Does SPECTRE Recognize Bond?

ZorinIndustries

By the time of Thunderball, one would think that SPECTRE is very familiar with the name James Bond. Whenever he is introduced (e.g. to Count Lippe or Largo) it's either the fact that they are clueless as to who he is, or they choose to subtly play along with Bond. What do you guys think?

RJJB

ZorinIndustries wrote:

By the time of Thunderball, one would think that SPECTRE is very familiar with the name James Bond. Whenever he is introduced (e.g. to Count Lippe or Largo) it's either the fact that they are clueless as to who he is, or they choose to subtly play along with Bond. What do you guys think?

Did you even watch Thunderball? It's obvious that Lippe, Largo and Fiona know exactly who James Bond is.

Thunderbird 2

Don't be too hard on him RJJB.

In some films everyone knows who Bond is, in others the key bad guy goes nuts or kills a subordinate for being too stupid to realise they have encountered Bond and he has compromised security!

Hi, I'm Klaus Hergeshimer. (Looks crestfallen) Checking.. radiation shields?....

Napoleon Plural

Well, it's a good question and worth pointing out that Thunderball was intended to be the first Bond movie when Fleming wrote the screenplay, or co-wrote it, and it introduced Spectre, a new-ish terrorist organisation about to pull off 'the big one' and then retire on their gains. So, in that context, and the context of the subsquent novel Thunderball which introduced Spectre, no, they wouldn't know who Bond was.

The film follows the book mostly, but that's a flaw in a way because the films had introduced Spectre in Dr No, and then again in FRWL, so they would know who he is. By then however, the Bonds were more fun stuff, Bond is the cat among the pigeons so it sort of works.

ZorinIndustries

RJJB wrote:

ZorinIndustries wrote:

By the time of Thunderball, one would think that SPECTRE is very familiar with the name James Bond. Whenever he is introduced (e.g. to Count Lippe or Largo) it's either the fact that they are clueless as to who he is, or they choose to subtly play along with Bond. What do you guys think?

Did you even watch Thunderball? It's obvious that Lippe, Largo and Fiona know exactly who James Bond is.

I've watched Thunderball plenty of times. There have been cases where people haven't recognized Bond for that matter and when Lippe is introduced to Bond, he notices that Bond was checking out the red square with a spike through it. That short bit could have been put in there to show Lippe is suddenly becoming suspicious of Bond. On the other hand, your theory is correct. This topic was posted to see if there was a definite answer.