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When does Bond ever interact with the general public?

TripAcesTripAces Universal Exports
in Bond Movies Posts: 4,554
Doing a little research on this, and before I get started I thought I'd ask our resident experts to post on this thread.

But when does Bond ever interact with the public? I am only speaking of people who are going about their personal business, not people in the hospitality or service industries. Bond has much to say to bartenders, servers, hosts, dealers, cab drivers, etc. (Of course, he also speaks to operatives, assets, suspects, and marks.) But when does he speak to/with every day people not in those positions?

I am sure there are several examples, but off the top of my head I can only think of four:

In TB: The woman (Diane Hartford) at the Kiss Kiss Club in the Bahamas
In DAF: Plenty O'Toole (unless one counts her as a prostitute, who's on the job)
In TMWTGG: The boy on the boat
In CR: At the Ocean Club, the man whose car he crashed (ironically that scene also includes Diane Hartford)

Thoughts?
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Comments

  • IGotABrudderIGotABrudder UK
    Posts: 631
    OP’s car chase? - I’m thinking of the car with the teenagers who tease Bond then drive off, and the phone box woman
  • w2bondw2bond is indeed a very rare breed
    Posts: 2,252
    IGotABrudder wrote: »
    OP’s car chase? - I’m thinking of the car with the teenagers who tease Bond then drive off, and the phone box woman

    And the Germans who give Bond a ride.

    Also happens in AVTAK when Bond gatecrashes the wedding.
    Mrs Bell in LALD
  • Mendes4LyfeMendes4Lyfe The long road ahead
    edited July 2020 Posts: 8,077
    The tour boat in OP spring to mind

    "Are you with our group?"

    "No."
  • Tokoloshe2Tokoloshe2 Northern Ireland
    edited July 2020 Posts: 1,172
    He interacts rather unfortunately with a woman and her son at the fairground in TLD, when he leaps over the hedge and accidentally points his gun at them.

    Also the stall-holder that he wins the teddy from, who asks him not to play again :)
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 14,930
    I always get a bit uncomfortable with QoS when members of the public actually get hurt as a result of chases Bond is taking part in (a lorry driver in the opening chase, a woman gets shot in the horse race chase): generally they're careful for that not to hapen.

    Bond also steals 'normal people's cars in AVTAK and OP of course. Countless barmen.
  • QBranchQBranch Always have an escape plan. Mine is watching James Bond films.
    Posts: 13,892
    AVTAK's Mr. O'Rourke, the San Franciscan crab fisherman.
  • w2bondw2bond is indeed a very rare breed
    Posts: 2,252
    Destroys the Perrier truck in GE, and the apartment block in SP (hope no-one was home...)
  • TripAcesTripAces Universal Exports
    Posts: 4,554
    Mendes4Lyfe wrote: »
    The tour boat in OP spring to mind

    "Are you with our group?"

    "No."

    Good one.
  • TripAcesTripAces Universal Exports
    edited July 2020 Posts: 4,554
    Note: The interactions must include dialogue. Bond must actually speak to them.

    I don't remember if he speaks to anyone at the wedding party in AVTAK. I will have to watch it.

    Another that comes to mind is the woman expecting flight lessons in LALD.
  • peterpeter Toronto
    Posts: 8,484
    TripAces wrote: »
    Note: The interactions must include dialogue. Bond must actually speak to them.

    I don't remember if he speaks to anyone at the wedding party in AVTAK. I will have to watch it.

    Another that comes to mind is the woman expecting flight leasons in LALD.

    @TripAces re: AVTAK: Doesn't Bond pick up the cake he smashed on top of and offer congratulations to the bride and groom? I think so??...
  • TripAcesTripAces Universal Exports
    edited July 2020 Posts: 4,554
    peter wrote: »
    TripAces wrote: »
    Note: The interactions must include dialogue. Bond must actually speak to them.

    I don't remember if he speaks to anyone at the wedding party in AVTAK. I will have to watch it.

    Another that comes to mind is the woman expecting flight leasons in LALD.

    @TripAces re: AVTAK: Doesn't Bond pick up the cake he smashed on top of and offer congratulations to the bride and groom? I think so??...

    Yes, I do believe you are right.

    In SP: Bond says "Good evening" to the stranger in Rome, after landing the parachute, following the car chase with Hinx.

  • CraigMooreOHMSSCraigMooreOHMSS Dublin, Ireland
    Posts: 8,026
    TWINE, after Bond and Christmas escape the sub, they encounter a tour boat in what I can only imagine was a nod to the tour boat in OP.
  • thedovethedove hiding in the Greek underworld
    Posts: 4,939
    The florist (who was a winner of a Playboy contest) when he instructs her to send the lilies to the funeral.

    Plenty was a prostitute? I never got that impression. To me she was a woman who was looking for a sugar daddy. Even if she was a prostitute this makes her less human? Or less civilian. I hope I am reading you incorrectly.

    Does Hawking from GF count? Or because he was working he's out? The guy before the golf match?

    The women at Tiger's Bath House? I believe he quips about not getting soap in the eye.

    Oh the woman in TB who he uses to get on the dance floor. "Thank you I'd love to.." ("You should have told me your wife was here! :) )
  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    Posts: 7,526
    I think the spirit of the thread is people Bond interact with who aren't actively working in a service industry of any kind (i.e. just random people on the street). Bond communicates with people working in service industries constantly throughout the films, and IMO this disqualifies the florist, Plenty, Hawking, the bath house women, IMO, as well as the woman at the airport desk in QoS, the Ocean Club host, etc etc etc.

    The man Bond says "good evening" to after landing on the bridge in Spectre (after putting the DB10 in the river) is a good example of what this thread is referring to, I believe.
  • TripAcesTripAces Universal Exports
    edited July 2020 Posts: 4,554
    NickTwentyTwo wrote: »
    I think the spirit of the thread is people Bond interact with who aren't actively working in a service industry of any kind (i.e. just random people on the street). Bond communicates with people working in service industries constantly throughout the films, and IMO this disqualifies the florist, Plenty, Hawking, the bath house women, IMO, as well as the woman at the airport desk in QoS, the Ocean Club host, etc etc etc.

    The man Bond says "good evening" to after landing on the bridge in Spectre (after putting the DB10 in the river) is a good example of what this thread is referring to, I believe.

    Exactly.

    @thedove I am not suggesting Plenty is less of a person. As @NickTwentyTwo says here, Plenty might not count as a member of the general public: is she in the general public or is she "on the clock" as someone in the service industry? This is very much a gray area.

    What's interesting is that the very first words the cinematic Bond speaks, in DN of course, are toward a character of the general public: Sylvia. Her role was intended to be more of a contsant love interest, but Sylvia definitely counts, as she is neither a mark nor a server.

    ;)
  • BMW_with_missilesBMW_with_missiles All the usual refinements.
    Posts: 3,000
    The subway driver in SF; “Open the door!”
  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    Posts: 7,526
    I'd almost be on the fence with gamblers, as they usually play an important role in the Bond stories. They're not acting in a service industry capacity, but to me they're not exactly John Doe off the street either. It's a gray area for me.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 14,930
    TripAces wrote: »
    NickTwentyTwo wrote: »
    I think the spirit of the thread is people Bond interact with who aren't actively working in a service industry of any kind (i.e. just random people on the street). Bond communicates with people working in service industries constantly throughout the films, and IMO this disqualifies the florist, Plenty, Hawking, the bath house women, IMO, as well as the woman at the airport desk in QoS, the Ocean Club host, etc etc etc.

    The man Bond says "good evening" to after landing on the bridge in Spectre (after putting the DB10 in the river) is a good example of what this thread is referring to, I believe.

    Exactly.

    @thedove I am not suggesting Plenty is less of a person. As @NickTwentyTwo says here, Plenty might not count as a member of the general public: is she in the general public or is she "on the clock" as someone in the service industry? This is very much a gray area.

    That reminds me; I was thinking the other day that Plenty is that fairly rare Bond girl: someone who has nothing at all to do with the mission who he happens to pull. I expect there are probably loads, but off the top of my head I can only think of Margot's friend on the yacht at the beginning of TLD and Sylvia Trench.
  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    Posts: 7,526
    Estrella as well, possibly.
  • thedovethedove hiding in the Greek underworld
    Posts: 4,939
    NickTwentyTwo wrote: »
    I'd almost be on the fence with gamblers, as they usually play an important role in the Bond stories. They're not acting in a service industry capacity, but to me they're not exactly John Doe off the street either. It's a gray area for me.

    Then why is Trench included? She gambles but she's different then other gamblers? What about the guy who leans into George and says "Dame can't pay up." Or because Bond doesn't say anything to him it doesn't count? I am getting a bit confused about this thread. LOL!
  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    edited July 2020 Posts: 7,526
    thedove wrote: »
    NickTwentyTwo wrote: »
    I'd almost be on the fence with gamblers, as they usually play an important role in the Bond stories. They're not acting in a service industry capacity, but to me they're not exactly John Doe off the street either. It's a gray area for me.

    Then why is Trench included? She gambles but she's different then other gamblers? What about the guy who leans into George and says "Dame can't pay up." Or because Bond doesn't say anything to him it doesn't count? I am getting a bit confused about this thread. LOL!
    The gamblers thing is my own thought; @TripAces may certainly not agree!

    It is a nuanced subject.

    To illustrate my thought, take for example the scene in Casino Royale in the Ocean Club when Bond wins the DB5 from Alex. When he speaks to the two golfers at the bar (guten aben, sorry, I don't speak German lol), that would be Bond interacting with the general public. But when he sits at the poker table and engages with the players, I wouldn't consider that interacting with the general public (and this would exclude Trench as well, for me). Gamblers, regardless of how big or small, become a part of the plot to me in a way that the general public does not.
  • BT3366BT3366
    Posts: 1,882
    First Bond film of all, DN, in Jamaica, Bond encounters a lady a the water jug and asks where he can find Quarrel.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 14,930
    NickTwentyTwo wrote: »
    Estrella as well, possibly.

    Who's that? I can't place her.
  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    Posts: 7,526
    mtm wrote: »
    NickTwentyTwo wrote: »
    Estrella as well, possibly.

    Who's that? I can't place her.

    From the beginning of Spectre. The woman he's with as he enters the hotel.
  • jobojobo
    edited July 2020 Posts: 7,500
    - "Play it again, Sam" to the musicians in Moonraker :))

    I suppose Sylvia Trench also counts?

    And the gipsy leader in FRWL
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    edited July 2020 Posts: 14,930
    NickTwentyTwo wrote: »
    mtm wrote: »
    NickTwentyTwo wrote: »
    Estrella as well, possibly.

    Who's that? I can't place her.

    From the beginning of Spectre. The woman he's with as he enters the hotel.

    Ah thanks! I didn't know she had a name. Yes, very true, she doesn't seem connected with anything.
    jobo wrote: »
    - "Play it again, Sam" to the musicians in Moonraker :))

    Surely 'san'?
  • GadgetManGadgetMan Lagos, Nigeria
    Posts: 4,247
    When Dalton's Bond discovers Kara's rifle magazine were filled with Blanks in the public rest room. The workers there wondered why a man would take a Cello to the rest room.
  • Benjamin_Weekly69Benjamin_Weekly69 London
    Posts: 727
    Bond is an upper class Etonian. Why TF would he mingle with the mediocre and commiserate with the common?

    He inhabits the best restaurants, shags the most expensive women and consumes the best food.

    That's Bond. If you want a working class hero, watch Selma.


  • thedovethedove hiding in the Greek underworld
    Posts: 4,939
    So do we wish to create a repository of instances when Bond interacts with civilians within each film? I find it hard to draw a line at gamblers being non-civilians. I understand why Largo and Vargas wouldn't be included but don't see why Trench and the characters from OHMSS would be excluded.

    I might argue that the woman carrying the water jug was working at the time Bond approached her to ask where Quarrel was.

    One's that I can think that would qualify would be:
    • TB the young girl who Bond takes onto the dance floor as the SPECTRE men approach. "Thanks I'd love to." "Love to what?"
    • YOLT the older man he asks for directions to get to the sumo wrestler for the ticket.
    • OHMSS Do the Angels of Death qualify? they are clearly civilians and aren't aware of their devious programming
    • DAF Plenty O'Toole to me she's a civilian and clearly not involved in the plans of Blofeld.
  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    edited July 2020 Posts: 7,526
    Fair enough about gamblers, just a weird thing for me I guess.

    Your first two I can agree with, but the angels of death are clearly part of the plot! Same with Plenty, IMO.
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