Emilio Largo

Emilio Largo
Emilio Largo
	Adolfo Celi as Largo
Created by	Ian Fleming
Portrayed by	Adolfo Celi(Thunderball); Klaus Maria Brandauer(Never Say Never Again);
Voiced by	Robert Rietti(Thunderball)
In-universe information
Gender	Male
Affiliation	SPECTRE
Classification	Villain
Henchmen	Fiona Volpe; Vargas; Janni; Count Lippe; Ladislav Kutze; Angelo Palazzi; Quist;

Emilio Largois a fictional character and the mainantagonistfrom the 1961James BondnovelThunderball.^[1]He appears in the1965 film adaptation,again as the main antagonist, withItalianactorAdolfo Celifilling the role. Largo is also the main antagonist in the 1983 unofficial James Bond movieNever Say Never Again,a remake ofThunderball.InNever Say Never Again,the character's name, however, was changed toMaximillian Largoand he was portrayed by theAustrianactorKlaus Maria Brandauer.

Biography[edit]

Fleming describes Largo as a ruthless Neapolitanblack marketeerandfencewho moved to riskier and more profitable ventures on the international crime scene after five years smuggling fromTangiersand five years of masterminding big jewel robberies on theFrench Riviera.^[2]He is supposedly the last survivor of a once famousRomanfamily whose legacy he inherited. Largo eventually became the second-in-command of theterroristorganizationSPECTRE.In the film, Largo is "No. 2" and head ofextortionoperations. In the novel, Largo is "No. 1"; however the numbers are rotated every month as a security precaution, although Largo is the successor toErnst Stavro Blofeldand the Supreme Commander of "Plan Omega".

Largo's two main headquarters are located in theBahamas.The first is his estate, called Palmyra, which houses a giant swimming pool filled with sharks; Bond is thrown into this pool but he is able to escape.^[3]The second is Largo's private yacht, theDisco Volante.The yacht is ahydrofoilcraft purchased with SPECTRE funds for£200,000.^[4]The craft plays a pivotal role in the seizure and transportation of the twonuclear weapons.

To Largo, failure is punishable by death. When Quist, one of Largo's henchmen, fails to kill Bond, Largo has him thrown into his pool of sharks. Largo also has little consideration even for those closest to him, going so far as totorturehis own mistress,Domino,when he finds out she is betraying him.

One of Largo's henchmen, Ladislav Kutze, helps Domino get free, allowing Domino to do what she wanted Bond to do: kill Largo. When Largo gets the upper hand over Bond, Domino shoots him in the back with aspear gun.Largo dies and collapses onto the controls of theDisco Volante,jamming them. Bond, Domino, and Kutze all evacuate theDisco Volanteseconds before the ship collides with rocks and explodes.^[5]

Scheme[edit]

Largo's scheme inThunderballinvolves the theft of two nuclear weapons fromNATOat sea to which he would then use to hold the world hostage by threatening to detonate the two devices inBritainor theUnited Statesunless they paid the ransom of £100 millionBritish pounds.^[6]This scheme has been used countless times sinceThunderballand is even a joke in theAustin Powersseries of movies.

The basic concept of Largo's scheme inThunderballis held over inNever Say Never Again.As inThunderball,the scheme involves obtaining two nuclear warheads, this time stealing them directly from aUnited States Air Forcebase in the UK and holding the world hostage.

Appearance and personality[edit]

In the novel, he is depicted as a large, muscular, olive-skinned, powerful man exuding animal charm, with the profile of a Roman emperor, hooked nose, long sideburns and hairy hands which are likened to crawling tarantulas. Indeed, Emilio Largo's surname means "play slowly and broadly".^[7]Adolfo Celi strongly resembles his literary counterpart in the film adaptation. However, his white hair contrasts with the pomaded black hair that Fleming specified in the novel, and he wears a blackeye patchover his left eye for reasons that remain unexplained. His powerful influence and command is exhibited at the beginning of the film when a traffic warden begins to protest against Largo's parking in Paris but quickly corrects himself when he sees Largo step out of hisFord Thunderbirdon the way to a SPECTRE meeting.^[8]LikeCount Lippe,Umberto Ecodescribes Largo as handsome and personable, but also vulgar and cruel.^[9]Christoph Lindner describes Largo as a "vicarious figure".^[10]

Celi's voice was dubbed byRobert Rietty(who previously dubbed the voice of John Strangways inDr. Noand later a man resemblingErnst Stavro Blofeld,inFor Your Eyes Only).^[11]

Legacy[edit]

With his status as SPECTRE's second in command, Largo and his appearance inspiredRobert Wagner's character "Number Two" in theAustin Powersfilms.

References[edit]

^Rovin, Jeff (1987).The Encyclopedia of Supervillains.New York: Facts on File. p. 119.ISBN 0-8160-1356-X.
^Black, Jeremy (2005).The Politics Of James Bond: From Fleming's Novels To The Big Screen.University of Nebraska Press. p.53.ISBN 978-0-8032-6240-9.Retrieved12 December2012.
^Dougall, Alastair; Stewart, Roger (1 October 2000).James Bond: the secret world of 007.Dorling Kindersley Pub.ISBN 978-0-7894-6691-4.Retrieved12 December2012.
^Griswold, John (30 June 2006).Ian Fleming's James Bond: Annotations And Chronologies for Ian Fleming's Bond Stories.AuthorHouse. p. 313.ISBN 978-1-4259-3100-1.Retrieved12 December2012.
^"Adolfo Celi (Emilio Largo)".Jamesbondmm.co.uk.Retrieved12 December2012.
^American Film Institute (1997).The American Film Institute Catalog: Feature Films, 1961-1970.University of California Press. p. 1107.ISBN 978-0-520-20970-1.Retrieved12 December2012.
^Simpson, Paul (2002).The Rough Guide to James Bond: The Films, the Novels, the Villains.Rough Guides. p. 1.ISBN 978-1-84353-142-5.Retrieved12 December2012.
^Tting, Kerstin J (November 2007)."Grow Up, 007!" - James Bond Over the Decades: Formula Vs. Innovation.GRIN Verlag. p. 71.ISBN 978-3-638-85372-9.Retrieved12 December2012.
^Eco, Umberto (1979).The Role of the Reader: Explorations in the Semiotics of Texts.Indiana University Press. p. 150.ISBN 978-0-253-20318-2.Retrieved12 December2012.
^Lindner, Christoph (19 December 2003).The James Bond Phenomenon: A Critical Reader.Manchester University Press. p. 43.ISBN 978-0-7190-6541-5.Retrieved12 December2012.
^Fairclough, Robert (1 October 2002).The Prisoner: The Official Companion to the Classic TV Series.I Books. p. 32.ISBN 978-0-7434-5256-4.Retrieved12 December2012.

Preceded by Auric Goldfinger	James Bond Villain Thunderball	Succeeded by Ernst Stavro Blofeld

[1] Rovin, Jeff (1987).The Encyclopedia of Supervillains.New York: Facts on File. p. 119.ISBN 0-8160-1356-X.

[Black2005-2] Black, Jeremy (2005).The Politics Of James Bond: From Fleming's Novels To The Big Screen.University of Nebraska Press. p.53.ISBN 978-0-8032-6240-9.Retrieved12 December2012.

[DougallStewart2000-3] Dougall, Alastair; Stewart, Roger (1 October 2000).James Bond: the secret world of 007.Dorling Kindersley Pub.ISBN 978-0-7894-6691-4.Retrieved12 December2012.

[Griswold2006-4] Griswold, John (30 June 2006).Ian Fleming's James Bond: Annotations And Chronologies for Ian Fleming's Bond Stories.AuthorHouse. p. 313.ISBN 978-1-4259-3100-1.Retrieved12 December2012.

[5] "Adolfo Celi (Emilio Largo)".Jamesbondmm.co.uk.Retrieved12 December2012.

[Institute1997-6] American Film Institute (1997).The American Film Institute Catalog: Feature Films, 1961-1970.University of California Press. p. 1107.ISBN 978-0-520-20970-1.Retrieved12 December2012.

[Simpson2002-7] Simpson, Paul (2002).The Rough Guide to James Bond: The Films, the Novels, the Villains.Rough Guides. p. 1.ISBN 978-1-84353-142-5.Retrieved12 December2012.

[Tting2007-8] Tting, Kerstin J (November 2007)."Grow Up, 007!" - James Bond Over the Decades: Formula Vs. Innovation.GRIN Verlag. p. 71.ISBN 978-3-638-85372-9.Retrieved12 December2012.

[Eco1979-9] Eco, Umberto (1979).The Role of the Reader: Explorations in the Semiotics of Texts.Indiana University Press. p. 150.ISBN 978-0-253-20318-2.Retrieved12 December2012.

[Lindner2003-10] Lindner, Christoph (19 December 2003).The James Bond Phenomenon: A Critical Reader.Manchester University Press. p. 43.ISBN 978-0-7190-6541-5.Retrieved12 December2012.

[Fairclough2002-11] Fairclough, Robert (1 October 2002).The Prisoner: The Official Companion to the Classic TV Series.I Books. p. 32.ISBN 978-0-7434-5256-4.Retrieved12 December2012.

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v t e James Bondcharacters
James Bond	Novel character Film character reboot series
Allies	00 Agents M Miss Moneypenny Q Bill Tanner Felix Leiter
Bond girls	Aki Anya Amasova Tracy Bond Tiffany Case May Day Pussy Galore Holly Goodhead Jinx Johnson Elektra King Wai Lin Vesper Lynd Camille Montes Xenia Onatopp Tatiana Romanova Honey Ryder Sévérine Natalya Simonova Solitaire Stacey Sutton Kissy Suzuki Madeleine Swann Domino Vitali Fiona Volpe
Villainsand henchmen/henchwomen	Alec Trevelyan Auric Goldfinger Brad Whitaker Elektra King Emilio Largo Ernst Stavro Blofeld Fiona Volpe Francisco Scaramanga Hugo Drax Jaws Julius No Karl Stromberg Le Chiffre Max Zorin May Day Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd Necros Oddjob Pussy Galore Raoul Silva Rosa Klebb Tatiana Romanova Tiffany Case Vesper Lynd Xenia Onatopp
Organisations	SPECTRE The Union Blades Club
See also	List of recurring characters in the James Bond film series
Category

Biography[edit]

Scheme[edit]

Appearance and personality[edit]

Legacy[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]