Name: Leiter, Felix [Beach Bum Felix] (Van Nutter, Rik)

Background:
Still Bond's CIA contact, Felix loses the hat and wrinkles and brings back the shades.

Employer:
CIA.

How He Helped Bond:
Leiter and Bond work together to find the missing hijacked NATO plane. Again, Bond does most of the physical field work, while Leiter stays behind making sure everything goes according to plan. Felix also locates and picks up Bond once Bond's task is completed.

What Happened To Him:
Flies away, again completely unharmed and without breaking a sweat.

Comments:
Van Nutter's Felix is satisfactory. The actor doesn't necessarily do anything wrong, but he's too much a carbon copy of Jack Lord's CIA agent (and like any carbon copy, he's just not as good as the original). Felix wears the sunglasses again and helps Bond plan his operations, but there's just nothing special about the performance or his role in the film.

What's most troubling is how the film introduces us to Felix. Since he's a different actor, the audience doesn't recognize him when he enters the frame, but the camera routinely focuses in on him, so we know he's important. But the filmmakers mimic Jack Lord's initial scenes just too much. We see Felix but don't yet know who he is, and we know that he's following Bond, so we're suspicious of him. What worked so well with Lord's Leiter is entirely unnecessary here. Both Bond and the audience know Leiter's identity. Covering it up because there's a different actor doesn't make the movie thrilling.

Verdict:
2.5/4.0

Also in the Thunderball dossier:   Allies | Gadgets | Girls | Pictures | Polls | Posters | Reviews | Villains

Name: Caplan, Paula (Beswick, Martine)

Background:
Not much is revealed. A local Bahamian beauty.

Employer:
Bond's contact in Nassau.

How He Helped Bond:
Paula waits for Bond while he flirts with Domino in the Atlantic. She's more or less his guide in the area.

What Happened To Him:
After being kidnapped from Bond's hotel suite by Fiona Volpe and Largo's goons, Paula kills herself by ingesting cyanide to avoid revealing what Bond knows to Largo.

Comments:
Paula's only real unique characteristic as an ally is that she's a woman. She may or may not be more than just his ally -- she lounges around for him in his hotel room. Her death suggests a strong committment to Bond and the West.

The filmmakers devote no time to developing her character or giving her a background. She's just there to look pretty and take Bond around, making her a slightly less than average ally.

Verdict:
2.0/4.0

Also in the Thunderball dossier:   Allies | Gadgets | Girls | Pictures | Polls | Posters | Reviews | Villains

Name: Pinder (Cameron, Earl)

Background:
Like Paula, he has no background revealed, but he does offer Bond and Leiter technical and efficient expertise.

Employer:
Takes orders from Bond and Leiter.

How He Helped Bond:
Pinder shuts off all electricity on the island so Bond could sneak into Largo's exclusive compound, and performs other mechanical tasks.

What Happened To Him:
Survives.

Comments:
Pinder is another ally in 'Thunderball' who has quite a bit of screen time but without any character development. He's a competent, hardworking ally for Bond and Leiter, but he's not at all memorable.

Verdict:
2.0/4.0

Also in the Thunderball dossier:   Allies | Gadgets | Girls | Pictures | Polls | Posters | Reviews | Villains

Name: LaPorte, Madame (Mitsouko)

Background:
Works for MI6's French station.

Employer:
MI6.

How He Helped Bond:
Drives Bond away from danger after he touches down in his jetpack.

What Happened To Him:
Drives away with Bond, never to be seen again.

Comments:
No comment.

Verdict:
N/A /4.0

Also in the Thunderball dossier:   Allies | Gadgets | Girls | Pictures | Polls | Posters | Reviews | Villains