c a s a f o r t e: June 2012

Thursday, June 14, 2012

James Bond 50° Anniversary : Ernst Stavro Blofeld

Undoubtedly the greatest terrorist mind of the 20th century, Blofeld is the founder of SPECTRE (the Special Executive for Counter-Espionage, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion).

Since SPECTRE’s conception, Blofeld has mastered many of its schemes and would have directed each to success if not for Bond. As it is, Blofeld holds a grudge over the British spy and will stop at nothing to have a hand in his death. Ernst Stavro Blofeld places fear in the heart of his employees and lets nothing hinder his obsession for world domination or deter his bloodthirsty lust of for power.

He is not beyond working for any organization, for a cost, and like SPECTRE, holds no alliances. To Blofeld, people are expendable should they ever fail in their duties.

Fleming details Blofeld's background in the novel Thunderball, though none of his past is ever revealed in the Bond films. According to the novel, Blofeld was born on 28 May 1908 (which is also Ian Fleming's birthday) to a Polish father and a Greek mother in Gdynia, Poland (then Germany).
After World War I, he became a Polish national. Blofeld attended the University of Warsaw where he studied economics and political history, and then the Warsaw University of Technology to study engineering and radionics. He then took a communication position at the Polish Ministry of Posts and Telegraphs, and used his position for buying and selling stocks at the Warsaw Stock Exchange. Foreseeing World War II, Blofeld made copies of top-secret wires and sold them to Nazi Germany. Before the German invasion of Poland in 1939, he destroyed all records of his existence then moved to Turkey, where he worked for Turkish radio and set up an intelligence organisation. During the war, he sold information to both sides. After the defeat of Erwin Rommel, he decided to back the Allied war effort, and was awarded numerous medals by the Allied powers after the war's end. Blofeld then temporarily moved to South America before founding SPECTRE.

In the John Gardner novel For Special Services, Blofeld is depicted as having had a daughter, Nena, with a French mistress.

It is commonly believed that the name Blofeld was inspired by the English cricket commentator Henry Blofeld's father, with whom Fleming went to school. The truth, however, is that he was named after Ernst Blofeld, the father of the author John Blofeld with whom Fleming was associated through club membership. Henry and John were cousins of some degree.

In the film series Blofeld first appears in From Russia with Love, then in Thunderball. In these first two appearances, he is a perceived, but physically unseen character, with only his lower body visible as he strokes his trademark white cat.

In the third, fourth, and fifth appearances – You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and Diamonds are Forever – he is the primary antagonist, meeting Bond face-to-face.

In the film version of On Her Majesty's Secret Service, he is not the actual killer of Tracy Bond. He drives the car from which Irma Bunt (Ilse Steppat) fires the fatal shots at Tracy, just hours after she marries James.

In the sixth and final appearance – in the pre-credit sequence of For Your Eyes Only – he is an anonymous, bald villain trying to kill Bond once again. Blofeld remains unnamed and unlisted in this film’s end credits. The only clues to his identity are the trademark white cat, similar clothes to his previous onscreen appearances, the dialogue indicating that he and Bond have met before, and the fact that the scene begins with Bond paying his respects to Tracy, often considered by the producers as a means of providing an "immediate continuity link" in the event of a new actor taking the part of Bond (although this was Roger Moore's fifth appearance as Bond). The anonymity of the villain was due to the legal dispute between Kevin McClory and Eon Productions over the Thunderball copyrights.

Blofeld’s appearance and personality change according to the personifying actor: He has a full head of black hair in From Russia With Love and Thunderball; a facial dueling scar in You Only Live Twice; no scar or earlobes in On Her Majesty's Secret Service; and silver-grey hair in Diamonds Are Forever. This metamorphosing is per Fleming’s literary portrayal of a chameleonic master criminal striving to go unnoticed with a massive employ of plastic surgery (which is often used in Diamonds Are Forever, albeit to create Blofeld doubles rather than change the original). He often wears a jacket without lapel, based loosely either on the Nehru jacket or on the Mao suit, a feature which is used in spoofs like the Austin Powers series, though in his early two appearances on film he wore a black business suit.

Blofeld's last onscreen appearance was in Never Say Never Again, the 1983 remake of Thunderball. As the film was not made by Eon Productions, it is outside of the continuity of the Eon films. In Never Say Never Again, Blofeld is tall, thin, and bearded, with a European accent more in keeping with the character as presented in From Russia With Love and Thunderball.

Czech actor Jan Werich was originally cast by producer Harry Saltzman to play Blofeld in You Only Live Twice. Upon arriving at the Pinewood set, both producer Albert R. Broccoli and director Lewis Gilbert felt that he was a bad choice, resembling a "poor, benevolent Santa Claus". Nonetheless, in an attempt to make the casting work, Gilbert continued filming. After five days, both Gilbert and Broccoli determined that Werich wasn't menacing enough, and recast Donald Pleasence in the role – the official excuse being that Werich was ill