'Battle for Bond' book

[author]

As you know, having read the book, Fleming and McClory had the luxury of Bryce's fortune, so they could, in effect, reach for the sky. That was until reality dawned on Fleming that the Bond film was going to cost a hell of a lot more than he'd reckoned for, and that if it flopped would financially ruin his best friend, Ivar Bryce. it is a cautionary tale indeed and how business can sometimes destroy relationships.

[mariocki]

Unfortunately, The Bookseller reports :

Licence revoked: Bond pulped.

07.03.08 Graeme Neill

Tomahawk Press has been forced to pulp a title containing details of a plagiarism case involving James Bond author Ian Fleming, following a request from the Fleming estate.

The independent publisher was due to deliver copies of The Battle for Bond by Robert Sellers to the Fleming Trust's lawyers for pulping yesterday [Thursday]. The book covers the 40-year legal battle over the rights to the screen version of James Bond.

It was published in June 2007, and Tomahawk publisher Bruce Sachs was contacted by the Fleming Trust's lawyers, Olswang, in September. They claimed that a number of court documents published in the book constituted a breach of copyright, and requested that the book be pulped.

Sachs maintains that the publication of the documents in the book can be justified through fair use. However, he said that he cannot afford to fight the case, so he had no option but to deliver the 300 remaining copies to Olswang this week. "It's a shame because it is a really important piece of James Bond history," Sachs said.

Paul Stevens, head of intellectual property at Olswang, said that the letters formed part of the literary archive belonging to the Fleming Trust. "Because they formed part of the estate, we asked Tomahawk to stop publishing the book," he said. He added that the papers did not form part of the public record of the case, so could not be used.

Tomahawk will publish a second edition of the book this May. It will remove the contentious documents, and move all pictures into a dedicated section at the centre of the book. It will also include a new introduction outlining why a second edition had to be published. "The intention is to aim the book not only at film academics and Bond fans, but the general public as well," Sachs said.

[dremble wedge]

Just finished this and very interesting it was too.

I think the plaudit from Len Deighton on the back gets it just about right -
"Anyone with a desire to go into the entertainment world should read this... it should be enough to change to change their minds".

The only person to come out of proceedings at all well is the unfortunate Jack Whittingham who had the least to show from the messy series of court actions.

Ian Fleming and Ivar Bryce come across as dismissive toffs with no sense of honour and Kevin McClory is presented as being even worse!

McClory's hubris is worthy of an opera. A man who was given great wealth through no talent of his own, by virtue of the court case settlement and then proceeded to spend the rest of his life looking for recognition that he didn't deserve as the creative inspiration behind the Bond films.

I think its very telling that whilst McClory had the rights to remake Thunderball the only time it ever happened (as Never Say Never Again) was when he handed over creative control to someone else!

[christoph404]

The book has indeed been withdrawn from bookshops for legal reasons and Im kicking myself for not buying it when it first came out! Used copies are on sale on Amazon starting from £75 to £95, a collectors item already. Thats a bit of a shame, does anyone want to lend me their copy to read?!

[dremble wedge]

Originally Posted by christoph404 The book has indeed been withdrawn from bookshops for legal reasons and Im kicking myself for not buying it when it first came out! Used copies are on sale on Amazon starting from £75 to £95, a collectors item already. Thats a bit of a shame, does anyone want to lend me their copy to read?!

I borrowed mine from the local library and the copy hasn't been pulled from there yet.

Could be an option to try your local branch and order it if they don't have it?

[christoph404]

Managed to source a copy of the book from a bookshop in Ireland! Its in the post to me, Kevin McClory obviously has a following in his homeland!

[mariocki]

Forbidden Planet in London had 7 copies on display earlier today. (They only have 6 now though ) It scans at £19:99 but at the till it's £16:99. I think it's still shown as available to order on their website. Looks like a good read.

[christoph404]

Yes, Im half way through reading it now, its fascinating stuff and very well researched. The book disapeared from the bookstores for a little while as it was involved in a legal copyright wrangle with the Flemming estate that prevented further distribution, and resulted in pulping of existing copies in the publishers warehouse. I think bookstores who already had stocks of the book are able to sell them and it is due for a new edition minus the reproduction of some court letters that appeared in the original book. I would highly recommend it whether you are a Bond fan or not, its a cautionery tale about how showbiz, greed and ambition can ruin friendships and careers and health as well as a fascinating insight into the genesis of Bond. It is ironic that a book dealing with a major copyright issue over "Thunderball" should itself be silenced over a copyright issue, in this case reproducing some court letters from the original McClory versus Flemming trial.

[Moor Larkin]

There's another one called 'The Bond Code' isn't there?

Amazon.co.uk: Bond Code - The Dark World of Ian Fleming and James Bond: Philip Gardiner: Books

I remember coming across some weird youtube advert for it, ages ago. It's a centenary or something isn't it? This is why BBC are suddenly bursting into Flemings apparently?

Do Bond Films bear any relation to the books? I've never read one.......

[christoph404]

Originally Posted by Moor Larkin There's another one called 'The Bond Code' isn't there? Amazon.co.uk: Bond Code - The Dark World of Ian Fleming and James Bond: Philip Gardiner: Books I remember coming across some weird youtube advert for it, ages ago. It's a centenary or something isn't it? This is why BBC are suddenly bursting into Flemings apparently? Do Bond Films bear any relation to the books? I've never read one.......

There is an Ian Fleming/James Bond centenary exhibition in London at the moment, I think its at the War Museum and there is a book to go with it. It deals with Flemings time as a commander in the secret service during the war and how he developed Bond. The Bond novels are much more sadistic than the films and have more explicit sexual content, I would say the films are very different in tone, there is not much humour in the novels either. For the movies the sadism was toned down and the humour and gadgetry toned up.In my view they are two very different entities but I have only read four of the books and I have seen all of the films. Ironically Fleming's most successful novel was "Thunderball" and it is also the most successful Bond film ever (taking inflation into account) but Fleming based the novel "Thunderball" on a film script written and devised by Kevin McClory and Jack Whittingham and didn't seek permmision or acknowledge that fact. McClory sued Fleming for plagarism and Fleming caved in and settled out of court 9 days into the trial. The result was catastrophic for Fleming, the novel to this day has to carry the footnote "based on a screenplay by Kevin McClory and Jack Whittigham". McClory won substantial damages and a share of royalties from the book as well as the sole rights to produce a film of "Thunderball". Fleming died of a heart attack less than a year after the trial and was in the process of being sued by screenwriter Whittigham for further damages on the back of McClory's success. There is a view that the stress and pressure of it all sent Fleming to an early grave with a heart attack.

[Moor Larkin]

Originally Posted by christoph404 The Bond novels are much more sadistic than the films and have more explicit sexual content, I would say the films are very different in tone, there is not much humour in the novels either. For the movies the sadism was toned down and the humour and gadgetry toned up.In my view they are two very different entities but I have only read four of the books and I have seen all of the films.

I must admit it had never dawned on me how contemporary the books became with the movies:
Ian Fleming Bibliography of UK & US First Editions James Bond 007
I had always imagined he'd written them all before the movie franchise came along (a bit like Leslie Chateris and 'The Saint'). I wonder how influenced his writing was by the films after 1961. I have read elsewhere that Terence Young and his team pretty much made up the movie Dr. No, as they went along, because the script was pretty ropey; so I'm guessing that one had little relation to the original book at all.

Authorship is a strange brew sometimes.

[SEXTON BLAKE]

The film toned down the more outragous images in the book, Dr No is tall, bald with hooks for hands and more like Fu Manchu who dies buried under a mountain of bird dung! Bond also fights an octopus!

[batman]

Originally Posted by SEXTON BLAKE The film toned down the more outragous images in the book, Dr No is tall, bald with hooks for hands and more like Fu Manchu who dies buried under a mountain of bird dung! Bond also fights an octopus!

And Honey walks naked from the sea.

Apart from those it is one of the more faithful entries in the series.

[Moor Larkin]

Originally Posted by SEXTON BLAKE The film toned down the more outragous images in the book, Dr No is tall, bald with hooks for hands and more like Fu Manchu who dies buried under a mountain of bird dung! Bond also fights an octopus!

The first script is supposed to have had a monkey in it, who was the evil one's pet, and it was the monkey who was Dr. No............. ..........

It evidently didn't make sense to Terence Young either!

[Briant]

This reminded me of two other films in which the star fights an octopus! Any suggestions?