The James Bond Bedside Companion (62 page)

With the huge financial success of
Thunderball
behind them, Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzman received a three-million-pound budget from United Artists to film the fifth James Bond epic. And an epic it is, for
You Only Live Twice
is an even bigger production than its predecessor, and the most spectacular of all the films—it is a visual achievement that few action/ adventure films have surpassed. Why it wasn't nominated for an Academy Award in art direction is a mystery. The film may have had a smaller budget than the later Bond films of the seventies, but it remains the most visually impressive. Unfortunately, this aspect, along with John Barry's memorable score, are among the few redeemable elements of the film.

You Only Live Twice
marks the first film in which the producers totally discarded Fleming's story. As John Brosnan says, "The title was the same but the plot had been changed to protect the box office." It's a shame this was done, for
You Only Live Twice
is one of Fleming's most interesting books. You will recall that in the novel Bond seeks revenge for the murder of his wife, Tracy, and finally finds Ernst Stavro Blofeld in an isolated castle in Japan. There, he strangles Blofeld with his bare hands. Since the producers decided to reverse the order of the stories by filming
On Her Majesty's Secret Service
after
You Only Live Twice
, this important segment of the James Bond Saga is lost.

Another problem with the film is that Sean Connery's boredom with the role of Bond is obvious. Connery was released from his picture-a-year contract and was signed to do
You Only Live Twice
as a one-picture deal. The producers hoped he would do the same for a subsequent film. But Connery began to make it very clear that this would be the last James Bond film he would make. One can hardly blame him. The character of Bond, especially in this film, had become a superficial caricature. Very little of the Ian Fleming creation can be seen on the screen.

This does not mean that
You Only Live Twice
is a particularly bad film. In many ways, it is more entertaining than
Thunderball
. It certainly moves faster, thanks to the work of a new director, Lewis Gilbert. The plot, outrageous as it is, is taken more seriously than those of the seventies. And it contains some of the best technical work in the entire series. It's simply a matter of taste.
You Only Live Twice
is not a James Bond film, but a spy-adventure-cum-science-fiction extravaganza.

Ken Adam's spectacular set for SPECTRE'S volcano headquarters in
You Only Live Twice
. (Wide World Photo.)

"Little Nellie," the Wallis Autogyro used in
You Only Live Twice.
(Wide World Photo.)

There are several new talents working on the film, including a new scriptwriter. Apparently, Richard Maibaum was not available to do the screenplay, so the producers turned to Roald Dahl. Dahl, who had been friends with Fleming, was not an experienced screenplay writer; he was, however, a respected author, especially of children's literature. There is also a new
cinematographer
on the film—Freddie Young, who had just won an Academy Award for
Doctor Zhivago.

Editor Peter Hunt had hoped to direct the film, but was instead offered the job of second unit director with the promise of directing the next film. Thelma Connell replaced Hunt as supervising editor, while he was busy filming the action scenes and stunts. Hunt was persuaded, however, to resume responsibility for the editing when it became apparent that Ms. Connell couldn't handle the film alone.

You Only Live Twice
had a troubled production history, all of which is recounted by Steven Rubin in his book,
The James Bond Films.
Tragedy occurred when John Jordan, a cameraman specializing in aerial photography, lost a foot while shooting the spectacular
helicopter battle. A blade of a SPECTRE copter's propeller sliced it off when an updraft swung the vehicle into Jordan's copter. His life was saved, but the leg had to be amputated three months later in England. Tony Brown replaced Jordan as aerial photographer. There were other delays, causing the production to go weeks over schedule, and the film finally wrapped only three months prior to its release date.

SCREENPLAY

W
hen Cubby Broccoli was touring Japan scouting locations, he was unable to find a suitable castle to fit Fleming's story. But at one point during the trip, Broccoli spotted a huge volcano with a lake in its crater. This gave him the idea to abandon Fleming's setting and place the SPECTRE hideout inside an ancient volcano.

This was all Roald Dahl had to go on in creating his unusual screenplay. The producers also imposed artistic restrictions to make Dahl conform to the Bond Formula. Dahl relates what the producers told him in their initial meeting, in this excerpt from an amusing
Playboy
article:

"You can come up with anything you like so far as the story goes," they told me, "but there are two things you mustn't mess about with. The first is the character of Bond. That's fixed. The second is the girl formula. That is also fixed."

"What's the girl formula?" I asked.

"There's nothing to it. You use three different girls and Bond has them all."

"Separately or en masse?"

One of them took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "How many Bond films have you seen?" he asked.

"Just one. The one with the crazy motorcar."

"You'd better see the others right away. We'll send them out to your house with a projector and someone to work it." This was the first small hint I was to get of the swift, efficient expansive way in which the Bond producers operated. Nobody else does things quite like them.

"So you put in three girls. No more and no less. Girl number one is pro-Bond. She stays around roughly through the first reel of the picture. Then she is bumped off by the enemy, preferably in Bond's arms."

"In bed or not in bed?" I asked.

"Wherever you like, so long as it's in good taste. Girl number two is anti-Bond. She works for the enemy and stays around throughout the middle third of the picture. She must capture Bond, and Bond must save himself by bowling her over with sheer sexual magnetism. This girl should also be bumped off, preferably in an original fashion."

"There aren't many of those left," I said.

"We'll find one," they answered. "Girl number three is violently pro-Bond. She occupies the final third of the picture, and she must on no account be killed. Nor must she permit Bond to take any lecherous liberties with her until the very end of the story. We keep that for the fade-out."

 
("007's Oriental Eyefuls," from Playboy, June 1967)

Sean Connery and co-star Akiko Wakabayashi (as Aki) relaxing between takes on location in Japan for
You Only Live Twice
. (UPI Photo.)

Although Dahl may have been a little facetious in his telling of the story, there's a lot of truth in it. One can see how the girl formula was established in
Dr. No
, and perfected in
Thunderball
.

Dahl created a science fiction plot in which SPECTRE, led by our friend Ernst Stavro Blofeld, is being paid by the Red Chinese to cause World War III between America and Russia. Blofeld means to do this by hijacking space capsules from both the United States and the Soviets, and making it appear as if the other country is doing the dirty work. SPECTRE is now hiding inside a huge, hollow volcano, which is completely equipped with a launching pad, the hiiackirt misvik, monorails, thousands of employees, tunnels, cells, and
a suite where Blofeld resides. Inside the suite is a piranha pool covered by a small bridge which can be dropped at the touch of a button (Blofeld's latest method for disposing of unsuccessful subordinates). When the United States or the Soviets launch a space capsule,
SPECTRE
launches their intercepting rocket. In orbit, the rocket approaches the space capsule; its nose opens like a flower, swallowing the capsule; and the rocket returns to the
SPECTRE
volcano with its prisoners.

In 1967, outer space was a viable commercial commodity. Kubrick's
2001
was in the making, as well as
Planet
of
the Apes.
America's space program was approaching a zenith; man had recently walked in space. Therefore, Dahl's outer space idea was enthusiastically approved by the producers. But as John Brosnan notes, this plot is basically a rehash of the science fiction plot of
Dr. No.
The enemy is causing havoc with a major power's space program. Bond investigates and discovers a hidden headquarters; Bond alters the villain's plans in a countdown climax; and finally the villain's establishment is blown up spectacularly. Just where
SPECTRE
found the funds to build themselves a super complex inside a volcano is not mentioned. It seems that after the failure of Plan Omega in
Thunderball,
Blofeld would have a little trouble obtaining backers. But this is a James Bond film—who needs credibility?

The title of the film gains significance in a pre-credits sequence involving a staged murder of James Bond. Apparently, the British fake the murder in Hong Kong so that Bond's enemies will leave him alone and free him to work openly on the space capsule case. This sequence is a little contrived, and as a result, it lacks the excitement of pre-credits scenes of previous films.

Besides using Bond, Blofeld, Tiger Tanaka, Kissy Suzuki, and Dikko Henderson (the major characters of the novel), Dahl creates some additional characters. Aki is "girl number one," and the major female role of the film. She is working for the Japanese Secret Service until she becomes the film's Obligatory Sacrificial Lamb. Helga Brandt is "girl number two," and, like Fiona in
Thunderball,
works for
SPECTRE.
Helga's boss is Mr. Osata, who runs the chemical and engineering front for
SPECTRE.