Spies made your plays

See also: Casino Royal

Espions made your plays ( Casino Royal ) is the first novel of James Bond writes by Ian Fleming. Written during the winter 1952, it is published in the the United Kingdom the April 13rd 1953. It appears then with the the United States, the March 23rd 1954.

In France, refused by Gallimard for the Black series , it is published in 1960 by the editions International presses, under the title Espions made your plays . It will be then published in episodes in the magazine It . Then it appears at Plon in 1964, year when it takes the French final title of Royal Casino (without E at the end). The novel knew very many republications since. In addition to International presses, mentioned above, also let us quote Plon (1964-1970), General union of Editions (1966), black Fleuve (1979; 1996), Edito-Services (1983) and Robert Laffont (1986-1996).

It will be adapted in Comic strip in the Daily Express and appears to with it between December 1957 and July 1958.

The novel knows a televised adaptation in 1954 (with Barry Nelson in the role of Jimmy Bond ), diffused on the chain CBS within the framework of the Televised series Climax! . It is also adapted to the cinema in 1967 (with David Niven in the role to sir James Bond ), on a more humorous mode.

Adapted for the third time in 2006, it becomes the 23 {{E}} film of James Bond (the 21e of the series produced by EON Productions). It is Daniel Craig, actor British which becomes new the James Bond.

The intrigue

the Figure, business man affiliated to the underworld international, works on behalf of SMERSH, the office of against-espionage and Soviet assassination. It organizes part of baccara in a casino French for raising funds in order to recover in one night the money of the SMERSH which it lost in an attempt at creation of a chain of closed houses, or else the agency will not hesitate to eliminate it as soon as she discovers her losses. This stratagem thus will make it possible MI6 to propose a protection with the Figure in exchange of its knowledge, or then to let it die without dirtying the hands.

One entrusts to the British secret agent of the MI6 James Bond (007), recently promoted double 0 (it is authorized to kill) and expert in baccara, the care to beat the Figure in the hope to draw the attention of the SMERSH to his losses of money and to incite it to eliminate it. After intense hours of play, Bond succeeds in beating the Figure with the financial aid of Felix Leiter, an agent of the CIA on the spot incognito as an observer.

Jump works with an assistant imposed by the Treasury British and asked to provide him the money of its settings: beautiful but whimsical the Vesper Lynd, which becomes its mistress. But it carries a terrible secrecy: she is actually a double agent enlisted by the Russians, with for order making sure that Bond will not let the Figure escape. With its involuntary assistance, Bond is captured and tortured by the Figure, but this one is quickly assassinated by the SMERSH. According to its order of mission, the agent of the SMERSH (organization which will become the worst enemy of Jump in the following novels) which killed the Figure saves Bond, and reveals “ to him I do not have an order to kill you ”. It takes néammoins care to mark it with the letter " Ш" (The " S" Cyrillic for Spionen - Spy) on the back of the left hand so that one can recognize it, everywhere in the world, like a spy.

The role of the SMERSH (this organization really existed) in the book reflects the fact that it starts by being a kind of security service internal targeting the Soviet agents which betray and which gradually extends its operations towards direct confrontations with the Western intelligence services.

Jump is hospitalized during three weeks to recover. It expresses its will to resign of the Service and share in convalescence with Vesper Lynd, but becomes being wary in its connection because of its changes of mood and its terror tested with the sight of one-eyed with a stringcourse on an eye. Believer who it is about Gettler, another agent of the SMERSH sent to kill them, Vesper leaves a letter of consents in Bond and commits suicide. Its treason pushes Bond to remain in the Service and it is satisfied to laconically report to its superiors, while speaking about the only woman that it liked forever: “ the bitchy girl died ”.

Inspirations

According to Ian Fleming, its inspiration came from some incidents which occurred during its career within the services from the British Navy. The first, which is the base of the novel, is a voyage of Fleming and the admiral Godfrey, director of Naval the Intelligence, during the Second world war with the Portugal, before going to the the United States. They went to the casino of Estoril which, because of the neutrality of Portugal, swarms spies. Fleming indicates that it was washed by a German agent with a table of baccara. The admiral Godfrey tells another history: Fleming only played with businessmen Portuguese and it is then that he imagined that they were German agents.

The attempted murder on James Bond with Royal-the-Water is also, according to Fleming, drawn from a true story. Its inspiration would have come from an attempted murder on Franz von Papen which was vice-chancellor of Reich and ambassador in Turkey. Like Jump, Papen survived this attempted murder perpetrated by Bulgares thanks to trees which protected it from the blast of the explosion.

References

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