Licence to Kill treatment: Conclusion

Timothy Dalton

Continuing the blog’s examination of a March 1988 treatment by Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson for Licence to Kill. The treatment was provided by Gary J. Firuta.

At the end of the blog’s last installment, Pam was flying Bond and Lupe and indicated some turbulence was ahead. She wasn’t kidding.

The plane does “a barrel roll.” Lupe is tossed off a bed in the plane onto to the floor. “Bond is amused but Lupe shouts ‘Beetch! at the top of her lungs.”

Meanwhile, in this treatment, Sanchez now is very suspicious of Bond, something that wouldn’t happen until later in the finished film. Sanchez orders his people to look out for Bond.

Bond & Co. have reached their destination, Oaxaca, near the site of the Bible Institute. Bond is in a taxi with Q, Pam and Lupe. Bond and Pam will get off at a hotel. Q is to take Lupe to Leiter in Miami “on the next available flight.” Lupe is hesitant to leave Bond. Bond tells her that Q will look after her until he can rejoin her.

Bond observes some “obviously working class Americans in their best duds” exiting a bus from the institute. Bond remembers that Sanchez had been watching institute programming. Bond tells Q to contact Leiter in Miami that the institute may be a Sanchez front.

Bond and Pam then get on a bus headed to the institute.

At the same time, Sanchez shows up and Dario is surprised to see him. “I had to come,” Sanchez tells Dario. “The Chinese are having second thoughts. They’ve heard rumors about Krest. That Kwang business upsets them. Then Bond taking Lupe and my plane. I have to show my face to prove everything’s alright.”

The treatment includes a description of an assembly line-like operation where checks and cash are separated from letters with donations. Addresses are entered into a computer database. The letters are deposited into a large shredder.

The Asian group also is being given a tour of the grounds. Eventually Bond and Pam separate, with Bond infiltrating the group of visitors by knocking out a technician and taking his place. Bond wears a filter mask and a white lab coat. Bond also has an ID with the name Jose Pico.

Sanchez, not as dense as he was in the finished movie, is aware of Bond’s presence and tells Dario to find him.

What follows is a demonstration similar to the completed film, showing how cocaine can be dissolved in gasoline. Sanchez tells his visitors he has a plan for shipments to Asia by chartering a tanker ship to Hong Kong.

Pam, meanwhile, gets away from Sanchez’ men who have been observing her. Back at the lab, Bond has been spotted. He is overcome by Sanchez henchmen.

“What is this vendetta, Senor Bond?” Sanchez asks.

“Felix Leiter,” Bond replies.

“The American drug agent? What is he? Nothing!”

“My friend,” Bond says. “A man you couldn’t buy.”

Sanchez is undeterred. “Too bad for him. So where is he now? Selling pencils in the streets?”

“No, Sanchez,” Bond says. “He’s after your head. You can’t stop men like him.”

Bond is taken to an area with a detonator. It is set for 10 minutes. The complex will go up to remove evidence.

Bond is tied up. “Dario owes you some pain,” Sanchez tells Bond. “I promised he could have you.” Sanchez steps up to Dario and pats his cheek. “Amuse yourself, Amigo.”

Sanchez and his entourage depart except for Darui and some thugs. One of Sanchez’ men ask the boss if they should let Dario know has seven minutes left.

“No!” Sanchez replies. “He has made too many mistakes lately.”

Yikes! Sanchez must have studied at the Blofeld School of Management.

While this is going on, Pam is at the facility’s auditorium watching Joe Butcher give a performance. At the same time, Leiter is watching the telecast of Butcher. Leiter tells a colleague he had received a message it was tied to Sanchez.

Back in Mexico, Dario puts Bond on the conveyor belt leading to the shredder used for all the letters sent to Joe Butcher. Dario turns it on.

Bond gets out of it thusly:

Several feet away Bond spots a stainless steel bucket besides the belt. He has enough play in his straps to swing his legs and jam both feet into the bucket. Then he swings his legs back onto the belt the instant before his foot reaches the knives of the shredder. The knives shatter as they hit the bucket. Bond falls through the shredder miraculously unscathed.

A fight breaks out as Pam catches up to Bond. She shoots Dario, who falls into the shredder. A foot chase ensues, with Bond and Pam ending up in the auditorium where Joe Butcher is doing his television broadcast. Leiter, still watching on TV, recognizes Bond. Security guards break into the auditorium and Leiter’s TV feed is interrupted. An explosion breaks out.

Bond now moves to delay a convoy of trucks containing cocaine in gasoline, with Pam flying a plane. A long description follows. The treatment includes how many of the Asian group are arrested at Acapulco, where the convoy was headed.

Bond and Sanchez have their final meeting. As in the final film, Sanchez prepares to decapitate Bond with a machete. Except, in the treatment, Bond uses a flare he took from a truck emergency box. “He thrusts burning flare into Sanchez’ face,” the treatment says. “Sanchez’ clothes, drenched in gasoline, ignite, turning him into a human torch.”

The next scene takes place at the “Mexican fiesta Acapulco.”

The scene plays out somewhat differently than the final film. We’re told, “It seems Lupe has found her true vocation taking care of Leiter.” (!) Then, Q (!) tells Bond that M wants him back “at once for re-assignment.”

During the scene, Pam is wearing her leather vest. Pam says Bond needs R&R before reporting back for duty. She asks Bond: “Why don’t you buy a yacht for a three month sail on the Caribbean with me”?

Bond asks what they will do for money

Pam opens one of the padded sections of her vest, containing “packets of hundred dollar bills.”

“You didn’t think I was going to let you put all that cash in the decompression chamber, did you? I’m a practical woman.”

At this point, after all the violence, Bond has one bad arm. He tells Pam he won’t be of much use with one arm.

“For what I have in mind, you won’t need your hands,” Pam says.

THE END

Licence to Kill treatment: A bumpy flight

Timothy Dalton’s gunbarrel

Continuing a serialization of a Licence to Kill treatment by Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson in 1988. Treatment provided by Gary J. Firuta.

By page 41 of the treatment, Pam “has obviously fallen for Bond in a big way.”

At this point, Pam and Q are in the hotel suite in Isthmus City.

“Q gives her a stiff upper lip English pep talk,” according to the treatment. “No one has ever gotten the best of Bond and no one ever will. She tells him to shut up and let her think.”

Just then, Bond calls. “He is standing at the pay phone in the casino dressed in Dr. Mendez’ overcoat, dark glasses and hat. Lupe is at the bar as a look out.”

Bond tells Pam she “should get down to the airport and find out where Sanchez is taking the oriental group they saw at the casino the other night. She should also make sure their plane is ready for a quick get away.”

Over the next few pages, the demise of Milton Krest at the hands of Sanchez is described. It’s similar to what would be in the final film. The main difference is one of Sanchez’ lackeys realizes this was set up by Bond.

Later, there are other bits, including Q making a phony passport for Lupe.

The sequence is more complicated than the final product. There’s this bit about Q: The quartermaster “never knew how much fun in the field.” Pam puts the intercom to “listen.”

Bond wants to finish the job the dead Hong Kong agents took on to take out Sanchez. He, Pam and Lupe are on a plane t try to intercept Sanchez.

“Lupe now in a silk robe, joins Bond. ‘James, what will be do? Franz will follow us. Kill us.”

“Not if I get him first,” Bond replies.

Pam listens on the intercom as Bond and Lupe get closer. Pam switches the intercom to “talk.” “Please fasten your seat belts. We’re about to go through some turbulence.”

TO BE CONTINUED

Licence to Kill treatment: Boom!

Timothy Dalton

Continuing the blog’s look at a March 1988 treatment by Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson for Licence to Kill. The treatment was provided by Gary J. Firuta.

A shell “from a tank hits the bungalow and explodes, almost demolishing it,” the treatment says on page 40. “Evidently Kwang had been followed there.”

The treatment says General Rios, “in a command car with Sanchez, is directing an attack by regular Isthmus City troops on the bungalow.”

The attack is deadly. Rios sends troops inside. The roof has collapsed. Rios and Sanchez follow the troops inside.

“Kwang and Loti are still alive,” according to the treatment. “Rios hands Sanchez a revolver. He dispatches them with it.”

As in the final film, Bond is discovered, still alive.

“Rios lifts revolver to kill him,” Maibaum and Wilson write. “Sanchez stays his hand.”

“He tried to warn me,” Sanchez says.

The next morning, Bond awakens in a bedroom of the casino penthouse. Lupe is there.

“She tells him she prayed for him,” the treatment says. “And for herself, too.”

Soon, Sanchez enters with his personal physician, Dr. Mendez, who “wears a voluminous camel’s hair coat, a broad rimmed fedora and dark sunglasses.”

Mendez begins to examine Bond. Sanchez “expresses hit gratitude to Bond.”

“From now on they are hermanos,” according to the treatment. “And the East Coast territory might soon be his. They will discuss it when Bond has recovered.”

Sanchez instructs the doctor to give Bond a sedative “to knock him out for six hours.” After Sanchez exits the room, “he tells a man standing there to stay and keep an eye on Bond. It is Dario.”

Back in the room, Mendez is about to inject the sedative into Bond. But the agent “deftly snatches the needle” out of the doctor’s hand and injects him with it instead.

“The astounded Mendez pulls away, staggers a few feet and collapses.”

Dario’s suspicions are raised. He enters the room, his weapon drawn. Lupe is making the bed.

Dario pulls away the covers. Dr. Mendez is there. Bond gets into a fight with Dario. Eventually, Bond overcomes Dario. Bond tells Lupe “it is her last chance to get away from Sanchez and Krest.

“Will she come with him? She is still shaken but agrees.”

TO BE CONTINUED

Licence to Kill treatment: MI6 or MI5?

Licence to Kill’s poster

Resuming (after a break) describing the Licence to Kill treatment by Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson from 1988. It was provided by Gary J. Firuta.

As in the film, Q drives a Rolls Royce. Bond exits, tells the casino manager he’ll play later. This gives Bond a chance to slip in by the service entrance. There’s a big party upstairs.

Bond pretends to be a waiter, giving him a chance to infiltrate the facility.

The treatment includes a description of the party, with Sanchez hosting various Asian people.

“We control whole government departments, in some cases, whole countries,” Sanchez tells his guests. “For example, the security of our shipping operations here is headed by Colonel Rios, the commandant of the President’s personal bodyguard.”

Rios is present at the gathering. “Rios stands as the others applaud him,” according to the treatment.

As in the film, the treatment now has Bond ready to try to kill Sanchez. Back at the meeting, Sanchez makes his pitch to extend his “invisible empire” to the Pacific Rim. “It will become our puddle,” Sanchez says.

Sanchez asks the Asians for $100 million each. But Kwang wants to see more of Sanchez’s operations before committing himself. The others go along. Sanchez will take them the next day to see the operations.

The treatment resembles the final film as Bond’s assassination attempt of Sanchez falls short. “A fight on the rooftop follows as Bond defends himself with a variety of martial arts all of which are countered by his adversaries.”

Bond is captured by the ninjas (as described in the treatment).

“Ninjas emerge with Bond still groggy between them,” the treatment says. “A car draws up and stops besides them. Ninjas open boot, fling Bond into it, close boot, lock it, then gets into the car which speeds away.”

The car “stops outside a bungalow somewhat removed from others on the city’s outskirts,” the treatment reads. The ninjas open the trunk and drag Bond into the house.

Bond is taken to the house’s basement and is strapped into a chair.

“Outside a car pulls up and a figure slips out hurrying into the house,” the treatment says. “A second figure rustles in the underbrush near the house. Is it being watched? Basement door opens. The figure from the car enters. It is Kwang.”

The first figure is Fallon “an Englishman from Hong Kong.” He and Kwang confer. Bond “must be MI5 (!),” Fallon says.

Kwang and Fallon “are irate that MI5 would attempt to kill Sanchez without informing them,” the treatment says.

Kwang says “when Bond made a display of himself at the blackjack table” he placed Bond under surveillance. That enabled Bond’s attempt to kill Sanchez to be foiled.

But things are about to go bad.

TO BE CONTINUED

Eon Bond actor No. 007: Let’s get on with it, shall we?

Over the past few days, there have been events related to the 60th anniversary of the James Bond film series produced by Eon Productions.

Eon’s Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson have yammered about the next casting. “For Barbara and I, it’s something we keep in mind – we want to satisfy the audiences but we need to surprise them and refresh it, so that’s the challenge,” according to an account by Radio Times.

The thing is, Broccoli and Wilson have known *for a few years now* that Daniel Craig’s time as Bond was drawing to an end.

As a result, Broccoli and Wilson have known it was time for a change. But, based on their public statements, Broccoli and Wilson have talked as if nothing will happen soon. Supposedly, Bond 26 won’t start filming for at least two years.

By comparison, Albert R. Broccoli (Wilson’s stepfather, Barbara Broccoli’s father) acted quickly when a vacancy occurred with the role of Bond. Between 1985 and 1987, Eon cast *two Bond actors* (Pierce Brosnan and then Timothy Dalton).

Wednesday, Oct. 5, is Global James Bond Day. If a new Bond actor is announced that day by Eon, it will be a very cynical announcement. It wouldn’t be a matter of Eon playing fun and games. It would be the climax of a series of lies.

We’ll see how it goes.

How No Time to Die divided Bond fandom

No Time to Die soundtrack cover

Hindsight, it is said, is perfect. So, in hindsight, 2021’s No Time to Die was divisive in the James Bond fan base.

Some Bond fans love the 25th 007 film made by Eon Productions. Others *hate* it. James Bond is not supposed to die! But that’s what happened.

After the demise of Daniel Craig’s Bond in No Time to Die, Eon still is trying to figure out where to go next.

Eon boss Barbara Broccoli, who was always pushing for Craig, now has to confront her emotions. Craig, now into his 50s, *appears* to be done. (But who really knows?)

Historical note: Between 1985 and 1987, Eon not only made a big change in direction (going to a more serious direction) but cast *two* Bond actors. (Pierce Brosnan initially, then Timothy Dalton when Brosnan couldn’t get out of a television contract.)

Broccoli has said Bond 26 won’t start filming until at least two years from now. The Eon boss has said the production company is grappling with the future direction of the franchise.

We’ll see how it goes. In the “old days,” the Bond franchise could make big changes more quickly.

Regardless, Bond fandom has become more polarized, similar to society in general.

Licence to Kill treatment: Bond meets Q

Timothy Dalton gunbarrel

Continuing the blog’s examination of a March 1988 treatment by Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson for Licence to kill. The treatment was provided by Gary J. Firuta.

After Bond sees Sanchez, Bond and Pam go back to their hotel.

The two briefly discuss the layout of Sanchez’s office. “We have a problem,” Bond says. “Sanchez is up there behind two inches of armored glass. I’d need a cannon to get him.”

What follows is similar to the final film. Upon arrival, Bond is told by the concierge that his uncle is waiting for him in his suite. “Bond tells Pam to wait in the lobby while he investigates,” the treatment says.

Bond goes to the room, rings the bell, “then flattens back against the wall beside the door and poses to karate strike if necessary.”

Q opens the door. He is “all rigged out for a Caribbean vacation.” In the movie, Desmond Llewelyn wore a suit for the scene.

Initially, Q tells Bond he’s on leave and decided to spend it with the agent. “Q finally confesses it was Miss Moneypenny who kept tabs on him.”

Q then tells Bond that Moneypenny has “been mad about him for years.”

‘”Really?’ Bond exclaims, pretending surprise. Bond says he’s in no mood for a vacation and Q had better enjoy himself somewhere else.”

Q “then confesses” he’s present without M’s knowledge. Q also says Leiter was his friend too. (Obviously, this happened offscreen.)

As in the final film, the treatment has Q showing Bond the gadgets he’s brought, including the “denonite” toothpaste and the disguised signature gun.

Pam enters. The dialogue in the treatment is a bit different than the movie.

“Just who is this Uncle?” Pam asks. “For that matter who are you?”

“Just civil servants,” Bond replies.

“Like Leiter, only English,” Pam says.

TO BE CONTINUED

Licence to Kill treatment: Bond meets Sanchez

Licence to Kill’s poster

Continuing the blog’s examination of a 1988 treatment by Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson for what would become Licence to Kill. The treatment was provided by Gary J. Firuta.

Bond finally meet his target, Sanchez. Bond is covered by Sanchez’s security personnel. Bond is relieved of his Walther PPK and his passport.

Sanchez holds up the PPK.

“Why Senor Bond?”

Bond says he often carries around a lost of cash.

Sanchez nods and looks back to the TV screen where “Joe and Deedle conclude” their TV evangelist act.

Bond is free to walk around Sanchez’s quarters. He spots where an attack could be launched at Sanchez.

As this occurs, Sanchez orders a donation to the televangelists in his employ.

“Wonderful work these people do,” Sanchez tells Bond. “I always watch them. It is good for the soul.”

Sanchez then compliments Bond at his skill in playing blackjack. “I like your style. Your credit rating is impressive. What business are you in?”

Bond replies: “Your business, Senor Sanchez. I distribute pharmaceuticals in London. That’s why I asked your beautiful, charming Senorita Lupe to introduce us.”

Sanchez laughs.

“Your direct approach is refreshing but I do not discuss business in front of women,” Sanchez says.

Lupe leaves

Bond sits down in a chair opposite Sanchez.

“I want the East Coast business,” Bond tells Sanchez.

“Have we business there?” Sanchez asks.

“Let’s not play games, Senor Sanchez,” Bond says. “I’m interested in Milford (sic) Krest’s operation.”

Sanchez doesn’t back down. He tells Bond that “you come in here without references, carrying a weapon, talking about business I don’t understand. What’s your point?”

Bond also doesn’t back down.

“Krest is finished,” Bond says. “The D.E.A. turned over his warehouse in Key West. They took everything. Krest’s so desperate he’s ripped someone off.”

Sanchez is interested. “How do you know this?”

Bond continues: “He’s put 500 keys on the London market at bargain prices. It’s hot, I wouldn’t touch it.”

Sanchez tells Bond it will take a few days to investigate all this.

“I’m at the Hotel Presidente,” Bond says. “Be careful, Senor Sanchez. It is dangerous to corner a desperate man.”

Sanchez says he has known Krest for years. “We are hermanos, like brothers.”

Bond gestures to the television screen.

“Ask your favorite evangelists to tell you about Cain and Abel.”

TO BE CONTINUED

Licence to Kill treatment: Blackjack

Timothy Dalton gunbarrel

The blog continues its examination of a 1988 treatment by Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson for what would become Licence to Kill. The treatment was provided by Gary J. Firuta.

Lupe answers the summons from Sanchez as Bond is adding to his winnings at the blackjack table at Sanchez’s casino.

Sanchez “points to Bond” on a closed-circuit television screen. Lupe “recognizes Bond at the blackjack table.” Lupe “conceals her reaction.” Sanchez instructs Lupe to “chat Bond up and get to know him.”

Bond, meanwhile, “continues playing and winning.” At the same time, “Several of the orientals, including Kwang and his beautiful young Asian companion, Loti, are now watching him play.”

Lupe enters. Bond “tells dealer he’s taking a break, rises, and asks Pam to hold his seat or him.”

Pam knows “nothing about blackjack except what she picked up watching Bond.”

Bond leaves the private gambling room with Lupe following him.

Bond is seated at a bar while Lupe “joins him hesitantly.”

According to the treatment, “Her natural inclination toward him conflicts with her fear of Sanchez.”

Lupe tells Bond she is “afraid Sanchez might somehow learn about the episode on Krest’s yacht. She begs him to leave.”

That’s not Bond’s style. “He asks her where Sanchez is,” the treatment reads.

“Upstairs in his penthouse office,” Lupe replies. “He’s getting ready for some kind of a big meeting tomorrow and a party afterward.”

Bond isn’t ready to retreat. He wants Lupe to take him to Sanchez.

“Are you loco?”

The treatment says, “He reassures her, says he has important information for Sanchez who will be pleased with her for bringing Bond to him.”

Lupe takes Bond “reluctantly” to a self-service elevator.

Bond and Lupe ride the elevator up. Bond “promises her that somehow he will reunite her with her family.”

When Bond gets out of the elevator, he is relieved of his Walther PPK and his passport by Sanchez thugs (Perez and Braun).

Bond says he has come to see Sanchez. “Perez takes Lupe into Sanchez,” the treatment says.

TO BE CONTINUED

Licence to Kill treatment: Pam changes her hair color

Licence to Kill’s poster

Continuing the blog’s examination of a 1988 treatment by Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson for what would become Licence to Kill. The treatment was provided by Gary J. Firuta.

Bond and Pam go to a bank in Isthmus City. They are “appropriately dressed” and meet with the bank manager.

Pam “is now a stunning blonde.”

Bond wants to open an account with an initial deposit of $5 million. He tells the bank manager there will be additional monthly deposits. “Responding to the manager’s questions, he says he is an independent entrepreneur specializing in Investment Opportunities. Presently he is on an extended holiday with his confidential secretary.”

Bond also arranges a credit line of $2 million at Sanchez’s casino.

“The manager assures him there will be no difficulty with that,” the treatment says. “The bank’s chairman also owns the casino.”

Bond and Pam arrive at the casino in “a chauffeured driven Rolls Royce.” Both are well dressed.

What follows is a description of the casino and its clientele. The building is five stories tall “surmounted by a flag pole and a large satellite dish.” The patrons are “handsome and obviously well heeled.”

Bond and Pam “are taken into a private gambling salon reserved for big betters.”

The treatment says the betters include “the oriental group Bond saw at the airport.” The gathering “has one or two members from Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Malaysia, and an impressive-looking Chinese from Hong Kong. We later learn he is named Kwang.”

As in the final film, Bond informs the pit boss he wants to play blackjack at a private table. What follows is a description of what’s happening upstairs. Sanchez is watching “a telethon fundraising for the Oaxaca Bible Institute.”

The program is hosted by “an evangelist couple, Deedie and Joe Butcher, who reminds us you know who.”

Presumably, this is a reference to Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, who had a popular evangelist program, The PTL Club, in that era. Jim Bakker got into big legal problems in 1988 and 1989. In the final film, we only saw Joe Butcher, who was played by Wayne Newton.

Meanwhile, Chicago underworld types are watching the same program. “Big Boss Benjy reacts angrily” to how Sanchez is using the show to make bids for the drugs.

“The program is obviously not only an appeal for charitable contributions but to also announce prices and receive orders for cocaine,” according to the treatment.

Back at the casino, Bond now wants to play with no limit. The treatment provides more details of how the supposedly religious telecast is part of Sanchez’ empire.

The treatment describes Bond playing blackjack at the private table.

“Bond is obviously not the pigeon the pit boss thought he was,” the treatment reads. “The ten thousand dollar plaques are piling up in front of Bond. Pit boss tells Sanchez the Englishman has recouped and is 200 thousand up.” Presumably, that is $200,000.

Sanchez calls up Lupe who is “bored, leafing through a magazine in the sitting room of a penthouse suite….Sanchez tells her she wants him.”

TO BE CONTINUED