On board, we finally hear Grant’s voice. He introduces
himself as “Nash, Captain Nash” in a rather posh, English accent. It’s clear
that Bond doesn’t fully trust him, and he subtly tests him. Grant passes,
however, and Bond takes him to the compartment.
Bond explains the situation. “Nash” tells him not to worry,
that he’ll get them back to London okay, but requests that they have a bite to
eat first. Bond agrees he sends him on ahead with Tania. After they leave, Bond
investigates the attaché case Nash was carrying, and finds it to be the same as
his, confirming that he’s MI6.
In the restaurant car, Bond and Grant make small talk. They
all order grilled sole, with Grant asking for a red Chianti. The meal passes
amicably, apart from one moment where Grant “accidentally” knocks Tania’s glass
over. As he’s refilling it for her, he slips some tablets in.
Shortly after that, they head back to the compartment. Tania
complains of not feeling well, and passes out. They lay her on the bed and move
to the other compartment. At this point, Bond tells Grant he knows that Tania
was drugged by him, and pulls his gun out. Grant plays it off as being
necessary to the plan: they can escape with either Tania or the Lektor, but not
both. This sounds reasonable, and Bond drops his guard. Grant takes the
opportunity and whacks him on the back of the head.
Bond falls to the floor, stunned. In an instant, Grant
switches from a smarmy, upper-class twat to an ice-cold psychopath. He loots
Bond’s body, then stands back as Bond regains his consciousness. Held at
gunpoint, Bond is ordered to get on his knees and put his hands in his pockets.
Bond observes:
“Red wine with fish. That should have told me something.”
Ah yes, ordering the wrong sort of wine. A classic faux
pas. I didn’t realise part of MI6 training was to be a wine snob. Bond,
thinking he’s got Grant figured out, casually tells him that he knows he works
for SMERSH. Grant corrects him, and Bond realises at last that the true
villains are SPECTRE. He also realises that SPECTRE have been playing both
sides off against each other. Grant admits to being responsible for pretty much
all the murders up to this point. He also tells Bond that he saved his life at
the gypsy camp, and more or less explains the entire plan to Bond – including
the fact that Tania is not in on it, she thinks she’s working for Mother
Russia. And both Bond and Tania are now expendable. Grant also drops Klebb’s
name and shows Bond the sex tape.
At this point, you probably are wondering why Grant is
telling Bond all this, as opposed to simply shooting him, which is the next
part of the plan. There is an answer, though: Grant may be a stone-cold killer,
but he also is egotistical, narcissistic, and greedy. He’s getting a kick out
of telling Bond what an idiot he’s been, and is enjoying his gloating. Needless
to say, this is going to be his downfall.
Bond, sensing that Grant may have a mercenary approach to
his work, offers to pay him off. Grant doesn’t take the bait. Bond instead
requests a cigarette, which Grant also denies. Bond then offers to pay fifty
gold sovereigns for it. Grant hesitates. He asks where the money is. Bond tells
him it’s in his attaché case. Grant tosses the case to Bond, who opens it and
produces the money.
And then Grant gets a bit too greedy for his own good, as
Bond suspected he would. Grant asks if there are any more in Nash’s case. Bond
admits that there probably are, since the attaché case is standard issue. He
quickly grabs the case to open it, but Grant stops him, knowing that there’s a
gun in the case. Grant instead opens the case himself. Of course, Bond wasn’t
after the gun; he wanted to trick Grant into opening the case and setting off
the teargas. Grant opens the case the wrong way and it explodes in his face.
What follows is one of the best fights in cinematic history.
Forget over-the-top, expertly-choreographed martial arts.
This is two men beating the crap out of each other. The fight is brutal,
close-quarters, no-holds-barred combat.
Ultimately, Grant attempts to strangle Bond with his
garrotte watch. Bond manages to get the knife hidden in the attaché case, which
he uses to stab Grant in the arm. This causes Grant to falter long enough for
Bond to turn the tables and use the deadly watch against its owner, choking
him. Grant finally dies.
Exhausted, Bond retrieves his belongings from Grant –
including the sex tape – and goes to wake Tania up, now knowing that she is
innocent (well, not as guilty as he thought, anyway). He feels the train
slowing down and realises what is happening – it’s Grant’s escape plan. Time to
get off!
The route is temporarily blocked by a truck. Tania is
groggy, but Bond manhandles her off the train. Once it moves on, he sneaks up
on Grant’s cohort, and knocks him out. He ties the man up and places him in the
truck, then bundles Tania into the back on top of a load of flowers.
As another day dawns, Bond, Tania and Random Mook are
travelling across country when trouble arrives: a SPECTRE helicopter flies
overhead, presumably dispatched to find out what has become of Grant. They see
Tania in the back and realise that something is up. They motion to Bond to
stop. Bond, obviously, ignores them and keeps going. Seeing that something a
little less subtle is required, the SPECTRE goons try a new tactic: grenades!
They drop the grenades in an attempt to disable the truck. It works, and Bond
is forced to stop. He instructs Tania to hide under the truck while he draws
their attention. He takes off on foot, armed with his attaché case and folding
sniper rifle.
The helicopter tries to run Bond over, and on a few
occasions, very nearly succeeds.
Bond manages to find a small hollow created by two rocks,
and uses it for cover. As the helicopter circles around for another attack,
Bond assembles his rifle. The helicopter hovers directly overhead and the mook
prepares to drop another grenade. Bond is faster, though, and shoots him in the
arm, causing him to drop the grenade – inside the helicopter.
Enemies dispatched, Bond reunites with the now-awake Tania
and they drive off. Arriving at a small dock, they hop onto a boat, Bond
pausing to nick the keys off the truck driver. He takes the goon onto the boat
with them, but shortly after setting off, he tosses the poor chump into the
water. Tania checks a locker and finds some charts and a flare gun. Bond
examines the charts and plots their course. Destination: Venice.
Leaving Bond and Tania for a moment, we cut back to see what
SPECTRE are up to. News of Grant’s death has reached them, and Blofeld is not a
happy bunny. Kronsteen and Klebb try to place the blame on one another.
Blofeld, however, has already made up his mind as to who is responsible.
Morzeny enters. He presses one shoe against the other, and out pops a small
blade.
Blofeld makes it very clear – if you fail SPECTRE, this is
what happens:
Kronsteen, Blofeld feels, was responsible for the failure,
and a bit of an arrogant bastard to boot. So he literally gets the boot. The
blade is tipped with venom, and Kronsteen dies in twelve seconds flat. Blofeld
casually remarks that they should find a faster-working venom. He then speaks
to Klebb, who is looking positively terrified. He orders her to retrieve the
Lektor, no matter what. Klebb, trembling, tells him she will do so.
Back with Bond and Tania, who are merrily sailing along.
Their happiness is short-lived, however, as Morzeny turns up with a flotilla of
SPECTRE goons to ruin their day. Bond takes evasive action. The mooks open fire
on them. Bullets rake across the back of Bond’s boat, puncturing all of the
drums of fuel. Bond gets an idea. He releases the drums and they all fall into
the water. When Morzeny catches up to them, he orders the SPECTRE boats to slow
down to investigate. This is exactly what Bond wants. He grabs the flare pistol
and takes aim at the fuel drums. You can probably guess what happens next.
All the SPECTRE boats are instantly aflame. They explode,
with Morzeny dying a fiery death. Bond remarks:
“There’s a saying in England: where there’s smoke, there’s
fire.”
Later, Bond and Tania have arrived safely in Venice. They’re
enjoying themselves in a hotel room, and are ready to depart. As Bond is
getting his stuff together, a strangely-familiar maid enters to tidy up. The
phone rings and Bond answers. Tania walks in and sees the “maid”. She freezes. The
maid attempts to walk off with the Lektor, but Bond stops her. He turns away
for a moment. Then he looks back and sees:
Why, that’s no maid! It’s actually Rosa Klebb, making a
last-ditch attempt to steal the Lektor! She orders Bond to put the phone down
and he does so. He raises his arms in surrender. Klebb orders Tania to get the
door. Tania hesitates, but does as she is told. Klebb hands her the Lektor and
Tania leaves. Klebb prepares to shoot Bond.
Wham! Tania comes bursting back through the door, knocking
the gun out of Klebb’s hand. Tania throws herself on the pistol, preventing
Klebb from getting it. Bond moves forward, but Klebb has another trick up her
sleeve, or rather, in her shoe:
She’s wearing the knife-shoes. Bond grabs a chair and pins her
to the wall, while she flails at him, trying to kick him. Meanwhile, Tania
grabs the gun. She takes aim, but who to shoot? Klebb, saving the love of her
life? Or Bond, following orders from Mother Russia? She pauses, torn, but then
realises where her heart truly lies:
With an agonised cry, Klebb dies. Bond sits on the chair,
relieved.
“Horrible woman,” says Tania.
“Yes,” Bond replies. “She’s had her kicks.”
With Klebb dead, Bond and Tania are safe. As the theme song
kicks in, they cuddle in a gondola. Bond moves in for a kiss, but Tania is
embarrassed: there are people watching. This reminds Bond of one loose end. He
reaches into his pocket and pulls out the sex tape he took off Grant. Looking
at the reel, he seems impressed with the contents. Well, he would be. He tosses
the reel into the water, waves it goodbye, and sinks out of frame with Tania.
And thus concludes Bond’s second mission. Like I said, this
is one of the most realistic ones. More so than Dr No, it sticks very
closely to the plot of the novel, and is very much a Cold War spy thriller. It
is generally very highly rated, and features a more complex and intelligent
plot that many later Bond films. Although the Bond films wouldn’t evolve into
what is traditionally thought of as a “Bond film” until the next one, still,
this film has all the classic elements Dr No introduced and more besides.
We have exotic locations, a beautiful girl, a group of cold, calculating
villains, and several exciting set pieces. It also builds on what Dr No
started. We learn more about SPECTRE, the villainous organisation Doctor No
worked for; we meet a villain who is actually a physical rather than mental
threat to Bond; it introduces Q as we know him, who provides Bond with his
first proper gadget; and it features both a pre-credits scene and a theme song.
All these would become standard in subsequent films. All in all, this is a
classic Bond film.
But the next one is where things really kick off.
JAMES BOND WILL RETURN IN
For cast and crew
details, check here
Screencaps courtesy of
screenmusings.org
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