Inside Never Say Never Again: The Novel and the Deep Blue Sea reviewed

Bryan Tyrrell’s new book champions Never Say Never Again as a true Bond outing and reclaims the legacy of producer Kevin McClory.

Remakes are a curious wonder. For every time Steven Soderbergh pulls a triumphant Ocean’s Eleven, there are at least a dozen more efforts that send viewers back to the original. Curiously, there has only been one out-and-out remake in the James Bond cineverse (if we take the 1967 Casino Royale as a facsimile pastiche bearing nothing more than a title with Ian Fleming), and that’s Never Say Never Again. It was Irish producer Kevin McClory’s second stab at the Thunderball book, and while only the most contrarian of writers would declare it superior to the 1965 original, it was noteworthy in that it not only nabbed Irvin Kershner of The Empire Strikes Back fame as director, but re-introduced Sean Connery in the tuxedo for the first time since the 1970s.

Bryan Tyrrell’s The Novel and the Deep Blue Sea: The Story Behind Never Say Never Again focuses on the making of the film, and redresses some misconceptions levelled at the producer. In the Everything or Nothing documentary, he was regarded as even greater pest than Connery, despite the fact that Thunderball was based on an idea co-written by him. Fellow Celts in an industry dominated by an Etonian author (Fleming) and Hollywood behemoths (Broccoli and Saltzman), McClory and Connery remained on good terms. The Scottish actor appeared in McClory’s charity gala Circasia 75, before inviting him to work with Len Deighton on a potential Bond script. Disenfranchised with Eon – a film company that paid little heed to their star’s creative wishes, a tradition upheld until the arrival of Daniel Wroughton Craig – Connery felt impressed by this gesture, which might explain why he was happy to reprise the role.

Tyrrell points out that Connery enjoyed a time in Ireland, filming John Boorman’s Zardoz in Wicklow. There is a lovely photo of Ardmore Studios contained in the book, which is close to Violet Hill House; a hotel Connery spent time in. By the time Batman/Flash Gordon writer Lorenzo Semple Jr got to work on Never Say Never Again, McClory had garnered Connery’s trust, something Broccoli had long lost. (In a promotional interview, the Bond actor described his erstwhile producer as a “villain.” Shots fired!)

Producer Jack Schwartzman spearheaded Never Say Never Again, and even asked his brother-in-law Francis Ford Coppola to write a draft. Schwartzman insisted that his writers stick to the book, and not the 1965 movie. Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, who later penned Irish rock classic The Commitments, did significant work on the film – infusing it with British humour, for one thing – but went home uncredited. In some ways, Never Say Never Again was a truer adaptation than the Eon equivalent, not least because they retained the name of the central heroine: Domino Petacchi (played sexily by Kim Basinger.)

In the final pages of The Novel and the Deep Blue Sea: The Story Behind Never Say Never Again the author fights for the legitimacy of the movie. “Never Say Never Again is beyond question a real James Bond film,” Tyrrell notes, highlighting that many Bond historians have treated it as a footnote as best. It came out the same year as Octopussy, well known, but Tyrrell suggests that Return of the Man from UNCLE. completed a triumvirate as it starred George Lazenby driving an Aston Martin, armed with a Walther PPK. The name of Lazenby’s character? J.B.

One of the strengths of Never Say Never Again is the casting, an area Connery had a lot of sway over. He knew Pamela Salem from The First Great Train Robbery, so she was cast as Moneypenny. Edward Fox had worked with Connery on A Bridge Too Far, a portrayal that bore some similarities to the M of the book (both M’s chastise Bond for lapses in fitness.) And then there was Irish actor Gavan O’Herlihy who played sacrificial lamb Captain Jack Petachi. Never Say Never Again isn’t perfect, but there is much to recommend about it. The same can definitely be said of this book!

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The Novel and the Deep Blue Sea