Bond when he meets Grant/Nash

Lodgey89Lodgey89 Posts: 7MI6 Agent
Why is James so suspicious of Red Grant when he first meets him? He really interrogates him saying ‘You look very fit Nash’ and when Grant says also ‘ I know this territory like the back of my hand’ Bond gives him a real suspicious stare. He checks the briefcase as well before heading off for Grub.

Grant is also British so why would Bond suspect he’s an imposter of Nash?
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Comments

  • The Red KindThe Red Kind EnglandPosts: 3,119MI6 Agent
    He finds he lives longer that way. :007)
    "Any of the opposition around..?"
  • Lodgey89Lodgey89 Posts: 7MI6 Agent
    But Grant is so convincing..
  • Matt SMatt S Oh Cult Voodoo ShopPosts: 6,596MI6 Agent
    In the book it was the Windsor knot that made Bond mistrust him, but he doesn't tie his tie that way in the film.
    Visit my blog, Bond Suits
  • Lodgey89Lodgey89 Posts: 7MI6 Agent
    What was the Meaning behind Red Wine with Fish?
  • ChriscoopChriscoop Belize Posts: 10,449MI6 Agent
    It's not the done thing to drink red wine with fish, you'd have a dry or medium white wine with fish, it just not the done thing in British etiquette, so shows that Grant certainly isn't a British Captain as they would know better. Red wine with red meat dishes and game and some pasta dishes. Sweet wines would be served with dessert.
    It was either that.....or the priesthood
  • ChriscoopChriscoop Belize Posts: 10,449MI6 Agent
    It's quite possible that Bond should be suspicious of any contact he doesn't know, Grant is taking a gamble that Bond doesn't know Nash. Grant doesn't carry himself like a Captain from the British military, if he were a naval Captain he'd outrank Bond and you would certainly some deference, as a Captain n the army in those days he'd stick out like a sore thumb. Even today for those that know it's easy to spot a military man.
    It was either that.....or the priesthood
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy Behind you !Posts: 63,792MI6 Agent
    I find Buckfast tonic wine, goes with anything. Recently watching
    DAF, Bond's tux trousers has a little strip of "Silk" running down
    the outside leg. Which should only be worn by an ex military Man
    under the rules of etiquette. ;)
    "I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
  • Lodgey89Lodgey89 Posts: 7MI6 Agent
    Grant seemed to have a weakness for money. Would he have betrayed Spectre for those Sovereigns? Or just Killed Bond and gone back to lying on the grass with some babe giving him a massage..
  • Matt SMatt S Oh Cult Voodoo ShopPosts: 6,596MI6 Agent
    I find Buckfast tonic wine, goes with anything. Recently watching
    DAF, Bond's tux trousers has a little strip of "Silk" running down
    the outside leg. Which should only be worn by an ex military Man
    under the rules of etiquette. ;)

    You'll notice the stripe on the black/midnight blue trousers in every Bond film except Goldfinger! I can't tell if you're joking, but the stripe has nothing to do with Bond being a military officer. If it did, it wouldn't be a good idea for Bond to let people on to that fact.
    Lodgey89 wrote:
    Grant seemed to have a weakness for money. Would he have betrayed Spectre for those Sovereigns? Or just Killed Bond and gone back to lying on the grass with some babe giving him a massage..

    Grant would not have betrayed Spectre for the money when he could have taken the money, killed Bond and still worked for Spectre.
    Visit my blog, Bond Suits
  • ChriscoopChriscoop Belize Posts: 10,449MI6 Agent
    Matt S wrote:
    I find Buckfast tonic wine, goes with anything. Recently watching
    DAF, Bond's tux trousers has a little strip of "Silk" running down
    the outside leg. Which should only be worn by an ex military Man
    under the rules of etiquette. ;)

    You'll notice the stripe on the black/midnight blue trousers in every Bond film except Goldfinger! I can't tell if you're joking, but the stripe has nothing to do with Bond being a military officer. If it did, it wouldn't be a good idea for Bond to let people on to that fact.

    I always thought the stripe on the outseam was added as a way of adding luxury to a dinner suit, differentiating between non dinnerwear trousers and to cover the seam. Like the cumberband they probably did get inspiration from military dress uniforms.
    It was either that.....or the priesthood
  • Matt SMatt S Oh Cult Voodoo ShopPosts: 6,596MI6 Agent
    Chriscoop wrote:
    Matt S wrote:
    I find Buckfast tonic wine, goes with anything. Recently watching
    DAF, Bond's tux trousers has a little strip of "Silk" running down
    the outside leg. Which should only be worn by an ex military Man
    under the rules of etiquette. ;)

    You'll notice the stripe on the black/midnight blue trousers in every Bond film except Goldfinger! I can't tell if you're joking, but the stripe has nothing to do with Bond being a military officer. If it did, it wouldn't be a good idea for Bond to let people on to that fact.

    I always thought the stripe on the outseam was added as a way of adding luxury to a dinner suit, differentiating between non dinnerwear trousers and to cover the seam. Like the cumberband they probably did get inspiration from military dress uniforms.

    Yes, the stripe is there to cover and decorate the side seam, and it also visually connects the trousers with the jacket. I do believe this came from military uniforms, just as so much tailored clothes did.
    Visit my blog, Bond Suits
  • Napoleon PluralNapoleon Plural LondonPosts: 10,239MI6 Agent
    Red Grant's way of talking just rubs Bond up the wrong way. It's a bit phoney and affected - dropping in terms like 'old man' like he's gone in for a Teffle cause on speaking English.

    It may owe something to a play by a Solzhenitsyn's An Incident at Krechetovka Station where a State operative begins to suspect his fellow traveller is a spy.

    Similarities of a vague kind in the last episode of the BBC drama Summer of Rockets which is really growing on me.
    "This is where we leave you Mr Bond."

    Roger Moore 1927-2017
  • Lodgey89Lodgey89 Posts: 7MI6 Agent
    I wasn’t that impressed with Grant’s hand to hand skills, sure he was strong and fast and take pain but Bond had the upper hand in that fight apart from when Grant tried to strangle him.
  • The Red KindThe Red Kind EnglandPosts: 3,119MI6 Agent
    I always think it's ironic that the only other person who could play Donald Grant as good as Robert Shaw is Daniel Craig.
    "Any of the opposition around..?"
  • Matt SMatt S Oh Cult Voodoo ShopPosts: 6,596MI6 Agent
    I always think it's ironic that the only other person who could play Donald Grant as good as Robert Shaw is Daniel Craig.

    I think Craig could possibly play Grant even better.
    Visit my blog, Bond Suits
  • caractacus pottscaractacus potts Orbital communicator, level 10Posts: 3,907MI6 Agent
    review the dialog between Bond and M at the very beginning.
    Bond knows full well this is a trap, and he is deliberately walking into it.
    He spends much of the film waiting for the trap to fall into place.
    At this point in the story Bey has just been killed, and Bond and Tatiana are now alone on the train, and he's not so sure about Tatiana.
    So this is the ideal moment for the trap to be sprung, and here comes this stranger claiming to be on his side, doing a bad imitation of a British old boy stereotype.
    Of course Bond is watching his every move extra close, he is already 99% positive Nash is whatever he has been waiting for.
    I think he could have disposed of Nash at any point, if he was playing it safe, but his assignment is still to wait and see what he is up to.
  • CoolHandBondCoolHandBond Mactan IslandPosts: 6,033MI6 Agent
    Matt S wrote:
    I always think it's ironic that the only other person who could play Donald Grant as good as Robert Shaw is Daniel Craig.

    I think Craig could possibly play Grant even better.

    As good as Craig is as an actor, Shaw was far superior and his performance is right up there in the top 5 characters in the whole canon.
    Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
  • CoolHandBondCoolHandBond Mactan IslandPosts: 6,033MI6 Agent
    review the dialog between Bond and M at the very beginning.
    Bond knows full well this is a trap, and he is deliberately walking into it.
    He spends much of the film waiting for the trap to fall into place.
    At this point in the story Bey has just been killed, and Bond and Tatiana are now alone on the train, and he's not so sure about Tatiana.
    So this is the ideal moment for the trap to be sprung, and here comes this stranger claiming to be on his side, doing a bad imitation of a British old boy stereotype.
    Of course Bond is watching his every move extra close, he is already 99% positive Nash is whatever he has been waiting for.
    I think he could have disposed of Nash at any point, if he was playing it safe, but his assignment is still to wait and see what he is up to.

    Bond had no reason to suspect Nash as being an enemy, the meeting had been arranged by MI6. A couple of odd characteristics like the saying of “old man” and the red wine “blunder” (which is total snobbery), just sent signals to Bond that Nash was an uncouth character who was trying to pretend he was a station or two above his standing. Nash’s clumsy way of drugging Tatiana didn’t make Bond stop him from doing it and he accepted the “escape route is only for one” statement as professional.

    The whole train sequence is probably the greatest in the series.
    Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
  • zaphod99zaphod99 Posts: 1,415MI6 Agent
    I always think it's ironic that the only other person who could play Donald Grant as good as Robert Shaw is Daniel Craig.

    I have always thought that Daniel would have been a terrific Red Grant.
    Of that of which we cannot speak we must pass over in silence- Ludwig Wittgenstein.
  • zaphod99zaphod99 Posts: 1,415MI6 Agent
    review the dialog between Bond and M at the very beginning.
    Bond knows full well this is a trap, and he is deliberately walking into it.
    He spends much of the film waiting for the trap to fall into place.
    At this point in the story Bey has just been killed, and Bond and Tatiana are now alone on the train, and he's not so sure about Tatiana.
    So this is the ideal moment for the trap to be sprung, and here comes this stranger claiming to be on his side, doing a bad imitation of a British old boy stereotype.
    Of course Bond is watching his every move extra close, he is already 99% positive Nash is whatever he has been waiting for.
    I think he could have disposed of Nash at any point, if he was playing it safe, but his assignment is still to wait and see what he is up to.

    Bond had no reason to suspect Nash as being an enemy, the meeting had been arranged by MI6. A couple of odd characteristics like the saying of “old man” and the red wine “blunder” (which is total snobbery), just sent signals to Bond that Nash was an uncouth character who was trying to pretend he was a station or two above his standing. Nash’s clumsy way of drugging Tatiana didn’t make Bond stop him from doing it and he accepted the “escape route is only for one” statement as professional.

    The whole train sequence is probably the greatest in the series.

    It is indeed a superb scene. Bond at some level recognised that Grant was not quite 'one of us' something jarred from the get go. At that time Mi6 would have recruited from a mixture of public schools (which in Britain are private schools) Oxbridge or military officers.
    Its beautifully played by Connery who although ostensibly of that class is never quite at home in it.
    Of that of which we cannot speak we must pass over in silence- Ludwig Wittgenstein.
  • emtiememtiem SurreyPosts: 5,686MI6 Agent
    I find Buckfast tonic wine, goes with anything. Recently watching
    DAF, Bond's tux trousers has a little strip of "Silk" running down
    the outside leg. Which should only be worn by an ex military Man
    under the rules of etiquette. ;)

    Is that right? I didn't know that- yikes, that's what mine have!
  • emtiememtiem SurreyPosts: 5,686MI6 Agent
    Matt S wrote:
    I find Buckfast tonic wine, goes with anything. Recently watching
    DAF, Bond's tux trousers has a little strip of "Silk" running down
    the outside leg. Which should only be worn by an ex military Man
    under the rules of etiquette. ;)

    You'll notice the stripe on the black/midnight blue trousers in every Bond film except Goldfinger! I can't tell if you're joking, but the stripe has nothing to do with Bond being a military officer. If it did, it wouldn't be a good idea for Bond to let people on to that fact.

    To be fair, he does go around telling everyone his real name, so I'm not sure he'd worry! :)
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy Behind you !Posts: 63,792MI6 Agent
    :)) He's also forever taking his trousers off
    "I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
  • thenoisydrumthenoisydrum Posts: 84MI6 Agent
    Just a note, red wine with a piece of fish would not taste very nice.
    It would not compliment it at all. So it isn't just a case of 'etiquette', it is also a case of WTF?
  • GrindelwaldGrindelwald Posts: 1,294MI6 Agent
    Cant believe Bond fell for the map trick , I never wouldve knelt down next to him......I wouldve suspected a trick by Grant right away , then again Bond had been drinking and for a second was unaware what Grant was up to.........
  • JoshuaJoshua Posts: 1,138MI6 Agent
    Cant believe Bond fell for the map trick , I never wouldve knelt down next to him......I wouldve suspected a trick by Grant right away , then again Bond had been drinking and for a second was unaware what Grant was up to.........

    Especially when he had seen Grant put a drug into Tatiana's drink. Would Bond have accepted Grant's explanation so easily and not been on alert until he was sure?
  • Agent KinoAgent Kino New YorkPosts: 202MI6 Agent
    I always wondered why Bond was so sketchy of Grant as well. I guess it turned out for good reason. It's my favorite Bond scene anyways.
    1. Goldfinger 2. Skyfall 3. Goldeneye 4. The Spy Who Loved Me 5. OHMSS
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  • Gassy ManGassy Man USAPosts: 2,972MI6 Agent
    It was not the first time Bond has been suspicious of someone, nor the last. He certainly was so with the driver from Governor's House in Dr. No, for example.

    I think what gets lost in that From Russia with Love scene is the immediate class distinction. Grant is not a svelte, dignified British gentleman but a hulking brute, His walk, his bearing, his expression all betray a quality of lower class lack of refinement barely concealed in a suit. Contrast Grant with the real Captain Nash, who is more fitting of the type. Grant is more like an American bodybuilder who kicks sand in the face of the 99 pound weakling. Perhaps it is not as obvious because Connery himself is more brutish than, say, a David Niven or Cary Grant type. But Bond is disdainful toward Nash all along, and Bond's instincts are true.
  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 36,060Chief of Staff
    The book has the advantage that we can read what Bond is thinking, and he's completely fooled. He thinks Nash is "probably on the stupid side" and may have "shell-shock perhaps, or schizophrenia" and is clumsy and embarrassed and a "queer fish" *. He doesn't notice Nash slipping chloral hydrate into Tatania's drink and he hasn't any doubt that Nash had been sent by M.

    * a dated expression having nothing to do with sexuality
  • Dirty PunkerDirty Punker ...Your Eyes Only, darling."Posts: 2,587MI6 Agent
    At least that makes "Nash" appear a lot more capable than what he was on screen.
    a reasonable rate of return
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