This week’s ranking edition is ranking the femmes fatale in the James Bond films. Again, one character per film (unless they are partners) and Never Say Never Again is eligible.
So how would you rank 007’s femmes fatale?
Here’s mine:
Xenia Onatopp – (Famke Janssen) – GOLDENEYE – She always did enjoy a good squeeze and I always enjoy watching her on screen. The best femme fatale of the series.
Naomi – (Caroline Munro) – THE SPY WHO LOVED ME – What a handsome craft. Such lovely lines. Naomi is lovely and I love her attitude–perfectly displayed when chasing Bond down via helicopter. She pulls up alongside him, gives him a wink and a salute, and gets back to business. And I salute her.
Fiona Volpe – (Luciana Paluzzi) – THUNDERBALL – The first major femme fatale is very memorable and the prototype for many who followed. She has a lot of spunk and beauty and yet is still very dangerous. She knows who she is and her power over men. Fortunately, Bond was just a little bit better dancer.
Fatima Blush – (Barbara Carrera) – NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN – Fatima brings the energy to every scene she is in, and, as a result, is a joy to behold. A bit crazy, yet still dangerous, she keeps Bond on his toes until he proves that the pen can be mightier than the gun.
Helga Brandt – (Karin Dor) – YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE – SPECTRE’s #11 has a healthy chest and an amenable attitude to putting an end to 007, but he manages to survive despite her efforts. She then gets to swim with the fishes as her “reward”. Helga is not quite on the level as those preceding her, but she is still nevertheless memorable.
Elektra King – (Sophie Marceau) – THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH – The most unusual Bond villain is Elektra–one of only two women to be the main villain in the films and the only one who is good looking. Elektra uses her beauty and wiles to get under Bond’s skin and keep him from suspecting her motives–at least until it is almost too late. Her demise is one of the best scenes in the series.
Taro – (Zena Marshall) – DR. NO – I really like her character. She is bad and stays that way–capped by her spitting in 007’s face when she gets arrested. While she didn’t overtly try to kill Bond, she nevertheless was willing to sleep with Bond and occupy his time until Prof. R.J. Dent arrives to kill him. I think she’s underrated as a femme fatale.
Irma Bunt – (Ilse Steppat) – ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE – Ernst Stavro Blofeld’s right-hand woman. She is entirely evil and gets the credit for killing Bond’s bride Tracy di Vicenzo. Steppat was perfectly cast as Bunt, and it is a shame that she died shortly after OHMSS was released so we never got to see her in Diamonds Are Forever.
Rosa Klebb – (Lotte Lenya) – FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE – The first female Bond villain, Klebb is highly memorable whether it is unnervingly caressing Tatiana Romanova, using a knuckleduster to punch Donald “Red” Grant, or trying to kick Bond with her poisoned steel-tipped shoe.
May Day – (Grace Jones) – A VIEW TO A KILL – One can’t imagine the May Day character with anyone else in the role other than Jones. She features a one of a kind style and is very memorable, but I still rank her below the others on this list.
Miranda Frost – (Rosamund Pike) – DIE ANOTHER DAY – As cold as her name, Miranda coolly double crosses Bond in North Korea and later again in Iceland. Despite that, Bond doesn’t get his revenge on her, leaving it ultimately to Giacinta “Jinx” Johnson. Like May Day, Miranda is a really good femme fatale, but there are a lot of good femmes fatale in the Bond series and, as a result, she lands in 11th place on my list.
Valenka – (Ivana Milicevic) – CASINO ROYALE – Valenka doesn’t have much to do, but she does come as close to anyone ever has in killing Bond when she slips him some digitalis in his drink.
Bambi & Thumper – (Lola Larson & Trina Parks) – DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER – The only tag team on this list, Bambi and Thumper get the better of Bond early on in their fight, and it is really entertaining. Then things move to the pool where the advantage is switched. It’s not a switch that is well done or believable, so it takes a bit of a shine off the two bad girls.
Venini Glass Museum Secretary – (Irka Bochenko) – MOONRAKER – This beauty leads Bond nearly to his death when a trick stone tips and makes him fall into a pool that is home to a python. She and many of the other Drax female astronauts then look on curiously as 007 fights for his life. Unfortunately, that’s about the last we see of her.
Rosie Carver – (Gloria Hendry) – LIVE AND LET DIE – This inexperienced agent is not overly dangerous on her own, but she still dutifully tries to lure Bond to his death only to find herself on the fatal end of a bullet instead. Likable, but not threatening.
Bonita – (Nadja Regin) – GOLDFINGER – Bonita get the nod here because she is aware that Bond is in danger and yet does nothing to warn him. Only the reflection in her eyes gives Bond enough time to avoid the danger. The other reason Bonita is the pick is because Pussy Galore’s Flying Circus Pilots thought they were only putting the American military to sleep, not kill, with the Delta 9 nerve gas.
Vogel – (Brigitte Millar) – SPECTRE – Although Vogel doesn’t actively try to kill anyone, she, nevertheless, gives a report during the SPECTRE briefing scene. She also eagerly watches for Bond’s demise at the SPECTRE party in No Time To Die, so I’ll include her on this list, though she is at the bottom.
When it comes to femmes fatale, I seem to favor the prettier agents over the uglier ones (i.e. Bunt and Klebb) even though I like virtually all of them in their roles.
So, what are your James Bond femmes fatale rankings?
Finally, a subject I have expertise on! (Narrator: “He really had not.”)
I am, however (or therefore?) curious about some of your choices. Femme Fatale refers to those well versed in seduction, doesn’t it? Interestingly, there are not as many of those in the Bond films as one might think.
Here´s my selection:
Fiona Volpe - definitely a femme fatale, and the first one to oppose him aggressively (just as he needs it)
Fatima Blush - absolutely, if almost too much over the top (on a top is enough)
Xenia Onatopp - a bit too aggressive from the start for my taste, never in doubt that she could be enjoying anything but killing
Miranda Frost - a bit too compartmentalized: I am so innocent / I am so guilty. More of a mix would have been more interesting
Elektra King - less mopey would have been more fatal
Andrea - her femme fatale act has purpose, but Bond sees right through it before she could become too dangerous. Also getting one´s arm twisted like that could lead to serious impingement problems. Or being shot between the eyes. While a whole arena is watching. Or getting carried into the arena and then arranged perfectly so nobody notices her lack of muscle control. Or waiting for her to get the adequate rigor mortis, then being carried into the arena before anybody else is there, nor even caring that she must be the biggest fan of these wrestling shows and sitting there as the first audience member, and… oh, crap, it just is a good twist in that scene.
Naomi - more like fatal eye candy
Helga Brandt - too subservient before her demise
May Day - too much like the Grace Jones persona for my taste, in the beginning too aggressive, then too easily turned (did she really do all these things because she thought Zorin loved her?)
Miss Taro - her powers of seduction are no match for Bond who eats her for breakfast (or rather as a snack)
Honorable (dis-, really) mentions:
Rosie Carver: at no point she comes across as a femme fatale, she’s more like a pre-Mary Goodnight, however driven by fear; Bond just jerks her around.
I’m afraid I took the term femme fatale literally as in fatal female. But you’re right, the appropriate meaning of femme fatale is one who is attractive and seductive and is dangerous to the well-being of the male of the species so that would most definitely eliminate Irma Bunt and Rosa Klebb (and probably Vogel for that matter) from the list.
So with that being said, I’ll leave the option to include or exclude Bunt and Klebb (and Vogel) up to the individual ranker.
Agree with SAF that Fiona has to go on top (ahem). Xenia is fun, but through the entire movie, I was thinking, “seen this already with Fatima Blush.” If it’s a matter of “who wore it better,” I give the edge to Carrera. But it’s interesting I guess that Fatima is a ramped-up variation on Fiona and Xenia is in turn a spin on Fatima. And here they are in multiple Top 3s.
The interesting thing about this list is that I’m realizing how little interest I have in this element of the formula. Usually when these characters show up, I just think “well, here’s the bad girl, so I guess we can check that box. Wonder how soon she’ll die?” Really only Fiona left a lasting impression for me, which is doubly interesting as I tend to find TB a snoozefest overall.
Perfectly cast indeed. She’s the type of woman you imagine being with Blofeld and being a heavy hitter in her own right. It’s an interesting dynamic with Bunt because for the most part she’s on friendly terms with Sir Hilary Bray. Underneath that you can tell she’s very authoritative and vindictive. Once Bond is on the run that side is on full display.
Interestingly, or maybe not, the femme fatale is a concept on the checklist that I always thought, or assumed, the Bond franchise did very well. Seeing a list of all of these characters, however, leads me to the realization that these characters are something that the creative team behind these films really struggles with.
The problem is: Bond always needs to defy the seductive powers of a femme fatale. So her main strength is neutralized, leaving her with nothing too soon.
Are we not counting Pussy Galore as a femme fatale? She’s a beauty aligned with the bad guy, though not necessarily the black widow type in the noir tradition.
Fiona’s strength comes from immediately following Pussy, but refusing to be swayed “to the side of good and virtue” by Bond’s charms. Her speech to Bond is pratically a meta reference to the previous film. Anyway between the two of them, they fully explore the two possible outcomes for the character type and really we couldve just stopped after TB.
May Day for me doesnt qualify as a femme fatale, unless you interpret the label literally as “killer of the female gender.” She is not about glamour (unless you count that bizarre get-up at Ascot) or seduction. She doesnt lure men to their doom by inspiring their lust. She is, rather, Oddjob in a leotard, a fierce and fearsome killing machine whose “beauty” is that of the lioness you lock eyes with before she pounces.
I didn’t/don’t count Pussy Galore as a femme fatale because she ends up as the main Bond girl. Before switching sides, I suppose, yes, she would be a femme fatale. But by the end, as Fiona Volpe said, she ends up on the side of right and virtue, so I end up striking her from the list.
Here’s a list of the other bad women/femme fatales in the series who didn’t get picked from their film just for completists’ sake:
Annabel Chung aka Freelance (DN)
Martine Blanchaud – the log cabin girl (TSWLM)
Apollo Private Jet Stewardess (M)
Jenny Flex (AVTAK)
Pan Ho (AVTAK)
Giulietta da Vinci – the cigar girl (TWINE)
North Korean Army Scorpion Girl (DAD)
Most of these femmes fatale do seem to make an impression in their more limited capacity.
One might include Drax’s female astronauts (the Venini Glass Museum Tour Guide, Countess Labinsky, Lady Victoria Devon, Sra. Del Mateo, Mlle. Deradier, Drax’s Chinese Girl, and Drax’s African Girl) on the above list as well, however, they are there basically for show.
But you’re right, the appropriate meaning of femme fatale is one who is attractive and seductive and is dangerous to the well-being of the male of the species so that would most definitely eliminate Irma Bunt and Rosa Klebb (and probably Vogel for that matter) from the list.