The Professor Dies – And You’ve Had Your Six
The Professor Dies – And You’ve Had Your Six – In this important clip, we see the very tough and dark nature of James Bond – here, he is a cold-hearted killer as he tricks Professor Dent into thinking he, Bond, is asleep in the bed. Or what does Dent think? He doesn’t know Miss Taro has been extracted from the premises. So does he care if he kills Bond and Taro? We don’t know.
But we must remember, Dent has already failed to kill Bond with the tarantula and Dr. No wants Bond dead. With Miss Taro out of the picture, but unknown to Professor Dent, Professor Dent is coming to Taro’s house to kill Bond. While Bond is waiting for Professor Dent’s arrival, he coolly waits, playing cards. The scene is set – the bamboo room accents add to that exotic island feeling, Bond pours two drinks and removes his coat to put on the sofa with the drinks on the cocktail table – as if he and Miss Taro had been drinking together. The lighting is just perfect as you see the cards, and the shadow of the ceiling fan rotating over the cards.
He tosses the bedclothes on the floor, then assembles the pillows and sheets to make it appear someone was sleeping. “Underneath the Mango Tree” is playing and “underneath the moonlit sky” is playing as he walks past the shutters with the moonlight beaming outside. Again, Terence Young, the director, is keenly aware of the song’s lyrics and uses them to his advantage
“Underneath the moonlit sky
Me honey and I
Come sit hand in hand
Underneath the moonlit sky
Me honey and I
Come make fairyland”
(By Monty Norman, sung by Diana Coupland)
And Bond is sitting hand in hand with his first love – his weapon and silencer, making “fairyland” – a whole different world than what most ordinary people are used to. Here, we see Bond in HIS world – him as an assassin.
The Professor Arrives
Then he hears someone coming. The Professor unloads his pistol into the figure in the bed and Bond yells, “Drop it, Professor. And behind you.” He drops the weapon onto the bedclothes on the floor. Then we see Bond coolly waiting, confronting him, talking calmly. He even sets his gun down and lights a cigarette – while Dent tries to pull his gun back over to him by dragging his foot on the bedclothes. He succeeds, picks up the gun and shoots Bond – but the pistol just clicks.
Then Bond says coolly, “That’s a Smith and Wesson and you’ve had your six” and shoots Dent – unarmed Dent – then when he falls to the floor, Bond shoots him again, killing him. For Bond fans, this is the first EON Production Bond movie – and this is the first kill we see Bond make. Bond as an assassin. Fleming said once about the character of Bond, he is a blunt instrument of the government.
Of course, we will hear “Underneath the Mango Tree” again!
Miss Taro’s house in the mountains in the film is in a fictitious place. In real life, it was filmed at what is now the Couples Sans Souci resort in Ocho Rios (which used to be the Grand Lido Sans Souci Hotel, reportedly where the crew stayed while filming.
