Kalm aan, Mr. Bond = take it easy mr. Bond)
    1962: The Spy Who Loved Me (De spion die mij beminde)
    1963: On Her Majesty's Secret Service (In dienst van Hare Majesteit)
    1964: You Only Live Twice (Je leeft maar tweemaal)
    1965: The Man With The Golden Gun (De man met de gouden revolver)
    1966: Octopussy and The Living Daylights (Octopussy)
    Octopussy (Octopussy)
    The Living Daylights (Veel liefs uit Berlijn = with love from Berlin)
    The Property of a Lady (Om het bezit van een dame)
    007 in New York (007 in New York)

    I only translated the titles that are not a literal translation.



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