FOR SPECIAL SERVICE MOVIE SCENARIO
chrisno1
LondonPosts: 3,598MI6 Agent
Following some PM feedback on my treatment for Icebreaker, I have been asked to post my ideas for Colonel Sun and For Special Services. So here I go.....
NOTES
For Special Services was only a fair to middling novel and there are clearly parallels with Fleming’s Goldfinger. I didn’t like the character names or Gardner’s descriptions of them. Luxor was a reed thin, high pitched androgyny, Bismarquer a short intense homosexual and Nena a one-breasted nymphomaniac. I even found the Bond-Cedar relationship distasteful despite it being chaste (in the novel she is Felix’s daughter).
However, when I began to think of it as a movie, I had difficulty moving away from the confines of Gardner’s own story, which was basically quite good. My decision was to do the following:
1. Create a new opening section to the story which follows up the PTS and hints at SPECTRE’s return. This I based in Slovakia, with Bond on a training assessment. I realize this is similar to the opening scenes in Goldeneye, but feel the strength of the sequence adds a revenge aspect to the story, especially the scenes in Marseilles with Marc-Ange Draco.
2. Cut out the long middle part of the novel when Bond and Cedar drive from New York to Texas and the “grand prix” race. Both these sequences fail to move the story on.
3. Refine the leading villains, making them less like a gang of freaks and more like the sleek powerful people they should be.
4. I also repeat scenes which are familiar to Bond fans: the SPECTRE committee room (from Thunderball), Bond infiltrating a warehouse (Goldfinger, License To Kill, etc), controlling of a satellite from an elaborate control room (Diamonds, Goldeneye) and of course I have revamped the Fort Knox sequence for my Cheyenne Mountain climax.
5. I also included a couple of Fleming touches in Spectreville (Jack Spang’s playground in DAF) and visiting an expert on prints (similar to OHMSS and the College of Arms).
I am fairly happy with the result, but personally feel there is some room for improvement, particularly as it seems rather short and there isn’t much action. Time wise I dont think it would last more than 1 hour 45 min and I have only created 9 action sequences, although there would be lots of intrigue and suspense! Curiously this compares quite favourably with DN, FRWL and GF which run well under 2 hours and have only only 9 or 10 action set pieces themselves.
Additionally, I became aware that some of my own ideas are already repeating themselves (fights in hotel rooms, chases along mountain roads and the use of helicopters to transport villains from place to place). I think a good script doctor might be needed to add a touch of spice to these proceedings, lest I become as formulaic as the 1980’s Bond films.
Hope you enjoy reading it!!
FOR SPECIAL SERVICES
SYNOPSIS BY CHRIS STACEY
BASED ON THE NOVEL BY JOHN GARDNER
FEATURING IAN FLEMING’S JAMES BOND
MAIN CHARACTERS
James Bond
Cedar Laine
Louis Bismarck
Nena Bismarck / Blofeld
Walter Luxor
Doctor Kristensen
Marc-Ange Draco
Renata
SUPPORTING ROLES
M
Moneypenny
Bill Tanner
Criton
Professor Theodore Sykes
Felix Leither
General Banker
Annabel De Luntz
Winterburn
Tania (a call girl)
McKintyre (Head of Station SK)
Mazzard
Bellini
Duggan (a SAS soldier)
Fairburn (a SAS soldier)
Raphael (the Drake Hotel Concierge)
Air Hostess Hijacker
PRE-TITLE SEQUENCE
SINGAPORE AIRPORT
James Bond observes the locking and loading of a steel cabinet containing millions of pounds worth of cut diamonds.
Later, traveling as a passenger on the plane, Bond is observing the delightful smile and provocative attentions of a female flight attendant. During a walkabout, he notes the positions of passengers who could also be potential terrorists. He communicates with his two SAS colleagues, via pre-arranged personal signals. Returning to his seat, Bond notices the smile has disappeared from the stewardess’ face. Suddenly what appears to be a can of ginger ale rolls down the aisle and emits plumes of smoke. A hijack has started. Bond and the SAS men tackle the four armed men in the main passenger cabin, using commando daggers and low velocity pistols, but struggle to reach the cockpit. When Bond gets there he finds the stewardess and another hijacker holding the pilot at gunpoint. The stewardess shoots at Bond and he throws his knife, wounding her. The main hijacker kills the pilot. Bond fights him and in the chaos both the hijacker and the co-pilot are shot. The plane goes into a steep curving dive as the fight has damaged some of the controls. Bond tries to rectify the situation, not realizing the stewardess is preparing to shoot him. He is saved by Duggan who shoots her. Bond is able to correct the planes flight path. Duggan tries to obtain information from the dying girl; she is laughing and tries to say something. He says it sounded like “inspector”. Bond, now piloting the plane, repeats it back as “spectre”. Duggan corrects him, mentioning that Bond looks like he’s seen a ghost. Bond muses, one from his past perhaps.
CREDITS
THE BAYOU, BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANNA
Criton, a huge deaf mute, pilots a motor boat across the bayou. His passenger is the tanned, cigar smoking businessman, Louis Bismarck; their destination a large clapboard mansion house, perched on an outcrop of land. It is dusk and the house is softly illuminated. Bismarck is careful to stub out his cigar before entering the building. Inside the house everything is luxurious and modern. Bismarck strides into the meeting room. He is late, but his apology is accepted. This is the cabinet room of the new SPECTRE, presided over by the mysteriously shrouded figure of No.1. There are a series of reports covering the activities of the 12 assembled SPECTRE Committee Members. No.7 reports the failure of operation Hound: the hijacking of a Singapore Airlines 747 and capture of $77m worth of diamonds. The flight was infiltrated by enemy agents. A section of the wall slides apart to reveal the swampland outside. Criton lowers a struggling female figure into the swamp. No.1 explains that this is Annabel De Luntz, the second stewardess who failed to come to the aid of her comrades. She has provided excellent information about how the hijack was thwarted, but has now ceased to be useful to SPECTRE. As they watch, an anaconda slithers out of the water and wraps itself around the struggling, screaming girl, squeezing her until she dies. They hear nothing as the glass is sound proof. While she struggles, No.1 continues talking. One of the enemy agents has been identified as James Bond; he must be eliminated immediately. He has already been traced to Slovakia.
THE TETRAS MOUNTAINS, SLOVAKIA
Bond struggles to climb a sheer rock face with his female companion Renata. They reach the summit and admire the view. They descend by base jumping.
That evening in the luxury hotel at Spa Bojnice, Bond seduces Renata. She is in fact his personal trainer, under guidance from M, to ensure his complete fitness, flexibility and durability. They have been watched by two men, Mazzard and Bellini.
The following morning, Bond and Renata drive to Bratislava and there is a high speed chase through the mountain villages as Mazzard and Bellini attempt to eliminate them. The gadgets in Bond’s Aston Martin ensure their escape.
Reaching the city that evening, Bond takes Renata to the Opera. They return to the Hotel Danube and Bond orders champagne and caviar from room service. The food is delivered by Mazzard and Bellini. There is a fight, during which both men are killed. Bond contacts reception; the champagne was a little hot.
In the morning Bond returns the Aston Martin (in one piece!) to Station SK headquarters and obtains details on the two thugs, who are associates of the Marseilles based drug syndicate run by the Banquette Brothers. Bond says goodbye to Renata at the airport. He rebooks his flight, taking a detour to Marseilles.
MARSEILLES
Bond has dinner with Marc-Ange Draco, the Head of the Union Corse and once Bond’s father in law. Draco is no friend of the Banquette Brothers, but when Bond mentions that assassins were sent after him, Draco becomes very serious. He believes the Banquettes have become involved in funding a world wide terrorist network; their influence is stretching to places like Algeria, Switzerland, Dubai and the Philippines. Bond wants all the details; Draco promises them in the morning, for now they must eat well, drink to their futures and make beautiful love to beautiful women.
The following morning, nursing a hangover, Bond says goodbye to Tania, a beautiful good time girl, and shares breakfast with Draco. The information Draco provides has one word that catches Bond’s eye, SPECTRE. Draco remembers it too. He insists Bond must destroy this new evil, whatever the risk.
LONDON
M has received the report from Slovakia. Renata has assessed Bond thoroughly; he is in peak physical condition. Bond wants to talk about the information he has gained from Draco, but M dismisses it.
THE BAYOU, BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANNA
Receiving the news of the failed attempts on Bond’s life, No.1 declares a new strategy; they will draw Bond into a trap.
LONDON
Bond talks to Bill Tanner over lunch; Tanner tells Bond not to take the hunt for SPECTRE personally. Co-incidences do happen; the rumours could mean nothing.
Bond is called to M’s office, where Cedar Laine, a beautiful American agent is waiting. She has information regarding the hijacking Bond foiled several weeks ago. For some months the CIA had been concerned about the operations of Louis Bismarck, a wealthy Texan industrialist with political ambitions, but a recluse living on a huge ranch outside Houston, Texas. Bond knows him as the founder of “King Ice Cream”, the product that made his initial fortune. Cedar explains that the right wing agenda of his Party for Change has made him unpopular in political circles. No-one seriously believes he would win any elections, but none-the-less some investigations were carried out, including the infiltration of his ranch by an agent Annabel De Luntz. She stopped reporting over three months ago, then last week a dead body was found in Louisiana, beaten, bruised, half decayed and possibly eaten; her body was discovered close to an estate Bismarck owns near Baton Rouge. Bond is shown a photograph of Annabel De Luntz. He recognizes her as one of the stewardesses on the plane. Inside the lining of her blouse collar was a scrap of paper on which were scrawled what appeared to be a series of unconnected words. Accept one of them stood out: Blofeld.
While driving to meet Professor Theodore Sykes, Bond learns that Cedar is a “sleeper” agent. She was trained and recruited by Bond’s old friend Felix Leither. The Bismarck assignment will be her first and possibly only field assignment. Sykes knows something of Bismarck through his work; the man has three passions: ice cream, his wife and rare prints. Sykes begins to instruct them in the history and artistry of copper plated prints.
Bond lays flowers at his wife’s grave. Cedar knows about Tracy; Felix has told her; Bond wants to treat the assignment like any other and asks that Cedar remember that.
NEW YORK
Disguised as Professor and Mrs. Joseph Penbrunner, Bond and Cedar arrive in New York to much fanfare as they apparently have for sale at auction two previously unknown Hogarth prints, potentially worth millions of dollars. The prints are fakes concocted by Q-branch. Bond deposits the prints in the hotel safe. After a romantic dinner, Bond and Cedar return to their hotel lounge bar, where Walter Luxor, accompanied by two hoodlums, wants to discuss an advance viewing of the prints. Bond refuses. Luxor reminds Bond that there is only one safe in The Drake Hotel, and the owner has a duplicate combination. The owner, of course, is Louis Bismarck. In the Concierge office, Bond is forced to open the safe, but Cedar is able to activate the panic alarm; there is a brief fight; Luxor beats a hasty retreat. Bond decides the prints will be safer in his executive briefcase, provided by Q-branch.
Bond and Cedar discuss the sale with the auctioneers; when they exit Luxor and his hoodlums are waiting. Luxor apologises for being so heavy-handed; he explains that Bismarck is interested in making an exclusive bid for the prints. If the auction could be delayed, Bismarck would like the Penbrunners to visit his estate. Bond thinks that would be acceptable and returns to cancel the auction.
Bismarck’s private jet transports Bond and Cedar; during the journey they attempt to quiz Luxor about Bismarck, but get precious little information.
TEXAS
The entourage leaves Houston Airport. The three car convoy reaches the electrified gates of Spectreville, Bismarck’s massive ranch. Bond remarks on the name to Luxor, who passes it off as the name of the wild-west town which originally stood on the ranch. There is a monorail linking the gates to the mansion house, which is a white washed Virginia-style building that reveals inside all the latest in luxury. Bond and Cedar meet Louis Bismarck and his wife Nena; they are given a tour of Spectreville, the ice cream factory and conference centre, but they are not allowed into the warehouse storage facilities. Their accommodation is one of four luxury cabins a few miles behind the main house. Luxor will fetch them for dinner at 8pm; Bond is asked to bring the prints with him.
During dinner, Nena pays particular attention to Bond, flattering him about the army record of Penbrunner and his success in his new field. After dinner Bond shows Bismarck the fake Hogarth. They discuss a fee of $16m. Bond wants to sleep on it.
Luxor watches as Bond and Cedar enter cabin no.1. They joke about the sleeping arrangements and Bond decides to sleep in cabin no.2.
That night Bond sneaks away from the cabins and breaks into the warehouse where he finds a squadron of military transport helicopters loaded with high explosives. Searching the annex rooms, he witnesses a demonstration by Doctor Kristensen, a nutritional scientist, of a drug-laced caramel ice cream, the effects of which send the recipient to sleep for up to 12 hours. Bismarck is sure No.1 will be pleased with the results.
Bond returns to the cabins in time to rescue Cedar, whose residence is now infested with harvester ants. He sets fire to the cabin using his flame thrower cigarette lighter. Luxor and some of the workmen arrive to put out the blaze. Luxor is candid about where the ants arrived from. Frightened, Cedar asks to sleep in Bond’s cabin and they make love.
The next morning, Bond accepts the $16m offer, but insists he must contact his solicitors. Bismark explains there are no telephones, but they would be happy to send a cable. Bond dictates a coded telegram to Universal Export, but Bismarck later destroys it. Bond talks to Cedar about what he witnessed last night.
Over lunch, Bismarck expresses regret he has not heard from the Penbrunner’s solicitor; he had hoped to have the deal closed in time for his company’s board meeting tonight. Bond suggests they finalise the deal anyway and accepts the massive cheque. Nena apologises for the terrible occurrence last night and invites Bond on a trip to see some wild buffalo that afternoon.
Cedar helps install the fake prints into the art collection and makes the acquaintance of Doctor Kristensen.
Meanwhile, Bond learns from Nena that Bismarck has changed in recent years, especially since Walter Luxor entered his employ. Some of Bismarck’s new business associates are like gangsters. Nena flirts with Bond; she wants his help to escape. She knows he isn’t really an art dealer: the prints are fakes; Bismarck may be the collector, but she is the expert. Bond is candid, but none-the-less Nena tells him how to infiltrate the conference centre that night.
That night, Bond is opening the grille as instructed by Nena, and is interrupted by an anxious and annoyed Cedar, who feels Bond does not trust her. Bond reconsiders; they need a getaway vehicle and Cedar must steal one from the mansion’s garage. They will rendezvous outside the cabins.
Bond follows a series of passageways and finds himself in an observation booth at the back of the conference room. Some sixty soldiers, mostly workmen from Bismarck’s ranch, are in attendance, as well as the full SPECTRE Committee. Bond cannot see No.1, who is still shrouded in darkness. Bismarck explains his plan. Tomorrow evening, SPECTRE will take over Cheyenne Mountain, the NORAD H.Q. in Colorado from where the Space Wolf program is controlled. Winterburn, an ex-NASA satellite programmer, will then be able to direct the U.S. Particle Beam Satellites to ensure SPECTRE’s monetary and political demands are met. Answering questions, Bismarck explains that the personnel at Cheyenne Mountain will be neutralized by eating his lethal ice cream; all external links will be severed as King Communications controls the telephone network in south Colorado, while James Bond has little or no idea of the part he will play in the dénouement. Bond decides it is time to leave.
Bond meets up with Cedar (who has been observed stealing the 4-wheel drive Cherokee jeep) and there is a chase towards the monorail. Bond crashes the car into the monorail station to kill the guards. A gunfight with their pursuers keeps them at bay, allowing Cedar to start the monorail. Bond tells her briefly of what he witnessed in the conference room, including the likelihood that the ice cream is poisoned. He thinks Luxor is the new Blofeld, as he wasn’t present at the meeting. Suddenly the monorail grinds to a halt and gas begins to seep into the car. They pass out.
Bond wakes confronted by Bismarck who wonders what he possibly hoped to achieve. His identity was known before he even set foot in America; SPECTRE always wanted him close at hand. Bond wants to know where Cedar is; Bismarck merely says she is being well looked after.
Bond is forced to wear a military uniform and sits with Bismarck and Luxor in a helicopter leading the flotilla of supposed military and medical aid on the flight to the Cheyenne Mountains.
NORAD H.Q., CHEYENNE MOUNTAIN, COLORADO
The gates are closed and the few dazed soldiers milling about are relieved to find the military helicopters landing. The soldiers are subdued. Explosives are used to destroy the steel blast doors and gain access to the command centre, deep inside the mountain. Everywhere there are dead bodies. The SPECTRE soldiers start to lay the explosives around the command centre. Winterburn takes over the controls of the Space Wolf PBS. Bismarck suggests they target London, a present for Mr. Bond, who can witness its destruction before his own. Bismarck prepares to deliver a political address to the world and at that moment the soldiers on the command centre floor, who have been faking death, arise. General Banker kills Winterburn and a full scale battle begins. Bond, initially confused, prevents Luxor from setting off the explosive charges and kills him in a fight. Bismarck escapes in one of the helicopters.
Bond meets Felix Leither, who explains it was Doctor Kristensen who told them about the ice cream. He was left virtually alone at Spectreville and Cedar managed to reveal the SPECTRE plot to him, but by the time the army raided Spectreville, Cedar and Nena had disappeared.
THE BAYOU, BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANNA
Bond approaches the mansion house. The door is open and he enters. The Committee Room is empty, but through the window Bond can see Cedar, struggling against her bonds, and the anaconda slithering towards her. He is surprised by Criton and the two of them fight a silent, vicious duel which ends with Bond breaking the giant’s neck. The lights switch on and reveal Nena who is armed and holding Bismarck captive in her chair. It is she who is the new Spectre No.1 and she introduces herself as Blofeld’s daughter. She electrocutes Bismarck, reveling in his death agonies. This allows Bond time to pick up his gun and shoot the glass, which only partially shatters. Nena shoots him in the shoulder. Bond has no ammunition, so he pounces on Nena and they wrestle. Bond eventually throws her through the cracked window, which shatters. As Nena lies in agony, Bond frees Cedar. The anaconda wraps itself around Nena Blofeld as they exit.
THE QUEEN MARY 2, NEW YORK
Felix gives Bond a silver Derringer pistol engraved with the words “For Special Services”. It is a present from the President. Felix has a twinkle in his eye; there is another present on board, from the Leither family.
In his cabin, Bond meets Cedar who explains she is Felix’s niece. Now her duties are over and she must return to her life as a post graduate student in Oxford. But how can she fill four days on the Queen Mary? They embrace and kiss.
CLOSING CREDITS
NOTES
For Special Services was only a fair to middling novel and there are clearly parallels with Fleming’s Goldfinger. I didn’t like the character names or Gardner’s descriptions of them. Luxor was a reed thin, high pitched androgyny, Bismarquer a short intense homosexual and Nena a one-breasted nymphomaniac. I even found the Bond-Cedar relationship distasteful despite it being chaste (in the novel she is Felix’s daughter).
However, when I began to think of it as a movie, I had difficulty moving away from the confines of Gardner’s own story, which was basically quite good. My decision was to do the following:
1. Create a new opening section to the story which follows up the PTS and hints at SPECTRE’s return. This I based in Slovakia, with Bond on a training assessment. I realize this is similar to the opening scenes in Goldeneye, but feel the strength of the sequence adds a revenge aspect to the story, especially the scenes in Marseilles with Marc-Ange Draco.
2. Cut out the long middle part of the novel when Bond and Cedar drive from New York to Texas and the “grand prix” race. Both these sequences fail to move the story on.
3. Refine the leading villains, making them less like a gang of freaks and more like the sleek powerful people they should be.
4. I also repeat scenes which are familiar to Bond fans: the SPECTRE committee room (from Thunderball), Bond infiltrating a warehouse (Goldfinger, License To Kill, etc), controlling of a satellite from an elaborate control room (Diamonds, Goldeneye) and of course I have revamped the Fort Knox sequence for my Cheyenne Mountain climax.
5. I also included a couple of Fleming touches in Spectreville (Jack Spang’s playground in DAF) and visiting an expert on prints (similar to OHMSS and the College of Arms).
I am fairly happy with the result, but personally feel there is some room for improvement, particularly as it seems rather short and there isn’t much action. Time wise I dont think it would last more than 1 hour 45 min and I have only created 9 action sequences, although there would be lots of intrigue and suspense! Curiously this compares quite favourably with DN, FRWL and GF which run well under 2 hours and have only only 9 or 10 action set pieces themselves.
Additionally, I became aware that some of my own ideas are already repeating themselves (fights in hotel rooms, chases along mountain roads and the use of helicopters to transport villains from place to place). I think a good script doctor might be needed to add a touch of spice to these proceedings, lest I become as formulaic as the 1980’s Bond films.
Hope you enjoy reading it!!
FOR SPECIAL SERVICES
SYNOPSIS BY CHRIS STACEY
BASED ON THE NOVEL BY JOHN GARDNER
FEATURING IAN FLEMING’S JAMES BOND
MAIN CHARACTERS
James Bond
Cedar Laine
Louis Bismarck
Nena Bismarck / Blofeld
Walter Luxor
Doctor Kristensen
Marc-Ange Draco
Renata
SUPPORTING ROLES
M
Moneypenny
Bill Tanner
Criton
Professor Theodore Sykes
Felix Leither
General Banker
Annabel De Luntz
Winterburn
Tania (a call girl)
McKintyre (Head of Station SK)
Mazzard
Bellini
Duggan (a SAS soldier)
Fairburn (a SAS soldier)
Raphael (the Drake Hotel Concierge)
Air Hostess Hijacker
PRE-TITLE SEQUENCE
SINGAPORE AIRPORT
James Bond observes the locking and loading of a steel cabinet containing millions of pounds worth of cut diamonds.
Later, traveling as a passenger on the plane, Bond is observing the delightful smile and provocative attentions of a female flight attendant. During a walkabout, he notes the positions of passengers who could also be potential terrorists. He communicates with his two SAS colleagues, via pre-arranged personal signals. Returning to his seat, Bond notices the smile has disappeared from the stewardess’ face. Suddenly what appears to be a can of ginger ale rolls down the aisle and emits plumes of smoke. A hijack has started. Bond and the SAS men tackle the four armed men in the main passenger cabin, using commando daggers and low velocity pistols, but struggle to reach the cockpit. When Bond gets there he finds the stewardess and another hijacker holding the pilot at gunpoint. The stewardess shoots at Bond and he throws his knife, wounding her. The main hijacker kills the pilot. Bond fights him and in the chaos both the hijacker and the co-pilot are shot. The plane goes into a steep curving dive as the fight has damaged some of the controls. Bond tries to rectify the situation, not realizing the stewardess is preparing to shoot him. He is saved by Duggan who shoots her. Bond is able to correct the planes flight path. Duggan tries to obtain information from the dying girl; she is laughing and tries to say something. He says it sounded like “inspector”. Bond, now piloting the plane, repeats it back as “spectre”. Duggan corrects him, mentioning that Bond looks like he’s seen a ghost. Bond muses, one from his past perhaps.
CREDITS
THE BAYOU, BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANNA
Criton, a huge deaf mute, pilots a motor boat across the bayou. His passenger is the tanned, cigar smoking businessman, Louis Bismarck; their destination a large clapboard mansion house, perched on an outcrop of land. It is dusk and the house is softly illuminated. Bismarck is careful to stub out his cigar before entering the building. Inside the house everything is luxurious and modern. Bismarck strides into the meeting room. He is late, but his apology is accepted. This is the cabinet room of the new SPECTRE, presided over by the mysteriously shrouded figure of No.1. There are a series of reports covering the activities of the 12 assembled SPECTRE Committee Members. No.7 reports the failure of operation Hound: the hijacking of a Singapore Airlines 747 and capture of $77m worth of diamonds. The flight was infiltrated by enemy agents. A section of the wall slides apart to reveal the swampland outside. Criton lowers a struggling female figure into the swamp. No.1 explains that this is Annabel De Luntz, the second stewardess who failed to come to the aid of her comrades. She has provided excellent information about how the hijack was thwarted, but has now ceased to be useful to SPECTRE. As they watch, an anaconda slithers out of the water and wraps itself around the struggling, screaming girl, squeezing her until she dies. They hear nothing as the glass is sound proof. While she struggles, No.1 continues talking. One of the enemy agents has been identified as James Bond; he must be eliminated immediately. He has already been traced to Slovakia.
THE TETRAS MOUNTAINS, SLOVAKIA
Bond struggles to climb a sheer rock face with his female companion Renata. They reach the summit and admire the view. They descend by base jumping.
That evening in the luxury hotel at Spa Bojnice, Bond seduces Renata. She is in fact his personal trainer, under guidance from M, to ensure his complete fitness, flexibility and durability. They have been watched by two men, Mazzard and Bellini.
The following morning, Bond and Renata drive to Bratislava and there is a high speed chase through the mountain villages as Mazzard and Bellini attempt to eliminate them. The gadgets in Bond’s Aston Martin ensure their escape.
Reaching the city that evening, Bond takes Renata to the Opera. They return to the Hotel Danube and Bond orders champagne and caviar from room service. The food is delivered by Mazzard and Bellini. There is a fight, during which both men are killed. Bond contacts reception; the champagne was a little hot.
In the morning Bond returns the Aston Martin (in one piece!) to Station SK headquarters and obtains details on the two thugs, who are associates of the Marseilles based drug syndicate run by the Banquette Brothers. Bond says goodbye to Renata at the airport. He rebooks his flight, taking a detour to Marseilles.
MARSEILLES
Bond has dinner with Marc-Ange Draco, the Head of the Union Corse and once Bond’s father in law. Draco is no friend of the Banquette Brothers, but when Bond mentions that assassins were sent after him, Draco becomes very serious. He believes the Banquettes have become involved in funding a world wide terrorist network; their influence is stretching to places like Algeria, Switzerland, Dubai and the Philippines. Bond wants all the details; Draco promises them in the morning, for now they must eat well, drink to their futures and make beautiful love to beautiful women.
The following morning, nursing a hangover, Bond says goodbye to Tania, a beautiful good time girl, and shares breakfast with Draco. The information Draco provides has one word that catches Bond’s eye, SPECTRE. Draco remembers it too. He insists Bond must destroy this new evil, whatever the risk.
LONDON
M has received the report from Slovakia. Renata has assessed Bond thoroughly; he is in peak physical condition. Bond wants to talk about the information he has gained from Draco, but M dismisses it.
THE BAYOU, BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANNA
Receiving the news of the failed attempts on Bond’s life, No.1 declares a new strategy; they will draw Bond into a trap.
LONDON
Bond talks to Bill Tanner over lunch; Tanner tells Bond not to take the hunt for SPECTRE personally. Co-incidences do happen; the rumours could mean nothing.
Bond is called to M’s office, where Cedar Laine, a beautiful American agent is waiting. She has information regarding the hijacking Bond foiled several weeks ago. For some months the CIA had been concerned about the operations of Louis Bismarck, a wealthy Texan industrialist with political ambitions, but a recluse living on a huge ranch outside Houston, Texas. Bond knows him as the founder of “King Ice Cream”, the product that made his initial fortune. Cedar explains that the right wing agenda of his Party for Change has made him unpopular in political circles. No-one seriously believes he would win any elections, but none-the-less some investigations were carried out, including the infiltration of his ranch by an agent Annabel De Luntz. She stopped reporting over three months ago, then last week a dead body was found in Louisiana, beaten, bruised, half decayed and possibly eaten; her body was discovered close to an estate Bismarck owns near Baton Rouge. Bond is shown a photograph of Annabel De Luntz. He recognizes her as one of the stewardesses on the plane. Inside the lining of her blouse collar was a scrap of paper on which were scrawled what appeared to be a series of unconnected words. Accept one of them stood out: Blofeld.
While driving to meet Professor Theodore Sykes, Bond learns that Cedar is a “sleeper” agent. She was trained and recruited by Bond’s old friend Felix Leither. The Bismarck assignment will be her first and possibly only field assignment. Sykes knows something of Bismarck through his work; the man has three passions: ice cream, his wife and rare prints. Sykes begins to instruct them in the history and artistry of copper plated prints.
Bond lays flowers at his wife’s grave. Cedar knows about Tracy; Felix has told her; Bond wants to treat the assignment like any other and asks that Cedar remember that.
NEW YORK
Disguised as Professor and Mrs. Joseph Penbrunner, Bond and Cedar arrive in New York to much fanfare as they apparently have for sale at auction two previously unknown Hogarth prints, potentially worth millions of dollars. The prints are fakes concocted by Q-branch. Bond deposits the prints in the hotel safe. After a romantic dinner, Bond and Cedar return to their hotel lounge bar, where Walter Luxor, accompanied by two hoodlums, wants to discuss an advance viewing of the prints. Bond refuses. Luxor reminds Bond that there is only one safe in The Drake Hotel, and the owner has a duplicate combination. The owner, of course, is Louis Bismarck. In the Concierge office, Bond is forced to open the safe, but Cedar is able to activate the panic alarm; there is a brief fight; Luxor beats a hasty retreat. Bond decides the prints will be safer in his executive briefcase, provided by Q-branch.
Bond and Cedar discuss the sale with the auctioneers; when they exit Luxor and his hoodlums are waiting. Luxor apologises for being so heavy-handed; he explains that Bismarck is interested in making an exclusive bid for the prints. If the auction could be delayed, Bismarck would like the Penbrunners to visit his estate. Bond thinks that would be acceptable and returns to cancel the auction.
Bismarck’s private jet transports Bond and Cedar; during the journey they attempt to quiz Luxor about Bismarck, but get precious little information.
TEXAS
The entourage leaves Houston Airport. The three car convoy reaches the electrified gates of Spectreville, Bismarck’s massive ranch. Bond remarks on the name to Luxor, who passes it off as the name of the wild-west town which originally stood on the ranch. There is a monorail linking the gates to the mansion house, which is a white washed Virginia-style building that reveals inside all the latest in luxury. Bond and Cedar meet Louis Bismarck and his wife Nena; they are given a tour of Spectreville, the ice cream factory and conference centre, but they are not allowed into the warehouse storage facilities. Their accommodation is one of four luxury cabins a few miles behind the main house. Luxor will fetch them for dinner at 8pm; Bond is asked to bring the prints with him.
During dinner, Nena pays particular attention to Bond, flattering him about the army record of Penbrunner and his success in his new field. After dinner Bond shows Bismarck the fake Hogarth. They discuss a fee of $16m. Bond wants to sleep on it.
Luxor watches as Bond and Cedar enter cabin no.1. They joke about the sleeping arrangements and Bond decides to sleep in cabin no.2.
That night Bond sneaks away from the cabins and breaks into the warehouse where he finds a squadron of military transport helicopters loaded with high explosives. Searching the annex rooms, he witnesses a demonstration by Doctor Kristensen, a nutritional scientist, of a drug-laced caramel ice cream, the effects of which send the recipient to sleep for up to 12 hours. Bismarck is sure No.1 will be pleased with the results.
Bond returns to the cabins in time to rescue Cedar, whose residence is now infested with harvester ants. He sets fire to the cabin using his flame thrower cigarette lighter. Luxor and some of the workmen arrive to put out the blaze. Luxor is candid about where the ants arrived from. Frightened, Cedar asks to sleep in Bond’s cabin and they make love.
The next morning, Bond accepts the $16m offer, but insists he must contact his solicitors. Bismark explains there are no telephones, but they would be happy to send a cable. Bond dictates a coded telegram to Universal Export, but Bismarck later destroys it. Bond talks to Cedar about what he witnessed last night.
Over lunch, Bismarck expresses regret he has not heard from the Penbrunner’s solicitor; he had hoped to have the deal closed in time for his company’s board meeting tonight. Bond suggests they finalise the deal anyway and accepts the massive cheque. Nena apologises for the terrible occurrence last night and invites Bond on a trip to see some wild buffalo that afternoon.
Cedar helps install the fake prints into the art collection and makes the acquaintance of Doctor Kristensen.
Meanwhile, Bond learns from Nena that Bismarck has changed in recent years, especially since Walter Luxor entered his employ. Some of Bismarck’s new business associates are like gangsters. Nena flirts with Bond; she wants his help to escape. She knows he isn’t really an art dealer: the prints are fakes; Bismarck may be the collector, but she is the expert. Bond is candid, but none-the-less Nena tells him how to infiltrate the conference centre that night.
That night, Bond is opening the grille as instructed by Nena, and is interrupted by an anxious and annoyed Cedar, who feels Bond does not trust her. Bond reconsiders; they need a getaway vehicle and Cedar must steal one from the mansion’s garage. They will rendezvous outside the cabins.
Bond follows a series of passageways and finds himself in an observation booth at the back of the conference room. Some sixty soldiers, mostly workmen from Bismarck’s ranch, are in attendance, as well as the full SPECTRE Committee. Bond cannot see No.1, who is still shrouded in darkness. Bismarck explains his plan. Tomorrow evening, SPECTRE will take over Cheyenne Mountain, the NORAD H.Q. in Colorado from where the Space Wolf program is controlled. Winterburn, an ex-NASA satellite programmer, will then be able to direct the U.S. Particle Beam Satellites to ensure SPECTRE’s monetary and political demands are met. Answering questions, Bismarck explains that the personnel at Cheyenne Mountain will be neutralized by eating his lethal ice cream; all external links will be severed as King Communications controls the telephone network in south Colorado, while James Bond has little or no idea of the part he will play in the dénouement. Bond decides it is time to leave.
Bond meets up with Cedar (who has been observed stealing the 4-wheel drive Cherokee jeep) and there is a chase towards the monorail. Bond crashes the car into the monorail station to kill the guards. A gunfight with their pursuers keeps them at bay, allowing Cedar to start the monorail. Bond tells her briefly of what he witnessed in the conference room, including the likelihood that the ice cream is poisoned. He thinks Luxor is the new Blofeld, as he wasn’t present at the meeting. Suddenly the monorail grinds to a halt and gas begins to seep into the car. They pass out.
Bond wakes confronted by Bismarck who wonders what he possibly hoped to achieve. His identity was known before he even set foot in America; SPECTRE always wanted him close at hand. Bond wants to know where Cedar is; Bismarck merely says she is being well looked after.
Bond is forced to wear a military uniform and sits with Bismarck and Luxor in a helicopter leading the flotilla of supposed military and medical aid on the flight to the Cheyenne Mountains.
NORAD H.Q., CHEYENNE MOUNTAIN, COLORADO
The gates are closed and the few dazed soldiers milling about are relieved to find the military helicopters landing. The soldiers are subdued. Explosives are used to destroy the steel blast doors and gain access to the command centre, deep inside the mountain. Everywhere there are dead bodies. The SPECTRE soldiers start to lay the explosives around the command centre. Winterburn takes over the controls of the Space Wolf PBS. Bismarck suggests they target London, a present for Mr. Bond, who can witness its destruction before his own. Bismarck prepares to deliver a political address to the world and at that moment the soldiers on the command centre floor, who have been faking death, arise. General Banker kills Winterburn and a full scale battle begins. Bond, initially confused, prevents Luxor from setting off the explosive charges and kills him in a fight. Bismarck escapes in one of the helicopters.
Bond meets Felix Leither, who explains it was Doctor Kristensen who told them about the ice cream. He was left virtually alone at Spectreville and Cedar managed to reveal the SPECTRE plot to him, but by the time the army raided Spectreville, Cedar and Nena had disappeared.
THE BAYOU, BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANNA
Bond approaches the mansion house. The door is open and he enters. The Committee Room is empty, but through the window Bond can see Cedar, struggling against her bonds, and the anaconda slithering towards her. He is surprised by Criton and the two of them fight a silent, vicious duel which ends with Bond breaking the giant’s neck. The lights switch on and reveal Nena who is armed and holding Bismarck captive in her chair. It is she who is the new Spectre No.1 and she introduces herself as Blofeld’s daughter. She electrocutes Bismarck, reveling in his death agonies. This allows Bond time to pick up his gun and shoot the glass, which only partially shatters. Nena shoots him in the shoulder. Bond has no ammunition, so he pounces on Nena and they wrestle. Bond eventually throws her through the cracked window, which shatters. As Nena lies in agony, Bond frees Cedar. The anaconda wraps itself around Nena Blofeld as they exit.
THE QUEEN MARY 2, NEW YORK
Felix gives Bond a silver Derringer pistol engraved with the words “For Special Services”. It is a present from the President. Felix has a twinkle in his eye; there is another present on board, from the Leither family.
In his cabin, Bond meets Cedar who explains she is Felix’s niece. Now her duties are over and she must return to her life as a post graduate student in Oxford. But how can she fill four days on the Queen Mary? They embrace and kiss.
CLOSING CREDITS
Comments
The only things I must ask are for you to flesh out the car chase with Mazzard and Bellini and also an explanation as to how Luxor dies.
Also, why not try to make the story more "cinematic"? Try coming up with a cast list that would have fit the time period in which it would have been created, as well as a director, title song artist, etc.
Thanks for the feedback.
As regards the extra details, I dont really have any. Sometimes I have images in my mind about how a character dies, other times I dont, and Luxor is one I havent thought about....give me a few weeks!
The roads in Slovakia are very empty, but in the Tetras Mountains they are quite twisty and pass through some superb scenary. I just reckoned it would be a great setting for a car chase, maybe with tourist buses involved, maybe a roadblock a la TLD... to be honest, I havent given it much thought.
You mentioned casting to me before and here I am just a lazy bugger. Isnt that the job of the casting director? Im trying to be the screenwriter!
Give me a few months!!