A lot of new fans may not be aware of the work done on Never Say Never Again back in the mid-70's when it was known as WARHEAD and JAMES BOND OF THE SECRET SERVICE. I worked on this script review 11 or 12 years ago and wanted to share it, as my old website has now been defunct for a number of years. Hope some find it useful....
007007007007007007007007007007007007007007007007007007007007007007007007
Co-author Len Deighton is a respected British spy novelist. The "Harry Palmer" films that Harry Saltman produced in the 1960s, starring Michael Caine, were based on Deighton novels about an unnamed spy.
Deighton was also the first screenwriter on From Russia With Love. He had written 40 pages before the producers decided that it wasn`t going anywhere and signed Richard Maibaum.
See my third point under "Notes" for a list of scenes that suspiciously found their way into subsequent EON Bond films. Coincidence or not?
Warhead
(James Bond Of The Secret Service)
Screenplay by:
Len Deighton
Sean Connery
Kevin McClory
First Draft: November 11, 1976
(c) Branwell Film Productions Ltd 1976
Paradise Film Productions, Ltd
Characters:
James Bond: Bond is referred to as Double-07 (as opposed to 007).
Felix Leiter: CIA agent and Bond`s friend.
Q: Bond seems to question Q`s sexual preference. Page 75: Bond turns and puts an affectionate arm on the shoulders of Q. Bond: "<I>Well done, old fruit."</i> Page 85, Bond, to Leiter, over shoulder indicating Q: "<I>Say goodbye to Esmeralda, Felix.</I>"
Emilio Largo: Pretends to be a philanthropist. Owns Turtle Cay, has a large shark laboratory for cancer research. The locals are afraid to go near it. They call it Shark Island. Plays backgammon.
Maslov: A Spectre scientist; Polish. He defected and was reported missing on an airliner that went down in the Bermuda Triangle in 1948.
Bomba: A gigantic black man; Largo`s henchman. Page 97: "<I>The door is suddenly pulled off its hinges and Bomba, whose presence and attack makes Muhammad Ali look like a fag, enters."</I>
Fatima Blush: Agent X Three. She`s tall for an Oriental. Page 7: Lovesit: "<I>She`s the new doctor, Dr. Fatima Blush. She`s here to give the men their physicals. She has a Korean mother and a Spanish-Moroccan father. She`s a good swimmer. She nearly got into the Olympics team last year.</I>" Bond: "<I>Representing who - the United Nations? She could easily win a gold medal in the physical Olympics.</I>"
Domino: Fatima`s twin sister.
Hellinger: One of the CIA`s top underwater electronics experts; involved with Fatima Blush. He`s a wiry ferret-faced man with a very distinctive scar running down the side of his face.
Giuspeppe Petacchi: He`s undergone plastic surgery and his face has been clinically scarred so that he can impersonate Hellinger. He`s not connected to Domino. She doesn`t even realize that he ever existed.
Effie: Spectre cleaning lady.
Fidelio Sciacca: A Spectre agent. The diver Largo leaves behind.
Justine Lovesit: A Shrublands masseuse. Page 5: Bond: "<I>What`s your name?</I>" Lovesit: "<I>Justine Lovesit.</I>" Bond: "<I>She does?</I>"
M: Head of the British Secret Service.
Moneypenny: M`s secretary.
Blofeld: Head of Spectre. Environmentalist (he calls the Earth "Planet Ocean"). Cat fetishist. There`s nothing to suggest that he and Bond have any past history.
Locations:
-The Bermuda Triangle
-Shrublands (Bahamas)
-Azores Islands environs
-Shark Island (Bahamas)
-London
-New York City
-the Atlantic Ocean
Notes:
-Arkos is a white superstructure that rises out of the water (like Stromberg`s Atlantis). Tubular passageways connect Arkos to its components. The huge circular moon pool is on the central floor. This is actually the water of the surrounding ocean held at that level by the pressure inside the chamber. We see the ocean bed beneath. During the action, we glimpse fish, and occasionally the surface is broken by a fin.
-Shrublands is a Bahamas training facility. It`s not a British health clinic.
-The script has many similarities to Bond films made after 1976. Not only SWLM (Arkos; agent X-Three; a gigantic mute henchman; creating a new civilization under the sea; the villain mentions that 70% of the world is covered by ocean; and many others), but also:
MR (the philosophical undertones about creating a new civilization because the modern world is degenerate; the tubular passageways that connect Arkos to its components);
FYEO (getting a device from a sunken ship before any one else can; the underwater scenes; the "michelin man");
OCT (backgammon; sliding down spiral staircase bannister, the last words are "Oh, James.");
LD (Bond`s beeper plays Rule Britannia);
LTK (the decompression chamber death; water-skiing stunts);
What might have been the third Dalton Bond film (anthropomorphic creatures);
GE (the villain has a scarred face; a protracted setpiece in the first half where the villains steal weapons; complete mechanical breakdown using an electronic interfering device);
TND (sinking a ship to steal its weapons; finding that weapons have been removed from a sunken ship);
And even Gardner`s Nobody Lives Forever (Shark Island).
The script seems divided into three main sections:
1. 1-80
2. 80-110
3. 110-150
1-4
While on board Arkos, Largo and Maslov use an electronic jamming device to bring down the seaplane carrying the Secretary General of the United Nations into the Bermuda Triangle.
During the titles, Arkos carries the broken seaplane down into the colder, deeper ocean layers, past the graveyards of previous victims of the Bermuda Triangle (airplanes, ships, etc) at the bottom of a vast undersea empire. As the Arkos and its prey reach the bottom the algae floats up revealing fields of stacked gold, diamonds, manganese nodules, etc.
4-9
At the Shrublands school of aquabatics, Justine Lovesit rubs sun oil onto Bond`s body and tells him about Fatima Blush and Hellinger. Bond meets them on the beach.
9-31
Largo and Maslov experiment with a heat-seaking electric shark inside Arkos. Maslov also explains that the surrounding sea water is rich in mineral wealth. A giant magnet and mineral evaporation extractor has retrieved uranium, copper, tin, titanium, silver and gold from the sea. Blofeld hears progress reports from his fifteen Spectre agents and learns that one of them lost money. Blofeld presses a button on his submersible control panel. A glass tube rises from the floor of the chamber around the chair, trapping the agent inside. The top closes and the tube, the chair and the agent descend out of sight through the floor, then the chair comes back empty. The man`s body is next seen floating through the mineral extractor tube. Blofeld explains that Spectre will take possession of the seas and stop all pollution. The fifteen Spectre agents watch via a monitor as Largo sends a diver down in a "michelin man" suit to retrieve the warheads from a sunken Russian ship, but the American recovery vessel arrives ahead of time. Largo leaves the diver behind. The incredible pressure at that depth causes the man`s body to be slowly squeezed up into his helmet. Largo claims that the diver asked to be left behind, and has the Spectre agents stand for a moment of silent reflection and prayer. Actually, the diver had pleaded with Largo not to leave him behind. So much for loyalty.
31-39
Shrublands. Bond and Felix Leiter attend a meeting to discuss the downing of the seaplane carrying the Secretary General of the United Nations. Apparently Blofeld notified the White House that the plane would crash into the Bermuda Triangle, minutes before it actually did. In private, Felix mentions that the Ruskies lost another sub off the Azores and there`s a chance of getting their decoding equipment. The CIA will fly Hellinger out to the recovery vessel the next night. Bond and Leiter meet Hellinger and Fatima Blush. Bond, of course, flirts with her. Hellinger takes Fatima by the arm, gives Bond the brush off, and leaves.
39-48
That night, Fatima and Bomba sneak Petacchi into Shrublands: they cover him in blankets and claim that he has a bad case of the bends and must use the decompression chamber immediately. In private, Petacchi tells Fatima he wants more money. While in bed with Justine Lovesit, an alarm goes off. Bond looks out the window and sees Bomba standing in the shadows near Fatima`s room. He goes to investigate and instead finds Fatima. They go into her room; Bomba and Petacchi stand behind the door. Fatima gets him into the whirlpool. Hellinger overhears them, and being jealous, alters the control so that the whirling gets fiercer. Bomba and Petacchi interrupt Hellinger, who is surprised to see his double. Bomba snaps Hellinger`s neck. Bond and Fatima nearly drown as he struggles to get her out. Pretending to be Hellinger, Petacchi lowers the controls, parts they curtains and reprimands Bond for "fooling with his girl" (sic). Bond drenches him with a hose.
48-53
Next day, Petacchi takes Bond out for hang-gliding practice. Petacchi drives the boat slowly over the shark pens so that Bond`s feet skim the water. Bond barely avoids the snapping sharks and manages to jump onto the pier, then onto the boat and overpower Petacchi. Bond notices Bomba near the shark pens.
53-65
Fatima tells Largo that Petacchi wants more money. Largo replies, I`ll see he gets it.
From inside an old dredger, Largo uses the electronic jamming device to freeze the American recovery vessel. Spectre divers enter the Russian submarine and remove the warheads. Meanwhile, the American recovery vessel`s compass has gone haywire, all navigation and direction instruments have failed, and even the helicopter is inoperative. Once the warheads have been recovered the divers get back into the submarine. The dredger`s underwater hatches open and swallow the submarine.
Largo asks Maslov if the device Petacchi carried on board the American recovery vessel has a self-destruct device. It does. How is it activated? By pushing this button. Like this? Largo pushes the button and the Zodiac boat carrying Petacchi explodes. Too bad for Petacchi.
65-68
Fatima claims to have booked the same flight to London as Bond, but a routine call to the Duty Officer reveals that she lied. She only booked a seat after Bond told her about his travel plans.
68-75
MI6. Bond flirts with Moneypenny, but she chides him about Fatima. In a life-sized model of the mid-Atlantic ridge, M and Q show him just where the Russian submarine sank after it experienced complete electronic breakdown. The recovery team discovered that three warheads were missing. They also found the depressurized body of Fidelio Sciacca, the Spectre diver that Largo left behind. Q explains that a computer terminal watch was safely locked in Sciacca`s right eye socket. The device is more sophisticated than anything the Russians are using, so Bond decides that Spectre is responsible. They watch an intercepted transmission. The picture is too fuzzy for them to see or hear much. Bond calls Q an old fruit and Q mutters something about building Bond an electronic chastity belt. M has overhead. "Permission granted - in your free time."
75-80
Bond`s house. Effie, pretending to be Bond`s cleaning lady, sticks a bomb under Bond`s bed, rightly figuring that if there`s an "odds on" place to get him, it`s there. Bond enters just as she rushes down the stairs. Bond asks her to get the Fortnums and Mason package from his car and stick it in the fridge. "There`s only one thing worse than no caviar - that`s warm caviar." Instead, Effie puts an explosive device in Bond`s Aston Martin.
The doorbell rings. It`s Fatima. Effie slinks upstairs to the bedroom, cuts the wires and crawls under the bed to dismantle the bomb. Bond enters carrying Fatima caveman style over his shoulder. He throws her onto the bed - flattening Effie. Bond and Fatima`s sexual callisthenics are revealed on the face of Effie, who is hardly in a position to complain. After sex, Bond confronts Fatima about her lies. She hadn`t booked the flight to London until after he told her his travel plans. The big black man he saw outside her room at Shrublands was the same person he saw around the shark pens. He hears scratching at the skylight window in the bedroom and sees a man climbing down. Bond kicks him in the crotch. The man collapses in the bathtub.
Fatima follows Bond down to the garage. The handle of the garage door starts to turn gently. Just as the door is about to open, Bond yanks on the handle. He drops to one knee and karate stabs the visitor who is propelled into the house. Meanwhile, Fatima goes into the garage. The front door bell rings. Through the peephole, he sees a very British-looking man in a white raincoat. As he does this, Effie slips into the garage. We hear the Aston Martin`s ignition, then the garage explodes. Fatima and Effie are dead.
The white-coated man is M`s emissary. So were the two men Bond attacked. Q has made a breakthrough on the computer watch. With perfect clarity and picture, Bond et al watch the transmission again: Largo instructs Effie to kill Bond and Fatima. Bond recognizes Largo; the two men will be playing each other in the Nassau backgammon finals.
80-84
Bond and Q fly to Shrublands on a twin-engine propellered plane. All throughout the flight, Q explains the gadgets he`ll be giving Bond. Bond keeps nodding off as Q drones on. Bond barely has time to check into Shrublands and chat Justine Lovesit up, when he`s called into the Operations Room. M (who took a Concorde over) explains that Spectre contacted the President of the United States and claimed responsibility for the Bermuda Triangle. Spectre also has the Russian submarine`s three nuclear warheads and threatens to atomize one of the world`s largest cities, and even destroy the world, if their demands are not met.
84-104
Bond and Felix use jet packs to presumably "fly" to Shark Island at an extraordinary rate, narrowly avoiding a shark on the way over. Bond sneaks inside Largo`s bungalow and sees who he thinks is Fatima - but it can`t be, she`s dead. It`s Fatima`s twin sister Domino. She hates Largo, so she`ll help Bond. She gives him a manganese nodule that Largo claims he found scuba diving.
Meanwhile, Largo has arrived at the Casino for the backgammon competition. Largo is declared the winner when Bond doesn`t show.
Bond and Felix slink into Maslov`s laboratory and find the mechanical sharks. Largo arrives in time to capture both and put them in a decompression chamber. Their breathing becomes more laboured and Felix`s watch implodes as the pressure increases. In private, Largo and Maslov discuss the Spectre operation. The mechanical hammerhead shark will carry the warhead, while the tiger sharks will act as escorts. Not having heard from Bond or Leiter in 24 hours, M sends troops to Shark Island. On board Arkos, Largo discovers the homing device that Bond gave Domino. He ties her to a diving board and intends to use her for shark bait, but Maslov intervenes and saves her.
104-110
Shark Island. The troops arrive. Q discovers the secret cliff-face entrance and together they rescue Bond and Leiter. Apparently Domino tied her scarf around the controls to prevent the chamber from decompressing any further. They also find the dredger Largo used to steal the warheads. Once on board, they hear Blofeld`s taped message. Either they comply with his demands or he`ll destroy a major city then explode two nuclear warheads under the Antarctic ice cap to flood Planet Ocean (Blofeld`s name for the Earth).
Back at Shrublands, Q explains that they found an unusually high outer coating of bacteria on the manganese nodule generally associated with faecal matter emanating from at least eighteen million people (M had been examining the nodule and hastily puts it down). This combined with the direction of the homer, means only one thing: New York City.
110-150
New York City. Riots and looting have begun. Fifth Avenue has been cleared. Plans for the evacuation of Manhattan and adjoining areas are nearly complete. The police have commandeered all privately owned buses and trucks. All the buildings have been searched, but not underground pipes or sewers. Bond asks the Colonel of the Aquatactical Unit to have troops inspect them.
Spectre has commandeered the Statue of Liberty. Maslov works on the hammerhead shark in a small underwater chamber at the bottom of the statue. The warhead is armed. The hammerhead shark is lowered into the water. The tiger sharks keep guard and escort the hammerhead through the sewer system.
Bond and Leiter watch the latest news reports of riots and looting. The President will go on TV at ten o`clock. A newsflash interrupts regular programming to announce that the Mayor of New York appeals for calm. There are traffic jams on all roads to the airport. There have been reports of shark sightings in New York Harbour. Reports are coming in of a possible shark attack in New York Harbour. Bond realizes the troops are inside the sewers. "Get them out of there!" It`s too late. They watch as the sewer spews out mutilated limbs and tissue. The water turns reddish brown. Strips of flesh and equipment float out including pieces of Q`s thermal suits. The Chief of Police says, "What a nightmare - we sent those men to die." Shaken, Bond says, "You didn`t. I did." A shark`s fin is seen as pieces of torn bodies float away amid toilet paper and sewage.
Bond remembers that the sharks were seen coming from the direction of Ellis Island. He also remembers Blofeld`s words: "Liberty is our Symbol!" It`s the Statue of Liberty.
Spectre has sealed all the access manholes in Manhattan and put robot sharks on guard at the sewer outlets, so the men have to drill through the subway wall to get into the sewer system. The Chief of Police thinks Bond should take a gun. Wryly, as he steps through the hole, Bond replies, "A screwdriver is all I need, Chief. I think I know what I`m looking for." With a wave he disappears, lighting his way with a torch. As a safety precaution, the Chief sends three men in as back up. The last of the men climbs in: it`s Bomba.
The hammerhead shark slows as it approaches the sewer exit. It moves through the sewer entrance amid sewage and paper. Largo and his men watch the shark`s progress on a large illuminated map. It emits a moving intermittent red light.
As Bond goes under the sewage water, a heat-seaking mechanical tiger shark senses his presence and trails him. Bomba stands on a walkway by the side of the murky water. The two Sewer Men lie crumped at his feet. Bomba goes after Bond.
Bond sees the flesh of the shark`s fin just before it attacks. The shark`s red eyes pass close to Bond`s face as the jaws miss his arm by inches, but tear his aqua suit. Bond seizes the metal rungs of a wall ladder built into the concrete. The shark snaps at Bond`s feet. Bond moves up the metal rungs. He feels a sharp pain in his wrist and looks up. As he receives a karate chop, Bond just has time to see the impassive face of Bomba as he falls back into the junction with the shark.
The length of the shark makes it difficult for it to bend its body enough to get its head to he middle of the concrete box. But as the shark lunges close, Bond grabs the metal fin. The shark bucks and speeds away into the narrow sewer, dragging Bond along at great speed. He is smashed against the sides of the sewer and part of his equipment is torn off. All the time Bond has the screwdriver and tries inserting it into the shark. The shark slows at a bend in the sewer. Bond grabs a steam valve. There is a great roar of steam and the shark goes mad trying to get to the valve. Attracted by the heat, its jaws keep snapping at the steam. Now Bond can get the screwdriver into the inspection panel. His hands go into the shark`s belly and he rips out entrails of wiring and transistors. The shark`s eyes flicker and go dark. Finally, it sinks - belly up - like a dead fish.
Bond climbs out onto walkway next to the eerily lit sewer. Two sewers run parallel to each other with a narrow walk in between. Bond takes out the geiger counter attached to a lanyard around his neck. There is an immediate response - the indicator points to the far sewer. Bond looks and sees the hammerhead shark, just discernible as it slowly cruises along, its lights illuminating the sides of the sewer. Bond doesn`t see Bomba creeping up on him in the darkness. Suddenly from above there is the wail of sirens. Bond looks round and manages to throw himself sideways to avoid a murderous kick from Bomba. With amazing speed, Bomba catches Bond with a right hook. Bond is catapulted back against the slimy wall. Traffic and sirens can be heard from above while Bomba throws Bond against the rounded walls of the sewer. Bond pulls himself up the rusty iron rungs on the wall as Bomba comes towards him he looks up. The steam pipe crosses over the parallel sewers.
With superhuman effort Bond leaps out from the ladder, avoiding Bomba, and catches hold of the overhead pipe. For a moment he dangles over the murky water of the sewer. Then he crosses hand over hand. A tiger shark swims along a narrow sewer passage. Bomba reaches up and grasping the pipe pulls his great weight onto pipe. Holding with one hand he reaches out and grasps Bond`s neck. Bomba is unable to snap Bond`s neck due to lack of leverage - Bond`s neck muscles strain as he tries to resists the enormous pressure of Bomba`s grip.
Suddenly the pipe is pulled from its bracket - Bomba releases his hold on Bond - Bond throws himself to the walkway between the parallel sewers. The tiger shark cruises beneath Bomba. The pipe starts to bed under the enormous weight - as his body is lowered towards the water the sharks swim to the surface directly beneath him. We hear the metallic buzz. Bomba draws himself up. The seat glistens on his skin, but his weight causes the pipe to bend more. His body touches the water - there is a flurry of dirty suds as a rush from the shark opens up a line down Bomba`s back. The blood stains the already brown water. Suddenly another shark attacks from the side. Bomba, only his arms, head and shoulders now above water, screams as the flesh is stripped from the lower part of his body. Bond unable to hold on to the hot steam pipe any longer, falls on the hammerhead. He quickly inserts his screwdriver into the side panel.
Largo and Maslov stand by the large illuminated map. The intermittent red light is no longer visible. As they watch, the screen clears and we see Bond`s face close on the TV screen. Largo orders Maslov to activate the time mechanism. Bond pulls the shark out of the water and leans over it as a red illuminated panel lights up the words: WARHEAD ACTIVATED. It starts ticking. Bond feverishly tries to defuse the warhead without detonating it. A hand reaches from behind him and deftly switches off the mechanism. Bond wheels around and sees Q, wearing a sewerman`s helmet and a boiler suit.
Air raid sirens continue; traffic moves in one direction on Fifth Avenue. The newscasters on all channels appeal for calm and give instructions as to the evacuation. Individual shots on TV screens show pandemonium.
Twelve heavily-armed members of the Aquatactical Unit quietly storm the Statue of Liberty. Helicopters spew coloured smoke to cloak the assault helicopters.
Bond can hear the roar of helicopters over the sound of traffic from inside the sewer, but can`t get out. Several sharks patrol the sewer exits.
With Leiter at the helm of a speed boat, Bond water-skis past the sharks out into the harbour. His kite turns into a helium balloon, lifting him into the air. Bond lands on the Statue of Liberty, knocking Largo over. Largo slides down the spiral staircase in the statue`s arm. Inside the head of statue, a marine makes a hole in the eye big enough to climb through. Largo, inside, grapples with him. They fight - Largo stabs the Marine with stiletto. Blood trickles down the cheek of the Statue of Liberty like a tear. Largo, pushing the Marine`s body aside, seizes one of the grapnel wires hooked into corner of eye and climbs out.
The Arkos rises out of the sea. Largo slides down a rope to land on the upper deck of Arkos. Bond follows, but the rope is cut, and he lands in the sea. He grabs the upper rail of the Arkos and submerges with her. Largo orders Maslov to arm the warheads. Bond clings onto the Arkos, unable to get through the fish-stopping grid. Maslov unties Domino, but before he can leave, Largo enters. He sees Maslov`s reflection in the glass. Bond swims up through the moon pool. A Spectre Agent kills Maslov. Largo kills the Spectre Agent responsible because he needed Maslov alive. Bond sneaks up behind Largo, knife poised. An Engineer enters and sees Bond and shouts. Largo turns and grapples with Bond. A shot goes wild and smashes a glass tube - water pours in.
The Arkos speeds perilously close to small underwater mounds and hillocks along the Hudson Canyons. The upper railing of Arkos hits a cliff-face. The Arkos lurches. Domino is thrown backwards on to the control panel - the automatic pilot light goes out. Her hand knocks down several switches - warning lights flash - bells ring, the wheel spins around. A glass tube rises swiftly around Largo. The tube and Largo descend into the ocean. Largo claws at the glass.
The Arkos increases speed and heads towards a narrow underwater canyon. Water spurts through the broken overhead pipe and splashes over the side of the moon pool. The gold extraction laboratory door bursts open and gold dust fills the whole area. Bond and Domino can barely be seen as they run downstairs through the golden air. They get into Largo`s submarine. The locking devices release the submarine and it slowly sinks through the water. The Arkos collides first with one underwater mountain peak then another, then splits open. Alone at last, Bond asks Domino if she`s ever been gold plated before. She snuggles up to him and says, "Oh, James." Bond looks up at their reflection in the ceiling mirror and winks. The submarine recedes until it`s a tiny dot in the distance. We hear the strains of Rule Britannia. The End.
Home 
Events 
WIN! 
