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I could pay homage to any single character in the Bond franchise, I love them all. Silva
ELVIS and why he changed the Bond franchise forever
In 2008 Marc Forster, the Swiss director, knew he had to do something truly spectacular, something daring, something never done before. He thought long and hard and then it hit him like an avalanche in the Swiss Alps.
Cast a Swiss guy from Zurich as a henchman. It just happened Anatole was Marc's friend so it was a natural choice.
Furthermore, the Piz Gloria wasn't free for filming, but Anatole Taubman really is the next best thing that came to mind.
Forster immediately recognised Taubman's vast talent. Not dissimilar in handling a gun like Craig does Forster made sure Anatole will have his "Bond" moment as can be seen nicely in below pictures.
The Swiss-German touch.
But that wasn't enough of course, so Mr. Forster and Mr. Taubman sat together for a while to make a master plane on how to change the Bond franchise forever.
While drinking some milk and reading the "Blick" (Switzerland's version of The Sun) Anatole received a call by his mother who told him to get a half pound of white bread and some cheese, preferably Emmentaler, on the way back to home.
When he put the phone down he and Forster just looked at each other, deep into each other's eyes. No words were needed, everything was becoming clear and Forster and Taubman just left with the knowledge something truly spectacular had just occurred.
So it happened that Elvis does speak Swiss-German in his very first scene. He is on the phone with his mother asking her if she needs anything that he could bring back home.
Of course he gets distracted and has to tell his mother that he will call her back.
This daring short but memorable scene has written history. Not only is it the first time ever that Swiss-German actually gets spoken in an MGM Movie but of course it never happened in a Bond movie before and probably never will again.
Elvis calling his mother back was filmed as well. The five minute conversation is rumoured to be the most daring film experiment ever but sadly in the editing process it had to go because Forster and the producers realised it would disrupt the non-stop action theme of the movie and also the audience would never recover from the hilarity of it.
That it had to go because the movie would have gotten too lengthy is a nasty rumour by the way.
The Toupee.
One could think Elvis wearing a toupee was just meant as a joke. Nothing could be further from the truth.
In fact it is one of the greatest homages ever made in a Bond movie.
A homage to the incomparable, unforgettable, one and only Sir Sean "The Toupee" Connery.
The human behind the henchman.
There is a lot more to Elvis' few scenes than meets the eye at first.
The character is very complex and it's Marc Forster's and Anatole Taubman's way to underline the cruelty of feeling and being useless, being treated as a doormat by your boss and colleagues and being the "odd" guy, unpopular and unwanted.
Elvis feels utterly worthless, underused, or belittled and it's the theme of his life.
It's a really great touch to the movie that is fast paced and relentlessly action driven.
When Elvis smiles at the guy at Tosca he just flashes him a dirty look back. How many times had this happened to you as well, it's not a good feeling and the drama in this little instant of the movie elevated Quantum Of Solace to a true classic.
And the other deeply dramatic moment in the film when Elvis is on the plane with the CIA. He asks about the flight time and he just gets ignored. Worse than that Felix Leiter stares at him like he was invisible.
Another milestone in dramatic story telling without words.
But there is even more in store for the cinephile that likes subtle nuanced drama.
Losing his toupee after he falls down the stairs at the hand of a woman, well leg really, is deeply disturbing and equivalent to losing his manhood.
As if that wasn't enough, the poor soul even gets used as a human shield in the desert hotel by his boss.
A great deal of money went into that very short scene when Forster made sure that the latest and best special effects would be used to show Elvis standing there, first getting his pants and toupee blown away by the explosion which makes him literally standing naked in front of the world up and down there and furthermore this humiliation is the last thing he experiences as he then gets incinerated in the flames.
This is heavy stuff, that only a superior director like Marc Forster can do.
You could be Elvis.
With Elvis they created the ultimate underdog henchman, a man who just wants to be loved or at least feeling appreciated for the hard work he's doing for his boss.
Seeing him talking to his mom on the phone in the first scene makes him human immediately, a guy next door that could be you or me who just happens to be working for the wrong guy and company.
This is so much better than those totally unrealistic, sometimes almost comic book style henchman like Oddjob, Stamper, Hinx, Jaws and so many more of them.
Furthermore Mr. Forster made sure, Elvis would always be there on the screen wherever Dominic Greene would go. There is this deep sense of loyalty in Elvis for Mr. Greene, it's admiration and maybe even some kind of love. The way Elvis gazes at Dominic speaks volumes but yet is a subtle way to bring some human element into a film that is heavily pumped by hard on action.
Never ever does Elvis realise that this is an unrequited love and that he will always feel empty inside.
Look at those pictures below and see how incredibly fine acting can bring something special to a movie that at first sight seems to rely solely on its main star, the 00 agent with a licence to kill.
My favourite shot. Elvis seemingly adjusting his tie by chance, but this is not a man just wanting to be dressed properly, this is a man wanting to please his boss, maybe even getting a nice compliment by him, how lovely he looks in that tux. The expression on his face shows us a naive, but yet, lovable man, that just chose the wrong path, a path that will eventually have him go up in flames.
The franchise has been changed. It has the human element now, thanks to the daring director and actor that made it all possible.
It's easy to see who is the secret star in that picture below. Olga realises it of course. It is said they had quite a romp together when filming QoS and that Craig was quite a bit jealous of Anatole.
So please, my dear friends, do not just dismiss this fabulous character that enriches the franchise so much when you will view Quantum Of Solace the next time.
Watch out for Elvis, see how he cares about his mother on the phone, how he wants to be appreciated, how he is loyal to his cruel boss. How he will rather lose his pants than letting come some harm to Mr. Greene.
In the end it kills him and that is commendable. Let's celebrate his death by cheering and clapping the next time you see that scene.
Elvis has left the building, but he hasn't left our hearts.
I can appreciate your admiration for this fellow Swiss, particularly if you also are from the same canton, but I'm afraid that I've completely missed any complexity whatsoever in this character.
So this could very well be the 2nd time today that you've made me realize that I may be missing some hidden depth in a recent Bond film (the first being the meaningful romance in SP). I'll be sure to look out for all these hidden nuances inherent in the Elvis characterization when I next watch QoS.
@bondjames, yes. It was argued by the mods at the time that it was ridiculous to have an appreciation thread for any small part character in the Bond canon, and changed the thread accordingly to accommodate all henchman instead of just one.
Which is a load of bull in my opinion because I was going to make a thread just for Le Chiffre Goon #5 last year in tribute to a great actor who gives an Oscar worthy performance with just his eyes in CR as he stares at Kratt throughout the entire movie with depth and gravitas. I don't know who won Best Supporting Actor the year CR came out, but I'll tell you this: it should have been him.
Of course they snubbed Elvis' actor when QoS came out too, so why I continue to be surprised is anyone's guess.
As for a mod changing the name of this thread...how could you lot do that?
Ostracising minorities like Swiss actors is not nice...
...or was it against bald men with toupees...that'll be even more cruel and wrong.
Or the mod changing the title is a Beatles fanatic who can't stand Elvis.
In any case I'm so eternally grateful I found this thread. I'll dedicate my next viewing of QOS to Anatole Taubman of course.
@Creasy47, I love him too, but not as much as Tank Chase civilian #25 in that same film who gives a classic reaction to Bond busting through Russia like none I've ever scene. The term "extra" is fitting here, as that guy brought a lot of extra enthusiasm and theatrical panache to what would've been a forgettable role in anyone else's hands. His hiring in that movie represents one of Cubby's last casting choices he made as head of the Bond franchise, and it's one of his absolute best.
It's a shame this thread is only for henchmen, as I love the couple in SF the most, who remark about Bond wanting to get home quickly as he jumps on the back of the tube. Talk about cinematic artistry. I've actually crafted a whole narrative to explain that couple, how they fell in love and later, met Bond:
The man is Earnest and the woman May, two kids who grew up just a house down from one another long ago. May always picked on Earnest for his name, as he truly was so super serious all the time, and each year Earnest playfully picked flowers for May every day of that month in a garden surrounding their little village. May was Earnest's girl next door, and his constant adoration for her and his obsession with protecting her from harm at all costs made them fall in love gradually throughout their teenage years. As they grew into adulthood, they moved to London into a decent apartment and got jobs in local businesses to pave a future together. Each morning they even had a special ritual that they consistently performed, no matter the weather outside or their aching limbs. You see, they each worked in the same area, so every day they'd go to the tube together and wait at the station for the train that would take them where they needed to be. In Skyfall, as Bond comes racing towards them in pursuit of Silva, they are performing that same ritual, and the spy remained one of their favorite topics to discuss over many late night dinners afterwards.
Someone actually created a thread for this pair:
http://www.mi6community.com/index.php?p=/discussion/7154/please-bring-back-the-husband-and-wife-from-the-tube-in-bond-24/p1
Thanks @TheWizardOfIce, a shame Gustav beat me to it.
I'm now trying to think about how this pair could've returned for a cameo in SP? Where would they have fit best?
During the London sequence after Bond finishes talking with Moneypenny?
Wife: "Honey, is that the chap that jumped the tube a ways back?"
Husband: "I think so, darling. Looks like he's still keen to get home."
Or maybe during the Rome chase?
[As Bond races past in the Aston, followed by Hinx in his car]
Wife: "Is there a race on, hon?"
Husband: "He's keen to see Rome."
How about when Bond and Madeleine enter the Moroccan hotel to get a room?
Wife: "He's keen to get her upstairs, hon."
Husband: "Reminds me of our honeymoon, lass. What do ya say we do the same? For old time's sake?"
Or possibly even during the torture sequence?
[The husband is nodding, sitting right beside Madeleine in the white room as Blofeld drills into Bond's head]
Husband: "He's keen to get inside your boyfriend's head."
Wife: "What a thing to do to your brother."
The opportunities were endless, quite frankly, but the ball was dropped. Dammit Mendes, you hack!
Great idea, @BeatlesSansEarmuffs. Maybe Earnest and May used to know Elvis as a boy, and when they found out that he survived a hotel explosion and was badly burnt laying up in a Bolivian hospital, they tracked him down and helped him out. They covered his hospital bills and when he was well enough, treated him to an exquisite dinner at London's best five star dining hall that served the greatest wine in Europe. The restaurant is managed of course by the wine guy, who features in the story to personally serve the couple and Elvis their wine. The pigeon could maybe be resting on his shoulder as he does this, its head stuttering away.
Bond could even cameo while May and Earnest are flying Elvis back to London with them. They could spot him in the airport touching down in England again after another international mission abroad. The Husband would say as he passed, "He's keen to get to his luggage."
Yep, we've got something special here.
Somebody with connections should phone up Ian Fleming Publications to make this fan fiction a James Bond spin-off novel that is treated as canon. Better yet, Earnest and May could become such great friends with Bond over the course of other sequelized books that May eventually becomes his housekeeper, tying it all back to literary Bond too.
Yes, this is magical.
<iframe width="640" height="389" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JjuWfL9F5fY"; frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Jesus. Don't let P&W get wind of this or they will think it's genius.
I think it's John Logan you need to be worried about.
Just for you, @Wiz, we'll tie Rory Kinnear's Bill Tanner into it too.
Definitely, @IGUANNA. Women should definitely throw their hats into the Bond henchwoman ring. You see what I did there?
1. Elvis
2. Edmund Slate
3. Craig Mitchell
4. General Medrano
5. The police chief
#notaquantumofsolacefanboybtw
2. Tee Hee
3. Ash
4. Jaws (MR)
5. Prof. Dent
6. Stamper
7. Kriegler
8. Adam
9. Primo
10. Mollaka
1. Red Grant
2. TeeHee
3. Oddjob
4. Necros
5. Dario
6. Fatima Blush
7. Mr. White
8. Hinx
9. May Day
10. Irma Bunt