Thunderball

 

Synopsis

    Thunderball is a 1965 British spy film and the fourth in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions, starring Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. It is an adaptation of the 1961 novel of the same name by Ian Fleming, which in turn was based on an original screenplay by Jack Whittingham devised from a story conceived by Kevin McClory, Whittingham, and Fleming. It was the third and final Bond film to be directed by Terence Young, with its screenplay by Richard Maibaum and John Hopkins.

    The film follows Bond's mission to find two NATO atomic bombs stolen by SPECTRE, which holds the world for ransom of £100 million in diamonds under its threat to destroy an unspecified metropolis in either the United Kingdom or the United States (later revealed to be Miami). The search leads Bond to the Bahamas, where he encounters Emilio Largo, the card-playing, eyepatch-wearing SPECTRE Number Two. Backed by CIA agent Felix Leiter and Largo's mistress, Domino Derval, Bond's search culminates in an underwater battle with Largo's henchmen. The film's complex production comprised four different units and about a quarter of the film comprises underwater scenes. Thunderball was the first Bond film shot in widescreen Panavision and the first to have a running time of over two hours.

    Although planned by Bond film series producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman as the first entry in the franchise, Thunderball was associated with a legal dispute in 1961 when former Fleming collaborators McClory and Whittingham sued him shortly after the 1961 publication of the novel, claiming he based it upon the screenplay the trio had written for a cinematic translation of James Bond. The lawsuit was settled out of court and Broccoli and Saltzman, fearing a rival McClory film, allowed him to retain certain screen rights to the novel's story, plot, and characters, and for McClory to receive sole producer credit on this film; Broccoli and Saltzman instead served as executive producers.

    The film was exceptionally successful: its worldwide box office receipts of $141.2 million exceeded not only that of every one of its predecessors but that of every one of the five Bond films that followed it. Thunderball remains the most financially successful film of the series in North America when adjusted for ticket price inflation. In 1966, John Stears won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects and BAFTA nominated production designer Ken Adam for an award. Some critics and viewers praised the film and branded it a welcome addition to the series, while others found the aquatic action repetitious and the film's length excessive. In 1983, Warner Bros. released a second film adaptation of the novel under the title Never Say Never Again, with McClory as executive producer.

Cast

Sean Connery as James Bond

Claudine Auger as Domino 

Adolfo Celi as Emilio Largo

Luciana Paluzzi as Fiona Volpe

Rik Van Nutter as Felix Leiter

Guy Doleman as Count Lippe

Molly Peters (voice dubbed by Barbara Jefford) as Patricia Fearing

Martine Beswick as Paula Caplan

Bernard Lee as "M"

Desmond Llewelyn as "Q"

Lois Maxwell as Moneypenny

Roland Culver as the Home Secretary:

Earl Cameron as Pinder

Paul Stassino as François Derval / Angelo Palazzi (credited for Palazzi)

Rose Alba as Madame Boitier

Philip Locke as Vargas

George Pravda as Ladislav Kutze

Michael Brennan as Janni

Leonard Sachs as Group Captain Prichard

Edward Underdown as Air Vice Marshal

Reginald Beckwith as Kenniston

Release date: December 29, 1965 (United Kingdom)

Director: Terence Young

Featured song: Thunderball

Story by: Kevin McClory; Jack Whittingham; Ian Fleming

Adapted from: Thunderball

Distributed by: United Artists

Plot

    SPECTRE operative Emilio Largo devises a plan to hold NATO to ransom by hijacking two atomic bombs from a Royal Air Force (RAF) Avro Vulcan strategic jet bomber during a training exercise. To facilitate Largo's plans, SPECTRE operative Count Lippe recruits Angelo Palazzi to oversee the theft of the bombs. With help from SPECTRE agent Fiona Volpe, Lippe has Palazzi surgically alter his face to match that of French Air Force pilot François Derval, who is assisting in the exercise. Volpe and Palazzi murder the real Derval, while they are staying at the Shrublands health resort, only for the latter to demand more money. Volpe acquiesces, merely to have him continue with their operation. Following the plan, Palazzi successfully hijacks the bomber, killing its crew, and lands it into shallow waters within the Bahamas. While the bombs are recovered by his men, Largo murders Palazzi for reneging on his original deal with SPECTRE.

    British secret agent James Bond, recuperating at Shrublands after a previous assignment, notices Lippe's presence and keeps him under observation, discovering Derval's body. Upon being urgently recalled to London, Bond finds himself targeted by Lippe for trying to interfere. Before he can defend himself, Volpe kills Lippe for jeopardizing Largo's scheme. Once back in London, Bond learns that all 00 agents are being put on high alert following the theft of the bombs, after being informed a major city in the United States or the United Kingdom will be destroyed unless £100 million is paid to SPECTRE within seven days. While in talks with M on his assignment, Bond requests he be assigned to Nassau, Bahamas, to contact Derval's sister Domino, after recognising Derval from the photo given to the agents in their main briefing as the body he found at the resort.

    Bond meets with Domino, who he learns is the mistress of Largo when he visits a local casino. Both men recognise each other as adversaries and engage in a tense cat-and-mouse game while still pretending ignorance of each other's true nature. Following their initial meeting, Bond meets with his friend, CIA agent Felix Leiter, fellow agent Paula Caplan, and MI6 quartermaster Q, to receive equipment to help with finding the bombs, including an underwater infrared camera and miniature underwater breathing apparatus. Investigating Largo's ship, Disco Volante, he notices an underwater hatch beneath her that intrigues him. The next day, he visits Largo at his estate during the night, only to find that Paula had been abducted and committed suicide before she could talk. Forced to escape, Bond evades Largo's men during a Junkanoo celebration. Volpe catches up to Bond, but is accidentally shot by a henchman aiming for Bond.

    Suspecting the bombs were brought to the area, Bond and Leiter search for the Vulcan and find it camouflaged underwater, along with the body of Palazzi. Upon returning to the island, Bond reveals to Domino that her brother was killed by Largo and gets her to help him search Disco Volante. However, Largo catches her in the act and has her imprisoned. Meanwhile, Bond replaces one of Largo's men as SPECTRE prepares to move the bombs, and manages to learn where one of them is being moved to before being discovered and left behind. Reuniting with Leiter, the pair gets the U.S. Navy to intercept Disco Volante crew and recover one of the bombs in an underwater battle. Bond pursues Largo and grabs hold of Disco Volante as she sheds the rear half to become a hydrofoil to escape. Bond gets on deck and sends the Disco Volante out of control whilst he defeats Largo's men and fights Largo. Largo gets the upper hand and is about to shoot Bond when Domino kills Largo in revenge after his hired nuclear physicist frees her. The trio quickly flees Disco Volante just barely before her destruction, whereupon Bond and Domino are retrieved by a plane with the Fulton system.

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