Over at the endlessly fascinating Letters of Note, they have a telegram from Ian Fleming to Eric Ambler, asking Ambler to see whether his friend Alfred Hitchcock might be interested in directing the first Bond flick. Hitch was busy with Psycho, so the answer was no, but isn’t it something to imagine?
You can read the whole telelgram at Letters of Note. In part, it reads:
WOULD HITCHCOCK BE INTERESTED IN DIRECTING THIS FIRST BOND FILM IN ASSOCIATION WITH XANADU QUERY PLENTIFUL FINANCE AVAILABLE STOP
Ah, yes. Plentiful finance. Those were the days.
Wow. That is something to think about. Totally different vibe. I’m glad it turned out the way it did.