The Spy Who Loved Me (film)

The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) is the tenth spy film in the James Bond series, and the third to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. It was directed by Lewis Gilbert and the screenplay was written by Christopher Wood and Richard Maibaum. The film takes its title from the tenth novel in Ian Fleming's James Bond series, though as Ian Fleming requested that only the title of the novel be used, the film does not contain any elements of the novel The Spy Who Loved Me.^[1] The storyline involves a reclusive megalomaniac named Stromberg who plans to destroy the world and create a new civilisation under the sea. Bond teams up with a Russian agent Anya Amasova to stop Stromberg.

The Spy Who Loved Me was highly acclaimed by critics.^[2] The soundtrack, composed by Marvin Hamlisch, also met tremendous success. The film was nominated for three Academy Awards amidst many other nominations and subsequently novelised in 1977 by Christopher Wood as James Bond, The Spy Who Loved Me.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Production 3.1 Script 3.2 Filming 3.3 Music 4 Release and reception 5 Novelisation 6 Broadcast television versions 7 See also 8 References 8.1 Bibliography 9 External links

Plot

British and Soviet ballistic-missile submarines mysteriously disappear. James Bond is summoned to investigate. On the way he escapes an ambush by Soviet agents in Austria, killing one during a downhill ski chase and escaping via a Union Flag parachute. Bond learns that the plans for a highly advanced submarine tracking system are on the market in Egypt. There he encounters Major Anya Amasova (codename "Triple X") of the KGB, his rival for the plans. They travel across Egypt tracking the microfilm plans, meeting Jaws – a good-sized assassin with steel teeth – along the way. Bond and Amasova partner due to a truce supported by their respective superiors and identify the person responsible for the thefts as shipping tycoon Karl Stromberg.

While traveling to Stromberg's base in Sardinia, Bond saves Amasova from Jaws and their rivalry changes into affection. They visit Stromberg's base and learn of his mysterious new supertanker, the Liparus, which Bond had previously found has never visited any known port or harbor. Jaws and other henchmen chase them, but they survive due to Bond's driving skills and his Q Branch Lotus Esprit sports car/submarine, which enables the spies to perform a further underwater reconnaissance of Stromberg's facilities. Amasova learns Bond killed her lover in Austria; she warns that she will kill him when their mission ends.

Aboard an American submarine, Bond and Amasova examine Stromberg's underwater Atlantis base and confirm that he is operating the tracking system, but the Liparus captures the submarine as it captured the others. Stromberg sets his plan in motion: The launching of nuclear missiles from the ballistic-missile submarines to destroy Moscow and New York City. This would trigger a global nuclear war, which Stromberg would survive in Atlantis, and subsequently a new civilisation would be established. He leaves for Atlantis with Amasova. Bond frees the captured British, Russian, and American submariners and they battle the Liparus' crew. Bond reprograms the British and Soviet submarines to destroy each other, saving Moscow and New York. The victorious submariners escape the sinking Liparus on the American submarine.

Bond insists on rescuing Amasova before the submarine has to follow its orders and destroy Atlantis. Bond confronts and kills Stromberg but again encounters Jaws, who he drops into a shark tank. Bond and Amasova flee in an escape pod as Atlantis is sunk. In the pod Amasova reminds Bond that she has vowed to kill him and picks up Bond's gun, but admits to having forgiven him and the two make love. The Royal Navy finds the pod and opens it in front of everyone, much to the consternation of Bond and Amasova's superiors. Meanwhile, Jaws escapes from the shark tank (after fatally biting the shark) and swims off into the sunset.

Cast

• Roger Moore as James Bond (007): A British MI6 agent assigned to investigate the theft of two submarines.
• Barbara Bach as Anya Amasova (Agent Triple X): A Soviet KGB agent also investigating the theft. Her attraction to Bond is cut short when she learns he killed her lover.
• Curt Jürgens as Karl Stromberg: Main villain. A megalomaniac planning to trigger World War III and destroy the world, then recreate a new civilisation underwater.
• Richard Kiel as Jaws: Stromberg's henchman, afflicted with gigantism. He makes repeated attempts to kill Bond and Amasova by biting them with his metal teeth. He would reprise the role in the subsequent Moonraker.
• Caroline Munro as Naomi: Stromberg's personal pilot and a would-be assassin.
• Walter Gotell as General Gogol: The head of KGB and Anya's boss. Gotell's debut in the role; he had previously appeared in From Russia with Love and would reprise the role of Gogol in the subsequent five films.
• Bernard Lee as M: The head of MI6. Lee's 10th appearance in the role.
• Desmond Llewelyn as Q: MI6's head of research and development. He supplies Bond with unique vehicles and gadgets, most notably the Lotus Esprit that converts into a submarine. Llewelyn's eighth appearance in the role.
• Lois Maxwell as Miss Moneypenny: M's secretary. Maxwell's 10th appearance in the role.
• Geoffrey Keen as Fredrick Gray: The British Minister of Defence. Keen's debut; he would appear in the role in the subsequent five films.
• George Baker as Captain Benson: A British naval officer stationed at the Royal Navy's Faslane Naval Base in Scotland. Baker had previously appeared in OHMSS.
• Edward de Souza as Sheikh Hosein: Bond's contact in Egypt, who it transpires was at Cambridge with 007.

Production

The Spy Who Loved Me in many ways was a pivotal film for the Bond franchise, and was plagued since its conception by many problems. The first was the departure of Bond producer Harry Saltzman, who was forced to sell his half of the Bond film franchise in 1975 for twenty million pounds. Saltzman had branched out into several other ventures of dubious promise and consequently was struggling through personal financial reversals unrelated to Bond. This was exacerbated by the twin personal tragedies of his wife's terminal cancer (who Roger Moore recalls passing during the filming phase of this film's production cycle) and many of the symptoms of clinical depression in himself.^[3]

Another troubling aspect to the production was the difficulty in obtaining a director. The producers approached Steven Spielberg, who was in post production of Jaws, but ultimately decided to wait to see 'how the fish picture turns out'. The first director attached to the film was Guy Hamilton, who directed the previous three Bond films as well as Goldfinger, but he left after being offered the opportunity to direct the 1978 film Superman (he was ultimately passed up for Richard Donner). EON Productions would later turn to Lewis Gilbert, who had directed the earlier Bond film You Only Live Twice.

With a director finally secured, the next hurdle was finishing the script, which had gone through several revisions by numerous writers. The initial villain of the film was Ernst Stavro Blofeld; however Kevin McClory, who owned the film rights to Thunderball forced an injunction on EON Productions against using the character of Blofeld, or his international criminal organisation, SPECTRE, which delayed production of the film further. The villain would later be changed from Blofeld to Karl Stromberg so that the injunction would not interfere with the production. Christopher Wood was later brought in by Lewis Gilbert to complete the script. Although Fleming had requested no elements from his original book be used, the novel features two thugs named Sol Horror and Sluggsy Morent. Horror is described as having steel-capped teeth, while Sluggsy had a clear bald head. These characters would be the basis for the characters of Jaws and Sandor.

Script

Broccoli commissioned a number of writers to work on the script, including Stirling Silliphant, John Landis, Ronald Hardy, Anthony Burgess, and Derek Marlowe. In the second volume of his autobiography, Burgess claims to have worked on an early treatment for the movie. British sci-fi TV producer Gerry Anderson also stated that he provided a treatment for the movie that (although originally planned to be Moonraker) ended up as The Spy Who Loved Me. Eventually, Richard Maibaum provided the screenplay and at first, he tried to incorporate ideas from all of the other writers into his script. Maibaum's original script featured an alliance of international terrorists attacking SPECTRE's headquarters and deposing Blofeld before trying to destroy the world for themselves to make way for a New World Order. However, this was shelved.

Meanwhile, Guy Hamilton, who had overseen the previous three Bond films and who was originally assigned to direct The Spy Who Loved Me, decided he wanted to direct Superman. This left the way open for Lewis Gilbert to return for direction, a decade after his success with You Only Live Twice in 1967. When he read Maibaum's script he recommended Broccoli bring in another writer, Christopher Wood, to have a go at polishing it but keeping both the notion of a supertanker that captured other ships and a new metal-toothed villain, Jaws.

Wood's proposed changes to Maibaum's draft script were agreed by Broccoli but before he could set to work there were more legal complications. In the years since Thunderball, Kevin McClory had set up two film companies and was trying to make a new Bond film in collaboration with Sean Connery and novelist Len Deighton. McClory got wind of Broccoli's plans to use SPECTRE, an organisation that had first been created by Fleming while working with McClory and Jack Whittingham on the very first attempt to film Thunderball, back even before it was a novel, in the late 1950s. McClory threatened to sue Broccoli for alleged copyright infringement, claiming that he had the sole right to include SPECTRE and its agents in all films. Not wishing to extend the already ongoing legal dispute that could have delayed the production of The Spy Who Loved Me, Broccoli requested Wood to remove all references to Blofeld and SPECTRE from the script.^[4]

In the film, Stromberg's scheme to destroy civilisation by capturing Soviet and British nuclear submarines and have them fire intercontinental ballistic missiles at two major cities is actually a recycled plot from a previous Bond film, You Only Live Twice, which involved stealing space capsules to start a war between the Soviets and the Americans. The similarity was apparent in the climax; both films involved an assault on a heavily fortified enemy that had taken refuge behind steel shutters.

The scheme in which the villain wishes to destroy mankind to create a new race or new civilisation was also used in Moonraker, the next film after The Spy Who Loved Me. In Moonraker, the villain Hugo Drax had an obsession with starting human civilisation over in space. The film Moonraker was also written by Christopher Wood.

Filming

The film was shot at the Pinewood Studios in London, Porto Cervo in Sardinia (Hotel Cala di Volpe), Egypt (Mosque of Ibn Tulun, Gayer-Anderson Museum), Malta, Scotland, Okinawa, Switzerland and Mount Asgard on Baffin Island in the then northern Canadian territory of Northwest Territories (now located in Nunavut).

In March 1976, construction began of a new sound stage at Pinewood, the 007 Stage. To complement this stage, EON also paid for building a water tank capable of storing approximately 1,200,000 gallons (4,500,000 litres). The soundstage was in fact so enormous that celebrated director Stanley Kubrick visited the production, in secret, to advise on how to light the stage.^[5]

The main unit began its work in August 1976, travelling first to Sardinia and later to Egypt for some of the film's early scenes. While in Sardinia, Moore drove the first of two Lotus Esprits that were to feature in the film. The second specially modified model was unveiled by Ken Adam and Derek Meddings in October when the second unit travelled to Nassau to film the underwater sequences.^[5] The main feature of the car was the ability to transform into a submarine. Once transformed it could unleash depth charges and smoke screens. The car seen entering the sea was a shell, propelled off the jetty by a compressed air cannon. The car was registered as PPW 306R. Only two cars of the type were available, and so the production had to requisition the Esprit from Colin Chapman, the head of the Lotus Company."^[6] Next on the schedule was the filming of Richard Kiel's first scenes as Jaws from September 5, 1976 onwards.^[7]

While construction of the Liparus set continued, the second unit headed by John Glen departed for Mount Asgard where in July 1976 they staged the film's pre-credits sequence. Bond film veteran Willy Bogner captured the action staged by stuntman Rick Sylvester who earned $30,000 for the stunt.^[8] This stunt cost $500,000 - the most expensive single movie stunt at that time.

The production team returned briefly to the UK to shoot at the Faslane submarine base before setting off to Spain, Portugal and the Bay of Biscay where the super tanker exteriors were filmed. On 5 December 1976, with principal photography finished, the 007 Stage was formally opened by the former Prime Minister Harold Wilson.^[5]

As stated on the most recent (2007) DVD commentary, a saltwater swimming pool, including a live shark, was used for Stromberg's shark tank. This footage was filmed in the Bahamas along with stunt doubles.

Music

The theme song "Nobody Does it Better" was composed by Marvin Hamlisch, written by Carole Bayer Sager, and performed by Carly Simon. It was the first theme song in the James Bond series to be titled differently from the name of the movie,^[9] although the title is in the lyric.

The song met immediate success and is featured in numerous movies including Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), Little Black Book, Lost in Translation and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004). In 2004, it was honored by the American Film Institute as the 67th greatest song as part of their 100 Years Series.

The soundtrack to the movie was composed by Marvin Hamlisch, who filled in for veteran John Barry, who was unavailable to work in the United Kingdom because of tax reasons. The soundtrack, in comparison to other Bond films of the time, is more disco-oriented and included a new disco rendition of "The James Bond Theme" entitled "Bond 77". In addition, Hamlisch incorporated into his score several pieces of classical music. For instance while feeding a duplicitous secretary to a shark, Stromberg plays Bach's "Air on the G String", that was famous for accompanying disaster-prone characters. He then plays the opening string section of the second movement, Andante, of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21 as his hideout Atlantis rises from the sea. The score also includes a piece of popular film music, as Maurice Jarre's theme from Lawrence of Arabia is played during a desert sequence.

Release and reception

The Spy Who Loved Me opened with a Royal Premiere attended by Princess Anne at the Odeon Leicester Square in London on 7 July 1977. It grossed $185.4 million worldwide,^[10] with $46 million in the United States alone.^[11] After watching the opening scene of Bond opening a Union Jack parachute to save himself from death, the reaction from the audience was like that of fans at a football game. On August 25, 2006, the film was re-released at the Empire Leicester Square Cinema for one week.^[12] It was again shown at the Empire Leicester Square 20 April 2008 when Director Lewis Gilbert attended the first digital screening of the film.

The film was received positively by most critics, with a 78% "Fresh" rating at Rotten Tomatoes^[13], but only garnering a 40% "Rotten" with its select notable "Top Critics" and is considered by some the best James Bond film to star Roger Moore.^[2] Christopher Null praised the gadgets, particularly the Lotus Esprit car.^[14] James Berardinelli of Reelviews said that the film is "suave and sophisticated", and Barbara Bach proves to be an ideal Bond girl - "attractive, smart, sexy, and dangerous".^[15] Brian Webster stated the special effects as "good for a 1979 [sic] film", and Marvin Hamlisch's music, "memorable".^[16] Danny Peary described The Spy Who Loved Me as "exceptional... For once, the big budget was not wasted. Interestingly, while the sets and gimmicks were the most spectacular to date, Bond and the other characters are toned down (there's a minimum of slapstick humour) so that they are more realistic than in other Roger Moore films. Moore gives his best performance in the series... [Bond and Anya Amasova] are an appealing couple, equal in every way. Film is a real treat - a well acted, smartly cast, sexy, visually impressive, lavishly produced, powerfully directed mix of a spy romance and a war-mission film."^[17]

The Times placed Jaws and Stromberg as the sixth and seventh best Bond villains (respectively) in the series in 2008,^[18] and also named the Esprit as the second best car in the series (behind the Aston Martin DB5).^[19]

Marvin Hamlisch was nominated for several awards such as the Academy Award for Best Song, Original Music Score, the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score, Grammy Award for Best Score for a Motion Picture and the BAFTA Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music ("Nobody Does It Better") in 1978. The film was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Art Direction (Ken Adam, Peter Lamont and Hugh Scaife)^[20] and a BAFTA for Best Production Design/Art Direction

Novelisation

When Ian Fleming sold the film rights to the James Bond novels to Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Broccoli, he gave permission only for the title The Spy Who Loved Me to be used. Since the screenplay for the film had nothing to do with Fleming's original novel, Glidrose Publications, for the first time, authorised that a novelisation 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 titled James Bond, The Spy Who Loved Me.

The novelisation and the screenplay, although both written by Wood, are somewhat different. In the novelisation SMERSH is still active and after James Bond. Their role begins during the pre-title. After the mysterious death of Fekkish, SMERSH appears yet again, this time capturing and torturing Bond for the whereabouts of the microfilm that retains plans for a submarine tracking system (Bond escapes after killing two of the interrogators). The appearance of SMERSH conflicts with a number of Bond stories, including the film The Living Daylights (1987), in which a character remarks that SMERSH has been defunct for over 20 years. It also differs from the latter half of Fleming's Bond novels in which SMERSH is mentioned to have been put out of operation. Members of SMERSH from the novelisation include Amasova and her lover Sergei Borzov as well as Colonel-General Niktin, a character from Fleming's novel From Russia, with Love who has since become the head of SMERSH. In the book, Jaws remains attached to the magnet that Bond dips into the tank, as opposed to the film where Bond releases Jaws into the water.^[21]

Broadcast television versions

American network TV broadcasts on ABC have over the years, handled Bond's shooting of Stromberg differently. Prints that aired in the 1980s show Bond only firing twice. However, the June 2002 showing on ABC edited out all but the first shot.

See also

• 007: Nightfire, a 2002 video game featuring the Atlantis setting from this film, Which also includes a submarine-car not unlike the Lotus Espirit.
• sQuba, a submersible car inspired by the movie.^[22]
• "Our Man Bashir", a 1995 episode of the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was largely based on this film.

References

Bibliography

• Wood, Christopher (2006). James Bond, The Spy I Loved. Twenty First Century Publishers. ISBN 1904433537. 

External links

• Official site
• The Spy Who Loved Me at the Internet Movie Database
• The Spy Who Loved Me at Allmovie
• The Spy Who Loved Me at Box Office Mojo
• The Spy Who Loved Me at the TCM Movie Database
• The Spy Who Loved Me at Rotten Tomatoes
• Sir Roger Moore receives lifetime achievement award at Pinewood Studios Spy Who Loved Me reunion event

Preceded by The Man with the Golden Gun

James Bond films 1977

Succeeded by Moonraker

James Bond films EON Productions Sean Connery Dr. No (1962) · From Russia with Love (1963) · Goldfinger (1964) · Thunderball (1965) · You Only Live Twice (1967) · Diamonds Are Forever (1971) George Lazenby On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) Roger Moore Live and Let Die (1973) · The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) · The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) · Moonraker (1979) · For Your Eyes Only (1981) · Octopussy (1983) · A View to a Kill (1985) Timothy Dalton The Living Daylights (1987) · Licence to Kill (1989) Pierce Brosnan GoldenEye (1995) · Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) · The World Is Not Enough (1999) · Die Another Day (2002) Daniel Craig Casino Royale (2006) · Quantum of Solace (2008) Non-EON films "Casino Royale" (Climax! episode) (1954) · Casino Royale (1967) · Never Say Never Again (1983)

Films directed by Lewis Gilbert 1940s The Little Ballerina (1944) 1950s Once a Sinner (1950) · Scarlet Thread (1951) · There Is Another Sun (1951) · Emergency Call (1952) · Time Gentlemen, Please! (1952) · Cosh Boy (1953) · Johnny on the Run (1953) · Albert R.N. (1953) · The Good Die Young (1954) · The Sea Shall Not Have Them (1954) · Cast a Dark Shadow (1955) · Reach for the Sky (1956) · The Admirable Crichton (1957) · Carve Her Name with Pride (1958) · A Cry from the Streets (1958) · Ferry to Hong Kong (1959) 1960s Light Up the Sky! (1960) · Sink the Bismarck! (1960) · The Greengage Summer (1961) · H.M.S. Defiant (1962) · The 7th Dawn (1964) · Alfie (1966) · You Only Live Twice (1967) 1970s The Adventurers (1970) · Friends (1971) · Paul and Michelle (1974) · Operation Daybreak (1975) · Seven Nights in Japan (1976) · The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) · Moonraker (1979) 1980s Educating Rita (1983) · Not Quite Paradise (1985) · Shirley Valentine (1989) 1990s Stepping Out (1991) · Haunted (1995) 2000s Before You Go (2002)