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To be fair, if SPECTRE wanted the Lektor, Rosa Klebb could have asked Tatiana for it more directly.
Well, I suppose that would have been too easily traceable back to Klebb, which they wouldn’t want. They would have had to set up Tatiana too to cover their tracks, and involving the British makes sense in the Cold War context. A bit elaborate? Somewhat, although that’s kind of the sense you get in the film with Kronstein having formulated this seemingly airtight scheme.
Not exactly. In the novel, they are more surefire about their plan, but because they don't see the benefits on the Soviet end. There's the worry of a trap that starts with the briefing and grows with the whole aspect of the train, the Bulgars, and Kerim's death.
I think the novel is a bit more real in this aspect. After all, a normal agency would trap Bond for three reasons; to interview him, to kill him, or to give him false intelligence. Two that they dismiss, and the third is worth the gamble. Perhaps the cinematic version makes it a bit glossier but I prefer the novel's version regardless.
Either way, if the film was more or less sound than the novel is a little bit off topic. My point was more questioning the point of whether jettisoning the political aspects actually made a difference to the performance of the films.
Swap SMERSH for SPECTRE in the first 2 films, and do either of them actually perform worse? Would adding the fact that Goldfinger worked for SMERSH lead the series to fizzle out after a few films?
The choice was a cosmetic one, for longevity, and for a potential Soviet market. But a franchise-saving or one that the Fleming estate should thank? Probably not.
From what I remember M’s relatively sure Tanya’s being legitimate and even tries to convince Bond of it. I do vaguely remember them not seeing the benefits on the Soviet end. Bond of course gets his premonitions/dark omens too. It’s certainly not on the same level as Goldfinger making Bond his personal assistant, but I felt it was one of Fleming’s contrivances - that’s to say keeping them quite that naive. I think their initial attitude in the film is a lot more consistent and they seem a bit more switched on about the whole thing (although there’s the unfortunate mention of Bond saying M thinks he’s wasting his time to Kerim, which I can only presume is something not edited out from an early draft, because it makes no sense).
I don’t know if having SMERSH would have affected the success of the films financially speaking or in terms of longevity one way or the other, but I think without SPECTRE you’re less likely to get some of those iconic Bond elements we now associate with the films - Blofeld/the white cat being an example. I think it wouldn’t have been the simple switch you’re trying to make out. These films would be different, and it’s naive to say they wouldn’t be to some extent.
Same for the effect it had on the story. It’s not just a swap job, having SPECTRE manipulating the whole thing changes things, even if subtly (as I mentioned above you’ve got their motive of getting the Lektor/the purpose of causing scandal with Bond. It’s not just a bid to humiliate him but something quite integral to their plan).
I don't really see the plan being naive. The film takes a different look at it: "it's definitely a trap, so we'll give you gadgets to get out of it", while the novel is more like: "we don't see why it would be a trap, but we'll still give you gadgets to get out of it if it goes south."
Both are similarly cautious ways of looking at the problem, and I agree that they probably suit their own mediums of storytelling.
The SMERSH-SPECTRE swap really only impacts DN and FRWL, and then the Chinese would be swapped for SMERSH in GF. While FRWL does a lot for Blofeld (the cat, the killing of Kronsteen, etc.), TB and YOLT do continue the iconic vision of Blofeld that we get.
As for SPECTRE's impact on FRWL, I never really paid attention to their plans for the Lektor. I always though it was bonus, but the main part of the operation was killing Bond and discrediting him as revenge as Dr. No represented their first real failure as an organization. If anything, diluting the personal aspect with the Lektor hurts the story rather than helps it (but I managed to ignore it on my past watches to be fair).
It might just be the fact that the reader has been given the context to the plan. I remember practically shaking the book when I first read the briefing scene, thinking 'of course it's a trap, you stupid old man'! Bond being so unsure about it has that similar elaborate dramatic irony behind it. I think it's much easier to swallow in the film because there's the extra layer of SPECTRE and the fact that Bond and M are knowingly taking a dangerous risk. It gives the sense they know what they're doing a bit more while still walking into something very dangerous.
I also remember that paragraph in the book being a bit odd. We get this whole briefing with M essentially convincing Bond that Tanya is legitimate (we're 'shown' it in literary terms) only for that aside in the next chapter where we're 'told' that M is worried about the possibility of this being a trap? Feels like we should have seen more of a shake in his confidence during that briefing... It's otherwise a well written book, one of the best Bond novels in fact, but it's just one of those issues Fleming has in terms of contrivances.
Again, you can argue the film does similar with the whole 'M thinks I'm wasting my time' line. But ultimately I think the briefing feels much more realistic in the film, and M comes across as much more competent.
Honestly, it's so hypothetical I don't think anyone can say one way or the other how this would have impacted the future of the Bond films. We're talking about a lot of creative choices as well that started with FRWL - would Blofeld have been depicted as being faceless with his white cat if he'd been introduced straightaway in TB? We wouldn't have had the drawn out process to his face reveal quite to the extent we did. I suspect having him in FRWL impacted that creative choice. I think this would have resulted in different films and creative choices ultimately. It's not just a simple switch in practice. But honestly, it's a thought experiment whatever way (and to be honest, a bit pointless).
I think it works better for a film that the McGuffin is genuinely something all parties are trying to attain. It's something tangible and gives SPECTRE that extra motivation. I think you get enough of the personal element with Bond having defeated No in the previous film.