Why are the James Bond stories named the way they are?

[Captaindemotion]

^ And Quantum is the name of the organisation he's fighting against.

[doubleohfive]

In the books, Doctor No explains his name: "Doctor" obviously comes from his advanced education; "No" comes from his own father's complete and total abandonment of Doctor No as a child.

I've not read You Only Live Twice yet, but from the film alone the title's origin is quite obvious -- Bond is "assassinated" in the pre-titles tease, only to be "resurrected" for his mission.

"The World is Not Enough" comes from the Latin translation, roughly modified from the direct translation "the world is insufficient," which is the Bond family credo, and seen on his family crest.

Mr. Laser Beam wrote:

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Quantum of Solace is a reference to the fact that even if Bond gets revenge against those responsible for Vesper's death, he won't get much satisfaction from it. Only a tiny amount - a "quantum" of solace.

That's the context of title in the film, there's more to it regarding the short story, and though it may not be as "exciting" a context as that for the film, the original context of the title from the short story is much more human, much more believable.

The short story starts with Bond being bored and annoyed at having to go to some dinner at an island governor's house. There, after the party, Bond notices some chatterbox old lady and her husband, and is further annoyed by the simplicity of the evening. There's no excitement, no derring-do. Just coffee and dessert. BORE-ING. The governor tells him a story all about a woman who came to the island years ago as flight attendant and met one of his officers, a bookish, nerdy guy.

Eventually they got married, but it wasn't long before she began running around on her husband, going from affair to affair while everyone on the Caribbean Island they lived on knew about it except her husband. This goes on for years until finally the husband goes away on assignment. He returns, and promptly explains to her in no uncertain terms that they will remain married publicly, but that they will sleep in different beds, she will do all the house-cleaning, and take care of the domestic responsibilities of home. They will not vacation together, they will not even eat together. He had lost all empathy and affection for her, and being that she was otherwise penniless, she had to comply.

This goes on for years, after which the husband finally divorces her after selling off his house and property, and leaves her behind --broke, homeless and with nowhere to go. He's never heard from again.

Bond then asks what happened? Why didn't the husband help her out, even if he was going to leave?

The governor tells him there are some evils people commit that are so awful, so hurtful to us that they can't ever be forgiven. For a relationship to work, for a romantic relationship to work especially, both partners must have a quantum of solace -- that tiny spark of empathy for this person you love-- to continue to work through whatever hardships may arise. The officer clearly had reached a point, thanks to his now-ex-wife's shenanigans where the quantum of solace -- that last spark -- had been snuffed out entirely.

Bond shrugs it off, but reconsiders when the governor reveals that the destitute flight attendant who had so horribly scarred her husband after all those years of cheating on him was in fact the elderly, chatterbox woman Bond had met earlier. Bond is renewed with enthusiasm about the more mundane aspects of life, seeing again that even though some people can put up a good facade, just underneath all of us is a dark underbelly of our baggage, our sins, and our mistakes.

I might be misremembering some details, but that's the gist of it.

[ToddPence]

"The Spy Who Loved Me" and "Quantum of Solace" stories are both attempts by Fleming to depart from the usual Bond formula. "Spy" has a female narrator, the only story in the Bond canon that is told from a first-person narration. "Quantum" was an attempt by Fleming to tell a story in a pastiche of his literary idol Somerset Maugham. There was really no reason for it to be a Bond story, but perhaps Fleming felt that it would sell better if Bond appeared in it. That considered, I'm surprised Bond didn't put in an appearance in "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang".

[JacksonArcher]

doubleohfive wrote:

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That's the context of title in the film, there's more to it regarding the short story, and though it may not be as "exciting" a context as that for the film, the original context of the title from the short story is much more human, much more believable.

The short story starts with Bond being bored and annoyed at having to go to some dinner at an island governor's house. There, after the party, Bond notices some chatterbox old lady and her husband, and is further annoyed by the simplicity of the evening. There's no excitement, no derring-do. Just coffee and dessert. BORE-ING. The governor tells him a story all about a woman who came to the island years ago as flight attendant and met one of his officers, a bookish, nerdy guy.

Eventually they got married, but it wasn't long before she began running around on her husband, going from affair to affair while everyone on the Caribbean Island they lived on knew about it except her husband. This goes on for years until finally the husband goes away on assignment. He returns, and promptly explains to her in no uncertain terms that they will remain married publicly, but that they will sleep in different beds, she will do all the house-cleaning, and take care of the domestic responsibilities of home. They will not vacation together, they will not even eat together. He had lost all empathy and affection for her, and being that she was otherwise penniless, she had to comply.

This goes on for years, after which the husband finally divorces her after selling off his house and property, and leaves her behind --broke, homeless and with nowhere to go. He's never heard from again.

Bond then asks what happened? Why didn't the husband help her out, even if he was going to leave?

The governor tells him there are some evils people commit that are so awful, so hurtful to us that they can't ever be forgiven. For a relationship to work, for a romantic relationship to work especially, both partners must have a quantum of solace -- that tiny spark of empathy for this person you love-- to continue to work through whatever hardships may arise. The officer clearly had reached a point, thanks to his now-ex-wife's shenanigans where the quantum of solace -- that last spark -- had been snuffed out entirely.

Bond shrugs it off, but reconsiders when the governor reveals that the destitute flight attendant who had so horribly scarred her husband after all those years of cheating on him was in fact the elderly, chatterbox woman Bond had met earlier. Bond is renewed with enthusiasm about the more mundane aspects of life, seeing again that even though some people can put up a good facade, just underneath all of us is a dark underbelly of our baggage, our sins, and our mistakes.

I might be misremembering some details, but that's the gist of it.

That's fascinating. I'm going to have to read that short story now. I've always been intrigued by the more human elements to the Bond mythology, which is why I like the Craig Bond movies so much because they tap into that human element more so than any of the previous Bonds in my opinion.

[Chrisisall]

G2309 wrote:

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Tomorrow never Dies was meant to be called Tommorow never lies. Which I think is a far better title.

Yes, yes it is. Oh well.

[doubleohfive]

@ JacksonArcher --- It's one of my favorite Bond stories for precisely this reason. I mean, the other fantastical elements of the movies and books are obviously a major draw, but this particular yarn was quite compelling, and I was rather disappointed that no variation of the tale the governor tells Bond appeared in the final film.

[LaxScrutiny]

'You only live twice: Once when you're born. And once when you look death in the face.'

[scotpens]

Allyn Gibson wrote:

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The Spy Who Loved Me was a novel, though Bond's appearance in the book amounts to a short story-sized chunk of text.

More like a novella, actually. Fleming attempted, not altogether convincingly, to write in the first person as a female character.

doubleohfive wrote:

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I've not read You Only Live Twice yet, but from the film alone the title's origin is quite obvious -- Bond is “assassinated” in the pre-titles tease, only to be ”resurrected” for his mission.

That happens only in the movie, which has little to do with the book. All that Fleming's novel and Roald Dahl's screenplay have in common is the Japanese setting and some character names. The novel was written after On Her Majesty's Secret Service, and focuses on Bond's seeking revenge against Blofeld for the murder of his bride Tracy. The fake-death gimmick was a heavy-handed attempt to justify the title.

[Australis]

Diamonds Are Forever: the book was about diamond smuggling, the movie about a diamond-driven laser or similar gubbins.

Moonraker: the book was about a missile of that name which was built by a Nazi who had disguised himself as a British soldier at the end of WW2. While he was supposed to be simply testing a missile, the villain (Drax) had fitted it with a nuclear warhead and was going to send it to London. The movie was about a shuttlecraft of that name. When the book was released in the US, it was under the title Too Hot To Handle. Not many people know that.

You Only Live Twice: the title comes from Bond's attempt at a haiku, as someone wrote it above.

Octopussy: the short story was about Bond being assigned to apprehend a hero of the Second World War implicated in a murder involving a cache of Nazi gold. Bond appears briefly in this story, which is told mostly in flashback and from the point of view of Major Dexter Smythe. He tries to befriend a poisonous octopus which prevents Bond from arresting him, the hardway. The movie had a completely different story and introduced a female protagonist as Octopussy who is said to be the major's daughter.

There y'go.

[23skidoo]

Starkers wrote:

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I didn't think Felming disliked the book, I thought it was down to the critical slagging off it got pissing him off? I actually quite like it, its very different, even if as you say 007 is barely in it.

As I understand it, Fleming was somewhat uncomfortable with the book, as it was a complete change of pace for him. It's written in first person from a female point of view, and most of the book is her autobiography (including a jaw-droppingly graphic description - even by today's standards - of her losing her virginity). Fleming came up with the fiction that someone else wrote the book and gave him the manuscript (a bit of an attempt at making it seem as if Bond was real, a concept later picked up on by John Pearson's forgotten 1973 James Bond novel, "James Bond: The Authorized Biography of 007"). Perhaps he felt the book wouldn't work as a film story. Or maybe he was embarrassed. It's a matter of record that he prevented any UK paperback edition during his lifetime (it eventually came out a couple years after he died).

Most of the titles are covered, except for these:

Risico: The word is Italian for "risk" and comes from the first line of the short story in which an ally of Bond's basically talks about being involved a risky business ("This piziness is much risico").

The Hildebrand Rarity: name of a fish featured in the story.

The Property of a Lady: name given to a Fabrege egg on auction and the centre of a fund-raising scheme by a double-agent. This is actually one of the few cases where a title's origin has coincided with the movie (as the story forms part of the plot of Octopussy).

Moonraker: named for the rocket, of course. The name itself comes from part of a sail on a sailing vessel. Apparently there were some issues with this title because the book came out around the same time as another book called The Moonraker was published. In the US it was initially retitled Too Hot to Handle. And apparently one title considered for the book was Mondays Are Hell!

Casino Royale: Obviously named for the location featured in the book. The original US edition carried the title You Asked for It, which I believe comes from a line of dialogue in the novel.

Just a quick list of the Fleming canon to make sure we have all his titles covered (list doesn't include Kingsley Amis (aka Robert Markham), Pearson, Gardner, Benson, Higson or Faulks)):

Casino Royale (1953)
Live and Let Die (1954)
Moonraker (1955)
Diamonds Are Forever (1956)
From Russia with Love (1957)
Dr. No (1958)
Goldfinger (1959)
For Your Eyes Only (1960) - short story collection consisting of "From a View to a Kill", "For Your Eyes Only", "Quantum of Solace", "Risico" and "The Hildebrand Rarity"
Thunderball (1961)
The Spy Who Loved Me (1962)
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1963)
You Only Live Twice (1964)
The Man with the Golden Gun (posthumous, 1965)
Octopussy and the Living Daylights (posthumous, 1966) - short story collection initially consisting of "Octopussy" and "The Living Daylights". Later editions added "The Property of a Lady" and "007 in New York"

No "lost" Fleming Bond stories have ever been found, except for a fragment of either a short story or novel, and also Fleming had a title in consideration: "My Enemy's Enemy" which was based on the phrase "my enemy's enemy is my friend".

From "Licence to Kill" to "Die Another Day" none of the film titles came from any of Fleming's stories, though both Licence to Kill and Die Another Day incorporated plot elements and characters from the Fleming canon (LtK adapted parts of Live and Let Die and featured characters from The Hildebrand Rarity; Die Another Day was actually a partial adaptation of the original Moonraker novel (Miranda Frost was even named Gala Brand at one point - the name of the Bond girl in the book) and also borrowed a character name from the Amis/Markham novel Colonel Sun.

Alex

[Christopher]

ToddPence wrote:

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That considered, I'm surprised Bond didn't put in an appearance in "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang".

"Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" could almost be the name of a Bond girl...

[Captaindemotion]

^ Or a variation on 'Mr Kiss Kiss Bang Bang', which is how Bond is sometimes referred to (offscreen).

Perhaps the flying car was invented by Q department?

[Saul]

doubleohfive wrote:

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The officer clearly had reached a point, thanks to his now-ex-wife's shenanigans where the quantum of solace -- that last spark -- had been snuffed out entirely.

When the title of the movie was released Craig also mentioned this while talking to the press. The Quantum of Solace in a relationship and how if you don't have it then it's over.

[ToddPence]

Anyone who is a fan of the Bond novels ever notice that the openings to "Moonraker" and "Goldfinger" are pretty much the same? Bond is asked in a civilian role to help expose the main villian as a cheat at cards and does so in a spectacular manner. Then he is immediately, by an amazing coincidence, given an assignment as an agent to then shadow that villian.

[The Borgified Corpse]

Captaindemotion wrote:

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^ Or a variation on 'Mr Kiss Kiss Bang Bang', which is how Bond is sometimes referred to (offscreen).

Didn't they consider using Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang as the title for the movie that eventually became Thunderball? (Or was that just going to be the title of the Thunderball theme song?)