Diamonds Are Forever was the fourth James Bond novel by Ian Fleming, originally published in 1956. In 1971, the book was adapted as the seventh film in the EON Productions Bond franchise, which hailed the return of Sean Connery as the British spy.
The novel
Plot summary
Fleming's original novel, like the movie, pits Bond against diamond smugglers, a topic of great interest to the author (he later wrote an entire book on the subject, The Diamond Smugglers). Bond infiltrates a smuggling ring called The Spangled Mob which is running the gems from African mines to the United States. Disguised as a crook named Peter Franks, he meets a mysterious "go-between" named Tiffany Case with whom he falls in love.
| Writer: | Ian Fleming |
| Publishers: | Glidrose Publications |
| Hardback: | 1956 (UK)/(US) |
| Paperback: | 1958 (UK)/1957 (US) |
| Preceeded by: | - Moonraker |
| Followed by: | - From Russia with Love |
Comic strip adaptation
Fleming's original novel was adapted as a daily comic strip which was published in the British Daily Express newspaper and syndicated around the world. The adaptation ran from August 10, 1959 to January 30, 1960. The adaptation was written by Henry Gammidge and illustrated by John McLusky. The James Bond 007 Fan Club published a reprint of the strip in 1981.
See also
The film
Plot summary
| James Bond: | Sean Connery |
| Written by: | Ian Fleming |
| Screenplay by: | Richard Maibaum, Tom Mankiewicz |
| Director: | Guy Hamilton |
| Music by: | John Barry |
| Theme by: | Shirley Bassey |
| Distributor: | MGM |
| Release Date: | 1971 (USA) |
| Runtime: | 125 min. |
| Preceded by: | - On Her Majesty's Secret Service |
| Followed by: | - Live and Let Die |
Template:Spoiler Relatively little of the original novel survives the adaptation to film, though many characters from the original book, plus the idea of Tiffany being a diamond smuggler, are retained, so it isn't a complete "rewrite."
Diamonds are Forever the movie follows Bond's pursuit of the head of S.P.E.C.T.R.E., Blofeld in revenge for the murder of his wife in On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Huge quantities of South African diamonds are being stolen but have not been sold on the market. Suspecting that the stones are being stockpiled to depress prices, the Government orders Bond to assume the identity of a professional diamond smuggler called Peter Franks to infiltrate the smuggling operation and find out who the stockpilers are. With the help of fellow smuggler Tiffany Case, and amidst the bright lights of Las Vegas, he uncovers a plot by Blofeld to create a laser satellite capable of destroying any target on Earth. He uses this weapon to selectively destroy nuclear installations in America, Russia, and China, holding the world to ransom in an international auction, with nuclear supremacy going to the highest bidder.
A notable part of the plot of the movie involves Blofeld's use of the industrial properties of a recluse Nevada multimillionaire (played by Jimmy Dean) by the name of Willard Whyte, the character being a thinly veiled version of Howard Hughes.
The film features a very unusual couple of henchmen for S.P.E.C.T.R.E.: Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd. There is a strong suggestion that they are involved in more than just a professional relationship. Throughout the film, they use several interesting ways of assassinating their victims, from the use of a scorpion to kill a South African dentist, tying the feet of Plenty O'Toole to a concrete boulder and drowning her in a swimming pool, and attempting to incinerate James Bond alive in a crematorium furnace.
Also memorable are the female guards placed by Blofeld over Willard Whyte, named Bambi and Thumper.
Cast & characters
- James Bond - Sean Connery
- M - Bernard Lee
- Miss Moneypenny - Lois Maxwell
- Q - Desmond Llewelyn
- Felix Leiter - Norman Burton
- Ernst Stavro Blofeld - Charles Gray
- Tiffany Case - Jill St. John
- Willard Whyte - Jimmy Dean
- Mr. Wint - Bruce Glover
- Mr. Kidd - Putter Smith
Crew
- Directed by: Guy Hamilton
- Written by: Ian Fleming
- Screenplay by: Richard Maibaum, Tom Mankiewicz
- Produced by: Albert R. Broccoli , Harry Saltzman
- Composed by: John Barry
- Cinematography by: Ted Moore
Soundtrack
This movie was the second of three Bond movies to have the theme performed by Shirley Bassey. The other two movies were Goldfinger and Moonraker.
The original soundtrack was once again done by John Barry. This was his sixth time composing for a James Bond film.
Track listing
- Diamonds Are Forever (Main Title) - Shirley Bassey
- Bond Meets Bambi And Thumper
- Moon Buggy Ride
- Circus, Circus
- Death At The Whyte House
- Diamonds Are Forever (Source Instrumental)
- Diamonds Are Forever (Bond And Tiffany)
- Bond Smells A Rat
- Tiffany Case
- 007 And Counting
- Q's Trick
- To Hell With Blofeld
- Gunbarrel and Manhunt
- Mr.Wint and Mr.Kidd / Bond To Holland
- Peter Franks
- Airport Source / On The Road
- Slumber Inc.
- The Whyte House
- Plenty, Then Tiffany
- Following The Diamonds
- Additional and Alternate Cues
Vehicles & gadgets
- 1971 Ford Mustang Mach 1 — Tiffany Case picks up Bond after eluding some henchmen.
- Fake Fingerprint — Bond uses a fake fingerprint that clings to his thumb to trick Tiffany Case into believing he is Peter Franks.
- Slot Machine Ring — Q created a ring that when uses ensures a jackpot at the slot machines everytime.
See also
Locations
Trivia
- John Gavin, an unknown American, was originally cast as Bond. However, the producers were unhappy with this decision due to their experience with the similarly-unknown George Lazenby in the previous film, and when Sean Connery made it known that he would be interested in returning, Gavin's contract was quietly bought out.