Who was Kingsley Amis's Colonel Sun based on (and a query on the 1970 Pan paperback cover art)?

Dragonpol

I suppose that the famous Chinese revolutionary Sun Yat-sen (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Yat-sen) was possibly where Kingsley Amis came up with the name but I was wondering what inspired Amis to make a Chinese Red Army colonel the main villain for his James Bond continuation novel. Red China had of course exploded an atomic bomb in October 1964 so I suppose the focus moved to them and their increasingly poor relations with Soviet Russia which forms the political background plot for the novel Colonel Sun (1968).

What Chinese colonels could Colonel Sun Liang-tan be said to be based on at all, if any?

As an aside, I wonder who portrayed Colonel Sun for the 1970 Pan paperback cover? What do you think of it as a cover? One thing to note is that Colonel Sun is here portrayed as having a moustache but as far as I can remember he did not have one in the novel. Drawing on the "Yellow Peril" of thrillers of old I suppose the idea was to make Sun look more fiendishly Oriental and a moustache is facile shorthand for that. Also, it kind of seems like a mash-up between the literary and the film Bond worlds - the white jacket and rose recalls the highly successful film version of Goldfinger in 1964 (and after Colonel Sun's publication by Pan in the film version of Diamonds Are Forever from 1971 too) for example whereas the sun is more literary and symbolic in nature. It's an early example of the "Scary Shiny Glasses Man" (see http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ScaryShinyGlasses) meme too (see Columbo: Death Lends A Hand for a 1971 example of this)*:

First printing Pan Colonel Sun cover from 1970:



Close-up of the cover image:



*Robert Culp as another "Scary Shiny Glasses Man", Investigator Brimmer in Columbo: Death Lends A Hand (1971):



The same effect was later used in Columbo: Étude in Black (1972) where the killer (played by John Cassavetes) Alex Benedict's incriminating buttonhole flower was reflected in his sunglasses. It follows the Colonel Sun Pan paperback in that the character's eyes are completely obscured by the image reflected in them:



One can only conclude that this sort of imagery was popular in the early 1970s! :)

I find this a fascinating subject and, as ever, I'd love to hear your views on it! Thanks in advance!

TriggerMortis

How interesting.
I agree with Birdelson regarding his supposition that China was selected because, at that time, they were quickly becoming No.1 Bogie Man.
As for the cover, as the proud owner of a Jonathan Cape first edition hardback with its fabulous Tom Adams surrealistic artwork, I haven't given a lot of consideration to the PAN cover.
If I remember well, the PAN edition came out in 1970 and I remembered thinking at the time that the cover created a fracture with Raymond Hawkey's fabulous designs.
I always considered Hawkey to be an absolute genius. The work he did for Len Deighton was completely ground breaking and the covers he did for PAN's Bond books — starting with the fabulous 'Thunderball' bullet hole cover — set new standards in character and author branding and contributed enormously in moving the perceptions of Fleming's work away from the pulp arena.
By comparison this 'Colonel Sun' PAN cover just looks cheap and doubtless contributed to its lack lustre sales. A great shame because, as we all know, it's a great book and if 'Trigger Mortis' is as good, I will be a very happy bunny!

blakewho

I've often wondered whether the face on the cover of that Colonel Sun paperback was that of the actor Vincent Wong, who had cameos in DAF and DAD and many TV shows. I worked with Vincent briefly a few years ago, but before I'd seen the cover so I never had a chance to ask him. Too late now, as he died earlier this year. Lovely man; he told me he was often hired for his Chinese looks, but just as often restricted to non-speaking roles because of his strong Trinidadian accent, which didn't quite fit his appearance. He should have been a shoe-in for a role in DN.

JohnHammond73

blakewho wrote: »

I've often wondered whether the face on the cover of that Colonel Sun paperback was that of the actor Vincent Wong, who had cameos in DAF and DAD and many TV shows. I worked with Vincent briefly a few years ago, but before I'd seen the cover so I never had a chance to ask him. Too late now, as he died earlier this year. Lovely man; he told me he was often hired for his Chinese looks, but just as often restricted to non-speaking roles because of his strong Trinidadian accent, which didn't quite fit his appearance. He should have been a shoe-in for a role in DN.

I've thought the same thing but couldn't put a name to the actor. Now, if you take a look at the following link and scroll down, you will see a picture of Vincent Wong from an appearance in The Avengers. Uncanny, no?

http://www.aveleyman.com/ActorCredit.aspx?ActorID=18662

Thunderfinger

Could be slightly inspired by Dr. No, the only time I remember Fleming mentioning the Chinese. And there is the obvious connection of the title being the name of the villain, consisting of an honorary title and a Chinese surname.

Dragonpol

blakewho wrote: »

I've often wondered whether the face on the cover of that Colonel Sun paperback was that of the actor Vincent Wong, who had cameos in DAF and DAD and many TV shows. I worked with Vincent briefly a few years ago, but before I'd seen the cover so I never had a chance to ask him. Too late now, as he died earlier this year. Lovely man; he told me he was often hired for his Chinese looks, but just as often restricted to non-speaking roles because of his strong Trinidadian accent, which didn't quite fit his appearance. He should have been a shoe-in for a role in DN.

Thank you so much, @blakewho!

I'd say that's our man or at the very least a strong contender!

MrLunn

Ronnie Pickering.

Thunderpussy

Could the actor Vincent Wong, have posed for the artist ?

Dragonpol

DrGorner wrote: »

Could the actor Vincent Wong, have posed for the artist ?

Would you say, with your photograph expertise, @DrGorner that the 1970 Pan paperback cover of Colonel Sun is a photo or a painting? It looks like a photo to me but it's hard to tell definitively.

Thunderpussy

It's hard to say, then again if a painting , perhaps the artist was familiar
With the actor and knew he had the look he was after ?

Dragonpol

DrGorner wrote: »

It's hard to say, then again if a painting , perhaps the artist was familiar
With the actor and knew he had the look he was after ?

I wonder would that invoke copyright issues though? Perhaps he posed for the artist/photographer?

Dragonpol

MrLunn wrote: »

Ronnie Pickering.

Come again, @MrLunn?

Thunderpussy

If you pose for anyone you sign a model contract, which usually means for
The fee the model gives up all rights to the image.

Dragonpol

DrGorner wrote: »

If you pose for anyone you sign a model contract, which usually means for
The fee the model gives up all rights to the image.

Ah, I see. Thank you. I am a mere amateur in these matters!

Darius

Shark_0f_Largo wrote: »

blakewho wrote: »

I've often wondered whether the face on the cover of that Colonel Sun paperback was that of the actor Vincent Wong, who had cameos in DAF and DAD and many TV shows. I worked with Vincent briefly a few years ago, but before I'd seen the cover so I never had a chance to ask him. Too late now, as he died earlier this year. Lovely man; he told me he was often hired for his Chinese looks, but just as often restricted to non-speaking roles because of his strong Trinidadian accent, which didn't quite fit his appearance. He should have been a shoe-in for a role in DN.

I've thought the same thing but couldn't put a name to the actor. Now, if you take a look at the following link and scroll down, you will see a picture of Vincent Wong from an appearance in The Avengers. Uncanny, no?

http://www.aveleyman.com/ActorCredit.aspx?ActorID=18662

I think that's him. If not, it's his twin brother.

As Dragonpol rightly said, This model (Wong) looks only superficially like the Sun Markham/Amis describes in the book. However, what I find interesting is that Markham says that Sun had pewter-coloured eyes and the image of the sun reflecting on one of the lenses alludes to the "bright-eyes" effect you notice hen you meet Orientals with this trait.

Dragonpol

Darius wrote: »

Shark_0f_Largo wrote: »

blakewho wrote: »

I've often wondered whether the face on the cover of that Colonel Sun paperback was that of the actor Vincent Wong, who had cameos in DAF and DAD and many TV shows. I worked with Vincent briefly a few years ago, but before I'd seen the cover so I never had a chance to ask him. Too late now, as he died earlier this year. Lovely man; he told me he was often hired for his Chinese looks, but just as often restricted to non-speaking roles because of his strong Trinidadian accent, which didn't quite fit his appearance. He should have been a shoe-in for a role in DN.

I've thought the same thing but couldn't put a name to the actor. Now, if you take a look at the following link and scroll down, you will see a picture of Vincent Wong from an appearance in The Avengers. Uncanny, no?

http://www.aveleyman.com/ActorCredit.aspx?ActorID=18662

I think that's him. If not, it's his twin brother.

As Dragonpol rightly said, This model (Wong) looks only superficially like the Sun Markham/Amis describes in the book. However, what I find interesting is that Markham says that Sun had pewter-coloured eyes and the image of the sun reflecting on one of the lenses alludes to the "bright-eyes" effect you notice hen you meet Orientals with this trait.

Thank you for your interesting contribution, @Darius. Welcome to our community - you're a great, articulate addition to the ranks!

Darius

Thanks Dragonpol. I'm glad to be here.

Dragonpol

Darius wrote: »

Thanks Dragonpol. I'm glad to be here.

My pleasure - we're really glad to have you here! :)