The James Bond Bedside Companion
Page 33
LICENSE RENEWED has plotline problems mainly because they ring too familiar with readers who have seen many of the James Bond films. Listed below are instances in the book which correspond to similar moments in the films:
Bond assumes a cover to infiltrate Murik's castle. The door to Bond's room locks automatically from the outside. (On Her Majesty's Secret Service—the film and the novel.)
Bond spies on Murik's castle at night and is discovered by the guards; this is followed by a car chase, and Bond is eventually captured. (Goldfinger.)
Murik plans to blackmail Western governments with a nuclear threat (Thunderball.)
Caber, Murik's henchman, is ejected from an airplane via an airlock. (Goldfinger.)
There is a street festival in Perpignan, creating a crowd in which Bond can hide from Murik's guards. (Thunderball.)
Murik claims he is the heir to the Murcaldy clan. (On Her Majesty's Secret Service.)
Murik has an evil mistress who attempts to seduce Bond. (Thunderball.)
The novel is also heavily inspired by the plot of the film The China Syndrome. Bond even remembers the title of this Jane Fonda vehicle when he learns of Murik's plot to cause meltdowns in nuclear power plants around the world.
On the other hand, FOR SPECIAL SERVICES has a good, if implausible, story. The Space Wolf satellites of which SPECTRE is attempting to gain control, Gardner claims, actually exist even though no government will admit the fact The Space Wolves are laser-equipped and can be launched into orbit at a moment's notice when unidentified objects fly into friendly air space. When the object is deemed harmless, the Space Wolves can be recalled to base. These machines sound like they're from a James Bond film, but somehow Gardner makes the notion acceptable. In 1961, THUNDERBALL seemed farfetched. Today, the plot of that novel is quite credible.
Of course, the most interesting aspect of FOR SPECIAL SERVICES is the fact that the new leader of SPECTRE is named Blofeld. The true identity of this person is not revealed until the novel's end, but it doesn't take much intelligence to see through the ploy and determine early in the story that Blofeld is a woman. She is, in fact, the daughter of Ernst Blofeld, and possesses the same perverse qualities which characterized her father. Because Blofeld Sr. murdered Bond's wife, the mere name of the villain painfully jars Bond's memory. The reader is sympathetic to 007's feelings here, and this helps make the Bond character more human than he is in LICENSE RENEWED or ICEBREAKER. That's a secret to the appeal of the earlier novels—Fleming made James Bond believable as a man, as opposed to an indestructible superman.
Another successful element in FOR SPECIAL SERVICES is its irony. For instance, Bond goes to bed with Blofeld's daughter before he learns her true identity. In fact, he is quite taken with her. When he learns the truth, the shock leaves him speechless. Had Nena Blofeld acted a little quicker, she might have been able to destroy Bond in his moment of frozen horror.
ICEBREAKER contains enough ingredients for a potentially good Bond adventure: new and exciting locations, a plot involving a new terrorist group with political objectives, and plenty of action scenes. But unfortunately, the novel is weak because the Bond formula is so obviously recognizable in the structure. In addition, the plot advances in spite of Bond—nothing he does in the book has much effect on the outcome of most of the story. The character isn't even involved in the final battle—it is the Russian army that attacks von Glöda's Ice Palace. Because 007's actions seem peripheral to the story, ICEBREAKER's plot development becomes forced and mechanical; the events all begin to seem ridiculously contrived. There are so many instances of mistaken identity it verges on the absurd. For example:
At the beginning of the story Paula Vacker is simply an old girlfriend of Bond's. Suddenly she is a Nazi and works for Konrad von Glöda. In a moment of convenience (plotwise), she is revealed to be in reality a SUPO agent doubling against von Glöda.
Konrad von Glöda is really Aame Tudeer, a wanted Nazi official.
Rivke Ingber is in reality Anni Tudeer, the daughter of von Glöda. She masquerades through the novel as a Mossad agent working against her father; but in the end it is revealed that she is in cahoots with the former Nazi.
Kolya Mosolov is supposedly on Bond's side, but in reality he is working with von Glöda in an attempt to trap Bond inside Russia. After this is accomplished, Kolya doublecrosses von Glöda and turns against him.
Brad Tirpitz of the CIA suddenly becomes Hans Buchtman, von Glöda's right-hand man. But in a convenient deus ex machina, Buchtman turns out to be CIA agent Brad Tirpitz after all!
Throughout the story, Bond is bombarded by these sudden, unrealistic changes of identity and dramatic objectives; as a result, 007 is kept confused and bewildered as he is bounced from plot device to plot device. These devices are finally so implausible that the story loses any suspense that may have been created.
Probably the weakest element of ICEBREAKER is its lack of character development, not only of all the supporting characters, but of Bond as well. Gardner has made the super sleuth a cardboard character. The reason for the implausibility of the many shifts in supporting character identifies is the fact that the reader is unable to grasp who these people are before the deception occurs. Gardner never gives the characters in ICEBREAKER a chance to make a first impression.
Thematically, the novels hold nothing new. There is a moment when Bond reminds himself of his job's political implications:
In the old blood-and-thunder novels of his adolescence, Bond had read time and again of mad professors, or masterminds, whose aim was to dominate the world. At the time, the young Bond had wondered what the mad, or bad, villains would do with the world once it was in their power. Now he knew. SPECTRE, and other organizations like it—with close links to Russia and the Communist ideology—were dedicated to placing all mankind slowly under the heel of a society dominated by the state: a state which controlled the individual's every action and thought, down to what kind of music could be heard and what books read.
In crushing SPECTRE, James Bond would be striking a blow for true democracy—not the wishy-washy, half-hearted ideals that of late, seemed to permeate the West.
(FOR SPECIAL SERVICES, Chapter 8)
So the ever-unchanging mission of James Bond is to act as St George against the Dragon, no matter what disguise the animal may don. It's an age-old theme, but one that works.
CHARACTERS
The eighties have brought a few changes in James Bond's possessions. He no longer drives the beloved Mark II Continental Bentley. He now sports a Saab 900 Turbo, complete with accessories from Q Branch. These accessories are not totally revealed in the first Gardner effort—each successive novel uncovers more of the Saab's secrets. Bond also owns, in addition to his flat off King's Road, a small country retreat some five miles out of Haslemere. He still uses Guerlain's Imperial Cologne and dresses in white Sea Island cotton shirts and navy slacks. And Bond basically looks the same:
. . . the bronzed good-looking face, with rather long dark eyebrows above the wide, level blue eyes; the three-inch scar which just showed down his right cheek; the long, very straight nose, and the fine, though cruel, mouth. Minute flecks of gray had just started to show in the dark hair, which still retained its boyish black comma above the right eye. As yet, no plumpness had appeared around the jowls, and the line of the jaw was as straight and firm as ever.
(LICENSE RENEWED, Chapter 2)
But there have been changes in the Service since the sixties. The Double-0 Section has been abolished, but M still insists on calling Bond "007." M tells him:
"As far as I'm concerned, 007, you will remain 007. I shall take full responsibility for you, and you will, as ever, accept orders and assignments only from me. There are moments when this country needs a troubleshooter—a blunt instrument—and by heaven it's going to have one. They can issue their pieces of bumf and abolish the Double-0 section. We can simply change its name. It will now be the Special Section, and you are it. Understand, 007?"
To keep up with the times, Bond is watching his health more than usual. He continues his morning habit of pushups, as well as a rigorous workout of leg-raising, arm-flexing, and breathing exercises. He takes a refresher course on combat and silent kills once a month, and practices shooting weekly at the electronic range below Regent Park's headquarters. He has curtailed his alcohol intake, and arranged for Morlands of Grosvenor Street to create a special cigarette with a tar content slightly lower than any currently available on the market In FOR SPECIAL SERVICES, Bond changes brands: his cigarettes are made especially for him by H. Simmons of Burlington Arcade, which is the earliest known cigarette manufacturer in London. He still carries the cigarettes, each with the distinctive gold bands, in his gunmetal case kept in his breast pocket.
In LICENSE RENEWED, Bond uses a Browning 9mm rather than the old Walther PPK. In addition, he secretly keeps an unauthorized Ruger Super Blackhawk .44 Magnum in a secret compartment in his Saab. The handgun is changed in FOR SPECIAL SERVICES to a Heckler & Koch VP70, a weapon which both M and Major Boothroyd insist will be carried by all officers in the Service. In ICEBREAKER, the model is changed again:
After some argument, mainly from Bond, the Armourer had agreed on Heckler & Koch's P7, "squeeze cocking" 9mm automatic in preference to the rather cumbersome VP70, With its long "double-action" pull for each single shot. The weapon was lighter and more like his old beloved Walther PPK, now banned by the Security Services.
(ICEBREAKER, Chapter 6)
The past continues to haunt Bond, and this is an aspect Gardner should emphasize more strongly, as it gives the agent realistic human qualities. When Q'ute, the girl from the Armoury, asks Bond about the white scar on his right hand, Bond becomes cold:
Bond glanced up sharply, his eyes suddenly losing their humor and turning to ice in a way that almost frightened Q'ute. "Someone tried to be clever a long time ago," he said slowly. In the back of his mind he remembered quite clearly all the circumstances which had led to the plastic surgery, that showed now only as a white blemish, after the Cyrillic letter III—standing for SH—had been carved into the back of his hand in an attempt by SMERSH to brand him as a spy. It was long ago, and very far away now, but clear as yesterday. He detected the break he had made in Q'ute's guard with his sharp cruelty. So long ago, he thought—the business with Le Chiffre at Royale-lex-Eaux, and a woman called Vesper—about the same age as this girl sitting on the workbench, showing off her shapely knees and calves—lying dead from an overdose, her body under the sheets like a stone effigy in a tomb.
The coldness in Bond's mien faded. He smiled at Q'ute, again looking down at his hand. "A small accident—carelessness on my part. Needed a bit of surgery, that's all."
(LICENSE RENEWED, Chapter 5)
Moments like these are a pleasure in the Gardner books, for they link the novels with Fleming's series. They serve to remind the reader that they are part of the same saga, even though times have changed and Bond is basically not much older than when he last appeared.
FOR SPECIAL SERVICES is most successful in humanizing Bond because the plotline involves memories of Blofeld and the murder of Tracy. Early in the story, Bond lies in bed with the sleeping Q'ute but daydreams about his dead wife.
Gardner regresses in ICEBREAKER, however. James Bond in this story never uses his wits or intelligence to solve anything. He walks blindly into traps and is fooled over and over again by false identities. The most unbelievable action on Bond's part is allowing Kolya Mosolov to lead him into Russia when 007 knows that the entire operation is a trap. He walks conveniently into the NSAA's arms as a result Fleming's James Bond would have had better sense.
The villains are an interesting bunch. LICENSE RENEWED's Anton Murik is a typical Flemingesque villain, similar to Aunc Goldfinger or Hugo Drax. He's a civilized, brilliant scientist who walks with the stride of a "Scottish chieftain." As usual, Murik is obsessed with proving his genius to the rest of the world, and it is soon clear that he is another megalomaniac out to demonstrate his superiority over the underlings on the globe. He is untrustworthy, even to his own men—he hires 007 to assassinate Franco, the man Munk used to train and organize the terrorists taking control of the power plants around the world. He even plans to kill his own ward, heroine Lavender Peacock, to prevent the girl from becoming the rightful heir to the Murcaldy title. Nena Bismaquer (later revealed to be Nena Blofeld) of FOR SPECIAL SERVICES is the most successful villain Gardner has created. She is a beautiful woman whose face gives a hint of sensuality Bond finds "more than engaging." But her eyes give her away: they burn with a hatred which Bond recognizes later as the same evil that lay in the black eyes of Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Nena Blofeld succeeds where many villains have failed, and that is to seduce Bond into trusting her completely. Bond makes love to her and he is completely taken off guard by the surprise revelation of her identity. There is another peculiarity which fits the perverse Blofeld mold: Nena has only one breast. The other is flat, like a boy's. ICEBREAKER's Konrad von Glöda, alias Aarne Tudeer, is an elderly but statuesque ex-Nazi official who is the leader of the NSAA. At one point in the story, Bond thinks that von Glöda may be his match. But there is nothing in the character development which might give Bond these thoughts. Compared to his previous adversaries, von Glöda is nothing.He is a cardboard villain without even a convincing obligatory "how I came into power" speech. Von Glöda is a plot device—nothing more.
Gardner's heroines are formidable. LICENSE RENEWED'S Lavender Peacock looks like a "young Lauren Bacall." She is brave and intelligent, and thankfully possesses none of the neurotic tendencies which plagued some of the Fleming women such as Tiffany and Tracy. Mary Jane Mashkin, in the same book, seems to be a direct imitation of the Fiona character from the film Thunderball. She attempts to use her seductive charms on Bond, but fails miserably. From then on, she is an enemy; she gets even with Bond during the obligatory torture scene—this time with the use of a high-frequency soundwave transmitter. FOR SPECIAL SERVICES introduces the reader to Felix Leiter's daughter, Cedar. It was never mentioned in previous novels that Felix was married or had children, but Bond here claims he knew that Leiter had a wife. Cedar is working for the CIA, undercover, and even her father does not know it. She proves herself to be quite useful—while in a New York hotel room, she and Bond are held at bay by four thugs. When Bond gives her the signal, she overcomes her opponent with skill and proficiency. But she is also typical of the Bond-girl mold: she falls for 007 early in the novel, providing a pleasurable romantic subplot to the story: Cedar wants Bond, but he resists on the grounds that she is the daughter of his best friend. Their constant byplay sometimes reminds one of a Rock Hudson/Doris Day comedy, but it's an interesting twist to the standard "Bond meets girl, girl sleeps with Bond" story. At the end of the novel, Cedar is blatantly making it clear that she wants to go to bed with him, while 007 remains gallantly impassive. He assumes a fatherly stance with her, and even calls her "daughter." At one point he threatens to "warm her pretty little backside" if she doesn't stop flirting with him. She replies, giggling, "Oh. Promises." ICEBREAKER's Paula Vacker, the character most easily labeled the heroine, is a beautiful blonde from Finland with large "grey-flecked eyes," and lips "built for one purpose." This is about all one learns about Paula except that she manages to fool 007 a couple of times into believing she is one thing and then another. Paula's objectives in the story are very contrived; hence, she is unbelievable as a character.
M is practically ignored as a character in the first two Gardner efforts. Only in ICEBREAKER does the author provide a good Bond/M confrontation scene reminiscent of the old days. M is angry at 007 for stopping in Helsinki after the Service training exercise in the Arctic. This foolishness almost costs Bond his life as well as the security of Operation Icebreaker. But then M takes the responsibility for Bond's actions, explaining that he should have been more explicit with 007's instructions. At this point, Bond thinks M may be withh
olding information.
M remained silent for a full minute. Above him, Robert Taylor's original Trafalgar set the whole tone of M's determination and character. That painting had lasted two years. Before then there had been Cooper's Cape St. Vincent, on loan from the National Maritime Museum, and before that . . . Bond could not recall, but they were always paintings of Britain's naval victories. M was the possessor of that essential arrogance which put allegiance to country first, and a firm belief in the invincibility of Britain's fighting forces, no matter what the odds, or how long it took
(ICEBREAKER, Chapter 4)
This passage is the most descriptive Gardner has written about Bond's stodgy old boss—and it's a good one.
Recurring characters still appear: Bill Tanner, the Chief of Staff, the reliable Miss Moneypenny, and even Felix Leiter himself makes a brief entrance in FOR SPECIAL SERVICES. One new character Gardner has created is the previously-mentioned assistant in Q Branch. Ann Reilly, nicknamed Q'ute, becomes good friends with Bond after a shaky start, and it appears that the couple are occasional lovers.
HIGHLIGHTS AND OTHER INGREDIENTS
There is an overabundance of gadgetry in all three Gardner efforts. In LICENSE RENEWED, the best is perhaps the cigarette lighter filled with a knockout gas, which Bond uses to put away Murik's henchman Caber during a wrestling match. In ICEBREAKER, Bond is equipped with a customized briefcase containing two Sykes Fairbairn commando knives (all screened so that they do not appear on airport X-ray machines). 007's most handy device in this story is the "VL34," a so-called "Privacy Protector," a small, advanced electronic bug for detecting listening devices planted in hotel rooms. The Saab 900 Turbo contains hidden compartments, a bright light attached to the rear bumper for blinding tailing drivers, a handy communications phone hidden in the dashboard, and a clever fire-extinguishing system which automatically douses any flames. This last item figures prominently during one highlight of FOR SPECIAL SERVICES in which Bond is challenged to a Grand Prix-style race by one of Markus Bismaquer's henchmen.