You Only Live Twice (film)

• Release Date: 1967
• Director(s): Lewis Gilbert
• Writer(s): Roald Dahl
• Principal Actors and Roles: Sean Connery (James Bond); Karin Dor (Helga Brandt); Mie Hama (Kissy Suzuki); Bernard Lee (M); Desmond Llewelyn (Q); Lois Maxwell (Miss Moneypenny); Donald Pleasence (Ernst Stavro Blofeld)
• Book / Story Film Based On: You Only Live Twice by Ian Fleming

You Only Live Twice is the fifth film in the James Bond series. In this film, Bond travels to Japan, where he tries to uncover the truth behind the disappearance of an American rocket. Ian Fleming’s novel, also titled You Only Live Twice, inspired the story for the film. Fleming’s spy novel series inspired all of the Bond films. You Only Live Twice became the first Bond film, however, to make a serious departure from the original novel. Famed children’s novelist Roald Dahl wrote the screen adaptation after the first screenwriter’s script was rejected. Dahl signed on to write the screenplay, despite having never penned anything for the screen before, because he had been a good friend of Fleming. Dahl was quoted as saying that Fleming’s novel was the novelist’s "worst," and with only six weeks to turn in a draft, Dahl decided to almost completely throw out the original material and craft a new plot. The producers gave Dahl a lot of creative freedom, with the stipulation that Dahl had to keep the characteristic three-girl formula of all the past Bond films.

Tensions on the set of You Only Live Twice were high, as Sean Connery, the film series’ lead actor, had grown tired of playing James Bond. Before shooting of the fifth film even began, Connery was open and adamant about the upcoming film being his last. With a desire to play other characters and minimize his chances of being typecast after having played Bond for so long, Connery was also tired of the lengthy shoots and subsequent publicity obligations. While filming on location in Japan, Connery was repeatedly harassed by fans and the Japanese press, who refused to give the actor any privacy, even publishing photos of him in the bathroom. To alleviate some of the conflicts on set, Connery was released from his contractual obligation to appear in one more Bond film.

Plot

You Only Live Twice begins as mysterious spacecraft seizes an orbiting American spacecraft, prompting Americans to suspect the USSR for the disappearance amidst Cold War tensions. The British government, however, has other suspicions and sends James Bond to Japan to conduct an investigation. Upon arrival in Tokyo, Bond is introduced to Aki, an assistant to Tiger Tanaka, the head of the Japanese secret service. Fellow MI6 agent Dikko Henderson is killed before he can reveal important information to Bond, sending Bond in pursuit of Henderson’s assassins. The chase leads Bond to Osato Chemicals, where Bond breaks into the safe of Mr. Osato, the company president, to steal critical evidence—revealing photos of a ship called the Ning-Po.

Under false pretenses, Bond meets with Mr. Osato, after which meeting Mr. Osato orders his secretary, Helga Brandt, to kill Bond. Bond escapes with Aki and the pair travels to where the Ning-Po is docked, and they discover the ship is transporting rocket fuel. Aki and Bond, having been followed to the ship, are pursued and Bond is captured and held in Brandt’s cabin onboard. Brandt takes Bond on a flight to Tokyo and attempts to kill him, although Bond manages a narrow escape. It is soon revealed that the plot’s mastermind is Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the head of SPECTRE, who has been working in conjunction with Brandt. Upon learning that Brandt has failed to kill Bond, Blofeld feeds Brandt to piranhas and orders Mr. Osato to carry out Bond’s assassination. In an attempt on Bond’s life, Aki is killed.

Bond teams up with a group of Tanaka’s ninjas, including Kissy Suzuki, who Bond pretends to marry. Bond and Kissy investigate a cave and volcano, which they discover to be the hidden entrance to SPECTRE’s covert rocket base. There, Bond rescues the captured astronauts from the hijacked spacecraft. Bond is eventually captured by Blofeld, and must watch as SPECTRE’s spacecraft Bird One is launched into space. Thinking it is a Soviet ship, the United States is prepares to retaliate with nuclear warfare. Bond distracts Blofeld as the ninjas enter the volcano and in the ensuing encounter, Blofeld kills Mr. Osato and Bond is able to destroy Bird One, prompting the Americans to back off. Blofeld triggers the rocket base to self-destruct and escapes. Bond, Tanaka, and Kissy also escape before the base explodes.

Significance

Unlike many other Bond films, which take the agent all over the world, You Only Live Twice primarily takes place in Japan. In order to scout out the perfect locations for the shoot, Gilbert, producers Albert Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, and other production personnel travelled around Japan for three weeks. The group missed their flight back to Britain to stay and watch a ninja presentation, narrowly escaping death—their intended flight crashed, killing everyone on board. Filming lasted about eight months, and most of the film was shot on location in Japan, except for the big finale explosions, which had to be shot in Spain because the Japanese government forbade the crew from setting off explosives in a Japanese national park. In addition, a huge set for the volcano scenes was built at Pinewood Studios in London and the massive set cost $1 million to construct.

The film’s budget was $9.5 million, a staggering amount at the time it was made and head and shoulders above the budgets of the previous Bond films, with nearly 16 percent of costs going only to set construction. The financial investment paid off, however, with the Bond films reputation helping to create yet another success for the studio. When the film premiered in London, Queen Elizabeth II made an unprecedented appearance at the screening. In the United States alone, You Only Live Twice grossed $43 million, and made a whopping $111 million around the world, despite not being heralded by critics as one of the better Bond films.

The Bond films, and particularly You Only Live Twice, inspired the parody trilogy Austin Powers films, whose Dr. Evil character is closely modeled after Blofeld.

Bibliography

Bray, Christopher. Sean Connery: A Biography. New York: Pegasus, 2012. Print.

Cork, John, and Collin Stutz. James Bond Encyclopedia: Updated Edition. London: DK, 2014. Print.

Fleming, Ian. You Only Live Twice: A James Bond Thriller. New York: Signet/New American, 1964. Print.

Lindner, Christopher. The James Bond Phenomenon: A Critical Reader. Manchester: Manchester UP, 2003. Print.

Pfieffer, Lee, and Philip Lisa. The Films of Sean Connery. New York: Kensington, 2001. Print.

"You Only Live Twice (1967)." Turner Classic Movies (TCM). Turner Entertainment Networks, 2015. Web. 26 Aug. 2015. <http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/24266/You-Only-Live-Twice/>.