Mister 8

…Though I have to say the rest of the film is rather disappointing.

More good news came through official COBRAS line of communication yesterday — we’ve established new agents in France and Argentina!

From France, we welcome Phillipe Lombard — Bienvenue en COBRAS, Phillipe! — who runs the 007-themed blog Quantum of Bond, chock full of Bond observations and ephemera. This one’s sure to tax my Google translator on a daily basis. And so will….

Una Plaga de Espias, published by Johny Malone from Argentina — Bienvenido a los COBRAS, Johny! — who brings us the best in well-crafted antique thriller covers and info from the back covers. There are some real gems in there, Johny!

These guys join our other newest member Rob Mallows in one of the finest coalition of bloggers writing about espionage ever. And something tells me we’re not done adding to our ranks yet!

…Which I’ll hopefully be able to follow up with reviews this week:

(click the arrow in the right bottom corner to turn on captions)

And do your uniting at Matt Courtman’s new Danger Man forum! Matt runs one of the best designed spy fansites on the internet for Patrick McGoohan’s Danger Man series, and one can only imagine that the level of conversation at the forum will equal the quality of his site!

Classics Illustrated - Dr. No

As has been noted by a number of my other COBRAS comrades (including new COBRAS member[s] The HMSS Weblog — more on this shortly), actor Joseph Wiseman, who played the titular character in 1962′s Doctor No, and thus became the first James Bond film villain, passed away this week. In his honor, we here at Mister 8 want to look at some of the adaptations of Ian Fleming’s Doctor No, starting today with a comic that was published in multiple places, including the British Classics Illustrated, Detective Series (supposedly — I’ve not seen any online evidence of this, and will check my copy of James Bond: The History of the Illustrated 007 when I get home tonight), and DC Comics’ Showcase series.

Comics creator / historian / anecdotalist Mark Evanier discusses this issue in an entry at his site on the history of DC dropping the ball on the one franchise in the world bigger than Superman or Batman (or, I suppose, Mickey Mouse, who currently owns their rival, Marvel Comics):

The first Bond film, Doctor No, debuted in England in October of 1962. To coincide with that release, the British publisher of the Classics Illustrated comic book series issued an adaptation that was drawn by Norman J. Nodel. It was not, by the way, a terribly precise adaptation, at least of the movie, which Nodel does not appear to have seen when he drew the book. It has been suggested that the publisher had the right to adapt the screenplay but not necessarily the film based on it. The likeness of the lead character makes it seem like Nodel was told to draw a Bond that looked a lot like Sean Connery…but not exactly.

In any case, the company that arranged the adaptation wanted to have it published in America when the movie was released here the following May. The American publisher of Classics Illustrated was in no position to do so. They had a marketing program that avoided most of the main newsstand outlets — the obvious place to sell such a book — and concentrated on classrooms and other educational venues. The Bond people, not wanting to miss an opportunity, tried to arrange to publish the Doctor No comic book themselves. They approached the largest comic book distributor, Independent News, which was owned by the same folks who owned DC Comics.

Independent said no, they would not handle a one-time publication from a new publisher…but they would buy the rights to publish an American edition and issue it as a DC Comic. The Bond licensing people liked this deal or at least accepted this deal. They did like the idea, which was briefly discussed, of DC publishing an ongoing James Bond comic book if this first one did well. The contract when it was concluded included an option clause that would allow DC to do a regular series for a modest fee.

Bob Brown drew the new cover for the DC Showcase issue, which was the March-April 1963 issue of the series. Thanks again to user Woollsey, who sent the following images along with a bevy of spy comics scans from the golden / early silver age of comics that have not been republished. I’m not sure where rights issues currently stand with this, but I imagine they’re fairly murky and this issue is unlikely to be reprinted. Copyright holders, feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, and I’ll take these images down:

HMSS logo

We’re happy to announce that Paul Baack and the crew at the HMSS Weblog have responded positively to an invitation to join what critics call “the best group of bloggers talking about spies who have formed a coalition and have a snake-themed logo on the internet.” Baack and co. have already put together an excellent magazine-style website at HMSS.com, and for that, the web would have been thankful, but they followed up with regular astute observations and commentary on the blog and quickly became a regular read of many COBRAS agents.

Make sure you check out the site, where the conversation ranges from “Bond” to “beyond”!

…Kolchak the Night Stalker, and assorted other hard-boiled things with Jazma Online!

A Pistol For Ringo / Return of Ringo Soundtrack

Ennio Morricone’s theme for A Pistol For Ringo (1965) is one of my favorite pieces of spaghetti western music, and sets the standard for beautiful ballads that Morricone would score later on, like the operatic theme from Once Upon a Time in the West (the song I plan to have played at my funeral).

e|------------------------|
B|-------12-------12------|
G|-----11--11--------11---|
D|------------------------|
A|--10---------10---------|
E|------------------------|

[See full tablature]

From Kristopher Spencer’s Film and Television Scores, 1950-1979: A Critical Survey by Genre:

The theme for the first Ringo movie is lush, dreamy and sentimental. A reverberating electric guitar, and then a string section, carries the haunting melody, while Cantori Moderni provides and intermittent but uplifting countermelody. The overall effect is mesmerizing. This is probably the first Morricone theme to warrant the description of drop-dead-beautiful. “Angel Face” reprises the melody, adding an English lyric by Gino Paolo and a clear, strong vocal by Maurizio Graf.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2S9pIYfQ5FQ

There’s an excellent compilation of instrumental music called For a Few Guitars More: A Tribute to Morricone’s Spaghetti Western Themes, which features an equally haunting version of the song by the Bambi Molesters. Take a listen below, and buy the album for a number of other great Morricone covers.

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Companeros poster

One of the greatest film posters of all time for one of my top five favorite spaghetti westerns.

Alamo Drafthouse Leone Fest posters

Today, I want to offer my ranking of the Leone films and solicit reactions from you guys. Tomorrow, I’m going to give a top ten favorite non-Leone spaghettis, to which you’ll also hopefully react. Trailers and brief, list-style justifications follow:

1. Once Upon a Time in the West

The silent masterpiece that opens the film. The visual poetry throughout. The close-up of those cold Fonda baby blues. The haunting Morricone score, his best. The abstract view in Bronson’s flashback of the figure walking ever closer. Fonda’s walk through town while Bronson amusedly watches and drops hints. Robards out-duelling Mr. Choo-Choo’s hired hands, and his sad, slow death in the denouement. The final chapter of the old west, Leone-style. And, above all perhaps: Claudia Cardinale. A perfect film.

2. For a Few Dollars More -

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cN17EqwS6HQ

The two bounty hunters who are all archetypes in one. The detached lunacy of El Indio, player perfectly by Volonte. Kinski being directed by Leone. The carillon twinkling at the end of the watchchain(s). The moment that trumpet explodes in the middle of “Sixty Seconds to What?” The gladiator arena that is the corral, the sweet revenge that is fulfilled there, and the void that it leaves in its place. Better than its more popular prequel, aka….

3. The Good, The Bad and the Ugly -

The surreal, picaresque western. Van Cleef switching sides from benevolent father figure to pure evil bastard. Eli Wallach in the performance of a lifetime. Cannonballs ripping through hotel walls. “If you’re going to shoot, shoot. Don’t talk.” Gloves beating against dusty uniforms. An eyepatch that moves around quite a bit. A beautiful monologue as bandit berates his brother the priest. A dream fulfilled in the destruction of a bridge. The slow gathering of familiar accouterments. The ecstacy of gold. Also, Morricone’s “The Ecstacy of Gold.” The gut-tightening build-up to gunshots. And a perfect ending.

4. Duck, You Sucker -

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQTutD6OkTo

AKA Fistful of Dynamite. AKA Once Upon a Time The Revolution. A bandit pissing on ants. Steiger doing Eli Wallach. A funny little Irishman on a funny little motorcycle. A mutual dislike that becomes mutual respect. Morals forged in the fire of experience. Explosions! Lots of them! Sean, Sean, Sean!

5. A Fistful of Dollars -

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qURQyTEH90s

Fifth on this list is nothing to sneeze at, especially for a film that created a genre. Dashiell Hammett or Kurosawa in the desert.  The world-weary bartender. The enigmatic pallbearer. Get three coffins ready. Apologizing to mules. Bonds and betrayals and barrels and bonfires. A fallible hero. Aim for the heart or you’ll never stop me. And they never did.