Fleming and McClory would collaborate on a new story rather than adapt one of the author's existing novels. But these dreams of making the first James Bond film resulted in an unnecessary and catastrophic chapter in the lives of all parties concerned.
I n January and February of 1959, Fleming took an easy route with his Bond effort, adapting to short stories four of the television outlines he had prepared for CBS. He added a fifth story which he had written the previous summer, and planned to turn in this anthology, provisionally titled THE ROUGH WITH THE SMOOTH, to Jonathan Cape that year. The original manuscript of "From a View to a Kill" was 23 pages. "For Your Eyes Only" originally titled "Man's Work," and later changed to "Death Leaves an Echo," was 34 pages. "Quantum of Solace," the story he had written after returning from the Seychelles, was 21 pages. "Risico" (originally spelled "Risiko") and "The Hildebrand Rarity" were both 31 pages. All were corrected only moderately. In "For Your Eyes Only," for example, the name of the slain Jamaican couple was Wilson, and halfway through the manuscript it was changed to Havelock. This collection, subtitled "Five Secret Occasions in the Life of James Bond," was ultimately published a year later as FOR YOUR EYES ONLY.
In March of that year, GOLDFINGER was published. Dedicated to Fleming's "gentle reader, William Plomer," the book featured another attractive jacket design by Richard Chopping—a picture of a skull with gold coins in its eye sockets and a red rose entwined in the teeth. The Times said: "A new Bond has emerged from these pages: an agent more relaxed, less promiscuous, less stagily muscular than of yore. . . the story, too, is more relaxed." Indeed, GOLDFINGER is the most introspective of all the Bond novels. In the United States, reviewers began to take notice. Even Anthony Boucher, this time, stated that "the whole preposterous fantasy strikes me as highly entertaining." And James Sandoe of the New York Herald Tribune called it a "superlative thriller from our foremost literary magician."
That spring Fleming made the decision to change both agents and publishers in the United States. He hadn't been happy with the way Curtis Brown, Ltd. handled his film rights, and wanted another agency with more Hollywood connections. Naomi Burton, his friend, agent, and reader, was also leaving the agency, so Fleming made the switch to Music Corporation of America. Phyllis Jackson represented the literary side of his work and Laurence Evans the film side. Evans immediately began working on film deals, and one of his first accomplishments was buying back the rights to MOONRAKER from the Rank Organization, which had done nothing with the property. His new American publisher was Viking Press.
Talks resumed about the production of the future James Bond film. The Boy and the Bridge had been selected as the official British entry to the Venice film festival, and eventually won several awards at other European festivals. Its premiere was set for July. With that promise of success, it looked as though a Bond film directed by McClory, and scripted by Fleming and McClory, would indeed be a lucrative undertaking. In May, during a weekend at Moyns Park, Bryce's home in Essex, followed by other meetings in McClory's home in London, Fleming, Bryce, McClory, and Ernest Cuneo came up with ideas for a story. It was basically a collaborative process. The first treatment featured the Russians as villains, but it was McClory who came up with the idea of using an international gang of terrorists, instead. This group was eventually called SPECTRE, the Special Executive for Counterintelligence, Terrorism, Revenge, and Extortion. Cuneo added the idea for a spectacular underwater battle at the story's climax. Over the coming months, the original outline changed and there were no fewer than ten outlines, treatments, and scripts. They had various titles, including SPECTRE, James Bond of The Secret
I n January and February of 1959, Fleming took an easy route with his Bond effort, adapting to short stories four of the television outlines he had prepared for CBS. He added a fifth story which he had written the previous summer, and planned to turn in this anthology, provisionally titled THE ROUGH WITH THE SMOOTH, to Jonathan Cape that year. The original manuscript of "From a View to a Kill" was 23 pages. "For Your Eyes Only" originally titled "Man's Work," and later changed to "Death Leaves an Echo," was 34 pages. "Quantum of Solace," the story he had written after returning from the Seychelles, was 21 pages. "Risico" (originally spelled "Risiko") and "The Hildebrand Rarity" were both 31 pages. All were corrected only moderately. In "For Your Eyes Only," for example, the name of the slain Jamaican couple was Wilson, and halfway through the manuscript it was changed to Havelock. This collection, subtitled "Five Secret Occasions in the Life of James Bond," was ultimately published a year later as FOR YOUR EYES ONLY.
In March of that year, GOLDFINGER was published. Dedicated to Fleming's "gentle reader, William Plomer," the book featured another attractive jacket design by Richard Chopping—a picture of a skull with gold coins in its eye sockets and a red rose entwined in the teeth. The Times said: "A new Bond has emerged from these pages: an agent more relaxed, less promiscuous, less stagily muscular than of yore. . . the story, too, is more relaxed." Indeed, GOLDFINGER is the most introspective of all the Bond novels. In the United States, reviewers began to take notice. Even Anthony Boucher, this time, stated that "the whole preposterous fantasy strikes me as highly entertaining." And James Sandoe of the New York Herald Tribune called it a "superlative thriller from our foremost literary magician."
That spring Fleming made the decision to change both agents and publishers in the United States. He hadn't been happy with the way Curtis Brown, Ltd. handled his film rights, and wanted another agency with more Hollywood connections. Naomi Burton, his friend, agent, and reader, was also leaving the agency, so Fleming made the switch to Music Corporation of America. Phyllis Jackson represented the literary side of his work and Laurence Evans the film side. Evans immediately began working on film deals, and one of his first accomplishments was buying back the rights to MOONRAKER from the Rank Organization, which had done nothing with the property. His new American publisher was Viking Press.
Talks resumed about the production of the future James Bond film. The Boy and the Bridge had been selected as the official British entry to the Venice film festival, and eventually won several awards at other European festivals. Its premiere was set for July. With that promise of success, it looked as though a Bond film directed by McClory, and scripted by Fleming and McClory, would indeed be a lucrative undertaking. In May, during a weekend at Moyns Park, Bryce's home in Essex, followed by other meetings in McClory's home in London, Fleming, Bryce, McClory, and Ernest Cuneo came up with ideas for a story. It was basically a collaborative process. The first treatment featured the Russians as villains, but it was McClory who came up with the idea of using an international gang of terrorists, instead. This group was eventually called SPECTRE, the Special Executive for Counterintelligence, Terrorism, Revenge, and Extortion. Cuneo added the idea for a spectacular underwater battle at the story's climax. Over the coming months, the original outline changed and there were no fewer than ten outlines, treatments, and scripts. They had various titles, including SPECTRE, James Bond of The Secret
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