A New Plot Outline for Diamonds are Forever
TheMagus
Posts: 18MI6 Agent
Please note: In order for this new plot outline to work, you will either need to imagine that Sean Connery continued the role of James Bond through On Her Majesty's Secret Service and Diamonds are Forever, or, alternatively, that George Lazenby continued in the role after On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
Here is the revised plot:
Following the obligatory gun barrel, Diamonds are Forever opens mere moments following Bond’s wedding to Tracy di Vicenzo. They drive away from the wedding, pull-over, and Bond’s Aston Martin DBS is strafed by machine gun fire. Bond runs to the car announcing that “it’s Blofeld” only to realise that Tracy has been shot dead.
With Draco’s help, Bond begins tracking down Blofeld. He tracks Blofeld from Portugal to Japan and then from Japan to Cairo. In Cairo, Bond is informed that a woman named “Marie” knows of Blofeld’s whereabouts. Bond questions her by using her bikini top as a garrotte. Having received the necessary information, Bond infiltrates Blofeld’s lair with the express purpose of killing him. Bond and Blofeld fight and Blofeld is killed, or so we think.
This pre-title sequence is followed by Maurice Binder’s excellent titles over which Shirley Bassey’s title song “Diamonds are Forever,” plays.
After the title sequence, we open on the film’s briefing scene. Having exacted revenge against Blofeld (or so he thinks), Bond is ready to return to active duty with a “relatively simple diamond smuggling matter.” In a brilliant scene of exposition, diamond expert Sir Donald Munger explains the business of diamonds and the security measures against smuggling. He concludes by stating that he suspects someone to be stockpiling diamonds. M tasks Bond with disguising himself as Peter Franks, going to Amsterdam, and following the diamond smuggling pipeline to its terminal point.
Meanwhile, two killers, Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd are systematically killing off each link in the pipeline. They start with a dentist in South Africa by shoving a lethal scorpion down his throat then they murder a missionary named Miss Whistler in Amsterdam. Wint and Kidd are a homosexual couple who, like Leopold and Loeb, are fans of the Nietzschean concept of the ubermensch. They believe that they can prove their intellectual superiority by committing murders and getting away with it. Like all killer couples, there is a dominant one - in this case Mr. Wint - and a subordinate one - in this case Mr. Kidd.
Bond arrives in Amsterdam where he makes contact with diamond smuggler, Tiffany Case. Shortly after, Bond learns that the real Peter Franks has escaped captivity and traveled to Amsterdam. Bond manages to catch up with Franks where he kills him in a brutal elevator fight. In a slight of hand, Bond swaps wallets with Frank making Case believe that Franks is Bond (note: this is not played for laughs; rather, Bond is trying to make Case believe that Franks may be a police officer or similar).
Bond and Case hide the diamonds in Franks body before traveling to California. In Los Angeles, Bond, with Felix Leiter’s help, swaps the real diamonds for fake diamonds before traveling to Slumber Inc where he is paid with counterfeit money. He is almost killed by Wint and Kidd, but narrowly escapes with his life when the next diamond smuggler, Shady Tree realises that Bond has given them fake diamonds.
Bond then travels to Las Vegas where he stays at the Whyte House, a casino/hotel owned by the insanely wealthy business tycoon, Willard Whyte. Bond establishes that Shady Tree is a stand-up comedian at the casino. Unfortunately, Tree is killed before Bond is able to speak to him. During this time, casino manager, Bert Saxby is also introduced.
With Tree dead, Bond changes tactics and hits the gaming tables. He makes waves by flashing a huge wad of cash contained within a clearly marked Slumber Inc. envelope. As suspected, this is enough to catch Saxby’s attention who, in turn, informs his own boss, Willard Whyte. Whyte, in turn, watches Bond play craps on camera and sends one of his agent to seduce Bond. As a result, Bond has a “chance” encounter with Plenty O’Toole.
O’Toole allows Bond to pick her up (yes, he pays for her services with US$5,000.00) and take her to dinner. After dinner, Bond and O’Toole return to Bond’s hotel room where they have sex. Afterwards, she tells Bond that she is a CIA agent working with Felix Leiter on a sting operation to investigate allegations of money laundering in Willard Whyte’s casinos. She informs Bond that he has entered a “shadow world” consisting of evil mobsters, greedy businessmen, and corrupt politicians. She explains that everything in Las Vegas is designed to get people’s money.
Bond meets up with Leiter where the two “talk shop.” Leiter agrees to help Bond by focusing his sting operation on Tiffany Case. Meanwhile, Wint and Kidd discover O'Toole's true allegiance.
The trio of gangsters associated with Slumber Inc. capture James Bond and take him to meet Tiffany Case. Case attempts to force Bond into revealing the real location of the diamond. Bond, however, seduces her and convinces her to help him steal the diamonds and run away with him. Case agrees to collect the diamonds whilst Bond acquires to a car to travel across borders.
Case then goes to Circus Circus where she manages to collect the diamonds whilst narrowly avoiding surveillance by the Leiter and the CIA. (Relax, this will be much more serious than the original).
When Bond fails to turn up to their rendezvous, Case returns to her house. Bond is waiting for her and Case, quite rightly, accuses Bond of standing her up. To her horror, she realises that Plenty O’Toole (whom she doesn’t know) has been drowned in her pool. Initially, she accuses Bond of killing O’Toole to scare her, but Bond convinces her that O’Toole was killed because she was mistaken for her.
Case agrees to help Bond by showing him where she hid the diamonds. There they are able to follow the final link in the pipeline - Bert Saxby - as he transports the diamonds to a a bank. Bond and Case, posing as a couple, enter the bank where they “investigate” the possibility of opening an account with the bank. They learn that the bank is owned by a corporation associated with Willard Whyte. Unfortunately, Bond and Case’s inquiries are observed by two of Whyte’s goons.
That evening, Bond and Case are pursued by the Las Vegas police in a brilliant car chase. After shaking off the cops, they return to the Whyte House where they take up residence in the bridal suite (which is guarded by the CIA). Bond “pops upstairs” by “mountaineering” outside of the Whyte House. He makes it up to the penthouse where he is confronted not be Willard Whyte, but by his arch nemesis Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Blofeld admits to killing Whyte and taking his identity, but doesn’t reveal why. Bond attempts to kill Blofeld, but is thwarted by Wint and Kidd who knock him unconscious.
When Bond awakens, he seemingly finds himself “smelling like a tart’s handkerchief” and buried alive. Realising that he is trapped inside a pipe, Bond manages to escape by breaking a piece of machinery and then escaping through the hatch. Meanwhile, Blofeld has Wint and Kidd kidnap Case so he can keep her as his hostage.
Bond returns to Las Vegas where he catches up with Leiter. Leiter inform Bond that Tiffany Case has gone missing. Likewise, Bond reveals that Blofeld has murdered Willard Whyte and stolen his identity. Bond helps the CIA “hit the penthouse”, only to find that Blofeld is not there. After some investigation, Bond discovers that Blofeld has decamped to Whyte’s summer house.
Bond, Leiter, and a small team of CIA operatives travel to the summer house. With Bond in the lead, they enter the summer house by stealth. Bond allows himself to be captured and brought before Blofeld. There he finds Case lounging around the swimming pool in a bikini, much to his disdain. He also discovers a major mafioso and a corrupt politician.
It is here that Blofeld explains his plot. Following the events of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, SPECTRE was ruined. To resurrect the organisation, Blofeld decided to use smuggled diamonds to purchase control of several Las Vegas casinos. He posed as billionaire Willard Whyte to give the transactions a legitimate air. Similarly, the politician provided the scheme with a sense of officialness whilst the mafia would provide underground enforcement. Meanwhile, money would be skimmed off the top of the takings and distributed proportionately three ways.
Bond’s tactic works. The CIA agents break in and a fire fight ensues. Blofeld escapes on a motorbike with Bond in pursuit. Bond catches up with Blofeld and the two men fight. Bond kills Blofeld by strangling him.
The film ends on an ocean liner. Wint and Kidd return to kill Bond and Case. Bond, however, turns the tables on them, setting Kidd on fire and attached a bomb to Wint, sending him overboard.
The film ends on the final credits.
Comments
That is largely the same as the actual film really - however, it has a nastier more political edge. I think the original treatment more lent this way - the finale had Bond recruit the locals to join forces to rid Vegas of Blofeld's influence but it got ditched. It may be the reason why Bond has to evade the Vegas cops - because they've all been bought up by Whyte and this is alluded to briefly by Case - 'I have a friend named Felix' 'Unfortunately so does Willard Whyte...' if I recall. There are no villains chasing Bond at this time so he doesn't need to evade them as in LALD, it's the same with the Frisco chase in AVTAK - Bond could just hand himself in, say he's an agent, they could then go after Zorin collectively.
However, not sure how Vegas would have enjoyed being depicted as a wholly corrupt city or have allowed them to film there if that were the case. The death of Blofeld is a bit anti climactic in your treatment in contrast to his end in the novel YOLT. And what became of Irma Bunt who actually pulled the trigger after all on Tracy? (I think the actress who played her had died by this point anyway)
You make a good point about how Blofeld needs to fund his enterprise and get back on track and there's none of the space diamond satellite stuff of course which many don't care for. That said, without it all that it becomes a humdrum gangster story, it sort of lacks the 'money shot' that Bond films usually require albeit LALD gets away with it imo. It's true, often you think a Bond villain would be better off just sitting tight and making all that money through conventional corruption and criminality rather than going for 'the big one'.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Thank you kindly for your response, Napoleon Plural.
You are right to observe that my outline has many of the same beats and elements as the original movie, albeit with a harder edge. My intention was to elevate the film rather than completely deviate from it. In case you are interested, I also took inspiration from the 1993 murder mystery, Rising Sun and the 1995 crime film, Casino.
I'm not entirely sure I agree with the notion that the Las Vegas' city governance would have refused to let the film be produced there because it depicts Las Vegas in a bad light. I have three reasons for this. First, Las Vegas is known as sin city for a reason. Trying to maintain a squeaky clean image by pretending that there is no corruption there, especially during the 1970s, would have been something of a moot point. Second, James Bond was big business. So, it is likely that the city government would have welcomed the opportunity to have a Bond film produced in the city. Third, Albert R. Broccoli was good friends with Howard Hughes - a man who, if memory serves me correctly, exerted a lot of control over Las Vegas.
I think you are right when you say that without the diamond laser satellite, the film becomes a lower stakes story. Personally, I don't think it is necessary for a James Bond film to be high stakes in order to be exciting. When the story is well written and the characters are well developed, the suspense takes care of itself. As a case in point, think of the scene in From Russia with Love when Grant has Bond at gunpoint. It's just him and Bond in a small train compartment, yet you can feel the tension because the scene is so well written, directed, and acted. However, it would be necessary to introduce something that would elevate it beyond the mere gangster story.
Why didn't I include Irma Bunt in my outline? Simply because Ilse Steppat died shortly after the release of On Her Majesty's Secret Service. I suppose if you were to write an actual screenplay based on my outline, you would have to mention that she has been killed offscreen. It is interesting that you point out Blofeld's death in the novel, You Only Live Twice. In fact, that was precisely what I was thinking of when I wrote Blofeld's death.
In any case, I really enjoyed reading your response.
I think your plot is better than what we got in the movie, but I think it needs to be more different. I miss more locations, spectacular action set-pieces and more focus on Bond's revenge. I'd also like to see a better version of the oil rig scene and the planned final fight in a salt mine. When it comes to locations a visit to Israel, a major diamond trading hub, could be interesting (and Israel was less controversial back then). Bond himself turning up i sub-Sahara Africa could also be great. Better stay out of South Africa, but Botswana, The (not so) Democratic Republic of Kongo or Namibia would be great I think.
Thank you for your response, Number24.
I think the use of Israel, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Namibia, or Botswana would have made excellent locations for a Bond film. Indeed, I wonder if it would have been possible to have the climax take place in one of these places instead. I could imagine Blofeld abducting Tiffany Case and absconding to a jungle base in the middle of the Congo (or similar). Bond could infiltrate the base, kill Blofeld, and rescue Tiffany (not necessarily in that order). Obviously, this would be somewhat similar to the beginning of Never Say Never Again, but executed about a hundred-times better.
The Bond revenge angle would be more prevalent if such an outline had ever been developed into a script (of course, it wouldn't be. Perhaps the pre-title sequence with Bond thinking he's killed Blofeld could have occurred in Israel.
Some nice ideas above. Your film idea could definitely work. The whole revenge aspect is one area of the Bond series that really was a missed opportunity but given the mixed reception to OHMSS and the lack of enthusiasm from Lazenby and the public towards him it's understandable that the producers wanted to distance themselves from OHMSS as much as possible at the time.
Admittedly I quite enjoy DAF until the circus scene. For me that is where the whole film starts to tank and the film is very low in my ranking list.
It does seem that there are quite a number of plot elements from the DAF and TMWTGG books that were never used. Incorporating Bond into a world with serious mobsters could be really interesting and now with Steven Knight in position to write the next film, it could actually happen.
Sinlum,
I agree with you a lot. What you say about On Her Majesty's Secret Service is, of course, true. Thankfully it is now recognised as one of the best James Bond films ever made (it is my personal favourite). Likewise, I disagree with a lot of people who argue that Diamonds are Forever is the worst Bond film.
I, too, would like to see some of the plot elements from the novels Diamonds are Forever and The Man with the Golden Gun used in future Bond films. Indeed, I think the James Bond films would be greatly improved if they were a bit more topical. The Spy Who Loved Me reflects the era of detente, Licence to Kill comments on the South American drug cartels, Goldeneye deals with the aftermath of the Cold War, Tomorrow Never Dies deals with the media, so on and so forth. James Bond should reflect issues in the real world by elevating them to a larger-than-life story (which is precisely what The Spy Who Loved Me did).
I am cautiously excited about the changeover from Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson to Amazon. Personally, I think that Broccoli and Wilson were beginning to falter. It was time for new voices and new influences. It is going to be very interesting to see what is coming.