The other evening I was subjected to A View to a Kill for the first time in several years and it has left me in contemplative mood, and not just whether this was a good use of time as the clock ticks me rapidly towards the grave.
It’s this: other than the dummy that is ejected from a model blimp, and the bloke with the porn 'tache who Zorin subsequently guns down (not a euphemism), do all the other chaps who invest rather a lot in Project Massive Killing get away with it - or, at least, not brought to account?
Doubtless the film’s advocates would point to this being an excoriating and highly satirical commentary about untouchable corporate evil rather than the shoddy it’ll do filmmaking we were put through in the 1980s Bonds, but it did set the mind running as to others who are naughty but who live to tell the tale.
I suppose Bambi and Thumper are arrested and end up in a ladies’ gaol (not a hardship, one suspects) and Miss Taro probably survives. So does Nick Nack, I s’pose. Yet does anyone get away with things more than those (cough not a Goldfinger rip-off cough) corporate 'oodlums in A Queue for a Pill?
For example, in Moonraker, lovely avuncular Roger Moore sets in train events that kill an entire race of perfect people aboard a space station and thereby commits a genocide he was notionally trying to otherwise prevent. The irony.
While Jaws stumbles around like a bulldozer on an increasingly failing auto-pilot, he does kill many people - but once he helps Bond he is rewarded not only with surviving but apparently also with amnesty. Although he does get Dolly.
Possibly a fate worse than death, but doubtless he counts as getting away with it.
I guess Gogol is sort-of-notionally-behind-things in For Your Eyes Only but thereafter spends time hob-nobbing around M’s office and fannying about in Vienna for no discernible reason other than being available for a day’s work. He gets away with a lot.
I say Whisper survives, but has been imprisoned in that whatever-it-is for 47 years. Every silver lining has a cloud.
Mr Janni probably survives, but no-one cares very much. Least of all Mr Janni.
I used to wonder about Tatiana. In the film she of course saves our hero, therefore all must be forgiven. The all in question here being that she partook in an operation exposing the Service’ Turkey network and resulting in numerous deaths, not least the head of Istanbul station.
Granted, she worked under the misconception of doing it for the party and Russia (and as a Corporal in army intelligence it would just be her job to follow orders and advance the interests of the above authorities). Still, a prosecutor might find a juicy case for the CPS and put her away for 20 years. At least the book’s version who more or less thought it all a big game and who expected it all to end with a big laugh.
Well, since all the saints are already under contract for the church none have been left for the espionage business…
General Chang is only ever seen once in passing in TND and barely ever mentioned, but he seemingly gets away with it. Guy Haines supposedly remains as the special envoy to the PM. Zukovsky is never confirmed to have died and I’m sure there were things from his time in the KGB and his smuggling of old Russian equipment that he probably keeps off his resume. Professor Joe gets away with his scams. I guess Blofeld for 10 years after DAF. Irma Bunt got away with murdering Tracy (though maybe that shouldn’t count as she only didn’t appear in DAF out of respect for Ilse Steppat who died 5 days after the release of OHMSS). 3/4 of the SPECTRE board meeting seemingly get away with it in Thunderball.
I’m certain that one day, she got her novichok treatment…
The one who certainly got away is TBs Professor Ladislav Kutze, the instantly forgotten henchman. I mean, he must have been around on the Disco Volante for a few days or even weeks, he had conversations with Domino, he even somewhat tries to come to rescue her when Largo starts torturing her. And, yet, before they jump of the boat, Bond asks “Who’s this?” (he didn’t even have a clue about the scientific mastermind behind everything - taking him out would have been an easy task and would hace brought the evil plan to an immediate halt) nad she answers “I don’t know, but he helped me.”
What?!
I’m certain, after he jumped off the boat, he made it back to the shore and disappeared in the jungle were he just blended in unnoticed by anyone and still lives there happily ever after.
Fun fact about Professor Ladislav Kutze: in the novel, his last name is Kotze. I’m glad the filmmakers caught that one and changed it, wouldn’t have beeen good for the German market, because “Kotze” is the German word for “vomit”.
He probably “had an accident” after the films events given he was seen by Wai Lin and Carver confessed the role Chang was playing in the scheme, RIGHT in front of her.
Pardon my Jaws obsession - but how far must he have swum to reach a shore after the end of TSWLM? And wouldn’t the people on that beach have done a few double-takes?
I wonder what happened to the Chinese government* bods Blofeld decides to extort a little more in You Only Live Twice? They appear to be paying for a World War to occur. That does seem very naughty.
*I think we’re meant to assume this is who they are.
Maybe they switched from a world war to a monthly subscription for various minor conflicts and therefore surfed below the radar once the volcano blew up.
I definitely read his comment (coming from MrHinx) as Mr Hinx being one of the ones that got away. 