A Certain Point of View: Writing, Film and Stuff

From Russia With Love (1963) Written by: Johanna Harwood (adapter), Richard Maibum, Berkely Mather (uncredited) Based on: From Russia With Love, by Ian Fleming Directed by: Terence Young Starring: Sean Connery, Pedro Armendariz, Daniela Bianchi, Robert Shaw, Lotte Lenya, Bernard Lee, Lois Maxwell, Vladek Sheybal Tatiana: [Bond first meets Tatiana, who has crawled naked into his hotel bed] You look surprised. I thought you were expecting me. James Bond: So, you're Tatiana Romanova. Tatiana: My friends call me Tania. James Bond: Mine call me James Bond. SPECTREs tender trap: Daniela Bianchi in a publicity still for From Russia With Love. With the phenomenal success of 1962's Dr. No - a film that earned $59 million over a production budget of $1.1 million - producers Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Broccoli were approached by United Artists, the U.S.-based film production and distribution company which had helped EON Productions' first James Bond movi...

Dr. No (1962) Written by:  Berkeley Mather, Johanna Harwood, and Richard Maibaum. Based on Ian Fleming's novel Dr. No Directed by: Terence Young Starring: Sean Connery, Joseph Wiseman, Bernard Lee, Jack Lord, Ursula Andress, Lois Maxwell In October of 1962, shortly before the start of the Cuban Missile Crisis, United Artists released Dr. No, the first motion picture adaptation of a James Bond novel by Ian Fleming. Produced by Harry Saltzman and Albert R. "Cubby" Broccoli and directed by Terence Young, Dr. No introduced the world's best-known intelligence officer in a modestly-budgeted and comparatively low-key story pitting Bond (Sean Connery) against an enigmatic Chinese-German operative named Dr. No (Joseph Wiseman) who is sabotaging America's Project Mercury by using a powerful radio signal transmitted from his Caribbean island lair. [James Bond's first scene, winning a game of chemin-de-fer] James Bond: I admire your courage, Miss ...? Sylv...

Pros:  Fine performances by Baldwin and Connery. Cons:  Movie-wise, no. See review for quibbles. One of the things I've learned about screenplay writing is that adapting a book, particularly a popular novel, is not always an easy task. Syd Field's book, Screenplay , devotes an entire chapter to the subject of adaptation. Field points out, and I am paraphrasing here, that novels and screenplays are two different forms of writing. Each has its own rules and each one differs vastly in purpose.   A novel, for instance, is meant to be read by a large audience and each reader can read it at his or her own pace.   Screenplays, on the other hand, are the blueprints for the making of movies. Both tell a story, and if a novel is being adapted into a screenplay, often the same story. I offer this caveat because many Tom Clancy fans often feel that movie versions of their favorite novels often disappoint them. Scenes and characters - even entire subplots and/o...

“Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” (1989) Directed by Steven Spielberg Written by Jeffrey Boam, from a story by George Lucas and Menno Meyjes Starring: Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, Alison Doody, Denholm Elliott, Julian Glover, Michael Byrne, John Rhys-Davies, River Phoenix Fedora: You've got heart, kid. (indicates cross) Fedora: But that belongs to me. Indy: It belongs to Coronado. Fedora: Coronado is dead. And so are all his grandchildren. Indy: This should be in a museum! As a result of the mixed critical reaction to “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” director Steven Spielberg told his friend (and executive producer)  George Lucas that the next chapter of the trilogy needed to evoke the lighter, more fun spirit of “Raiders of the Lost Ark.”   Lucas first suggested a story that featured a haunted castle, but Spielberg rejected that idea because it was too similar to “Poltergeist.”  Lucas then pitched a plot that involved the Ho...