James Bond, Did you ever notice?

[Alk8944]

Watching "Dr. No" today, the movie where "M" takes his Beretta away and issues him a Walther PPK .32 (7.65mm). In the scene it is definitely a PPK! But later in the film, one of the times (of several) he is disarmed by one of the bad guys, the gun he surrenders is a PP, not a PPK!

This is the same film where Bond tells the bad guy with an automatic of some sort with a "can" on it: "That's a Smith & Wesson, you've had your six." LMAO!

 

[THE PILGRIM]

I'll never surrender my PPKS,
even if it does have 50 lb double action trigger pull!

 

[Texas Star]

We've been over this several times. If you didn't also spot Bond's gun in that scene as an FN M-1910 Browning and realize that the villain's gun with a suppressor is a Colt Govt. Model/1911, you are not very sharp at ID-ing guns in movies.


They 're sometimes ridiculous. I saw an episode of Dragnet yesterday on You Tube. A suicide has a .38 by the body . Joe Friday picked up the gun, clearly a squiggle-hammered S&W M&P, and called it a Colt!


"Squiggle hammer" is my name for the Speed Hammer, used from 1948-about 1955. It is an obvious way to tell when those guns were made. I much prefer the older hammers or the later style, used on all Model Numbered guns, I think.


If the script needed changing to reflect that the prop gun was a S&W, Jack Webb had the authority to do that, and he should certainly have known an S&W when he saw one. He carried one and the company presented him with several others!


If he just didn't want to say that the gun used by the apparent suicide was an S&W, surely he could have obtained a real Colt. BTW, the case wasn't really a suicide. It was one of the better episodes of, Dragnet.


Oh; the actual gun used to kill that victim was a P-08 Luger! In my opinion, the case was probably Murder 2 or Manslaughter. A good lawyer could have gone for self defense, had the shooter not messed up and tried to deceive police. Verdict was temporary insanity, caused by actions of the deceased.


Anyway, studios often sub guns for what they should be. How many times have you seen Winchester M-92's subbing for M-1873's?

 

[Onomea]

I wish there were a contest with prize money, and side betting, for IDing guns in movies. We S&W Forum members could put our money on T-Star and make a bundle!

 

[Laketime]

The real thing to notice is when a movie gets it right.

 

[steveno]

the only thing I remember was Ursula in her bikini

 

[Beemerguy53]

I own all the Sean Connery Bond movies on DVD (he is the only real Bond, after all), and every time I watch Dr. No, I chuckle when Q tells Bond that the PPK has "a delivery like a brick through a plate glass window"...

 

[Texas Star]

I think all of the Bond actors have been anti-gun. Many years ago, Connery admitted that he owned a 12 ga. double-barrelled shotgun, but said he hated pistols.


Fleming was not the source of this. He didn't make anti-gun comments that I've found and personally had at least four handguns, all acquired after the red tape required then in the UK. Since 1997, almost no modern pistols are allowed. I think about 300 are authorized, to allow their owners to kill animals injured in traffic accidents!


Interestingly, at least one is a Walther PPK 7.65mm. I think the owner posted about it here.

 

[DWalt]

"Fleming was not the source of this. He didn't make anti-gun comments that I've found and personally had at least four handguns, all acquired after the red tape required then in the UK. Since 1997, almost no modern pistols are allowed. I think about 300 are authorized, to allow their owners to kill animals injured in traffic accidents!"

I have written about this before, but back in the late 1960s I had the opportunity to buy one of Ian Fleming's personal guns, a Ruger .22 pistol. Fully documented and at a very reasonable price. I stupidly didn't buy it.

I saw something on TV about pest control exterminators being allowed to have handguns. The topic of that was the fox problem in England (apparently there are lots of foxes there), and they showed some exterminator shooting a trapped fox. He made the comment that exterminators were permitted use handguns. I couldn't tell what kind of pistol it was, but some small .22 automatic.

 

[rwsmith]

The scripting never follows the book......

Not by a long shot.

Filming never follows the script.

Filming sequence is not anything like the filming script.

The dialog never follows the script. Then some of it changes during dubbing.

The editing hardly follows anything.

It's a miracle that a movie can be made at all.

That said, I love goofs as much as anybody.

 

[les.b]

Actually the script in Dr. no is pretty close to the book, except in the book, Bond is also issued a Smith and Wesson Centennial Airweight!!!

Just for fun, here's the film version. By the way, "Armourer" is "Major Boothroyd ", so named after the real gun guy who steered Fleming away from the Beretta .25....:

[ame]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tU98uP7pXA8[/ame]

Best Regards, Les

 

[Texas Star]

"Fleming was not the source of this. He didn't make anti-gun comments that I've found and personally had at least four handguns, all acquired after the red tape required then in the UK. Since 1997, almost no modern pistols are allowed. I think about 300 are authorized, to allow their owners to kill animals injured in traffic accidents!"

I have written about this before, but back in the late 1960s I had the opportunity to buy one of Ian Fleming's personal guns, a Ruger .22 pistol. Fully documented and at a very reasonable price. I stupidly didn't buy it.

I saw something on TV about pest control exterminators being allowed to have handguns. The topic of that was the fox problem in England (apparently there are lots of foxes there), and they showed some exterminator shooting a trapped fox. He made the comment that exterminators were permitted use handguns. I couldn't tell what kind of pistol it was, but some small .22 automatic.

Did you read the article in, Life, where Fleming was shown holding that Ruger MK I .22?

 

[les.b]

T- Star:

Are you thinking about this issue?...



Maybe this is the photo you remember??? That's a long time back!!



Best Regards, Les

 

[6518John]

I don't care if you are James Bond's creator, that is a good way to shoot a hole in the wall or in someone. Get your finger off that trigger! It's always the "unloaded" ones that get you!

 

[DWalt]

Did you read the article in, Life, where Fleming was shown holding that Ruger MK I .22?

No, but it could have been the one. I remember it was in a leather holster and somewhat later sold at auction for a fairly breathtaking price. I found some information on that sale somewhere, don't remember where.
--------------------
This is it: James Bond Creator Ian Fleming's Ruger MKI Pistol

I remember I could have bought it for I think $400 or so at the time but I am not sure of the date. I originally said late 1960s but it could have been in the early 1970s.

 

[BigBoy99]

The object of a movie is to make money. Also, the majority of the population know very little about firearms. So combining the two, if the scene requires a firearm, the prop room is contacted and what is on hand is used. Time and money are NOT spent to get what match the script and if it doesn't match, so what? Most of the population won't know the difference.

 

[Texas Star]

T- Star:

Are you thinking about this issue?...



Maybe this is the photo you remember??? That's a long time back!!



Best Regards, Les

Yes, that 's it!


You may also want to Search for a copy of Sports Ill., I think in March or April of 1962. Check a year or two either side of that year, too. I THINK it was Mar. 19, 1962. Article by Geoffrey Boothroyd (the real one) on Bond's guns. One of the very few pro-gun articles that rag has ever run...


Yes, I have a good memory. And I began reading James Bond books about 1959. I was still in jr. high school, I think. My first Bond book was, Dr. No.

 

[Texas Star]

No, but it could have been the one. I remember it was in a leather holster and somewhat later sold at auction for a fairly breathtaking price. I found some information on that sale somewhere, don't remember where.
--------------------
This is it: James Bond Creator Ian Fleming's Ruger MKI Pistol

I remember I could have bought it for I think $400 or so at the time but I am not sure of the date. I originally said late 1960s but it could have been in the early 1970s.

Thanks for that link!

 

[les.b]

A little out of order, but here is a letter from Ian Fleming to Geoffrey Boothroyd, in response to Boothroyd's letter suggesting the change from the .25 Beretta to the Smith and Wesson .38 Cenntenniel Airweight (well, he doesn't spell that out in full here, but we know from later information):



I have always been fascinated by this yarn, Boothroyd was a genuine expert, thanks to Texas Star, I now own his masterful and comprehensive (at the time) book.

Best Regards,mLes

 

[Texas Star]

Boothroyd wrote a number of books. The one to which I referred Les is, The Handgun, Crown Publishers, 1970.


If you find a copy, and Online booksellers sometimes have one for very reasonable cost, be careful not to drop it on your toe when it arrives.


It is big, heavy, extremely well illustrated, and very, very good.


For the record, Boothroyd felt that the S&W Model 60, being stainless, was the ideal Bond gun. But Fleming died the year before it appeared, so nothing came of that.