A Study of Adaptation - From Russia With Love

I've already mentioned during my original marathon that From Russia With Love is one of my favourite films in the franchise. The fifth novel, published in 1957, became the second film, released in 1963. Rumour has it that the film was made following a statement by President Kennedy that the novel was one of his favourites.

In the novel, Bond has been marked for death by SMERSH, the Soviet counterintelligence service. who also seek to discredit him and his organisation by implicating him in a sex scandal. Their plan is to send file clerk Corporal Tatiana Romanova to Istanbul, claiming that she seeks to defect after falling in love with a file photo of Bond. As an added incentive, she offers to bring with her a sought-after decoding machine known as the Spektor.

The first third of the book actually follows the conspirators: Colonel Tov Kronsteen, a chess grand master and chief planner; Colonel Rosa Klebb, the Head of Operations who overseas the mission; and Donovan Grant, a psychopathic murderer serving as the SMERSH executioner.

The film retains the general story, but this time the scheme is being devised by the criminal organisation, SPECTRE, in a bid to play the British and the Russians off against each other. Kronsteen and Klebb work for SPECTRE, but Klebb is still believed to be an officer in SMERSH, and uses this role when enlisting Romanova for the mission.

The film also utilises more action. Bond and Kerim Bey, the MI6 station chief in Istanbul, carry out a bombing of the Soviet consulate to steal the decoder. In the novel, Romanova simply removes the decoder and meets them on board the Orient Express.

In a similar regard, Bond and Romanova jump off the Orient Express after Zagreb, and get accosted by SPECTRE agents while en route to Venice. In the novel, they leave the train at Dijon. This change makes sense, as Bond states in the film that he is reluctant to take the decoder past the checkpoints.

There are also some examples of sanitisation in the film, regarding Klebb's sexuality and Kerim Bey's background. When Klebb recruits Romanova in the novel, she actually tries to seduce her, which prompts Romanova to make a quick exit. That doesn't happen in the film, but it does show Klebb making a pass at Romanova. Meanwhile, Kerim Bey's relationship with his mistress and how they met is not explored in the film. Reading the novel, I know why. I'm not going to mention it here, but let's just say that it detracts from Kerim Bay's status as a dependable and appealing ally.

However, one of the major changes is the ending:

• In the film, Klebb makes a last ditch effort to kill Bond and grab the decoder at his hotel in Venice, but she is killed by Romanova after a scuffle.
• In comparison, the novel ends on much more of a downer. Bond goes to apprehend Klebb in Paris, and hands her over to his old friend Mathis. However, Klebb manages to kick him with a poison-tipped shoe spike. The novel ends with Bond collapsing while struggling to breathe.

Fair enough, cinematic audiences want a happy ending. But there was also a reality subtext to the ending of the book. Fleming had received a fan letter from a gunsmith named Geoffrey Boothroyd, who criticised Fleming's use of a low-calibre Beretta as Bond's firearm of choice. Fleming included in the ending that the silencer on Bond's gun gets caught in his jacket, which results in him getting kicked. On top of that, Fleming was contemplating making this the last novel.

However, the film couldn't use this, as there was a growing market for Bond on the big screen. Furthermore, Bond was already using his trademark Walther PPK at this point. This is what Boothroyd recommended, and came into play when James Bond returned in Dr No.

A Study of Adaptation - Diamonds Are Forever

This is an example of an adaptation which tried to expand the source material. Diamonds Are Forever is the fourth Bond novel, published in 1956, which was adapted into the seventh film in 1971.

In the novel, Bond's mission is to infiltrate a diamond smuggling ring starting in Sierra Leone. After Special Branch picks up a country house burglar-turned smuggler named Peter Franks, Bond assumes the role of Franks to follow the trail to New York. With the help of fellow smuggler Tiffany Case and his old friend Felix Leiter, Bond learns that the operation is being run by The Spangled Mob, led by the brothers Jack and Seraffimo Spang out of Las Vegas.

In the film, Bond infiltrates the pipeline as it's apparently being closed down and the smugglers are turning up dead. He soon learns that the ring is being masterminded by SPECTRE and Blofeld, whom he'd believed to be dead. Blofeld is stockpiling the diamonds for their refractive properties to make an orbital laser weapon, which he uses to destroy American, Russian, and Chinese nuclear weapons and then offer to the highest bidder.

The novel version of Diamonds Are Forever is the first book in the series where the antagonists are not affiliated with the Soviet Union in any way. In the film, they use SPECTRE, mainly because world domination and super-weapon plots had become part of the formula since the adaptation of Goldfinger. Blofeld and SPECTRE hadn't appeared in the books at this point, but there is a part of the story which takes place in "Spectreville", and old western ghost town which Seraffimo Spang had converted into a private retreat.

Spang also travels in a private train, an element which appears in Goldeneye; Alec Trevelyan travels in an armoured train which had previously been used to transport missiles, which reflects the post-Cold War setting of that film.

A lot of changes had to be made in the film due to the order of the films being different to the order of the books. For example, the previous film had been On Her Majesty's Secret Service, which ended with the murder of Bond's wife by Blofeld. The pre-title sequence involves Bond hunting Blofeld down.

Another example of this kind of change happens with Felix Leiter. He'd been maimed by a shark in Live and Let Die, and is now working for the Pinkerton Detective Agency. In the film series, he doesn't get maimed until the sixteenth film, License to Kill, so he's still working with the CIA. Even though the CIA is not meant to have jurisdiction on American soil.

There are some changes which make sense, and offer the opportunity for expansion. In the book, Bond smuggles the diamonds to the United States by hiding them in golf balls. I've heard that it's possible to open up a golf ball, but is highly dangerous and ill-advised. In the film, Bond has to intercept Peter Franks in Amsterdam after the smuggler escapes from custody. After killing him in a very creative fight scene, Bond uses the body to transport the diamonds. That seems to be more plausible than using golf balls.

The film does retain some imagery from the book, but uses them differently. One example involves characters being drowned in hot mud. In the novel, Bond's payout for delivering the diamond is obtained by betting on a rigged horse race. When Leiter bribes the jockey to get himself disqualified, Bond goes to a mud bath to make the payoff. It's here he encounters Mr Wint and Mr Kidd, the Spangled Mob's enforcers, who "discipline" the jockey with what's at hand.

Another example is a scorpion. The novel opens from the perspective of a scorpion, which is promptly crushed by the first smuggler in the pipeline, a dentist who pays miners to hide the diamonds in their mouths so he can extract them during a routine appointment. In the final chapter, Jack Spang kills the dentist by putting the scorpion in his mouth when he closes the pipeline. Spang himself is killed by Bond, who shoots down his helicopter with an anti-aircraft gun.

A similar scene happens at the beginning of the film (even opening with a shot of the scorpion). This time, Mr Wint and Mr Kidd meet the dentist, and Wint drops the scorpion down his back. They later meet a pilot due to collect the diamonds from the dentist, killing him with a bomb hidden in the package they hand over.

All in all, I think the film could have gotten away with killing Blofeld at the beginning and using conventional villains. It could have been an interesting break from the usual SPECTRE plots.

A Study of Adaptation - Moonraker

Moonraker might be an example of an adaptation in which it was necessary to make significant changes and departures from the source material. The third novel, published in 1955, became the eleventh film, released in 1979.

In the book, Bond is invited to M's private club to avert a potential cheating scandal involving Sir Hugo Drax, a millionaire industrialist and war hero who is developing Britain's first nuclear missile, the eponymous Moonraker. Bond is later sent to Drax's base on the south coast of England to replace a Ministry of Supply officer working on the project, who had been murdered in an apparent feud with one of the scientists. He is assisted by Gala Brand, an undercover Special Branch officer who works as Drax's personal assistant. It's later revealed that Drax was the leader of a German commando unit during the Second World War, who posed as a British soldier with amnesia after being injured in a botched sabotage at a field headquarters. Seeking revenge for Germany's defeat (and the bullying experienced in English schools), he has secretly fitted the Moonraker rocket with a Soviet-supplied nuclear warhead and intends to launch it at London (while also making a tidy profit through insider trading on the stock market).

In the film, Bond is sent to investigate the theft of a Moonraker space shuttle belonging to Drax Industries. His investigation takes him to California, Venice, Rio de Janeiro, the Amazon Rainforest, and eventually to outer space. This time, Drax intends to release a deadly nerve agent across the globe to cull the entire population of the, while sparing a "master race" of physically and mentally perfect humans on his space station. Gala Brand has now been split into two characters: Corinne Dufour, Drax's personal pilot; and Dr Holly Goodhead, Drax's astronaut trainer who secretly works for the CIA.

As stated above, it was somewhat necessary to make may of the changes. Firstly, the book was exploring a lot anti-German sentiment at a time when the war was still in recent memory, along with the development of Britain as a nuclear power. In the film, both these aspects would have been redundant, especially the nuclear missile plot. The title was also a good excuse to put James Bond in space, most likely in response to the then-recent success of Star Wars. I've also heard that a common critique of the novel was that it took place entirely in England rather than the other locales James Bond is known for visiting.

Something I have been drawing parallels to while reading this one has been Goldeneye, released in 1995. Alec Trevelyan is similar to the novel version of Drax; instead of a Nazi, he's a descendant of the Lienz Cossacks, Nazi collaborators who surrendered to the British, only to be taken back to Russia to face Stalin's execution squads. And instead of a nuclear missile, he intends to hit London with an orbital EMP weapon after hacking into the Bank of England's mainframe and stealing a vast fortune. Natalya is also similar to Gala Brand, in which she provides the technical knowledge to thwart the plan.

I also reckon that the bridge segment may have been appropriated for Octopussy in 1983. That film uses a sequence in which Bond plays backgammon against Kamal Khan, deduces that he is cheating, and cheats the cheater. Both scenes also involve the villain paying Bond his winnings and warning him to spend the money quickly.

One thing that both the book and the film do use is the deathtrap in which Drax intends to leave bond under the rocket engine to be immolated when it launches. It's pretty much the only thing which actually made sense to keep.

A Study of Adaptation - Live and Let Die

Before I start discussing Live and Let Die, I have to acknowledge a certain elephant in the room; these books were a product of their time, and often conveyed the prejudices which existed (and unfortunately still exist) in both British and American society. It does not represent my views of society, but I am still looking at the books in the series, because doing otherwise would be akin to claiming that the prejudices didn't exist. With that edited appropriation of the Looney Tunes disclaimer out of the way, let's begin.

The book version of Live and Let Die - published in 1954 - has Bond investigating Mr Big, a Harlem-based crime boss and voodoo practitioner with Soviet ties. Rumour has it that Mr Big has been funding Russian spy operations by smuggling gold coins from a pirate treasure found in Jamaica. He works with his CIA counterpart Felix Leiter, along with a fortune-teller in Mr Big's employ called Solitaire. He later travels to Jamaica, where he works with MI6 station chief John Strangways and a Cayman Islander fisherman named Quarrel. The book seems to convey Fleming's somewhat conservative view of the growing civil rights movements, and the fears that the Soviets could use them as resources (similar to the trade unions in Casino Royale).

The film version - released in 1973 - has Bond investigating the deaths of three agents who were investigating Dr Kananga, the prime minister of the fictional Caribbean state of San Monique. Instead of gold coins, Kananga's plan is simply smuggling heroin, and he is no longer affiliated with Russia (a common change in many if not all film adaptations of Bond). The film borrows quite heavily from the Blaxploitation genre which had become prominent in the 70s, particularly the drug trafficking element to the story.

Mr Big is presented differently in the film. In the book, his name stems from his initials, his full name being Buonaparte Ignace Gallia. In the film, Mr Big is later revealed to be an alter ego of Dr Kananga for him to distribute his heroin in the United States. It's likely that the film version was partly based on Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier, who ruled Haiti from 1957 to 1971. Duvalier utilised a cult of personality in which he modelled himself as Baron Samedi - a prominent figure in Voodoo lore - and was previously a physician, hence Kananga's title of 'Dr'. He was also named after Ross Kananga, who owned the crocodile farm where part of the film was shot (and actually jumped across the crocodiles). The film also expands on one of his flunkies, "Tee Hee" Johnson, making him one of Kananga's one-armed primary henchman (the book version is killed near the beginning of the story). Additionally, Baron Samedi is a separate character in the film (the book version of Mr Big also models himself after Baron Samedi)

There were two moments in the book which did not appear in the film adaptation, but were eventually used in later films:

1. Felix Leiter gets captured investigating one of Mr Big's warehouses in Florida, and gets maimed by a shark. Bond finds him back at their safehouse with a note saying "He disagreed with something that ate him". Bond later investigates the warehouse himself, gets into a gunfight, and tricks his assailant into falling into the same shark pool. This would later be used in Licence to Kill in 1989 (the first bond film to not be a direct adaptation of any of the books).
2. Mr Big tries to kill Bond and Solitaire by dragging them behind his yacht through a coral reef and then through an area in which he lures sharks and barracuda with regular feedings. This scene would be used in the film adaptation of For Your Eyes Only in 1981.

One thing which did surprise me in the book was Solitaire. In the film, Bond seduces her with a tarot deck comprised entirely of "The Lovers", and she loses her powers of clairvoyance when she loses her virginity. This essentially forces her to help Bond bring down Kananga. In the book, Solitaire is asked to determine whether Bond is telling the truth when he's first captured, but lies and supports his cover story. After learning that Bond escaped and killed two of Mr Big's henchmen, she approaches Bond saying that she wants out. So, an element of the book which is actually less sleazy than the film version.

Based on the content of the story, I have the feeling that adapting it to screen would have been a risky venture.

A Study of Adaptation - Casino Royale

Now before I start, I need to mention that Casino Royale has actually been adapted three times: an episode of the CBS anthology series Climax! in 1954; a comedic adaptation in 1967; and the the "official" Eon adaptation in 2006. I'll be looking at the Eon version, as I haven't seen the others.

We'll start by looking at the story. In the novel, James Bond is sent to the town of Royale-les-Eaux in Northern France to take part in a high-stakes Baccarat tournament. His mission is to bankrupt and discredit Le Chiffre, the treasurer for a Soviet-backed trade union in Alsace. Bond's key allies are: Vesper Lynd, the personal assistant to MI6 station chief in the Soviet Union; Rene Mathis, an agent for the French Secret Service; and Felix Leiter, from the CIA.

The film adaptation remains faithful to the original story, but tries to expand on it. This would have been necessary, as the novel was written in 1953 while the film came out in 2006. Many changes would have been made to reflect more contemporary issues. A few minor changes include Vesper working for the Treasury, and the game being Texas Hold-'em rather than Baccarat.

The major change and expansion involves Le Chiffre. In the film, Le Chiffre is a private banker who finances terrorist organisations, investing his clients' money in stock options for an aerospace company while arranging for a terrorist attack on their new airliner's maiden voyage. Now, stock markets are not really my area of expertise. From what I've gathered, he's banking on the attack's event affecting the value of the shares, essentially betting on the company's failure. The first half of the film involves Bond discovering and foiling the attack, which costs Le Chiffre his investment and necessitates the tournament. MI6 believes that if he loses the tournament, he'll be desperate for protection from his creditors.

Compared to the book, the baccarat tournament is being held at the beginning of the story. It's established that Le Chiffre had invested his union's money in a chain of brothels, only for them to be closed down following the passage of new laws against prostitution. Bond's goal to bankrupt him is part of an alternative to assassination; if MI6 assassinated Le Chiffre, he would be made a martyr. They want to get around this by leaving him to be assassinated by SMERSH, the Soviet counter-intelligence service.

I do quite like the more subtle action of the book. Bond is about to be killed by one of Le Chiffre's bodyguards as he's about to buy back in using money given to him by Leiter. It's a very tense scene which ends with Bond feigning heat exhaustion and falling off his chair to both disarm his assailant and ruin the scheme by drawing attention to himself. As this was the first book in the series, that kind of thing can be done. In the films, it's more cinematic, but there had been twenty action-packed films which came before that one.

All in all, the film version of Casino Royale retains the story of the original book, while simultaneously expanding and updating it for a more modern setting.

James Bond - A Study of Adaptation

Back in 2015, I did a series on my other blog where I wrote reviews of the James Bond films, looking at how a long-running franchise can develop over time.

One of my first year modules has been looking at the practice of adaptation, and it's been on my mind since then. This included looking at adaptations of classical mythology and fairy tales, but I feel the urge to apply what I've learned to other things too.

So, based on the James Bond marathon, I've decided to look at the original Ian Fleming books. These are not going to be reviews, but rather a comparison of the source texts with the film adaptations. I'll post the reviews when I finish each book. At the time of writing, I've finished Casino Royale and am currently reading Live and Let Die. I'll have the Casino Royale piece online later today.

It's All in the Detail - A Rake's Progress (Scene 8)

The Madhouse

This may end up not being politically correct, I'm afraid. So, I apologise in advance if some of my wording isn't the right terminology. Just remember that a lot of the content in this one would have been commonplace when Hogarth was alive.

In the final scene, Tom Rakewell has apparently suffered some kind of nervous breakdown, and has been committed to a lunatic asylum, as it was probably referred to back then (rather than a psychiatric hospital). It's hard to see, but there's a small sign on the banister on the right which says what looks like "BH". This suggests that the location is Bethlem Hospital, also known as "Bedlam", which had a notorious reputation amongst such institutions.

As Tom is being stripped and shackled by the orderlies, he is being comforted by Sarah Young. She's the only person who seems to showing any pity.

Other inmates seem to include a musician with a violin, a man who believes to be a bishop, and another who seems to be the king.

However, the most notable characters are two woman of distinctly noble bearing, who seem to be visiting the asylum for a day out. I wonder of Hogarth was taken aback by the fact that such a thing was permitted. That maybe so, but their presence does represent a tragic irony for our protagonist; Tom has become little more than an exhibition for the nobility he sought to emulate.

And that pretty much brings it to a close. I'm sure there a plenty of other details that I haven't seen, but I was mainly trying to discern the story from the picture. I hope you've enjoyed this series. I'd best get back to work.