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Lot Essay
Berkley Mather was the 'nom de plume' for Lieutenant-Colonel Jasper Weston-Davies (1909-1996). He was the author recommended by Ian Fleming to producers Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, as the only person gifted enough to complete the screenplay for Dr. No. Mather's amendments to the dialogue, and the additional puns and quips he contributed, added a vital element of spoof that is associated with the Bond films today. Famous one-liners such as [My Name is] Bond...James Bond and Bond's celebrated preference for a Vodka-Martini shaken, not stirred often attributed to Fleming, were apparently Mather's inspiration.
Mather also contributed to From Russia With Love and Goldfinger although he is not listed in the credits for either of these films. According to his son, Mather had a particularly good working relationship with Sean Connery, who would request that he was present on the set. When Connery found a line difficult to convey, he would ask Mather to ad-lib an alternative for him.
It is interesting to note that the title page of this script credits both Richard Maibaum and Berkley Mather as the authors of the screenplay for Fleming's Goldfinger, whereas the film's final credits list Richard Maibaum and Paul Dehn. Mather's son thinks that his father may have had his name removed from the film's credits at his own request, as he was generally averse to having his name on anything for which he was not the original author. Mather's son recalls that his father spent a lot of time on the set of Goldfinger as he frequently accompanied him.
The script for Goldfinger is certainly highly significant to the whole Bond oeuvre. Critics have described it as the "key script" which becomes the "blueprint" for future Bonds. Goldfinger does set the formula for future films with the ...car chase; Bond's seduction of a female enemy to gain an ally; a climax featuring two "armies" battling it out; a countdown which must be stopped to save the world; a villain employing a super-strong henchman; and a final scene with a "sting"...
Mather also contributed to From Russia With Love and Goldfinger although he is not listed in the credits for either of these films. According to his son, Mather had a particularly good working relationship with Sean Connery, who would request that he was present on the set. When Connery found a line difficult to convey, he would ask Mather to ad-lib an alternative for him.
It is interesting to note that the title page of this script credits both Richard Maibaum and Berkley Mather as the authors of the screenplay for Fleming's Goldfinger, whereas the film's final credits list Richard Maibaum and Paul Dehn. Mather's son thinks that his father may have had his name removed from the film's credits at his own request, as he was generally averse to having his name on anything for which he was not the original author. Mather's son recalls that his father spent a lot of time on the set of Goldfinger as he frequently accompanied him.
The script for Goldfinger is certainly highly significant to the whole Bond oeuvre. Critics have described it as the "key script" which becomes the "blueprint" for future Bonds. Goldfinger does set the formula for future films with the ...car chase; Bond's seduction of a female enemy to gain an ally; a climax featuring two "armies" battling it out; a countdown which must be stopped to save the world; a villain employing a super-strong henchman; and a final scene with a "sting"...