[Quick Summary: After henchmen kill and steal at MI-6's Jamaican HQ, MI-6 sends 007 to investigate a plan to interfere with American missiles.]
I was interested what Richard Maibaum said in an interview:
I met Ian Fleming several times while he was still alive, but I did not speak to him about screenwriting. He didn't seem very interested. He didn't have script approval, but as a matter of courtesy we gave him the scripts to read. He would make minimal notes in the margin, in very tiny handwriting, that usually dealt with questions of protocol - what Bond called M in the office as opposed to what he called him at their club, things like that.
He did say to me once, "The pictures are so much funnier than my books." He was a little bemused and a little obtuse about it, I thought, because he really didn't understand that we were trying to make them funnier. That was the thing we changed most about the books as far as the pictures were concerned. We made Bond more humorous, throwing away those one-liners that are now obligatory in Bond films. [my emphasis]
A good example is the first introduction below to Bond in this first film:
- The introduction to Bond starts with ..."a MAN holding the back has his back to the CAMERA" and we do not see his face until the moment below.
- The writers took time to set up the spy world, so Bond doesn't appear until p. 10.
- Note this scene is amusing, but the writers also hid some character work in it (Bond is observant, chivalrous, polite, flirty).
- Also, note the dialogue's humor comes mostly from the subtext underneath.
INT. GAMING ROOM. TOP STAKES TABLE. MED. SHOT. NIGHT
... SYLVIA (glancing across at him enigmatically): Suivi....
BOND looks at her, frankly surprised this time. His eyes drop to her small pile of chips.
SYLVIA: The house will cover the difference.
BOND glances at the CROUPIER, who nods almost imperceptibly. Again BOND (whom we have still not seen front-view) deals.
SYLVIA: Carte.
BOND gives her another card. It is five. BOND's cards are turned. he has two kings. He takes another. It is a seven. The CROUPIER rakes the chips over to him again.
BOND deliberately breaks the tension by taking out his cigarette case and offering it to SYLVIA. [This deliberate, subtle move puts Bond back in charge. Good character stuff.]
BOND: I admire your courage, Miss....?
SYLVIA (taking a cigarette): Trench....Sylvia Trench...
He lights her cigarette.
SYLVIA: And I admire your luck, Mr....?
BOND (as he brings the lighter up to his own cigarette, and for the first time we see his face): Bond....James Bond.
Their eyes meet, appraisingly. Then a man comes up behind BOND bends down to whisper something. BOND listens attentively, nods, rises.
BOND (to croupier): Afraid I'll have to pass the shoe. Andree. (to SYLVIA) Forgive me...an urgent matter.
He gets up - she gets up and joins him.
SYLVIA: Too bad. Just as it was getting interesting. [She flirts first, testing the waters.]
BOND (amused by her obvious pass): Do you play anything else but Chemin de Fer? [He picks up the gauntlet.]
SYLVIA: Golf occasionally.
BOND: How about a game tomorrow. (slight pause) and dinner afterwards? [He's not just talking about a game and dinner. Good subtext.]
SYLVIA: Its tempting. May I let you know in the morning? [Playing hard to get.]
BOND (taking a card from his pocket and handing it to her): Fine....Here's my card....give me a call... [He makes a move, but gives her a choice.]
He smiles, moves away. SYLVIA watches him go thoughtfully.
SYLVIA (to herself): Maybe I will.... [She's impressed.]
WHAT I'VE LEARNED: A lot of the humor is in the witty dialogue but also in the subtext.
Dr. No (1962)(5th draft, 8/1/62)
by Richard Maibaum, Wolf Mankowitz, and J.M. Harwood
From the novel by Ian Fleming
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