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What do I remember. well, the thing is many memories of the film obscure my memories of the book. Which on the one hand is good, as it makes LALD a good film, but sad as well, as my image of Mr. Big was, let's say, a bit 'larger'then the cinematic version. No wonder, as Fleming describes him (iirc) as a 'balloon' head.
Strangely enough, it's the train ride that is etched in my memory the most. And that brings me to the first meeting of Solitaire and Bond, in which Solitaire immediatly flirts with Bond. Indeed, she seems very keen on him from the get-go, which I found highly unlikely. But still, again it's Fleming's writing that makes the childishly easy plot a fascinating and beleavable story. I mean the chances of her taking such, er, chances in real life would've been negligable. Ordinarily I'd have called out 'fat chance', to be precise. But it's Fleming's compelling writing that has me believe this couldn't-have-been-easier part of the plot.
Oh, and then there's, of course, Leiter going off alone to the warehouse, and Bond himself later on. And those daft old people in, what was it, Saint Petersburg, Naples? , in that hotel, not understanding a thing that's going on. And Leiter losing an arm.
The most exciting part is, for me, is actually Bond swimming from Beau Desert to the island. There's so much tension there I got almost exhausted just reading it. And then there's the treasure cave, and Mr. Big, still in control. In amongst all that gold.
And of course the towing through the reefs.
actually, this is, I think, one of Fleming's best. I can get excited about it just thinking of it. The combination of poor (but formerly grand, as Leiter tells) Harlem, the adventurous train ride with this highly misterious beauty, ending in such a tropical setting. It has all the ingedients of an out-of-this-world tale, with a plot that's not only unconventional, but also highly believeable and original.
And the city is my old home town, St. Petersburg, Florida - which was truly known as the Old Folks place, even more than Naples, during that era. Naples always had a bit more money and artsy feel, I think. Anyway, there were (and are!) plenty of elderly people throughout Florida, sure, but St. Pete was (in my mind) quite famous for that in particular in the 50's and 60's.
I do think you are right, too, about the great mix of compelling locations so vividly described by Fleming. Harlem, St. Petersburg, Jamaica. And the hidden, silent, underground network of evil that was controlled by Mr. Big in each of those places. I mean, just throwing St. Petersburg into that mix makes it so unusual.
I do enjoy Live and Let Die a lot. Bond and Solitaire's being towed in order to be eaten by sharks has always stayed with me. Years later, I nearly jumped out of my chair in excitement when I saw that scene develop in the film FYEO.
So glad you have joined us, CommanderRoss. Any novel, any time, any impressions you want to share is fine! :-bd
Personally, I just returned from a business trip to Nashville, and as I was travelling by plane, I had a whole lot of time for reading. As soon as I can find some time for writing, my reviews of GF and the short stories in the FYEO collection will be forthcoming.
And I hope you have a splendid trip, @CommanderRoss! Sounds superb. Do join us when you return. :> Bond themes humming in your mind along that route, I'm sure!
Cheers! :-bd
It seems to me that when considering the Bond books as adapted into movies, we have three different types of offerings to consider. The first is the "Fairly Faithful" adaptation, where Fleming’s original content is followed to a large extent, with occasional minor deviations. I would put DN, FRWL, TB, and OHMSS in this category, as well as CR, FWEO (the movie) and TLD. These last three adapt Fleming’s original material pretty faithfully, although substantial amounts of new material is added as well. The second type of Bond adaptation is what I would call the "Abrupt Left Turn" adaptation, where Fleming’s original work is being followed…until an Abrupt Left Turn takes us into another territory entirely. I would define YOLT, DAF, and LALD as belonging to this category. Then there is the “Whole Cloth” adaptation, where a title and a few characters’ names are used, but precious little else. Examples of this type of film are TMWTGG, TSWLM, MR, OP and AVTAK.
And then we have Goldfinger. Goldfinger the movie uses most of the characters and nearly all of the basic plot points of Goldfinger the novel…but it makes so many substantial changes to those plot points that I can’t really consider it a Faithful adaptation. Let’s examine those changes.
First we have the card game where Bond catches Goldfinger cheating at canasta. The obvious point here is that this is something of a case of Fleming copying his own prior work, with Drax in the bridge game at Blades in the novel, Moonraker. But there’s more to it than that. In the movie, M passes Bond info on his next assignment while Bond is in Miami, said info being passed along by Felix Leiter. Let us note and discard the point that this move is fairly uncharacteristic of M: he wouldn’t use the agent of a foreign country to pass along an assignment to one of his own agents. It just wouldn’t occur to the stiff necked head of the British Secret Service to give away that sort of information to another country, even a friendly one. Movie Bond then goes far outside his instructions to observe Goldfinger…but novel Bond is acting on his own while off the clock, in accepting the brief employ of millionaire Mr. DuPont and discovering how GF has been cheating him at cards. In doing so, Bond makes the acquaintance of Jill Masterton. He enjoys her company on a brief holiday, with GF’s knowledge…and then Jill returns to her job in GF’s employ. Bond, and the audience, never sees her again. Only later in the novel are we (and Bond) informed by Tilly Masterton of Jill’s golden fate.
HUH??? Bad enough Bond should use GF’s…assistant…in his usual way, but to then let her go back to her job as if nothing had ever happened? Foolish, foolish Mr. Bond! But again, Bond has no reason at this point to suspect GF of any villainy more heinous than cheating at canasta. Let us instead say: Foolish, foolish Mr. Fleming! As brilliant a writer as Ian Fleming has proven himself to be, he repeatedly makes one elementary error in crafting James Bond’s exploits: he TELLS us things that he should be SHOWING us. He has Tilly Masterton tell James Bond one of the most memorable incidents in this entire story: the killing of Jill by painting her body gold. The iconic Golden Girl is reduced by Fleming to a minor point, recounted in passing to explain Tilly’s motivation for wanting Goldfinger dead. The filmmakers wisely have this event occur onscreen, and use it to introduce Oddjob somewhat earlier than is the case in the Fleming novel.
Okay, so the novel and the book follow in lockstep for awhile aside from this particular matter. Bond and Goldfinger play golf, Bond cheats the cheating GF…and Bond leads his prey to believe that he may be looking for a career change, and might be useful to GF in his own employ. So GF invites Bond to dinner at his house, and…in a scene nowhere present in the film, one that I had entirely forgotten in the decades since my original reading of this novel…Bond does some snooping around GF’s home. He discovers that he is being filmed in the act, exposes the film to light, rendering it useless…and arranges for Goldfinger’s cat to receive the blame for the film’s exposure. Sending a rather heavy handed message to Bond, Goldfinger gives the cat to Oddjob for dinner.
Eeeugh. I think I understand why this scene was left out of the movie….
Tilly and Bond are put to work for Goldfinger, under Oddjob’s constant watch, and they are crucial to arranging many specifics for Operation Grandslam. Tilly is obviously more attracted to Pussy Galore (the leader of a gang of female criminals) than to Bond, and when she is finally dispatched by Oddjob’s flying bowler hat, it is in the middle of the crooks’ battle with GF’s minions on the grounds of Fort Knox. Operation Grandslam, by the way, is indeed an attempt to steal the gold bullion from the depository, rather than the attempt to render that gold worthless in an atomic explosion that is detailed in the movie. And Pussy Galore does nothing to redeem herself of any guilt for the attempted theft, she merely announces her change of sides verbally to Bond in the middle of the melee between the US Army and Goldfinger’s criminal conspirators. Bond’s attempt to get a message to Leiter regarding the attempted theft, which is foiled in the movie, is successful in the novel. Novel Pussy should end up going to jail as she has been a full and willing participant in GF’s scheme; movie Pussy on the other hand took significant actions to redeem herself and fully deserves her time “undercover” with movie Bond at the film’s end.
To put matters frankly, Goldfinger the novel is equal parts brilliant setup and faulty execution. GF’s scheme suffers from the flaw pointed out by Bond in the movie: it would simply take too damn long to move all that gold, even with dozens of criminals doing the moving through a variety of sources. The structure of GF the novel keeps Tilly Masterton in Bond’s care for too long, she isn’t interested in him and makes that point clear several times. Pussy Galore, the lesbian who’s interested in Bond because she’s never met a real man before, does not aid him in any real fashion and ought to go to jail for her part in Goldfinger’s scheme…but hey, 007 needs to end the book in the arms of a beautiful woman so all is forgiven.
For much of the real world time around the writing of this novel, the upcoming collection of short stories, and the next full novel, Ian Fleming has been searching for a manner of getting his landmark creation into films or onto television. He’s been looking for a collaborator really, someone who knows the film world and can help him mold his soon to be legendary creation into the proper shape to make the assault on popular culture that he somehow knows is fated to be successful. This novel, and the film that is eventually made from it, prove the wisdom in Fleming’s path. He has a brilliant storyline here…but one that needs a fresh pair of eyes to help bring it to effective completion. It’s a shame Fleming couldn’t have been introduced to Richard Maibaum a little sooner. Instead, he’s about to meet Kevin McClory…
Carry on chaps - and a reminder that everyone is welcome to comment, even if not doing a full mini-review. Cheers! :-bd
And here we come to a small controversy: what should be the proper order in which to run these particular reviews? As @Birdleson has noted, the order in which they were published is not necessarily the order in which they were written, and the fashion in which they were collected follows still another chronological order. With that in mind, and with a strong desire to have OHMSS, YOLT and TMWTGG serve as my final three reviews, I’ll be reviewing the contents of FYEO in the order in which the various stories appear in that volume. OP & TLD’s contents will be appearing immediately afterwards, in the order in which (I believe) they were written. That said, let us first consider the reason these short stories even exist.
Ian Fleming was quite certain from an early point in his chronicling of the exploits of James Bond 007: this was a character with immense potential in the mass market, and the best format to realize that potential would be in live action: in films or the emerging new market of television. With several 007 novels in print and various hooks in the water for cinematic treatments of his character, Fleming began writing a series of short stories featuring 007 that might be used as episodes of a potential television series.
With that framework in mind, here is my review of the 007 short story….
From a View to A Kill
One of the most enjoyable aspects of the Bond short stories written by Fleming is the peek we get into Bond’s thought processes. The novels are usually too caught up in the larger picture: the villain, his fantastic scheme, and so forth. The short stories generally have a more prosaic situation to portray and Fleming has a little more room to go into Bond’s frame of mind, his relationship with M, and various specifics of the inner works of the Secret Service. With this novel, we are privy to a tale of the interservice rivalries brought into play when a NATO dispatch rider is ambushed and his secret communiqués stolen. The head of SHAPE, the international agency in charge of the investigation, is certain that his men are taking all possible steps to catch the guilty parties…but no results are forthcoming. M dispatches Bond to investigate, and while all possible cooperation is offered to 007, it is quite clear that his presence is not really appreciated by the NATO base commander. Bond does some nice detective work and discovers a hidden Soviet station in a meadow not far from the dispatch rider’s route. With some help from a concisely written Bond Girl named Mary Ann Russell, the Soviet agents are flushed out and Bond secures a nice little feather for M’s cap in the ongoing game of interservice status points.
The secondary matters in this story are among its most enjoyable points, the “main” plot almost an afterthought. For all the effort and expense the Soviets had to go to in order to establish their camouflaged station, it really couldn’t have produced results more than a few times before NATO simply changed its dispatch rider’s route, making the hidden outpost pointless. But never mind about that, Fleming’s prose in describing the meadow and its animal inhabitants is the real star of this show. We also get some nice info on Bond’s opinions concerning Parisian establishments for dining and drinking…plus, Mary Ann Russell is a fine character in her own right. If she’d been the heroine of a Bond novel, it’s almost certain Fleming would have put a little more thought into giving her a memorable name befitting a Bond Girl.
There! That didn’t take long. How about a quick review of the short story which gives this collection its name:
For Your Eyes Only
I find Fleming’s opinions of Cuban politics at this point in time endlessly fascinating. Growing up in the USA after Castro had taken power, one was given to believe that a Communist Cuba was the worst thing that could possibly have happened in the entire Western Hemisphere circa the early Sixties. Obviously this is the point of view pushed by the US government at that time. But in the Fleming Bond stories written around the late Fifties, Castro taking power is portrayed as almost inevitable and perhaps even a good thing. Batista’s regime is depicted as unforgivably corrupt and very nearly incompetent in its resistance to a populist revolt. It is in this light that FYEO is written. The Havelocks, a kindly Jamaican couple (read: British retirees whose family has owned property in Jamaica since Cromwell’s time) are killed by Cuban thugs in the employ of a German exNazi who wants their Jamaican estate for himself once his time serving as one of Batista’s security officers has come to an end. Unfortunately for Gonzales and Von Hammerstein (the Cuban thug and German officer in question,) the Havelocks were old friends of M in his personal life dating back to the 1920s. M brings Bond into the case unofficially…and the short story essentially follows the Havelock based section of the plot of FYEO the movie from there, although the criminals’ hideout is based in the mountains of Vermont, and the Havelock daughter with a crossbow and vengeance on her mind is named Judy rather than Melina. But Bond’s lecture regarding the Chinese proverb and the digging of two graves is still the moral centerpiece of the story, and here the meaning is quite clear: Bond’s life and training make him the proper executioner, prepared to do society’s dirty work when it is necessary…and in this case, it is. Judy’s heart is too pure to really do this sort of work without it impacting her in an irreparable fashion. Best to leave it to the professionals. Judy has her revenge on Von Hammerstein, but without Bond’s protection Gonzales would have made her pay for that revenge by filling in a second grave.
Again, the secondary aspects of this tale are very strongly placed. M’s reticence to send Bond on a personal mission and Bond’s understanding and sympathy for his boss’ qualms are among the high points of this tale. The unofficial cooperation of a strategically placed Canadian officer is also crucial in Bond’s undertaking…and of course, Fleming’s description of Bond’s stealthy approach to Von Hammerstein’s Vermont retreat is beautifully realized, and one more indication of the Master’s unmatched narrative talents.
i'm a bit exhausted, as I drove it all myself. But we certainly saw a few places that are Bond-worth if you ask me (Herzegovina!!).
@Beatles, very nice reviews again! perhaps later this week I'll find time to throw in my two cents again.
Other interesting bits: If people tell you the Albanian highway is finished, it doesn't necessarily mean it is finished, it means they stopped building it. it's a fragmented affair with 10 minutes or so proper highway, then large bits under construction where nobody is at work and you drive on small secondary roads, then there's a bit highway again, then... well, you get the picture.
Montenegro isn't classy at all, but an overpopulated, expensive beautiful coast.
Split is an overcrowded tourist place, unlike 15 years ago, when there was hardly a soul in the summer and you could still get decent food for a decent price.
Skopje is almost as absurdistic as the statue garden in GE.
Oh well, I could go on for quite some time I guess. it was fun indeed!
anyway, shouldn't you old peo- eh, more seasoned fans discuss the new trailer? There's quite a lot of new information in that one I think. And I'm much more intertested in your views then the , erm, masses.
And also, yes, you are exactly right, Commander Ross - we should be discussing the SPECTRE trailer here. So I am rectifying that immediately! Our ongoing discussion of the Fleming novels and short stories - highlighted as always with the intrepid and genuinely always illuminating @BeatlesSansEarmuffs and @Birdleson (but all others welcome, too!) - will continue on as we head towards this autumn, but for now our main topic is:
The Full SPECTRE TRAILER B-) The Originals take on it ~
I am sure you have all given your considered opinion on other threads, but I'd really love for all of us older seasoned agents to share their thoughts on this thread.
Thank you very much, ahead of time, dear Originals (you know who you are), for chiming in here about this trailer. I will post the trailer here next and give my views on it later today (I'm typing at work just at the moment).
Cheers! :-bd
First, no hesitation: I think this is an excellent trailer! It's very exciting, but the excitement builds in it. It draws you in. It's beautifully filmed, every shot great to look at, with some stunning sequences that we get a glimpse of (Austria, Mexico city Day of the Dead). The actors are spot on, this seems very well cast. All of them appear comfortable in their roles, like they really fit (including Bautista for that awfully named but oh so formidable, and powerfully dangerous, Mr. Hinx). The air of mystery is enhanced by several factors: 1) just having Mr. White return (so cool! so deserved!)... 2) the lighting and color palettes used in different situations/locations, and ... 3) the music. I am not 100% sold on Newman from just what we have seen. But I am more hopeful. And I think the music is quite good in this trailer, particularly during the shots with Mr. White and Obenhauser ... rather like a prelude, a tapping on one's shoulder, just beginning to seem haunting and menacing. And when the music from OHMSS swells up, it's surprising and somehow perfect. Then again, the music in the film will be different and possibly quite different from the taste we have had with this trailer. But it bodes well. Also, I'm one of those who has been wanting some great snowy scenes for Bond, so I'm thrilled about that, too.
The trailer does hit all the key buttons (which @Beatles mentioned so deftly), and it dangles this story tauntingly, but with affection, right before our eyes. It basically whispers "classic Bond" into our ears as we watch this. I felt my emotions simply going, "yes! Yes! YES!" as I watched this. SPECTRE looks to be the Bond film I, and so many others, have been waiting for. To give Daniel Craig a Bond film that lets him rock his full on, smooth, mojo working, in control, dangerous yet sublime, Bond? Hell, yes - I'll buy a ticket for that alone; repeat viewings, please and thank you. This time his Bond does (at long last!) get to enjoy life more. That is plainly evident, even with the story itself being quite sinister and appearing layered/murky beneath the obvious things. Indeed, some things may be too obvious at this point. Hmmmm. But this Bond is free to soar again, I feel. No matter how strange or sad the story turns out. I frankly see menace and a twist coming for the ending, but not sadness this time - halleluja! (And I hope I have not spoken too soon on that point, but I think not.)
Do we see anything OTT humor, very flamboyant, or outrageous here? No. Do we see Bond looking as though he is still carrying a heavy heart for Vesper in a way that is still raw and partially crippling him? No. Does he look burnt out, physically damaged, or weary? No. This Bond looks settled. He looks alive. He looks completely capable, dangerous, and clever. And he looks determined. B-)
I personally don't mind the story delving into Bond's family background because it is compelling if well written and brings a strong dramatic element to it. I have no worries at all about the cinematography, direction, or acting. But the quality of the film to be truly great hinges on the writing. The music can help it tremendously, too. Theme song? Icing on the cake, but I hope it's a very good song & artist.
In conclusion, I absolutely cannot wait for this film! SPECTRE is going to be great - I feel it in my bones. With Mendes, I expect a different tone from the last film he made, including a lighter touch for some scenes, but I strongly doubt he will jump off the deep end and disappoint with this one. As for Newman, he has the talent and he has been encouraged (to put it politely) to up his game ... because this is a Bond film (not just any adventure/action/spy/thriller) and that means something special ... so I believe the music will be more satisfying and appropriate this time around.
This trailer does everything it should - it's enticing, exciting, intriguing, beautiful, fun, and lets the world know that James Bond is a cut above every other film character out there. =D>
One thing about the name, "Mr. Hinx": I think Bond fandom would be much more forgiving of this name if we could just put Jinx out of our memories. I'm willing to do so, and I urge others to do the same.