ESTATE SALE
The item listed here comes from the estate of my mother-in-law after she passed away. We're going through the items that she collected while she worked in the entertainment industry.
She started her career as a Page on the Paramount Pictures studio lot in Hollywood, California in the mid-1990s. From there she worked in various departments such as the mail room, Special Events and Product Development (Licensing) where she had access to numerous one of a kind items like prototype collectables, scripts and behind the scenes images and details. She then moved on to other companies in the entertainment industry in positions both on and off production.
Over the years, she obtained an extensive collection of rare Hollywood items, especially from her favorite franchise "Star Trek". Scripts, crew gifts, screen used props, prototypes for collectables, rare discoveries at the Archive Building and much, much more.
This item up for bids would make a great addition to any Star Trek fan’s collection. It is a script from the show:
“Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”
“Our Man Bashir”
(FKA “Untitled Holosuite”)
SEASON #4
SEASONAL EPISODE #10
SERIES EPISODE #82
From the writer's offices of "Star Trek - Deep Space Nine" in the Hart building on the Paramount Pictures studio lot in Hollywood.
The script contains pages that are printed on white paper only as this was kept in the writer’s office for continuity references. It was not meant to be distributed to the cast and crew.
For more detail about this, please refer to the web site for
Set Hero as they have a detailed description of script handling on productions, or do a google search for the many articles that talk about script revisions. (Screen shot also attached in auction details for clarity.)
It is in near pristine condition with some slight discoloration due to age as well as some MINOR creases from use and age. It has been stored in a plastic storage bag with a cardboard backing ever since the season was completed.
This item is the real deal, not a copy of a copy of a copy like a lot of other auctions that you'll run into.
Always kept in a non-smokers house!
NO torn pages!
NO missing pages!
NO stains or other damage!
The script is 57 pages in length.
(64 physical pages including title, Cast List, Sets and Pronunciation Guide.)
Written on October 12, 1995
First aired on November 27, 1995
Background information quoted from the Memory Alpha web site:
Story and script
Production
- Most Deep Space Nine episodes shot in seven days, with the occasional episode taking eight. "Our Man Bashir" took nine (with 23 October 1995 being the seventh day of shooting), and according to producer Steve Oster, it had the longest production of any single episode. The main reasons for this were elaborate stunts that took time to set up and reshoot after a take and a large number of complex sets, many of which presented their own unique problems. For example, when the crew arrived to begin shooting in Dr. Noah's lair, they immediately saw that the backdrop of the Himalayan Mountains had mountains with no snow on them, and as such, it had to be taken down and sent to the scenic crew to add snow, all of which, Oster points out, costs time and money. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 296)
- Winrich Kolbe commented: "A fifty thousand dollar set cost seventy-five thousand dollars because there was twenty-five thousand dollars worth of overtime and weekend work". (Cinefantastique, November 1996)
- Robert Blackman commented "The key costumer, Mary Ellen Bosché, and I had a great time, because of all the background, which unfortunately you don't get to see much of in the casino scene. We did a really amazing sort of Monte Carlo, International jet-setter, high roller deal, with lots of furs and fairly expensive rentals. In the shoot they looked pretty amazing, both men and women. African potentates and all manner of people. You can see some of them in the background if you look closely. They are sort of fuzzed out". (Outfitting Her Majesty's Secret Service, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Official Poster Magazine, issue 9)
- Jay Chattaway composed the music for the episode. Chattaway commented: "I had to fight pretty hard to get to do that; normally holodeck-type shows you can't get too crazy on. Even "Fistful of Datas", the way I did those was I scored them in advance and brought in examples to a meeting and said this is what I'd like to do, this is how it would have to be done. And they said fine, you know, don't go crazy, keep it Star Trek, but put those elements in. The challenge on the James Bond thing was to do Bond and not infringe on the copyright. Once you pull something like that off and get good feedback about it they're a little bit less likely to want to put the clamps on". (The Music of Star Trek, p 165)
- Alexander Siddig and Nana Visitor had become romantically involved by the time this episode was filming.
Reception
- Although Ronald D. Moore attempted to avoid directly referencing any of his primary influences, it seems that some names and situations skated a little too close for comfort. After this episode aired, the producers got an angry letter from MGM, the studio which holds the rights to the James Bond property. The DS9 Companion doesn't reveal the content of the letter other than to say, "apparently MGM did not find imitation to be the sincerest form of flattery." As such, in the fifth season episode "A Simple Investigation", which returns to Bashir's holonovel, the references to Bond are far more subtle. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 295)
- Alexander Siddig commented, I think 'Our Man Bashir' was probably one of the most important in terms of changing attitudes towards Bashir. I think that was probably one of the most-influential episodes. I don't know if it's one of the best, but it is certainly super-influential. I remember opinions began to change after that episode. So that would probably be an important one, historically." Ron Moore concurred: "It was an important episode for Siddig's character. At the time, we were still trying to figure out how best to use Bashir and give him agency, because we cast such a talented and versatile actor to play this character. You want to service those talents and the character the best way you can. And I remember there was this sort of change in how Bashir was treated and perceived by the fans, at least in our experience, from that point on. And I think Siddig said as much in interviews at the time or whatever. It was really a key moment for the character, a fun turning point for him, that helped us as writers when it came to find more stories for him to do."
- This is one of Nana Visitor's favorite Deep Space Nine episodes: "it was so much fun, that show was a joy to do. How many times, you know, is it a necessity to do a bad Russian accent? I was in heaven. It was ideal for me. And to come out of a wall in a round bed? It just doesn't get better than that." (Hidden File 03, DS9 Season 4 DVD special features)
- Andrew Robinson commented, "the James Bond spoof that we did, that was a lot of fun. It was hellacious to film, because I probably spent more hours in that makeup on that show than any other show. The show was a bear. They really were trying to make a James Bond movie, but it was an enormous amount of fun. And I thought that Winrich Kolbe, the director, did a wonderful job on it. Unfortunately, we ran afoul of the James Bond people, and we were going to do a lot of those, but that was the one and only".
- Tor.com rated the episode as 9/10 and Jammer rated it 3/4 stars.
James Bond homages
- Siddig commented: "It's 'The Spy Who Loved Me', 'From Russia with Love', 'Octopussy' and 'DS9' all rolled into one" .
- This episode is a homage to spy movies, particularly Ian Fleming's James Bond series. The title is a homage to the 1966 Daniel Mann film Our Man Flint, which itself is a parody of James Bond. It was Ronald D. Moore who decided to set the episode in a '60s spy thriller style setting. Other influences were the TV shows The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and The Wild Wild West, and the Matt Helm novels by Donald Hamilton. Moore commented: "It was a very ambitious episode, and the sets were amazing. Especially the evil villain's lair set. It was great to see the production value put into what was our version of, an homage to the classic volcanic lair-type sets that Ken Adams made back in the day. I mean, it was the closest thing you got to making a Bond movie… It was one of our more challenging shoots, too, if I recall. I had always loved the classic James Bond movies, I grew up with the Sean Connery films, so it was a great opportunity to combine a version of them with another thing I loved, which was Star Trek."
- The line "Bashir. Julian Bashir." is a parody of "Bond. James Bond."
- The characters and situations of Bashir's holonovel are reminiscent of several Bond movies. In the holonovel, Hippocrates Noah plans to use lasers concentrated around Earth to cause a chain reaction that will flood the planet and allow him to start a new Human race on Mount Everest. Similarly, Moonraker features a billionaire who plans to poison Earth and start over in outer space, while The Spy Who Loved Me revolves around a plan to cause nuclear war and begin a new civilization under the sea. Dr. Noah himself evokes the theatrical version of Dr. Julius No, especially in terms of wardrobe (the Nehru jacket) and name – although the name is also a play on the Biblical Noah.
- Robert Hewitt Wolfe came up with the name of Anastasia Komananov, while Ira Steven Behr came up with Mona Luvsitt and Hippocrates Noah. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 295) Colonel Anastasia Komananov is a homage to the cliche of agents from opposing countries (most often Britain and the Soviet Union) falling in love with each other, usually found in spy films and parodies. Bond did this at least twice, with Tatiana Romanova in From Russia with Love and with Major Anya Amasova in The Spy Who Loved Me. Honey Bare, Colonel Anastasia Komananov and Mona Luvsitt are obvious references to Bond girls having names indicating sexual innuendo. This tradition dates back to Dr. No, which featured the name "Honey Ryder", played by Ursula Andress.
- Bashir uses a Walther PPK as his weapon, which is the signature weapon of James Bond. The episode features several period-correct (1964) firearms, including Bashir's blue-steel Walther PPK, which he brandishes but never fires, the henchmen's Walther P38s, which was a popular handgun in TV shows and movies of the period, and Falcon's actually quite historically accurate Hi-Standard HDM, a .22 caliber automatic which was frequently equipped with an integral suppressor (though Falcon's is not) and used in assassinations. The least historically accurate is Dr. Noah's PPK, which is made from stainless steel, something not done before the 1980s.
- The character of Duchamps is a homage/parody of "Le Chiffre", the villain of the first Bond novel, Casino Royale. Both sport the same style of clothing, a French name, and a lust for playing cards. Inspiration might also have been drawn from "Emilio Largo", the antagonist of the film Thunderball, who also dressed in a white dinner jacket and was second-in-command to the leader of a large criminal organization as well. Worf, as Duchamps, uses stun gas concealed in a cigar, a direct Bond homage to Anya Amasova in The Spy Who Loved Me, who disables Bond in exactly the same fashion, albeit with a cigarette, not a cigar.
- The opening champagne-gun scene (a story idea to use the champagne cork to knock out Falcon was Hans Beimler's) (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 295) is a homage to a scene in Goldfinger just before the opening credits. In the movie, Bond enters the quarters of a beautiful woman who has just gotten out of a bath. Spotting an assassin in the iris of the woman, Bond throws the man into the tub and electrocutes him by knocking a heat lamp into it. Much like Bashir's witticism ("A lot of kick for a '45 Dom"), Bond says, "Shocking. Positively shocking." Besides this, Dom Pérignon is Bond's preferred champagne in many of the films.
- When Bashir describes his fall from the dirigible – "I had a parachute… and there was a submarine waiting for me" – this is more than likely a reference to The Spy Who Loved Me (in which Bond escapes to safety via parachute) and A View to a Kill (in which Bond finds a submarine waiting for him after a ski chase).
- This episode aired ten days after the release of GoldenEye, the first Bond film in six years, the first of the James Bond pictures to feature Pierce Brosnan and generally considered the picture that revived the then-dormant Bond franchise (which had gone quiet for a period thanks to legal issues between MGM and the Bond producers). In addition to being an interesting Bond homage in its own right, it was intended to capitalize on some of the Bond pre-release excitement.
- Bashir's game of baccarat, in which he wins the fee for a visit with Hippocrates Noah by assuming he can win Duchamps' money, is yet another Bond homage, for Bond frequently took similar risks and was fond of card games such as baccarat.
- At one point, Bashir warns Garak that the program is supposed to end with either Honey Bare or Anastasia Komananov dying and the other ending up with him. Yet another classic element of James Bond is that, although Bond usually has sex with several women over the course of a film, he often ends up with one of them in bed for the final scene (with the others either going back to their respective lives or dying).
- Another obvious homage to Bond is that Noah explains his plan in great detail shortly before he plans to kill Bashir – Bond villains have the tendency to do this. After Bashir floods the Earth intentionally ("You've destroyed ze vorld!" Anastasia exclaims), Noah observes that somehow he didn't expect to win.
- Noah tries to kill Bashir by tying Bashir and Garak to one of his lasers, which is set to flood the room with molten lava. This may have been a reference to Moonraker, for in that movie, the villain confines Bond and Holly Goodhead to an area below his rocket, intending to incinerate them when it launches. In any case, it is typical Bond style for the villain to pass up the chance for an "easy kill" and allow Bond a method of escape.
- Bashir escapes by convincing Honey Bare to switch sides by appealing to her femininity. Bond turning female accomplices to his side through aggressive sexual advances was a fairly common plot point in the films, most notably in Goldfinger. Even the later Bond films themselves would joke about this trope.
- At the end of the episode, Bashir tells Garak, "I think it's safe to say that Julian Bashir, secret agent, will return.," which is a reference to the end credits of many Bond films which conclude with "James Bond will return…"
- Later episodes establish Bashir's friend Felix as the creator of his holographic programs, which may be a reference to Bond ally Felix Leiter, a CIA agent in the books and films.
Continuity
- The fifth season episode "A Simple Investigation" indicated that Bashir continued to enjoy the Julian Bashir, Secret Agent series of holonovels. By the time of "Investigation", however, Bashir had involved other members of the senior staff in his fandom. In that episode, various members of the senior staff are shown to be volunteering to play various roles in one of Felix's follow-ups to the adventure seen in "Our Man Bashir". However, O'Brien is less than enthusiastic at having to play Falcon "again". Also, Bashir may have redesigned Komananov to actually look like Kira, as Vic mentions in "His Way" that he took Kira's image from Bashir's secret agent program.
- Komananov's confusion over Kira's name ("Who is this… Nerys Kira?") is one of the few instances in which the issue of Bajoran name order is addressed. Early on in the series, many fans were just as oblivious as Komananov to the fact that Bajoran surnames come first (it was first clarified in "Progress"), although it had been established in TNG: "Ensign Ro" prior to DS9's premiere. The name order is similar to Chinese and Hungarian names rendered in English, and thus although Kira's name is "Kira Nerys," "Kira" is the major's surname.
- Amid Rom's modifications to the holosuite systems, he mentions a spatula, and one of the pieces that can be clearly seen is a pot strainer, another kitchen utensil.
- The True Way is mentioned for the first time in this episode.
- 47 appears (reversed) as Dr. Noah mentions he has 74 lasers deployed around the world.
- Cirroc Lofton (Jake Sisko) does not appear in this episode.
- This episode aired on the same day as VOY: "Resistance", which was also directed by Winrich Kolbe.
Awards
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