Writers Interview
10th May 2014
In this rare archive video footage, James Bond screenwriters Richard Maibaum and Tom Mankiewicz talk about the series
By MI6 Staff
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In the first interview segment, filmed in 1985, thirteen-time 007 screenwriter Richard Maibaum talks about how they never started the series too seriously, injecting humour in places, but admitting that "sometimes the spoofery became too overt." Maibaum goes on to explain that, in his opinion, the scene where 007 shoots Professor Dent in "Dr. No' is when "James Bond was born."
"There has to be a frame of reference that has some relationship to reality." - Richard Maibaum
The second segment features five-time Bond writer Tom Mankiewicz, recorded in 1995, who explains that his favourite adventures were the early years when 007 "was a semi-polished thug." Mankiewicz died in 2010 but would have seen this return to form in 2006's "Casino Royale." He cites the unveiling of the Aston Martin DB5 in "Goldfinger" as the turning point where the films "started to get bigger, and bigger, and bigger." He also reiterates that he wanted Solitaire to be played by Diana Ross in "Live And Let Die", before the studio played it safe.
"Sean [Connery] has a face with violence in it. Sean looks like a bastard." - Tom Mankiewicz
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