Why you dirty ba-!

Agent Wade

Let me bring up this tiny little element of DAF. We all know the scene where the sherrif pulls in front of James' car and stalks out with a "Oh, you've been so naughty" look on his face. Of course our pal Jimmy gives him the slip and the "I just creamed my diaper" look replaces his smugness. Cut to James pulling away further. Cut back to sheriff who says, "Why you dirty ba-!"

This I just can't figure out. It sounds extremely rough. Is it just a purposeful cut in dialogue due to the editing between shots or did they intentionally cut off the last part of the word to maintain a PG rating? I mean they've got far worse mutterings in this particular film by the sheriff and by Shady Tree, so I hardly think what the sheriff had to say in that scene would put the movie over the top in terms of ratings. It just strikes me as too much time of silence between "Ba-!" and the screeching of tires.

Barbel

I think the worst thing Shady says is "Goddammed" in his line when Bond's coffin is opened, which at the time was permissible while the Sheriff's word wouldn't be.

(From memory:)
Shady: "You dirty double crossing limey fink, those goddammed diamonds are phonies!"

Bond: "Now, don't tell me- you're St Peter?"

Sir Hillary Bray

Maybe I'm giving the filmmakers way too much credit, but I always thought that cutting off the word "ba--" made it sound funnier. Imagining what he was going to say, even though it's obvious in this case, is funnier than hearing him actually say it. I think it would have been funnier in LALD if Mrs. Bell had said "Holy sh--" rather than the whole phrase.

A case in point is also in LALD when JW Pepper mutters a response to his radio buddy about Mrs. Pearson's dog: "You tell Mrs. Pearson to take a mumble mumble..." In that scene, I always think I see Pepper mouth the word fu--in' but who knows? (I wouldn't be surprised if The Cat has digitally isolated the soundtrack to decipher what Pepper has to say!) Regardless, the sequence never fails to make me laugh.

jetsetwilly

Sir Hillary Bray wrote:

I think it would have been funnier in LALD if Mrs. Bell had said "Holy sh--" rather than the whole phrase.

ITV showed it in exactly this way; Mrs Bell said "Holy..." and then went silent for the swear word, which was actually much funnier. I was very disappointed when I finally replaced my taped off the tv copy with a pre recorded video, only to hear the profanity. It's strange, but for some reason, swearing just doesn't work in a Bond film. I'm not speaking from a puritanical perspective here; I just think it sounds forced, and unnecessary.

Hardyboy

I dunno, Jetset--I think the swearing was out of place in the Roger Moore films (Stacy Sutton's exclamations of the S-word during the firetruck chase was one of the many low points in AVTAK), but it worked in Licence to Kill. Pam Bouvier's response of "Bull____!" to a nonplussed Q was one of the funnier moments in that film.

i expect u2 die

Hardyboy wrote:

I dunno, Jetset--I think the swearing was out of place in the Roger Moore films (Stacy Sutton's exclamations of the S-word during the firetruck chase was one of the many low points in AVTAK), but it worked in Licence to Kill. Pam Bouvier's response of "Bull____!" to a nonplussed Q was one of the funnier moments in that film.

I agree - It certainly works in LTK. "Watch the birdie, you b*****d was one of my favourite lines from the film, and I recetly read a magazine which considered it to be Dalton's best line.

taity

jetsetwilly wrote:

It's strange, but for some reason, swearing just doesn't work in a Bond film.

The end of CR will disapoint you. If they have the balls to leave it in.

Hardyboy

taity wrote:

The end of CR will disapoint you. If they have the balls to leave it in.

I guess you're talking about the "bitch is dead" line? Strictly speaking, "bitch" isn't a swear word--it's just the proper word for a female dog. When used against a woman it's demeaning but neither obscene nor blasphemous (still more strictly speaking, only words involving God or religion count as swears or profanity). Besides, "bitch" has been used in Bond films before.

So ends today's bit of pedantry!

jetsetwilly

Hardyboy wrote:

I guess you're talking about the "bitch is dead" line?

Didn't you know HB? To appeal to the youth market, the line has now been changed to "the m***a-f*****g ho is gone?"

I have to agree about the swearing being more "natural" in LTK, but I'd say it was the exception that proves the rule as LTK is in itself an atypical Bond film. Dalton's use of "p*** off" works here for me, but his use of "arse" in TLD doesn't. Certainly when 007 returned in GE, the profanity had been almost completely removed (unless you count in Russian).

The Cat

Sir Hillary Bray wrote:

I think it would have been funnier in LALD if Mrs. Bell had said "Holy sh--" rather than the whole phrase.

In Hungarian, she says "Wow, it became so narrow!" ?:)

I wouldn't be surprised if The Cat has digitally isolated the soundtrack to decipher what Pepper has to say!

You're reading my mind. Sheriff Pepper actually says "take a flyin'...". I'll let you fill in the rest.

Alex

The Cat wrote:

You're reading my mind. Sheriff Pepper actually says "take a flyin'...". I'll let you fill in the rest.

Oh hell, any Southerner knew that already. We didn't need a bloomin' isolater. That's a common phrase!

Now what's the Hungarian line?

The Cat

Alex wrote:

Now what's the Hungarian line?

You'd like to know, wouldn't you? Actually, she refers to the closing door that's about to chop off the planes' wings. Just another example why I refuse to watch movies in Hungarian...

Another great example is from the end of the same movie when Solitaire asks what happened to Kananga? 007's answer in Hungarian - "He couldn't stand compressed air." Waaaaaah!

Barbel

And in the German versions some witty lines are lost, too. "Keeping the British end up" becomes "deepening international co-operation". X-(

PUCCINI

Sir Hillary Bray wrote:

Maybe I'm giving the filmmakers way too much credit, but I always thought that cutting off the word "ba--" made it sound funnier. Imagining what he was going to say, even though it's obvious in this case, is funnier than hearing him actually say it. I think it would have been funnier in LALD if Mrs. Bell had said "Holy sh--" rather than the whole phrase.

A case in point is also in LALD when JW Pepper mutters a response to his radio buddy about Mrs. Pearson's dog: "You tell Mrs. Pearson to take a mumble mumble..." In that scene, I always think I see Pepper mouth the word fu--in' but who knows? (I wouldn't be surprised if The Cat has digitally isolated the soundtrack to decipher what Pepper has to say!) Regardless, the sequence never fails to make me laugh.

I agree with you, it sounds funnnier when they cut the sound...

Tobias

Licence to Kill was more aimed at the adult audince so that is probably the eason why the swearing was more