THUNDERBALL, released in 1965, was the fourth James Bond film and offered no less than four ladies for our BEST 007 GIRL contest.
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| Beswick with Sean Connery |
Making her second of two small yet important roles in the series, Martine Beswick portrays Paula Capan, 007's assistant in Jamaica. She is killed by the bad guys after a couple of scenes.
Martine also a part in FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE as a gypsy girl. She was born in 1941 in Jamaica and went on to appear in films such as ONE MILLION YEARS BC and PREHISTORIC WOMEN.
Another minor Bond girl, one of 3 he beds this time out, is Patricia Fearing, played by Molly Peters. This was Peters' largest film role. She was born in 1942 and was a model before her appearance as a physical therapist at the clinic Bond is sent to for some rehab at the beginning of the film.
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| Molly Peters |
Getting far more screen time as one of the best evil henchmenwomen of the franchise was Fiona Volpe, as played by Italian redhead Luciana Paluzzi. She was born in 1937 and was a staple in Italian action films of the 60s. She was memorable in 1968's THE GREEN SLIME as the love interest of Robert Horton and Richard Jakael on a doomed space station.
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| Paluzzi as Fiona |
She also appeared in the pilot episode of THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. previous to her role in THUNDERBALL in which she gets two of the best scenes in the whole 007 mythos. In the first, after they make love and she betrays him to her goons, Bomd taunts her with his famous exchange:
James Bond: My dear girl, don't flatter yourself. What I did this evening was for Queen and country. You don't think it gave me any pleasure, do you?
Fiona: But of course, I forgot your ego, Mr. Bond. James Bond, the one where he has to make love to a woman, and she starts to hear heavenly choirs singing. She repents, and turns to the side of right and virtue...
[she steps on Bond's foot]
Fiona: ... but not this one!
A few minutes later, then, the famous Death of Fiona scene in which 007 uses her to block a bullet shot by one of her henchmen
Now we come to one of the better 007 Babes, French actress Claudine Auger as Domino. Born in 1941, she was a runner up for the 1958 Miss World title. She appeared in many European films after her stint with Bond. The one piece swimsuit she wore in that film was most edgy:
The role of Domino was originally to be an Italian woman: Dominetta Petacchi. Auger impressed the producers so much that they re-wrote the part to that of a French woman to better suit Auger. Although she took lessons to perfect her English, her voice was eventually dubbed by Nikki van der Zyl
