Diamonds Are Forever

"Diamonds Are Forever" Theatrical Release Poster

Production Team
Produced by: Albert R. Broccoli & Harry Saltzman
Directed by: Guy Hamilton
Screenplay by: Richard Maibaum & Tom Mankiewicz
Edited by: Bert Bates & John W. Holmes
Musical Score by: John Barry
Theme Song Performed by: Shirley Bassey

Premiere Info
Order in Series: 7 of 20
World Premiere: December 14th, 1971
U.S. Release Date: December 17th, 1971
First Television Broadcast: September 12th, 1975 (on ABC)
First Basic Cable TV Telecast: March 6th, 1991 (on TBS)

Box Office Receipts

World-wide Box Office: $116 million

U.S. Box Office: $43.8 million

Plot Summary:

SPECTRE executes another grand extortion scheme involving the smuggling of diamonds from South African diamond mines, the kidnapping and impersonation of reclusive billionaire Willard Whyte, and the use of the Whyte empire resources. The diamonds are used by SPECTRE to complete a space satelite that uses laser refraction through an array of diamonds to generate a super-powered laser weapon which can be used to hold the world hostage. Whtye's resources are used to launch the satelite and as a front for Blofeld's operations.

Cast & Characters

British Secret Service

Character Name	Portrayed By	Character Description
James Bond	Sean Connery	British secret agent 007
"M"	Bernard Lee	Head of MI6, the British Secret Service, "M" gives all double-o agents their assignments.
Miss Moneypenny	Lois Maxwell	"M"'s secretary, Moneypenny enjoys a playful, flirtation relationship with 007.
"Q"	Desmond Llewelyn	The head of "Q-Branch", the special ordinance & equipment division of MI-6.

Allies

Character Name	Portrayed By	Character Description
Felix Leiter	Norman Burton	CIA operative who assists 007.
Willard Whyte	Jimmy Dean	A reclusive billionaire who owns holdings in a Las Vegas casino and an aerospace contracting company, amongst others.

Villains

Character Name	Portrayed By	Character Description
Ernst Stavro Blofeld	Charles Gray	The head of SPECTRE (AKA "Number One"). At the opening of the film, Blofeld is seen with a new appearance, courtesy of a series of plastic surgeries.
Mr. Wint & Mr. Kidd	Bruce Glover Putter Smith	Homosexual partners and SPECTRE assassins.
Bert Saxby	Bruce Cabot	Willard Whyte's supposed second-in-command who is actually a SPECTRE operative.
Peter Franks	Joe Robinson	SPECTRE agent who is a link in Blofeld's diamond smuggling operation.
Mrs. Whistler	Margaret Lacey	A South Aftrican school teacher who is also a part of SPECTRE's diamond smuggling ring.
Morton Slumber	David Bauer	Owner of Pleasant Slumber Funeral Home and Mortuary. A link in the SPECTRE diamond smuggling operation.
Shady Tree	Leonard Barr	A Las Vegas stand-up comic who is also a link in the SPECTRE diamond smuggling operation.
Professor Dr. Metz	Joseph Furst	A leading expert on laser refraction. Metz is a peace-loving idealist who has been duped by Blofeld into building the diamond-based laser satelite weapon, under the impression that Blofeld will demand world peace as his ransom.
Bambi & Thumper	Lola Larson Trina Parks	SPECTRE agents who guard an imprisoned Willard Whyte.

Bond Women

Character Name	Portrayed By	Character Description
Tiffany Case	Jill St. John	Amsterdam-based woman being used as a part of SPECTRE's diamond smuggling ring.
Plenty O'Toole	Lana Wood	Well endowed casino leach who is impressed with Bond's cavalier attitude toward his winnings. Plenty returns to Bond's hotel suite but is thrown off the balcony into the casino pool by SPECTRE henchmen. In a deleted scene, Plenty returns to Bond's room and discover's Tiffany Case's purse and address. While at Tiffany's house (awaiting Case's return, so she can exact some revenge for her treatment the night before) O'Toole is killed by SPECTRE agents in a case of mistaken identity.

Gadgets

Tuxedo Jacket Pocket "Mouse Trap"
Artificial Fingerprints
Rappelling equipment, stored in Bond's tuxedo cumberbund
Piton Gun
Voice Altering Device

Inflatable balloon sphere that allows the person inside to walk on water.

Travel Destinations

Japan
Cairo, Egypt
London, England
South Africa
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Los Angeles, California
Las Vegas, Nevada
North Dakota
China
Baja California

Sacrificial Lambs

Plenty O'Toole - Killed by SPECTRE assassins at the home of Tiffany Case when the assassins believe that Plenty is Tiffany.

SPECTRE Diamond Smuggling Ring - All members of the diamond smuggling ring built by Blofeld are killed (with the exception of Tiffany Case) as SPECTRE attempts to cover up it's operations. This group includes the following people:

South African dentist
South African doctor
Mrs. Whistler
Morton Slumber (Though never shown on screen, everyone else involved is killed, so why not him?)
Shady Tree

Facts about 'Diamonds Are Forever'

Bond does not smoke during Diamonds, due to cigarette smoking falling out of vogue in 1971.

Howard Hughes was a personal friend of producer "Cubby" Broccoli. Hughes was a fan of the Bond films and Broccoli always sent his friend a print of each film. Though the two hadn't seen each other in several years, when Saltzman and Broccoli wanted to use a Las Vegas casino for Diamonds, Hughes sent word that they could use any of his resources in whatever manner they saw fit. His only payment was a 16mm print of the film after it was completed.

An early concept for Diamonds was for the main villian to be the brother of Auric Goldfinger. Gert Frobe was approached about appearing in the film, but the producers decided that Blofeld should be the primary antagonist. Given the way that OHMSS ended, Broccoli and Saltzman felt that audiences would rather see Bond get his revenge against Blofeld.

Several scenes were deleted from Diamonds, due to time contraints. These scenes include:

Sammy Davis Jr. discussing terms of a new contract with Bert Saxby.
Plenty O'Toole returning to Bond's room, finding Tiffany Case's purse, writing down Tiffany's address, and sneaking back out of Bond's room.

The original take of the scene where Bond drives the Mustang on it's side had to be scrapped due to a crowd of onlookers in the background of the shot. This is why the Mustang is shown coming out of the alley on the opposite set of wheels than those that it went in on. An insert shot of the car switching sides was added to help the continuity of the scene.

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