The Spy Who Loved Me

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The Spy Who Loved Me is both a 1962 James Bond book by Ian Fleming and a 1977 Bond movie, starring Roger Moore. The movie was produced by Albert R. Broccoli, and is the tenth in the EON Productions Bond movie series.

The Spy Who Loved Me is the tenth official James Bond movie and the third to star Roger Moore as Bond. Fleming was never happy with the plot of the book and so only gave permission for the title to be used. Consequently the film tells a very different story, and was subsequently novelised by Christopher Wood. As such, it is considered the first wholly original Bond film.

The novel

Plot summary

1967 Pan Books paperback edition.

The Spy Who Loved Me book is a clear departure from the previous Bond books of Ian Fleming, in that Bond is not the central character. Instead the central character and narrator is "Vivienne Michel," a young British woman who has ended up running a cheap motel in the Adirondack Mountains to pay for a trip through America. The first section of the novel deals with her sheltered yet unhappy past; the second with the danger she encounters in the motel, and the third with her rescue by a mysterious stranger (Bond on his way back from a mission).

In order to maintain the fiction of Vivienne Michel (and, some critics suggest, distance himself from a book with which he was unsatisfied), Fleming gave "Michel" co-author credit and later claimed that the manuscript had been mailed to him from a mysterious source. The most sexually explicit of Fleming's novels, it was banned in some countries and was not released in a paperback edition in Britain until several years after Fleming's death.

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 December 18, 1967 to October 3, 1968. The adaptation was written by Jim Lawrence and illustrated by Yaroslav Horak. It was the last Ian Fleming work to be adapted as a comic strip. The strip was reprinted by Titan Books in the early 1990s.

The film

Plot summary

The film is best known for the introduction of Jaws, a giant and indestructible assassin with steel teeth (played by Richard Kiel) who is the only henchman of James Bond villains privileged to appear in more than one film. He later appeared in Moonraker. Although Ian Fleming had requested that no elements of his novel be used, the book does include a steel-toothed villain, but no one as outlandish as Jaws.

A submarine from the Royal Navy and a submarine from the Soviet fleet are stolen by the villain, Karl Stromberg in an attempt to launch their nuclear weapons at targets around the globe. In this adventure, James Bond teams up with Major Anya Amasova or Agent Triple X from the Soviet Union to find out what happened and prevent a possible World War III.

The film was a hit in both the U.S. and abroad. It grossed over $185 million USD worldwide on a production budget of $14 million USD. Due to the success of this movie, subsequent to its release, Barbara Bach posed nude for the men's magazine Playboy.

Cast & characters

• James Bond - Roger Moore
• M - Bernard Lee
• Miss Moneypenny - Lois Maxwell
• Q - Desmond Llewelyn
• Jaws - Richard Kiel
• Karl Stromberg - Curd Jürgens
• Major Anya Amasova (Agent Triple X) - Barbara Bach
• General Gogol - Walter Gotell
• Rubelvitch (Gogol's Assitant) - Eva Rueber-Staier

Robert Brown also has a smaller role in The Spy Who Loved Me as Admiral Hargreaves. Brown would go on to replace Bernard Lee as M in Octopussy. It has never been established as to whether Brown was supposed to be still playing Lee's character, a promoted Hargreaves, or someone else.

Walter Gotell makes his first appearance as General Gogol of the KGB. Gogol would appear in all future Roger Moore Bond films and would make his final appearance in Timothy Dalton's The Living Daylights.

Crew

• Directed by: Lewis Gilbert
• Produced by: Albert R. Broccoli , William P. Cartlidge
• Screenplay by: Christopher Wood
• Composed by: Marvin Hamlisch
• Film editing by: John Glen

Soundtrack

Original The Spy Who Loved Me soundtrack cover

The title song was performed by Carly Simon and unlike most opening songs for James Bond is not titled the same as the movie. However, the phrase "the spy who loved me" is in the lyrics. The song was titled "Nobody Does it Better" and became a hit that is still popular today. The soundtrack to the movie was composed by Marvin Hamlisch.

Track listing

1. Nobody Does It Better — Carly Simon
2. Bond 77 (James Bond Theme)
3. Ride To Atlantis
4. Mojave Club
5. Nobody Does It Better [Instrumental]
6. Anya
7. The Tanker
8. The Pyramids
9. Eastern Lights
10. Conclusion
11. End Titles-Nobody Does It Better — Carly Simon

Vehicles & gadgets

• Lotus Esprit - Including all of the usual Q refinements, this car was equipped with surface to air missiles. The main feature of the car however was the ability to transform into a submarine. Once transformed it could unleash depth charges and smoke screens. The car was nicknamed Wet Nellie
• XXX's Cigarette - The cigarette used by Soviet agent Triple X, could unleash a knockout blow when lit.

See also

• List of James Bond vehicles
• List of James Bond gadgets

Locations

• The Austrian Alps
• Cairo, Egypt
• Moscow, Russia
• Sardinia

Trivia

• At the end of the film, the credits announce that the next Bond film will be For Your Eyes Only. Ultimately, however, the producers chose instead to adapt Moonraker next in order to cash in on the science fantasy craze sparked by the success of Star Wars and Superman.
• This is the second film in the history of the Bond series (as of 2004) in which M refers to Bond by his first name, rather than simply 007 or Bond (the first time was at his wedding in OHMSS). We also hear M's real first name (Myles) for the first time on film. In addition, Q is referred to by his real name (Major Boothroyd) for the first time since From Russia with Love. But Miss Moneypenny is still left without a first name!

Novelization

British paperback edition.

Since the screenplay for the film had nothing to do with Fleming's original novel, Glidrose Publications, for the first time, authorized that a novelization be written based upon the script. This would also be the first regular Bond novel published since Colonel Sun nearly a decade earlier. Christopher Wood, who co-authored the screenplay, was commissioned to write the book, which was given the title James Bond, The Spy Who Loved Me. Wood would later adapt the screenplay for the next Bond film, Moonraker.

See also

• Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, a James Bond parody.

External links

• The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) at the Internet Movie Database
• MGM's official site for the movie