Gala Brand
Encyclopedia
Gala Brand is a fictional character in the James Bond
novel Moonraker. She does not appear in the movie version
of the novel, however, as the film is an almost total rewrite of the novel. The only other Bond girl of the Ian Fleming
novels to share this fate is Vivienne Michel
of the novel The Spy Who Loved Me. However, actress Rosamund Pike
, in the DVD commentary for the 2002 Bond film, Die Another Day
, states that her character, Miranda Frost, was originally to have been named Gala Brand, but that this was changed at the last minute.
. Her full first name is Galatea, after the cruiser
in which her father was serving when she was born. She is a former Wren
, and at the time of Moonraker she is a Special Branch
agent. Posing as Sir Hugo Drax's personal secretary, she is assigned to provide security for the construction and launch of his prototype atomic missile, for which the book is named. M
explains to Bond that Gala pretends to be engaged and wears a ring to help fend Drax off. This tactic eventually succeeds, but not before he makes several passes at her. Bond is assigned to oversee security for the project a few days before the Moonraker's test launch; the last minute assignment occurs because of the death of his predecessor, Major Tallon. Tallon was killed by one of the missile technicians, a German in Drax's employ who publicly shot Tallon after loudly telling him "I love Gala Brand. You shall not have her." The episode is curious because Gala has reported that Tallon, much older than she and happily married, had never shown any romantic interest in her during the months they worked together. Because Bond sees Gala's personnel file during his preparatory briefing, we (and he) have the unique opportunity in this case to have a clinical description of a Bond Girl's appearance, including her hair color (auburn), eye color (blue), height (5'7") measurements (38-26-38), weight (9 stone
, or 126 pounds), and beauty marks (a mole on the upper curvature of her right breast). When Bond meets her in person at Drax's house, he finds her, in contrast to her file photograph, attractive to the point of outright seductiveness, but cool to the point of frigidity and utterly disdainful of any of his attempts even to talk to her. After months undercover as Drax's secretary, Gala has become entirely devoted to the project's success, and she sees Bond as an interloper and treats him as such. Along with seeing her official file, we also have the rare treat of overhearing some of Gala's thoughts about Bond. A dedicated policewoman, she sees Bond as a sort of playboy-adventurer of the stereotypical secret-agent sort dreamed up by writers of thrillers and not a real detective, doubting that he can be of any use on the project. Nevertheless, she admittedly finds him very handsome and, like Vesper Lynd
before her, she sees a resemblance to Hoagy Carmichael
. Despite Bond's attractiveness, however, she takes a dim view of him, and she lets him know this by ignoring him as much as possible. During a walk on the beach below the Moonraker's silo to check security arrangements around the exhaust tunnel, however, Gala begins to open up somewhat to Bond. When he suggests a swim, she rather coyly gives in and strips down to her underwear out of Bond's sight. While she is swimming, Bond leaps out of the water next to her and kisses her before she realizes what is happening. Furious, she nevertheless finds herself excited and her aloofness soon vanishes. Later, the two lie on the beach to dry, still largely undressed, when an explosion buries them in rubble, nearly killing them both. Bond manages to pull the debris from Gala and the two return to Drax's house. Later, when driving with Drax to London, Gala employs her skills as a pickpocket to sneak a look at the Moonraker's gyroscope settings, discovering to her horror that they will cause the Moonraker to hit London. At that moment she intuits that Drax plans to put an atomic warhead on the rocket, but before she can report what she has learned, Drax and her henchmen discover that she is a policewoman and knock her out. Because she had agreed to meet Bond in London for dinner, Bond grows suspicious when she fails to appear and at Drax's city house spots Drax's henchman stuffing Gala into the back seat of Drax's car. Bond chases Drax but is knocked out and captured when he wrecks during the chase. After Drax interrogates Bond and Gala, Bond uses a blowtorch with his mouth to burn through the wires restraining Gala. The pain is terrible, but as he recovers she kisses him, her eyes shining. Gala reprograms the missile to fall into the North Sea, and the two hide in a close embrace in an exhaust duct as Drax's men search for them. Then, as the missile launches, they embrace again under a running shower adjacent to the silo in an attempt to survive the missile exhaust. The missile explodes in the North Sea, killing Drax and his men. Bond arranges to meet Gala the following day after their debriefings. Gala is to receive the George Cross
(Bond's service discourages the awarding of decorations), and the two are under orders to leave England for a month as part of the cover-up of what really happened with the Moonraker. Bond is in St. James's Park
delightedly planning his month with Gala when she arrives. She looks very beautiful, but he immediately senses that this beauty is intended for someone else. Nervously, she points out a young man a hundred yards away, identifying him as her fiancé and telling Bond that she is to be married the following afternoon. Bond, tasting the bitterness of failure, is angry with himself for supposing Gala's ring and her story about being engaged to have been a fabrication. He realizes, however, that he needs to relieve her of any awkward feelings about his interest in her. He rather playfully tells her that he is envious and that he had other plans for her the following night, and, laughing in relief, she assures him that there are many other women waiting for him. The two part amicably, and Bond recedes regretfully back into his cold existence. Gala is the most professional of all of Fleming's Bond Girls, being practically the only one to have an independent career. In this she is like Dr. Holly Goodhead
of the film. Unlike Holly Goodhead, though, and despite her interlude with Bond on the beach, Gala is also the only one who rebuffs Bond and who clearly belongs to another. The concluding scene in the novel gives us a view of Bond as a Byronic figure
of whom we see occasional glimpses in other Fleming novels. Gala Brand is one of two Fleming Bond girls that Bond does not sleep with, the other being Mary Goodnight
.
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
novel Moonraker. She does not appear in the movie version
Moonraker (film)
Moonraker is the eleventh spy film in the James Bond series, and the fourth to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The third and final film in the series to be directed by Lewis Gilbert, it co-stars Lois Chiles, Michael Lonsdale, Corinne Clery, and Richard Kiel...
of the novel, however, as the film is an almost total rewrite of the novel. The only other Bond girl of the Ian Fleming
Ian Fleming
Ian Lancaster Fleming was a British author, journalist and Naval Intelligence Officer.Fleming is best known for creating the fictional British spy James Bond and for a series of twelve novels and nine short stories about the character, one of the biggest-selling series of fictional books of...
novels to share this fate is Vivienne Michel
Vivienne Michel
Vivienne "Viv" Michel is the main fictional character in Ian Fleming's James Bond novel The Spy Who Loved Me. She has not appeared as a character in a James Bond film, as Danjaq, the copyright holder to the characters, elements, and other material related to James Bond on screen agreed never to use...
of the novel The Spy Who Loved Me. However, actress Rosamund Pike
Rosamund Pike
Rosamund Mary Elizabeth Pike is a British actress. Her film roles include villainous Bond girl Miranda Frost in Die Another Day, Jane Bennet in Pride and Prejudice, Helen in An Education, Lisa in Made in Dagenham, Miriam Grant-Panofsky in Barney's Version and Kate Sumner in Johnny English...
, in the DVD commentary for the 2002 Bond film, Die Another Day
Die Another Day
Die Another Day is the 20th spy film in the James Bond series, and the fourth and last film to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond; it is also the last Bond film of the original timeline with the series being rebooted with Casino Royale...
, states that her character, Miranda Frost, was originally to have been named Gala Brand, but that this was changed at the last minute.
Novel biography
Gala Brand is a policewoman assigned to England's Special BranchSpecial Branch
Special Branch is a label customarily used to identify units responsible for matters of national security in British and Commonwealth police forces, as well as in the Royal Thai Police...
. Her full first name is Galatea, after the cruiser
HMS Galatea (1914)
HMS Galatea was an Arethusa-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy launched on 14 May, 1914 at William Beardmore and Company shipyard....
in which her father was serving when she was born. She is a former Wren
Women's Royal Naval Service
The Women's Royal Naval Service was the women's branch of the Royal Navy.Members included cooks, clerks, wireless telegraphists, radar plotters, weapons analysts, range assessors, electricians and air mechanics...
, and at the time of Moonraker she is a Special Branch
Special Branch
Special Branch is a label customarily used to identify units responsible for matters of national security in British and Commonwealth police forces, as well as in the Royal Thai Police...
agent. Posing as Sir Hugo Drax's personal secretary, she is assigned to provide security for the construction and launch of his prototype atomic missile, for which the book is named. M
M (James Bond)
M is a fictional character in Ian Fleming's James Bond series, as well as the films in the Bond franchise. The head of MI6 and Bond's superior, M has been portrayed by three actors in the official Bond film series: Bernard Lee, Robert Brown and since 1995 by Judi Dench. Background =Ian Fleming...
explains to Bond that Gala pretends to be engaged and wears a ring to help fend Drax off. This tactic eventually succeeds, but not before he makes several passes at her. Bond is assigned to oversee security for the project a few days before the Moonraker's test launch; the last minute assignment occurs because of the death of his predecessor, Major Tallon. Tallon was killed by one of the missile technicians, a German in Drax's employ who publicly shot Tallon after loudly telling him "I love Gala Brand. You shall not have her." The episode is curious because Gala has reported that Tallon, much older than she and happily married, had never shown any romantic interest in her during the months they worked together. Because Bond sees Gala's personnel file during his preparatory briefing, we (and he) have the unique opportunity in this case to have a clinical description of a Bond Girl's appearance, including her hair color (auburn), eye color (blue), height (5'7") measurements (38-26-38), weight (9 stone
Stone (weight)
The stone is a units of measurement that was used in many North European countries until the advent of metrication. It value, which ranged from 3 kg to 12 kg, varied from city to city and also often from commodity to commodity...
, or 126 pounds), and beauty marks (a mole on the upper curvature of her right breast). When Bond meets her in person at Drax's house, he finds her, in contrast to her file photograph, attractive to the point of outright seductiveness, but cool to the point of frigidity and utterly disdainful of any of his attempts even to talk to her. After months undercover as Drax's secretary, Gala has become entirely devoted to the project's success, and she sees Bond as an interloper and treats him as such. Along with seeing her official file, we also have the rare treat of overhearing some of Gala's thoughts about Bond. A dedicated policewoman, she sees Bond as a sort of playboy-adventurer of the stereotypical secret-agent sort dreamed up by writers of thrillers and not a real detective, doubting that he can be of any use on the project. Nevertheless, she admittedly finds him very handsome and, like Vesper Lynd
Vesper Lynd
Vesper Lynd is a fictional character featured in Ian Fleming's James Bond novel Casino Royale. The name is a pun on "West Berlin". It has been claimed that Fleming based Lynd on the real life Special Operations Executive agent Christine Granville. In the 1967 film of Casino Royale, she is played by...
before her, she sees a resemblance to Hoagy Carmichael
Hoagy Carmichael
Howard Hoagland "Hoagy" Carmichael was an American composer, pianist, singer, actor, and bandleader. He is best known for writing "Stardust", "Georgia On My Mind", "The Nearness of You", and "Heart and Soul", four of the most-recorded American songs of all time.Alec Wilder, in his study of the...
. Despite Bond's attractiveness, however, she takes a dim view of him, and she lets him know this by ignoring him as much as possible. During a walk on the beach below the Moonraker's silo to check security arrangements around the exhaust tunnel, however, Gala begins to open up somewhat to Bond. When he suggests a swim, she rather coyly gives in and strips down to her underwear out of Bond's sight. While she is swimming, Bond leaps out of the water next to her and kisses her before she realizes what is happening. Furious, she nevertheless finds herself excited and her aloofness soon vanishes. Later, the two lie on the beach to dry, still largely undressed, when an explosion buries them in rubble, nearly killing them both. Bond manages to pull the debris from Gala and the two return to Drax's house. Later, when driving with Drax to London, Gala employs her skills as a pickpocket to sneak a look at the Moonraker's gyroscope settings, discovering to her horror that they will cause the Moonraker to hit London. At that moment she intuits that Drax plans to put an atomic warhead on the rocket, but before she can report what she has learned, Drax and her henchmen discover that she is a policewoman and knock her out. Because she had agreed to meet Bond in London for dinner, Bond grows suspicious when she fails to appear and at Drax's city house spots Drax's henchman stuffing Gala into the back seat of Drax's car. Bond chases Drax but is knocked out and captured when he wrecks during the chase. After Drax interrogates Bond and Gala, Bond uses a blowtorch with his mouth to burn through the wires restraining Gala. The pain is terrible, but as he recovers she kisses him, her eyes shining. Gala reprograms the missile to fall into the North Sea, and the two hide in a close embrace in an exhaust duct as Drax's men search for them. Then, as the missile launches, they embrace again under a running shower adjacent to the silo in an attempt to survive the missile exhaust. The missile explodes in the North Sea, killing Drax and his men. Bond arranges to meet Gala the following day after their debriefings. Gala is to receive the George Cross
George Cross
The George Cross is the highest civil decoration of the United Kingdom, and also holds, or has held, that status in many of the other countries of the Commonwealth of Nations...
(Bond's service discourages the awarding of decorations), and the two are under orders to leave England for a month as part of the cover-up of what really happened with the Moonraker. Bond is in St. James's Park
St. James's Park
St. James's Park is a 23 hectare park in the City of Westminster, central London - the oldest of the Royal Parks of London. The park lies at the southernmost tip of the St. James's area, which was named after a leper hospital dedicated to St. James the Less.- Geographical location :St. James's...
delightedly planning his month with Gala when she arrives. She looks very beautiful, but he immediately senses that this beauty is intended for someone else. Nervously, she points out a young man a hundred yards away, identifying him as her fiancé and telling Bond that she is to be married the following afternoon. Bond, tasting the bitterness of failure, is angry with himself for supposing Gala's ring and her story about being engaged to have been a fabrication. He realizes, however, that he needs to relieve her of any awkward feelings about his interest in her. He rather playfully tells her that he is envious and that he had other plans for her the following night, and, laughing in relief, she assures him that there are many other women waiting for him. The two part amicably, and Bond recedes regretfully back into his cold existence. Gala is the most professional of all of Fleming's Bond Girls, being practically the only one to have an independent career. In this she is like Dr. Holly Goodhead
Holly Goodhead
Dr. Holly Goodhead is a fictional character from the James Bond franchise, portrayed by Lois Chiles. She does not appear in any of the novels, solely appearing in the film version of Moonraker. However, her character is somewhat similar to Gala Brand, who is the female lead character in the...
of the film. Unlike Holly Goodhead, though, and despite her interlude with Bond on the beach, Gala is also the only one who rebuffs Bond and who clearly belongs to another. The concluding scene in the novel gives us a view of Bond as a Byronic figure
Byronic hero
The Byronic hero is an idealised but flawed character exemplified in the life and writings of English Romantic poet Lord Byron. It was characterised by Lady Caroline Lamb, later a lover of Byron's, as being "mad, bad, and dangerous to know"...
of whom we see occasional glimpses in other Fleming novels. Gala Brand is one of two Fleming Bond girls that Bond does not sleep with, the other being Mary Goodnight
Mary Goodnight
Mary Goodnight is a fictional character from the James Bond universe.-Novel biography:In the novels, Mary Goodnight is a former Wren who is now the secretary to the 00 Section, which includes James Bond. Replacing the section's previous secretary, Loelia Ponsonby, Goodnight has a less severe, more...
.