Blood Transference in Moonraker and Casino Royale (Film)

No, this is not the latest high-minded study of Vampirism by Gyatri Spivak or some such Ivy League charlatan. Just a little observation from reading a bit of Moonraker last night. Specifically, I read a section of this fine novel and it occurred to me that the famous finger-sucking scene in Casino Royale, so much beloved by our own tiffywint, was likely borrowed from Moonraker.

About midway through the piece, Bond and Gala Brand are walking along a beach together when she picks a flower. Bond makes up so much folderol about flowers having nervous systems and screaming when picked and that Gala is a murderer.

Gala's understandably skeptical, and responds, "I don't believe it. Anyway, I wouldn't have thought you were a person to get sentimental. Don't people in your section of the Service make a business of killing?"

Then, humoring bond, she unbends a bit, "Now you've made me feel like a murderer. It's very unkind of you. ... What am I going to do with this one [flower]? You make me feel like it's bleeding all over my hands."

Bond replies, "Give it to me. According to you, my hands are dripping with blood already. A little more won't hurt."

And there you have it. Bloodstained Bond, who's already guilty of all sorts of violence and horror, in a Christ-like act of sin-absorption, removes the blood and guilt from an innocent girl and takes it upon himself. She is absolved and relieved of a burden, while Bond is none the worse for having accrued still more guilt.

In short, the similarities here are striking enough that I'm reasonably sure the scene in CR was cadged from Moonraker and altered to fit the film.

I'm starting to think MR is the only Bond novel P&W's actually read. For the others they've just gone to Wikipedia.

Someone told them that it was one of the Fleming's that largely no one had used, so they started pilfering it from it left and right.

Apart from the White Cliffs of Dover scene, game of bridge, and the blowtorch - another great yet-to-be-mined moment (by EON) is Bond at the firing range at the bowels of MI6. They had it in NSNA, but it'd be a neat introduction to the Quartermaster, and re-introduction to Bond himself. After that, the camera follows him in the lift, and he utters "Monday are hell." Cue introduction to Ponsonby/Moneypenny etc.

Perilagu Khan wrote:

In short, the similarities here are striking enough that I'm reasonably sure the scene in CR was cadged from Moonraker and altered to fit the film.

Khan you may be on to something. The comparison is startling. Craig's fingerslobbering suddenly takes on a deeper context. I see now why pains were taken to touch-up the digit-drooling with the deftest of CGI editing. Such homages need be done just so. Brilliant!