1965: "Thunderball" and the heavenly choirs of 007
Wednesday, October 7, 2020 at 10:30PM By Deborah Lipp, author of The Ultimate James Bond Fan Book
But of course, I forgot your ego, Mr. Bond. James Bond, who only has to make love to a woman and she starts to hear heavenly choirs singing. She repents, and immediately returns to the side of right and virtue. But not this one.
The first, and arguably greatest femme fatale of the James Bond movies was introduced in 1965’s Thunderball, the fourth James Bond movie. Fiona Volpe, played by Luciana Paluzzi was both thunderously femme and stunningly fatale. We meet her as the very sensual, very beautiful lover of Francois Derval. Soon, though, she is supervising his murder and replacement by a surgical double. Next, she is the mysterious motorcyclist who murders a SPECTRE agent who was indiscreet.
So, before Bond ever encounters her, she’s shown us the full range of thrills and chills; sex, death, and speed...
Luciana Paluzzi as "Fiona Volpe" in Thunderball
This continues when Bond encounters her in the Bahamas. Fast driving, sex, and danger—he never really gets the upper hand, and although eventually (being a villain) she is killed, she gives him more of a run for his money than almost any villain ever has. For one thing, her henchmen manage to shoot him, and follow a trail of blood. Bond won’t be shot again until Skyfall, almost fifty years later.
All the dialogue between Bond and Fiona sparkles, but the quote above is among my favorites of all quotes from any James Bond movie. She has sparred with Bond, and had “wild” sex with him, but she is unbowed. She is not to be swayed or imagined to be in love. All in all, it’s an amazing declaration from an amazing character.
But it gets you thinking: To what and whom is Fiona referring, and how does she know? Is this bit of dialogue purely a violation of the fourth wall? Does Bond really make love to women who then “repent”? As Thunderball was only the fourth Bond movie, it isn’t too difficult to look back.
Bond and Miss Taro
Dr. No (1962)
Bond makes love with three women. Sylvia Trench is unconnected to the action. Honey Ryder, the main “Bond girl,” is unallied—she happens to meet Bond during the course of his adventure. Miss Taro works for Dr. No, the villain, but does not repent or change sides after sleeping with Bond.
From Russia with Love (1963)
Sylvia Trench returns, still with no connection to the main story. Bond sleeps with a pair of gypsy women, but the main Bond girl is Tatiana (Tanya) Romanova. Tanya is, indeed, working for SPECTRE, and Fiona Volpe, as a senior SPECTRE operative, would have known about this mission. (Thunderball has that marvelous scene of a SPECTRE meeting, discussing various operations, so we know that Fiona, as “SPECTRE #3," would have heard such a report.)
It’s absolutely true that Tanya is sent to sleep with Bond, and that, having slept with him, she falls in love and changes sides. It’s also true, though, that Tanya was a dupe. She had no idea she was working for SPECTRE; she was fooled into thinking the mission was for Mother Russia, and previously, she was simply a clerk. Perhaps Fiona is comparing herself to Tanya, but they’re really nothing alike.
Goldfinger (1964)
Now, here it gets interesting. Bond again makes love with three women; Dink, unconnected to the action, Jill Masterson (the famous “golden girl”), and Pussy Galore. Jill and Pussy are both working for the villain, Goldfinger, and both change sides. (In fairness, Jill sleeps with Bond after betraying Goldfinger, but she’s certainly attracted the moment she sees him, and that does seem to be her prime motivation.)
This stuff here appears to be exactly what Fiona is talking about. The magic Bond penis has turned these women against their loyalty to Goldfinger and “to the side of right and virtue.”
There’s only one problem. There’s no way Fiona Volpe, or SPECTRE, could have known these details. Auric Goldfinger was a private businessman, and not connected to SPECTRE. Jill did not betray Goldfinger about the Fort Knox plot, but about a minor card-playing cheat. Pussy did betray the major operation, but it’s hard to see how SPECTRE knew this, especially since Goldfinger died at the end of the film.
What do you think? Were Fiona’s heavenly choirs singing to the fourth wall, or is it plausible she knew all about Pussy Galore?
Reader Comments (7)
Somewhere in the diegetic 007 universe there must be cases, not committed to film that Fiona Volpe would have heard of, that or she just assumed he was a typical egocentric straight man of that era.
Bond... James Bond... my mother and I were really hoping to see the new film as a tribute to my dad as he was a big James Bond fan.
Being Italian, it’s a great pleasure to read about Luciana Paluzzi and her enduring character, Fiona Volpe. One of friend of mine is a great fan of her
Viva La Paluzzi! If anything, we were robbed of a catfight for the ages, Luciana Paluzzi vs Martine Beswick, to think of what could have been. They insisted on the same mistake in Never Say Never Again, making a disservice to the best female Bond villain ever, beyond-the-top Barbara Carrera as a psychotic, deadly physical, clothes whore with a way with snakes, needles and wet swimwear, she fell victim to herself but never to any male.
Dan Humphrey is probably right. And even if she didn't specifically know Bond's past, she recognized that tactic he was using on her. He thought he could seduce her physically and spiritually. Her retort to him is basically telling a virile straight man with an ego that he was a lousy lay.
Side note: as great as her performance was, part of me wishes Paluzzi wasn't in the movie. She said this film ruined her career and offers stopped coming to her after the movie.
Thanks for this article! Thunderball is one of my favourite Bond films, Fiona Volpe is perhaps my favourite character in it, and Luciana Paluzzi is just wonderful in the role.
Your suggestion of breaking the fourth wall gave me pause for thought. I think I too would agree with Dan Humphrey and Tom G. that Fiona's takedown of Bond's character is more intuition than knowledge of his past. I think it's fair to say that she may have heard a fair bit about him through Spectre channels. But primarily she comes across as a character who is super-sharp at reading other people. She even knows how to handle Largo.
Another word, too, for Barbara Carrera, brilliant as Fatima Blush - the Fiona character - in Never Say Never Again. Lest we forget, she was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance, well deserved! But it was Paluzzi who set the template. How lucky we are two have two excellent performances of this character.
I like your suggestion, Dan Humphrey. There are certainly moments when Bond hints at adventures between films (such as a conversation with Leiter in Goldfinger).