BOND SCRIPTS

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  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    edited October 2020 Posts: 14,861
    mtm wrote: »
    Interesting stuff! Thanks for that.

    I think pinning it on re-introducing Bunt is a bit of a bad idea though- would audiences really remember who she was? Most people nowadays think she's Rosa Klebb! :)
    Bunt would've been a notable supporting character in the very previous film, released two years before, and in the treatments where she featured (those we know of, anyway) she dies at the start of the film. I'm sure the audience would've been fine.

    I don't know, I think two years is a long time to ask to remember a character who wasn't really all that vital to the last film, and to be able to recognise her face in one shot where her character is dead. No one was watching these films on DVD multiple times after they were released! :)

    What I think is interesting is that they started work on the script before OHMSS had even been finished, I don't know how regular that was then. Does DAF get namechecked at the end of OHMSS as 'James Bond will return in..'? I don't recall.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    edited October 2020 Posts: 14,861
    Revelator wrote: »
    His first treatment began with a despondent Bond at home, still mourning Tracy's loss, with a framed picture of her by his bed. Bond receives a call from Marc Ange Draco and excitedly rushes out of his flat.

    In a London post office a shadowy figure is seen removing a package. Bond follows the man and a chase begins in the mail railway system. Bond dodges gunfire and protects himself with sacks of mail. The shadowy man loses balance, falls onto the roadway and is electrocuted. His fedora falls off, revealing that the man is...Irma Bunt! And inside her package are...diamonds.

    I quite like this beginning, much more than the other suggested with Tiffany Case parachuted or the actual PTS with the Blofeld clones.

    The cottage one is a bit odd as it sounds like it's intended to be in the English countryside, and I kind of agree with the recent films that Bond's bolthole is more likely to be out of the country, in the tropics or similar. Mind you, seems sort of in keeping with the times, with Paul McCartney moving to the Mull of Kintyre and wearing cable knit jumpers etc :)

    The mail train chase was originally supposed to be in OHMSS in the College of Arms chase, wasn't it?
  • Agent_Zero_OneAgent_Zero_One Ireland
    Posts: 554
    @mtm yes, DAF is name-checked at the end of OHMSS.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    edited October 2020 Posts: 14,861
    MaxCasino wrote: »

    That sounds right up my street, thank you; I hope it's as good as it sounds.
  • Posts: 2,887
    mtm wrote: »
    What I think is interesting is that they started work on the script before OHMSS had even been finished, I don't know how regular that was then.

    I think it was regular, especially back then, when the filmmakers had a stockpile of books waiting to be adapted and a strict 2 year release schedule.
    MaxCasino wrote: »

    This looks like a good read. However, I'm slightly disappointed that it's another book based on interviews rather than archival research. At this point oral history is nearly exhausted as a source for the classic Bond films. If any publishers are reading this (fat chance, I know), commission someone to look through Maibaum's script collection!
  • ChriskarrChriskarr Spain
    edited October 2020 Posts: 46
    MaxCasino wrote: »

    Wow, that's amazing! I hope it contains more details about the William Davies and William Osborne script or scripts that we already know. Or perhaps a more detailed summary of them.
  • edited March 2021 Posts: 2,887
    I've just read some exiting facts in Ian Fleming and James Bond: Manuscripts in The Schøyen Collection. It's a catalogue of all the Bondian material in the world's largest private manuscript collection. Schøyen owns two especially exciting items. The first:

    Ian Fleming's screeenplay for Moonraker! Dated August 7, 1956, this is the earliest known screenplay for a Bond film. Fleming wrote it for the J. Arthur Rank organization, which optioned but never got around to filming the novel. This 120 page typescript is a relatively new addition to the Collection--it was won at a 2015 Bonhams auction. Unfortunately the catalogue gives no information about the content of this script, long regarded as the Holy Grail for Fleming fans. I'm glad to know it's in a safe place, but now I need to read it! The Schøyen Collection also contains Fleming's treatments for what became Thunderball, along with other material from the McClory and Whittingham estates.

    Another exciting item in the Collection: George MacDonald Fraser's archive of working manuscripts for Octopussy, including 111 sheets detailing "original storyline development," dated December 1981 and credited to Fraser, John Glen, Michael G. Wilson, and Albert Broccoli. According to the catalogue:

    "These earliest ideas concern Blofeld's small independent state, used as a base for terror activities. 'Octopussy' is another criminal organization based in India and headed by 'O'; they are all female followers of a mystical cult descended from the Thugs, but are not murderous; they are involved in smuggling of contraband. Blofeld takes them by force, as a perfect set-up for peddling heroin, and numerous Octopussies are assassinated.

    "Meanwhile in London, M has surveyed these events with interest but is killed before he can intervene; Bond is convinced it is murder. M's successor Villiers (a possible KGB plant) is Blofeld's puppet, so Blofeld effectively now runs the Secret Service. Villiers assigns Bond a desk job to neutralize his detective efforts, and worse still, Bond will be framed as M's assassin and has to flee. Bond, whilst pursued by British agents, must prove his innocence and determine what has happened to M.

    "Various characters such as Craft (aka Smythe), Copeland, Briggs, Lobo, and Miss Smallbone are mentioned, then written out or developed. A scene at Blades is explored and future characters Magda, Kamal, Orlov, and Gogol are introduced, and Octopussy becomes a person rather than a gang. Locations/scenes such as Cuba, an English cricket match, a race at the Nürburgring, and a U.S. Navy submarine are proposed and then dropped."
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 14,861
    Interesting stuff; I think someone mentioned about those early OP drafts on here recently but they're very interesting. The Fleming drafts I don't remember hearing about before: MR would be fascinating if that ever popped up.
  • Revelator wrote: »
    Another exciting item in the Collection: George MacDonald Fraser's archive of working manuscripts for Octopussy, including 111 sheets detailing "original storyline development," dated December 1981 and credited to Fraser, John Glen, Michael G. Wilson, and Albert Broccoli. According to the catalogue:

    "These earliest ideas concern Blofeld's small independent state, used as a base for terror activities. 'Octopussy' is another criminal organization based in India and headed by 'O'; they are all female followers of a mystical cult descended from the Thugs, but are not murderous; they are involved in smuggling of contraband. Blofeld takes them by force, as a perfect set-up for peddling heroin, and numerous Octopussies are assassinated.

    "Meanwhile in London, M has surveyed these events with interest but is killed before he can intervene; Bond is convinced it is murder. M's successor Villiers (a possible KGB plant) is Blofeld's puppet, so Blofeld effectively now runs the Secret Service. Villiers assigns Bond a desk job to neutralize his detective efforts, and worse still, Bond will be framed as M's assassin and has to flee. Bond, whilst pursued by British agents, must prove his innocence and determine what has happened to M.

    "Various characters such as Craft (aka Smythe), Copeland, Briggs, Lobo, and Miss Smallbone are mentioned, then written out or developed. A scene at Blades is explored and future characters Magda, Kamal, Orlov, and Gogol are introduced, and Octopussy becomes a person rather than a gang. Locations/scenes such as Cuba, an English cricket match, a race at the Nürburgring, and a U.S. Navy submarine are proposed and then dropped."

    More than a month late, I very cheerfully discover this long summary. Thank you very much @Revelator ! Too bad this story never came to fruition although I doubt that Eon would ever have been able to reclaim the rights to Blofeld at that time. Nevertheless, I think an alternative could undoubtedly have been found by keeping this premise of a war between two criminal organizations. Maybe by reusing the idea of a criminal civil war from Maibaum's TSWLM, replacing SPECTRE by a rebellious fraction of the Octopus gang?

    I still remain curious to see how they would have treated M's murder. Given this description, an off-screen death, preceding the events of the film, would have been difficult. Maybe would they have used a body double?
  • Posts: 613
    Some of the material from Fraser's manuscripts sounds like it was repurposed for SPECTRE (the film).
  • Posts: 2,887
    More than a month late, I very cheerfully discover this long summary. Thank you very much @Revelator ! Too bad this story never came to fruition although I doubt that Eon would ever have been able to reclaim the rights to Blofeld at that time. Nevertheless, I think an alternative could undoubtedly have been found by keeping this premise of a war between two criminal organizations.

    I don't know if Blofeld was legally ruled off-limits to EON during this period. IIRC, Broccoli scrubbed Blofeld from TSWLM because McClory had sued about similarities between that film's script and Warhead, so Broccoli didn't want to give McClory any leverage. But EON had no problem using Blofeld in FYEO, which dates from the same year as the Blofeld-Octopussy treatment. If McClory had an airtight case as to ownership of the character he could have successfully sued EON over FYEO, since the pre-title character is so obviously Blofeld, even if he's never named.

    Perhaps Broccoli decided against using Blofeld in OP when he realized Never Say Never Again had a serious chance of being made. To have Bond fighting Blofeld twice in 1983 wouldn't have been a good idea. And perhaps this would have lead to more lawsuits from McClory.

    Another speculation: the references to Tracy and Blofeld in For Your Eyes Only date were originally written in case a new actor took over the role. And when work started on Octopussy there was a strong possibility Moore wouldn't return. So perhaps returning to the aftermath of OHMSS was something Wilson, Maibaum, and Broccoli considered if a new Bond took over in the mid-80s. It would be a way of returning to "unfinished business" and returning the series to a more serious direction. A website claims Octopussy "was originally conceived as a villain using research into the death of Tracy Bond to manipulate Bond into joining her vendetta against SPECTRE."
    But since Moore returned in '81 and '83, they might have decided to go in different directions: hence the bizarre comedic climax to FYEO's precredits and the scrapping of the Blofeld OP plot.
    I still remain curious to see how they would have treated M's murder. Given this description, an off-screen death, preceding the events of the film, would have been difficult. Maybe would they have used a body double?

    I'm curious too. Bernard Lee died in January 1981, whereas this outline was from December 1981, so there was no chance of Lee making an onscreen appearance, unless through outtakes.
  • Revelator wrote: »
    Perhaps Broccoli decided against using Blofeld in OP when he realized Never Say Never Again had a serious chance of being made. To have Bond fighting Blofeld twice in 1983 wouldn't have been a good idea. And perhaps this would have lead to more lawsuits from McClory.

    It seems most likely, although I like your theory of a willingness on Eon's part to introduce a new actor with sort of a return to the Connery's era. Nonetheless, considering the fact that even after McClory's death, Eon chose to name its organisation "Quantum" and waited to buy the rights to Thunderball from McClory's family to finally bring up SPECTRE, this would go in the sense of a legally ruled off-limits Blofeld.

    Revelator wrote: »
    A website claims Octopussy "was originally conceived as a villain using research into the death of Tracy Bond to manipulate Bond into joining her vendetta against SPECTRE."

    I remember a similar description in Taschen's James Bond Archives, referring to Octopussy as a character and not an organization, and Tracy. Even if Octopussy is not described as a villain. I guess it is actually a reference to the character that Ian Fleming and James Bond: Manuscripts in The Schøyen Collection calls "O". Nevertheless, I think Eon missed an opportunity by not introducing a female antagonist. Failing to have Blofeld himself, presenting a sort of female counterpart of himself could have been interesting.
  • DeathToSpies84DeathToSpies84 Haydock, England
    Posts: 254
    Escalus5 wrote: »
    Chriskarr wrote: »
    What I have read is that in May 1993, producers hired Richard Smith and John Cork to write drafts for future films (surely Bond 18). variety.com/1993/film/news/danjaq-on-bond-wagon-with-two-script-deals-107186/

    Thanks! I have seen that Variety article before.

    Funny thing is, the author of the article got Richard Smith confused with at least three other people in the industry with the same name! Smith wrote several scripts, but his only onscreen credit is for LOCK UP, and he never worked as a film producer, actor, or make-up artist. Great research from the Variety staff! LOL.

    Shame Reunion with Death never happened.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 14,861
    This draft ending to Spectre is an interesting read:

  • peterpeter Toronto
    Posts: 8,248
    I didn’t like those last pages. Just goes to show: the entire development of Spectre should have been binned and re-started— without the looming release deadline hanging over every re-write.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 14,861
    I’m curious what part the ambulance played.
  • Bentley007Bentley007 Manitoba, Canada
    Posts: 564
    peter wrote: »
    I didn’t like those last pages. Just goes to show: the entire development of Spectre should have been binned and re-started— without the looming release deadline hanging over every re-write.

    Makes me very thankful for the ending we got. I dont think I had read this iteration of the script and that was a good thing. I do miss the dinner scene though from an earlier draft.
  • DenbighDenbigh UK
    Posts: 5,834
    I also find it kind of frustrating they got rid of the Irma that existed in the earlier draft, and not because it was Irma. She was more of a younger henchwoman-type in this and was holding Madeleine at MI6 before Madeleine attempted to escape herself before Bond arrives and helps get rid of Irma. I can't remember how the bomb fitted into that situation if there even was one in that draft.

    1. I get removing her as Irma, but they still could've had a henchwoman even unnamed.
    2. They decided to remove any agency from Madeleine by having her tied up. At least here she plays a role in her own fate before Bond gets there.
  • TheNumberOrTheCipherTheNumberOrTheCipher Raoul Silva did a little trolling
    Posts: 82
    Does anyone here have a hold of the draft for the third Dalton movie written by William Davies and William Osborne? (It's the comedy one with Bond dressing as a cowboy)
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 14,861
    Wow, even written down it seems like a mess :D
  • echoecho 007 in New York
    edited July 2022 Posts: 5,921
    Escalus5 wrote: »
    Some of the material from Fraser's manuscripts sounds like it was repurposed for SPECTRE (the film).

    Yes, that sounds like it. And also I agree that Lee having recently died may have pushed Eon to develop a script where M has died.
  • I feel like all of the pages that were written by all those different writers for CR 67 would create the most gigantic and most insane book imaginable. Surely too many to publish in one binding, but someone should do a deep-dive simply on the writing process of that movie at some point and include the highlights.
  • Posts: 2,887
    If I was in charge of a publishing house I'd establish a series called "The Greatest Films Never Made," devoted to publishing great unused scripts. Casino Royale could easily be a three volume project: one for Ben Hecht's script, another for Joseph Heller's, and third compiling the looniest parts of what Mankowitz, Huston, and Wilder and company scribbled afterward.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 14,861
    I think there's more scripts than those, even. I remember Robert Banks Stewart saying he worked on a version too.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 17,727
    I feel like all of the pages that were written by all those different writers for CR 67 would create the most gigantic and most insane book imaginable. Surely too many to publish in one binding, but someone should do a deep-dive simply on the writing process of that movie at some point and include the highlights.

    Our member @mikey417 wrote an in-depth book on the spoof Casino Royale (1967) back in 2015:

    https://cinemaretro.com/index.php?/archives/8985-THE-MAKING-OF-CASINO-ROYALE-AUTHOR-MICHAEL-RICHARDSON-DISCUSSES-HIS-NEW-BOOK.html
  • edited July 2022 Posts: 890
    Don't think it has been posted here before: I came across a Google Drive that gathers several Bond movies scripts, including three for Dalton's third movie (Wilson & Ruggiero's serious treatment; its screenplay adaptation and Osborne & Davies's comedy-oriented screenplay).
    https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1J-DC6C6DE_szKocVYUE6la6K4XviuWwr
    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sMfbM1MeVSJ5SGemifvgQd0AYshmZ84W/view
    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Tb_lJGf2pzeFjMM4CIkQe3n6cU6pdgfv/view

    Here is the guy who made them available:
  • Agent_Zero_OneAgent_Zero_One Ireland
    edited July 2022 Posts: 554
    Don't think it has been posted here before: I came across a Google Drive that gathers several Bond movies scripts, including three for Dalton's third movie (Wilson & Ruggiero's serious treatment; its screenplay adaptation and Osborne & Davies's comedy-oriented screenplay).
    https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1J-DC6C6DE_szKocVYUE6la6K4XviuWwr
    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sMfbM1MeVSJ5SGemifvgQd0AYshmZ84W/view
    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Tb_lJGf2pzeFjMM4CIkQe3n6cU6pdgfv/view

    Here is the guy who made them available:
    Goldmine.

    I've seen some of these before in a different folder I always meant to post here, but it's great to have so many more.
  • edited July 2022 Posts: 2,887
    Don't think it has been posted here before: I came across a Google Drive that gathers several Bond movies scripts...

    What a treasure trove! Thank you and @ AliasHannibal for this.

This discussion has been closed.