James Bond: Every Unused Ian Fleming Title (& What They Mean)

James Bond films have traditionally been named after Ian Fleming novels and short stories, but there are four titles of which that remain unused. Nine years before Sean Connery brought the iconic character to life in 1962’s Dr. No, James Bond made his first appearance in the pages of Ian Fleming’s spy thriller Casino Royale. The British author penned a total of twelve Bond novels and nine short stories that have supplied the titles for seventeen of the twenty-five official Bond films, but four short story titles remain unused.

In an effort to write the self-described “spy story to end all spy stories,” former British naval intelligence officer and journalist Ian Fleming withdrew to his Jamaican island retreat, Goldeneye, in 1952 to write his first novel, Casino Royale, at the center of which is a blunt Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) agent named James Bond—code number 007. The fictional character is an agglomeration of all the secret agents and commandos Ian Fleming met during his time working for his Majesty’s Government in World War II, with many traits attributed to his brother, Peter, as well as Ian Fleming himself. In fact, Fleming drew extensively from his own life to supply much of the background, detail, and depth for his twelve James Bond novels and nine short stories, a large swath of literary source material from which the majority of Bond films derive their title.

The James Bond film series is one of the longest continually running to date, spanning twenty-five films and six actors in the starring role as Ian Fleming’s iconic secret agent. Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman’s Eon Productions released the first Bond film adaptation, Dr. No, in 1962, and until 1989’s Licence to Kill, every official Bond film from Eon Productions was named after one of Fleming’s novels or short stories. In the past thirty-two years, only Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace have continued this trend, but there remain four short story titles that have not yet been used.

The Hildebrand Rarity

Ian Fleming’s third short story to feature secret agent James Bond, “The Hildebrand Rarity,” was first published in Playboy then Today magazine in March 1960 before being included the subsequent month in Fleming’s collection of Bond short stories entitled For Your Eyes Only. “The Hildebrand Rarity” sees Bond on assignment in the Seychelles Islands where he and his local guide and friend, Fidele Barbey, join uncouth American millionaire Milton Krest on an expedition to a distant island in search of a rare member of the squirrelfish species known as the Hildebrand Rarity.

Although the title of this short story has yet to be used for a James Bond film, certain plot elements can be found in 1989’s Licence to Kill, most notably the character of Milton Krest and his luxurious yacht, Wavecrest. While “The Hildebrand Rarity” title certainly fits in the literary world of the 1960s, it’s unlikely to be used in a film series known for its provocative, turn-of-phrase titles conjuring images of action and death. However, the short story contains interesting plot details that could be further mined for future Bond films, including a chilling feature of Krest involving a Stingray tail that would make for a particularly disturbing and eccentric screen villain.

Risico

James Bond is the central figure of Ian Fleming’s 1960 short story “Risico,” first published in Daily Express as “The Double Take” before also receiving publication in the collection For Your Eyes Only. In “Risico,” Bond investigates a drug-smuggling operation based in Italy that puts him in contact with CIA informant Kristatos. Bond’s contact borrows words and phrases from other languages to form his own, unique form of English exemplified by the line, “In this pizness is much risico.” The word “risico” is Dutch for “risk,” although a similar-sounding Italian word carries the same meaning and is even spelled the same in some regions.

The main characters and plot elements of “Risico” were used in the 1981 film For Your Eyes Only, which would have been a clear candidate to receive the story’s title had the film not also used elements from the eponymously named short story included in the same collection. However, of the four unused titles, “Risico” may be the most likely to appear across a cinema marquee. The mysterious, foreign word coincides well with the spy genre and continues the recent trend toward single-word titles (even No Time to Die had the working title Shatterhand).

007 in New York

Ian Fleming’s short story “007 in New York” debuted in the New York Herald Tribune in October 1963, and in 2002, Penguin Books added it to the end of Ian Fleming’s posthumously published collection of short stories entitled Octopussy and The Living Daylights (sometimes published as Octopussy). In this brief tale, James Bond hops across the pond to warn a female MI6 employee that her new boyfriend is a KGB agent.

Character and plot elements from “007 in New York” were employed for Daniel Craig’s first two outings as James Bond in Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace. The title is, perhaps, a bit too specific for a modern James Bond film, but the plot is one that may be worth revisiting for the next installment in the series, Bond 26, which will see a new actor portray play 007. Roger Moore visited New York for his Bond debut in Live and Let Die, and Daniel Craig’s debut outing in Casino Royale similarly saw the character visit the United States.

The Property of a Lady

The British-founded multinational corporation Sotheby’s commissioned Ian Fleming to write “The Property of a Lady” for its annual journal, The Ivory Hammer. The James Bond short story was first published in November 1963 before being included in Ian Fleming’s short story collection Octopussy and The Living Daylights (sometimes published as Octopussy) upon the book’s paperback release in 1967. “The Property of a Lady” revolves around Maria Freudenstein, a double agent working for the Soviet Union, and a valuable Fabergé egg, an apparent inheritance of Maria’s that she plans to auction at Sotheby’s. Suspecting a KGB plot is afoot, Bond attends the auction in London.

The 1983 film Octopussy, which features a Fabergé egg auctioned at Sotheby’s, is loosely based on “The Property of a Lady”; however, the film Octopussy derives most of its substantial plot elements from the story of the same name. While “The Property of a Lady” title may suit the cloak and dagger Bond films of the 1960s, it would feel a bit out of place in the modern Bond landscape that has seen the films become more action blockbuster than spy thriller.

Ian Fleming’s timeless classics continue to inspire plots, characters, and locations of James Bond films, and it’s never too late for these short story titles to find their way to the big screen. The 2008 film Quantum of Solace, for example, was released nearly fifty years after its eponymous short story was first published in Cosmopolitan, a testament to the enduring nature of Fleming’s work. James Bond books rank among the most successful of all time, selling over 100 million copies worldwide, while the Bond film series is one of the highest-grossing to date at nearly $7 billion. It’s safe to say Fleming achieved his goal of writing the “spy story to end all spy stories.”

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