9 replies to this topic

[brendan007]

The subject heading says it all. Does anybody know whose idea it was to give Blofeld a cat to hold. It wasnt Flemings idea cos the Blofeld of the books never had a cat, so im wondering whose idea it was to give him one in FRWL. Does anyone know?

[[dark]]

Richard Maibaum's idea to give Dr. No a monkey was shot down by Cubby, but he knew it was a powerful idea. It gave the villain a sense of mystery and a human side. Maibaum just picked the wrong animal.

And so the idea carried on from there to give Blofeld a cat in From Russia With Love.

Hope that helps.

[dark]

[Mister Asterix]

Originally posted by [dark]
Richard Maibaum's idea to give Dr. No a monkey was shot down by Cubby, but he knew it was a powerful idea.  It gave the villain a sense of mystery and a human side.  Maibaum just picked the wrong animal.

As I hear it told the Monkey was to be named Dr. No. Don’t know what the villain was to be named in that case.

[M_Balje]

Mabey the cat say that the person is bad,but he have feelings to.

[kevrichardson]

It was the idea of Broccoli and Saltzman . In FRWL you only saw Blofeld's torso and Hands.

[Daltonitus]

The whole Dr.No as the monkey thing is totaly stupid. How the hell did anyone think it was a good idea?

The Blofeld cat is good because, with you only seeing his hands to start with, he needed to be doing something or the shot would be boring, also giving him a cat makes him seem more human by having the usual 'I need love to ya know' hangups that is the blueprint of a good villan - mummy didn't love him enough, but his cat loves him forever, so it's time to rule the world to show people that, infact, mummy should have loved him.

[Peter]

But the choice of a cat is also specifically good, because cats are often seen as aloof, cold, and particularly in the case of a Persian, elegant. So it reflects Blofeld's personality as well. It wouldn't work with a tabby cat.

Similarly, a dog wouldn't give the same effect either-- the only dog that would work would be a Pekingnese or something.

Notice later in the films when Hugo Drax is given a pet, it's a menacing dog--Doberman Pinschers, who later kill Corrine. Clearly, they're not lap pets like Blofeld's!

[Righty007]

Did Blofeld's cat have a name?

[ChandlerBing]

It was actually plan B. Plan A was to give Blofeld a Dachsund, but the dog wouldn't stop whining, so they had to do something else.

[Blue Eyes]

It's interesting that Blofeld has a cat, because the Blofeld of NSNA has a cat too. Now if it were specifically a Saltzman/Broccoli idea you'd think he wouldn't have been allowed to use that element. So the possibility exists that it comes from some original work by Fleming/McClory.