Thunderball

Thunderball
Directed by	Terence Young
Produced by	Kevin McClory
Screenplay by	Richard Maibaum John Hopkins
Starring	Sean Connery Claudine Auger Adolfo Celi Luciana Paluzzi Rik Van Nutter
Music by	John Barry
Cinematography	Ted Moore
Editing by	Peter R. Hunt (supr ed) Ernest Hosler
Distributed by	United Artists
Release	9 December 1965 (Tokyo, premiere) 29 December 1965 (United Kingdom)
Running time	130 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Budget	$9 million
Gross revenue	$141.2 million
Preceded by	Goldfinger
Followed by	You Only Live Twice

Thunderball is the fourth spy film in the James Bond series starring Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. It is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Ian Fleming, which in turn was based on an original screenplay by Jack Whittingham. It was directed by Terence Young with its screenplay by Richard Maibaum and John Hopkins.

Plot

James Bond—MI6 agent 007 and sometimes simply "007"—attends the funeral of Colonel Jacques Bouvar, a SPECTRE operative (Number 6). Bouvar is alive and disguised as his own widow, but Bond identifies him. Following him to a château, Bond fights and kills him, escaping using a jetpack and his Aston Martin DB5.

Bond is sent by M to a clinic to improve his health. While massaged by physiotherapist Patricia Fearing, he notices Count Lippe, a suspicious man with a criminal tattoo (from a Tong). He searches Lippe's room, but is seen leaving by Lippe's clinic neighbour who is bandaged after plastic surgery. Lippe tries to murder Bond with a spinal traction machine, but is foiled by Fearing, whom Bond then seduces. Bond finds a dead bandaged man, François Derval. Derval was a French NATO pilot deployed to fly aboard an Avro Vulcan loaded with two atomic bombs for a training mission. He had been murdered by Angelo, a SPECTRE henchman surgically altered to match his appearance.

Angelo takes Derval's place on the flight, sabotaging the plane and sinking it near the Bahamas. He is then killed by Emilio Largo (SPECTRE No. 2) for trying to extort more money than offered to him. Largo and his henchmen retrieve the stolen atomic bombs from the seabed. All double-0 agents are called to Whitehall and en route, Lippe chases Bond. Lippe is killed by SPECTRE agent Fiona Volpe for failing to foresee Angelo's greed. SPECTRE demands £100 million in white flawless uncut diamonds from NATO in exchange for returning the bombs; if their demands are not met, SPECTRE will destroy a major city in the United States or the United Kingdom. At the meeting, Bond recognises Derval from a photograph. Since Derval's sister, Domino, is in Nassau, Bond asks M to send him there, where he discovers Domino is Largo's mistress.

Bond takes a boat to where Domino is snorkelling. After Bond saves her life, the two have lunch together. Later, Bond goes to a party, where he sees Largo and Domino gambling. Bond enters the game against Largo and wins, and subsequently takes Domino to a dance. Recognising each other as adversaries, Bond and Largo begin a tense cat-and-mouse game of attempting to get the drop on each other while still pretending ignorance of their adversary's true nature.

Bond meets Felix Leiter and Q, and is issued a collection of gadgets, including an underwater infrared camera, a distress beacon, underwater breathing apparatus, a flare gun and a Geiger counter. Bond attempts to swim underwater beneath Largo's boat, but is nearly killed. Bond visits Largo at his estate, Palmyra. Bond's assistant Paula is later abducted by Largo for questioning and kills herself before Bond can rescue her.

Bond is kidnapped by Fiona, but escapes. He is chased through a Junkanoo celebration and enters the Kiss Kiss club. Fiona finds and attempts to kill him, but is shot by her own bodyguard. Bond and Felix search for the Vulcan, finding it underwater. Bond meets Domino scuba-diving and tells her that Largo killed her brother, asking for help finding the bombs. She tells him where to go to replace a henchman on Largo's mission to retrieve them from an underwater bunker. Bond gives her his Geiger counter, asking her to look for them on Largo's ship. She is discovered and captured. Disguised as Largo's henchman, Bond uncovers Largo's plan to destroy Miami Beach.

Bond is discovered, and rescued by Leiter, who orders United States Navy SEALS to parachute to the area. After an underwater battle, the henchmen surrender. Largo escapes to his ship, the Disco Volante, which has one of the bombs on board. Largo attempts to escape by jettisoning the rear of the ship. The front section, a hydrofoil, escapes. Bond, also aboard, and Largo fight; Largo is about to shoot him when Domino, freed by Largo's nuclear physicist Ladislav Kutze, kills Largo with a harpoon. Bond and Domino jump overboard, the boat runs aground and explodes. A sky hook-equipped U.S. Navy aeroplane rescues them.

Cast

James Bond
(Sean Connery)

M
(Bernard Lee)

Miss Moneypenny
(Lois Maxwell)

Q
(Desmond Llewelyn)

Felix Leiter
(Rik Van Nutter)

Emilio Largo
(Adolfo Celi & Robert Rietty (voice))

Domino Vitali
(Claudine Auger)

Fiona Volpe
(Luciana Paluzzi)

Ernst Stavro Blofeld
(???)

Vargas
(Philip Locke)

Count Lippe
(Guy Doleman)

François Derval
(Paul Stassino)

Angelo Palazzi
(Paul Stassino)

Jacques Bouvar
(Bob Simmons)

Paula Caplan
(Martine Beswick)

Patricia Fearing
(Molly Peters)

Quist
(Bill Cummings)

Ladislav Kutze
(George Pravda)

Mlle. La Porte
(Maryse Guy Mitsouko & Catherine Clemence (voice))

Janni
(Michael Brennan)

• Sean Connery as James Bond (007): An MI6 agent assigned to retrieve two stolen nuclear weapons.
• Adolfo Celi as Emilio Largo (voice dubbed by Robert Rietty): Main antagonist. SPECTRE's Number Two, he creates a scheme to steal two atomic bombs.
• Claudine Auger as Dominique "Domino" Derval (voice dubbed by Nikki van der Zyl): Largo's mistress. In early drafts of the screenplay Domino's name was Dominetta Palazzi. When Claudine Auger was cast as Domino the name was changed to Derval to reflect her nationality. The character's wardrobe reflects her name, as she is usually dressed in black and/or white.
• Luciana Paluzzi as Fiona Volpe: SPECTRE agent, who becomes François Derval's mistress and kills him before being sent to Nassau.
• Rik Van Nutter as Felix Leiter: CIA agent who helps Bond.
• Bernard Lee as M: The head of MI6.
• Martine Beswick as Paula Caplan: Bond's ally in Nassau who is kidnapped by Vargas and Janni.
• Guy Doleman as Count Lippe: SPECTRE agent who tries to kill Bond in the health clinic.
• Molly Peters as Patricia Fearing: a physiotherapist at the health clinic.
• Earl Cameron as Pinder, Bond and Felix Leiter's assistant in The Bahamas.
• Paul Stassino as François Derval and Angelo Palazzi: Derval is a NATO pilot, who is also Domino's brother. He is killed by SPECTRE agent Angelo Palazzi, who impersonates him. Palazzi is later killed by Largo.
• Desmond Llewelyn as Q: MI6's "quartermaster" who supplies Bond with multi-purpose vehicles and gadgets useful for the latter's missions.
• Roland Culver as the Foreign Secretary: British Minister who briefs the "00" agents for Operation Thunderball and has doubts about Bond's efficiency.
• Lois Maxwell as Miss Moneypenny: M's secretary.
• Philip Locke as Vargas: Largo's personal assistant and henchman who abstains from alcohol, smoking and sexual intercourse, emphasising his devotion as a killer. He is killed by Bond with a spear gun on the beach.
• George Pravda as Ladislav Kutze: Emilio Largo's chief nuclear physicist who aids his boss with the captured bombs. He rescues Domino, pitying her when Largo was torturing her. He later escapes the boat with a life saver and swims away.
• Michael Brennan as Janni: One of Largo's thugs who is usually paired with Vargas.
• Anthony Dawson as Ernst Stavro Blofeld, voiced by Eric Pohlmann (both un-credited): The head of SPECTRE
• Bill Cummings as Quist: Another of Largo's inefficient thugs who, after failing to assassinate 007, is thrown into a shark pool under orders from his boss.
• André Maranne, best known for portraying Sergeant François Chevalier in the Pink Panther films, cameos as SPECTRE #10.

External links

• Thunderball at the Internet Movie Database