The James Bond Bedside Companion (61 page)

To my mind all that underwater stuff was anti–James Bond, because it was slow motion. People swim slowly and you couldn't have them going very fast; we undercranked some of the shots and they looked ridiculous—the water was wobbling around so much it suddenly became stupid.

(From "The Terence Young Interview," by Richard Schenkman,
Bondage
10)

Young also disagreed with the direction in which the producers wanted
Thunderball
to go, although he reluctantly admitted it was probably commercially viable to load it with gadgetry.

I thought if we were going to make this underwater stuff we've got to put in, like I said (one of my old lines in the picture) "lie's wearing everything including the Kitchen Sink" I really meant that I thought if we're going to go with this, let's do it properly, and they did. They piled in as much as they could, and that's why I said after
Thunderball,
"I think you don't want a director anymore, you want an MIT graduate to handle all the machines."

(
Bondage, Ibid
.)

Thunderball
does recapture the more realistic style of the earlier films in relation to action scenes. All of the fight sequences are tough (the pre-credits fight between Bond and the widow is terrific) and the violence is hard-edged. The instance in which a SPECTRE agent is thrown into Largo's shark pool is particularly graphic, even though we don't really see him being eaten alive. But the scene is one of the bloodier sequences in any Bond film.

The "Disco Volante" in
Thunderball
. (Photo by Loomis Dean,
Life
Magazine.
©
Copyright 1965 by Time, Inc.)

Young's staging of the Junkanoo Parade is masterful. The director instructed his several assistant directors to weave in and out of the parade, with strict orders not to stop the procession. Peter Hunt's editing again takes center stage here, as many different shots are composed to create the big chase.

There are still continuity problems in
Thunderball.
The most obvious mistake is during the big underwater battle, when Bond's blue face mask is pulled off by Largo. Bond reaches down and pulls a
black
mask off of a dead SPECTRE frogman. In the very next shot, Bond is wearing the
blue
mask again. Young and Hunt both attribute this to the furious shooting schedules of the Bond films. The important thing, they feel, is to keep the action moving and not give the audience time to ask questions until they're on the way home from the theater.

Thunderball
was Young's last Bond film. It's too bad, for Young is the man who originated the style of the series and attempted to keep some semblance of Ian Fleming's original concepts intact. Young told
Bon
dage
magazine that he would be willing to return to the series, if asked, only to direct the last film.

ACTORS AND CHARACTERS

S
ean Connery
gives another confident performance as James Bond, but his character is minimized by the production. Aside from a few moments of real drama (such as the scene with Fiona), Connery is not given much of a chance to display the James Bond qualifies of the early films. The script has given him some terrific one-liners, and these he delivers with a subtlety that works very well. His toying with Emilio Largo while lunching with the villain at Palmyra is especially amusing.

Claudine Auger, a former Miss France, makes her film debut as the spoiled Italian beauty, Domino Vitali. The script unfortunately does not make use of the character as well as it could have. Miss Auger is well cast, and displays the "rich bitch" qualifies of the character effectively (until charmed by Bond), but she isn't given the chance to explore the role fully. Domino is one of Fleming's more successful female characters, but the film script reduces her to just another cardboard Bond-girl. The actress is attractive, and adequate to the film's demands.

Noted Brazilian actor and director Adolfo Celi portrays the rugged SPECTRE villain, Emilio Largo. Celi is well cast also, although his voice is dubbed. The actor faces the same problem that Miss Auger does, i.e., the script does not do justice to Fleming's character. Celi does manage to create a menacing villain nonetheless, wearing a black eyepatch that adds a great deal to Largo's screen presence. The white hair, the black patch, and Celi's thin lips create a truly powerful image. His best scene occurs during the
chemin de fer
sequence, when he begins to suspect Bond of being an enemy agent. Accusing the Englishman of putting the evil eye on his cards, Largo returns the gesture by making the old Italian curse sign of outstretched second and fifth fingers. The rising anger in Largo is portrayed vividly in Celi's eye and shoulders.

Luciana Paluzzi portrays Fiona Volpe, the redheaded SPECTRE beauty. Miss Paluzzi is quite good, and for once, we believe the actress when she throws Bond's sexual prowess back into his face. She is a most effective
femme fatale
, and her character is one of the most successful elements in the film. Paluzzi possesses the good looks and catlike sexual aggressiveness necessary to make the role credible.

Felix Leiter is portrayed by yet a third actor, Rik Van Nutter. This is by far the most successful casting of the CIA agent to date. Nutter is lean, blond, and boyish. The script, however, does not give the character any real depth. Leiter comes off as Bond's sidekick—he is always there to say, "Gee whiz, James, do you think that's the right thing to do?" or something to that effect. He doesn't seem to have any independence. And the filmmakers still resist featuring Leiter with a hook and a wooden leg. Therefore, despite the good casting, Nutter suffers in a mediocre role.

The film's Obligatory Sacrificial Lamb is Martine Beswick as Paula. This is Miss Beswick's second James Bond film, for she appeared in
From Russia With Love
as one of
the gypsy girls who fights for the love of Vavra's son. Paula is the Secret Service's agent in the Bahamas, and appears to be around only to aid Bond and look attractive. Her character, created for the film, never does anything particularly useful, and she basically serves as just another Bond beauty included to provide glamour. Paula is kidnapped by Fiona's hoodlums, and swallows a cyanide pill to avoid torture. Another Bond-girl in the film (this one's loaded with them) is Molly Peters as Patricia Fearing. Patricia, a nurse at the Shrublands Health Spa, is a character right out of the novel. Her role is relatively small, but serves the function of providing Bond with female attention for the first two reels. Miss Peters displays the good looks necessary for the part
.

Count Lippe is a disappointment in the film. The novel creates an interesting character who, because of his eccentricities, first gives Bond suspicions that something wicked is afoot. Lippe's actions in the film are taken practically verbatim from the novel, but somehow the casting of Guy Doleman (who hasn't much screen presence) does not fit the bill. More successful, however, are the casting of Philip Locke and Michael Brennan as two of Largo's slimy henchmen, Vargas and Janni.

Blofeld is again hidden from the camera in this film. His voice, however, is dubbed by Joseph Wiseman, who played Dr. No in the first film. Still petting that silly white cat, Blofeld sits up in an isolated booth overlooking the SPECTRE conference room. Venetian blinds discreetly cover the actor's face, whoever it may be. Wiseman's "voice of doom" cannot help but evoke snickers from the audience—he sounds so sinister that it's a wonder his own men trust him. (Who'd want to be in SPECTRE anyway? One foul-up and you either get kicked with a poisoned shoe, electrocuted in your own chair, or blown up on the highway!)

Bernard Lee has a wonderful moment as M. Bond is late for an important meeting of the entire Secret Service staff. When he finally arrives, M begins the
meeting by giving 007 a dirty look and saying, "Now that we're all
here
. . ."
And later, during his private briefing, Bond shows M the photograph of Domino and her brother. "You think she's worth going after?" M inquires. Bond blinks and replies, "Well, I wouldn't put it quite
that
way, sir."

Lois Maxwell and Desmond Llewelyn respectively give their usual flirtatious and authoritative performances, although it's becoming obvious that the filmmakers are running out of fresh ideas for these traditional scenes.

OTHER ASPECTS

T
he film is stunning visually. Ted Moore's cinematography captures the beauty of the locations, and gives the film the most open and colorful look yet. Ivan Tors Underwater Studios, Ltd., was hired to film the underwater scenes. Underwater cameraman Lamar Boren does a splendid job, especially during the hijack operation. This is the film's most striking scene, in which SPECTRE frogmen extract the two atomic bombs from the sunken
Vulcan
and load them onto their underwater "chariot." Other underwater scenes include Bond's reconaissance of the
Disco
Volante
's hull, his discovery of the
Vulcan
, and the final, climactic battle between the NATO paratroopers and the SPECTRE team. This last scene drags a bit (due to the slow movements in the water) and does not build to a higher level of excitement. This is an unfortunate problem in submarine filming.

Ken Adam is designing again, but because the film is heavy on outdoor locations, Adam's duties are restricted to a few interiors and the many gadgets that flood the film. Among these items are Bond's jet-pack; a Geiger counter camera and wristwatch (the only gadgets inspired by the novel); a four-minute "breather" which Bond uses twice in the film; jet-propelled scuba tanks that look as if they weigh a ton (they come equipped with CO
₂
guns and a smoke screen sprayer); a motorcycle able to fire rockets; and the film's pride and joy, Largo's
Disco Volante.
The yacht cost two hundred thousand pounds to build, and all of its features are real. The
Disco
can eject its rear outer shell, allowing a smaller hydrofoil to emerge for a fast getaway. Though it took the production crew at least six times to get it right, the scene in which this happens is thrilling.

John Stears won the series' second Academy Award for his work in
Thunderball.
Though the term "visual effects" implies spaceships and the like, Stears' work consists of the many incendiary action scenes (such as the execution of Count Lippe with the rocket-firing motorcycle), Bond's flight with a jet-pack, and other similar passages which fall properly under the visual effects heading.

Maurice Binder returns as main title designer with
Thunderball,
after having designed the titles for
Dr. No
and the gun-barrel logo. Binder would design the main titles for all the subsequent Bonds, traditionally featuring a vivid montage of silhouetted nudes and psychedelic patterns.

John Barry's score for
Thunderball
is low-key and basically serious in atmosphere. His "underwater" music is particularly effective in evoking a ghostly, other-worldly ambience. Barry also brings back his "007" theme for the Junkanoo chase and the climactic frogman battle.

Another fine tune, "Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang," was specially arranged and recorded for the soundtrack album, but only appears in the film in a lesser arrangement. The main title theme, sung with bravura by Tom Jones, is unusually unmelodic. But its real problem is Don Black's inane lyrics. Black would pen two more Bond song lyrics; neither of them are particularly memorable. The instrumental versions of the
Thunderball
tune, on the contrary, are lush and quite nice.

Thunderball,
all things considered, is another turning point. With the emphasis now going to bigger sets, bigger locations, and bigger budgets, the Bonds became exercises in film technology. The public ate it up.

PRODUCTION

W
hile
Thunderball
was in the making, plans were dropped to film
On
Her
Majesty's
Secret
Service
as the next Bond film because it was felt that the plots were too similar (they aren't). Instead,
You Only Live
Twice
was chosen, probably because it was a recent bestselling title. It also provided the filmmakers an opportunity to travel to Japan, the most exotic location yet for a Bond film.