Octopussy and The Living Daylights - Adaptations

Adaptations

Comic strip adaptation (1966–1967)

Two of the short stories were adapted for publication in comic strip format, which were published daily in the Daily Express newspaper and syndicated worldwide. "The Living Daylights" ran from 12 September to 12 November 1966, adapted by Jim Lawrence and illustrated by Yaroslav Horak; the same pair also worked on "Octopussy", which ran from 14 November 1966 to 27 May 1967. The story lines for the strips were altered from the original Fleming version to ensure that they contained a glamorous reason for being Bond involved and to include Bond in action. The strips were reprinted by Titan Books in 1988 and then again in The James Bond Omnibus Vol. 2, published in 2011.

Octopussy (1983)

In 1983 Eon Productions loosely adapted elements of two of the stories, "Octopussy" and "The Property of a Lady" for the thirteenth film in their Bond series, starring Roger Moore as Bond. "Octopussy" provided the title of the film and the background for the character Octopussy, the daughter of a character Bond had allowed to commit suicide, rather than face the shame of arrest and imprisonment. The film also used the plot device of auctioning of a Fabergé egg at Sotheby's from "The Property of a Lady" and, as with the story, the auction item was described as being the same "property of a lady".

The Living Daylights (1987)

In 1987 Eon used the plot of "The Living Daylights", almost unchanged, for a section of their 1987 film of the same name. The film starred Timothy Dalton in his first role as Bond, whilst the character of Trigger became that of cello player Kara Milovy.