Chapter 131: Sir Lin’s Influence
English people’s connections in Washington also told them another crucial piece of news, that Lin Ran and McNamara had a very close personal friendship.
This made Downing Street even more determined to find Lin Ran to act as a lobbyist, helping them persuade the White House not to cut the Sky Arrow project.
“Indeed. ‘Sky Arrow’ is the cornerstone of cooperation between Downing Street and the White House, but to be honest, the project progress has not been satisfactory. The propulsion system has repeatedly failed during tests, and the cost has exceeded expectations.
But it is still the core of England’s nuclear deterrence.”
Lin Ran was speechless. What did your Sky Arrow have to do with him? He couldn’t possibly help them with the research and development of Sky Arrow.
Lin Ran frowned and said, “Sorry, I am responsible for aerospace affairs. This falls under Rusk and McNamara’s domain, right?”
Holmes pressed his palms together and said:
“Sir, this is crucial for us. The V bomber relies on Sky Arrow to maintain deterrence. If America abandons it, our strategy will have a vacuum.
We hope you can convey our concerns to President Kennedy, Rusk, and McNamara.”
Lin Ran was speechless. Did a worthless sir think he would help with this?
Margaret Jones opened the folder and interjected:
“Technically, our engineers believe the propulsion issue can be solved, but it needs more time and funds. We hope you can ask the White House if they can continue to add investment.
Or provide England with a brand new nuclear deterrence system, something like Polaris.”
Holmes pleaded, “Sir, we hope to get a written promise to ensure England’s nuclear forces will not be weakened due to technical issues.
I know you are not in charge of this area. This is Downing Street’s private plea.
We hope you can use your connections in the White House to help us accomplish this task. Downing Street will be your eternal friend.”
Lin Ran paused for a moment, first took a sip of tea, then took out two movie tickets and the article he wrote yesterday from his own briefcase and handed them to the other party:
“Sir Holmes, to express my anger, this is the article I wrote overnight after watching England’s latest released movie yesterday. Take a look first.”
After Holmes finished reading, his expression changed, because this article slapped Great Britain too hard in the face.
Lin Ran saw Holmes look up, knowing the other had finished reading, and continued, “That’s right, I am an English sir, so I held back my anger and didn’t publish this article to avoid hurting English people’s feelings.
But that doesn’t mean England can arbitrarily portray Chinese people as villain characters.
You just said we are eternal friends, and the result of eternal friends is that Chinese people can only be clowns in England movies.
From Fu Manchu to Dr. No, the Dr. No movie even points at my nose, saying I am the villain character inside. Is this how you treat friends?”
As Lin Ran spoke, he forcefully knocked on the rosewood table, causing the teacup on the table to jump up.
Holmes pressed his palms together, his face heavy: “Sir, we are very sorry, but we are a free country.”
Lin Ran waved his hand: “Don’t tell me about a free country not being able to interfere with creation.
If it’s really as you say, what is the BBFC for?
Why establish the BBFC?”
BBFC stands for England Film Censorship Committee.
“Why did England sponsor ‘Target for Tonight’ during World War II and not other movies?”
“Target for Tonight” is a propaganda film personally shot by the Royal Air Force.
“Why were you demanding cuts to the content of ‘Red Planet Mars’ when it was released in England?
Don’t treat me like the Chinese people you usually contact who don’t understand Western public opinion manipulation techniques. If you really respect me, works like ‘Dr. No’ should be strictly banned from release.
If it happens a few more times, England’s movies won’t dare to portray Chinese people as villain characters so recklessly!”
After Lin Ran finished speaking, he stood up, loosened the tie at his chest, and continued, “If you didn’t mention personal friendship to ask for my help, I wouldn’t bring this up.
Since you mentioned personal friendship, you also have to respect my personal emotions.
If you want me to go to the White House to mediate for England, you also have to make a gesture.”
Holmes thought about it, “Sir, rest assured, future England movies will absolutely not have similar plots.
Absolutely no Chinese people playing villain characters.”
Lin Ran shook his head: “Not enough.
This movie needs to be reshot, and the background involving Dr. No needs to be changed.
This request is not excessive.”
Holmes thought about it. It really wasn’t excessive. As for the cost of repeated shooting, it wasn’t his money anyway, but Lin Ran’s achievement in mediating for Downing Street would be real for everyone.
“Good.” Holmes said.
Only then did Lin Ran reach out to shake hands with the other party, and said
“Mr. Holmes, I will take your concerns back. Regarding aerospace, intelligence, and Sky Arrow, I will follow up on the details as soon as possible. Thank you for the hospitality.”
Lin Ran put on his jacket, opened an umbrella, and left 10 Downing Street. Rain hit the stone pavement, and he got into the long-waiting black car, heading to the embassy.
In the meeting room, Margaret Jones looked at Holmes: “I finally know why NASA people say Randolph is a tyrant. When he gets angry, he is indeed terrifying.”
Holmes smiled bitterly and shook his head: “If all Chinese people were like Randolph, they would really be hard to mess with. Fortunately, London’s Chinese people are quite obedient.”
Margaret thought about it, “If all Chinese people were like Randolph, England’s last colony in the Far East would probably have become independent long ago.”
A dim meeting room at London’s Eon movie company.
The air was filled with tension. Director Terence Young paced back and forth in the room, his face full of frustration.
Producer Albert Broccoli and Harry Saltzman sat at the table.
The room was almost silent except for the distant low hum of London traffic and the ticking of the clock on the wall.
The already dim sky cast a gloomy layer over the meeting.
Terence Young stopped, abruptly turning to the others: “This is crazy! We can’t reshoot the entire movie just because someone is unhappy with Dr. No’s background. The film is already very popular—the audience loves it!
Now Downing Street wants us to scrap it all and start over?”
Albert Broccoli’s tone was calm but firm, his fingers lightly tapping the table: “Terence, it’s not just anyone.
You have to see who it is. If it was just the Chinese community protesting, we could ignore it completely. But now it’s Randolph protesting, Randolph Lin.
He is not only a White House executive but also an English sir. It’s such a character pressuring us through Downing Street.
We must take it seriously!”
Albert was helpless after learning the news, because starting over meant huge costs.
But obviously, if they didn’t change it, there might be no problem this time since it was already released. For future Eon movies wanting to release, who knows how the censorship committee would make things difficult.
Harry Saltzman leaned forward, arms crossed, brows furrowed: “Listen, the movie performed well, but if we don’t handle this, the consequences could be serious.
Negative news, boycotts, even affecting future Bond movies.
We have to think long-term, not just this one.
More importantly, we just released in England, and Randolph’s pressure is already here. This movie still needs to be released in America.
Randolph in his home turf will definitely give us even greater pressure.
United Artists people, after hearing about it, urged us to reshoot quickly and not delay the release in America.”
The funds for this movie mainly came from the America company United Artists (UA).
United Artists had no intention of resisting after hearing about it.
Terence spread his hands, full of helplessness:
“Long-term? You mean rewriting the entire background story, recasting, reshooting all the villain’s scenes! This isn’t solved by changing a few lines. Dr. No is the core character; changing his background is changing the entire story!
Randolph is unhappy that we used his lines, feeling we’re alluding to him. If we just delete that scene, would that work?”
This refers to the line “everyone here is trash.”
Albert leaned back in his chair, hand stroking his chin, lost in thought, shaking his head:
“No, you’re overthinking it. Randolph is unhappy that we used a Chinese person as the villain.
We must completely cut his Chinese background for the other side to be satisfied.”
Harry Saltzman added: “Terence, what you said probably isn’t enough. The focus of the protest is the Chinese villain. Randolph wants a complete change. We might have to completely replace the character, new actor, new origin, everything from scratch.
Terence slumped heavily into his seat, hand rubbing his temples: “Then change to what? A Russian spy? A madman with no background? That would suck the soul out of the story! Dr. No’s threat comes from his mystery and exoticism. If he becomes an ordinary villain, we lose the film’s uniqueness.”
Albert narrowed his eyes, thoughtful: “Perhaps we can make him a rogue scientist from a fictional country, a place that doesn’t exist, to avoid real-world political minefields.”
Harry Albert nodded slowly, pondering: “That could work. But all his scenes still need reshooting. New sets, new costumes, all over again. It will cost a fortune.”
Terence said excitedly: “That won’t work. Changing the background will lack immersion, and maybe Dr. No’s good box office performance is because we shot it well? Maybe the box office success is entirely because Dr. No refers to Randolph.
Everyone knows Randolph’s influence and reputation.
Randolph as the villain has enough charisma.
The powerful feeling from a scientist we created ourselves can never compare to Randolph himself.”
Terence was an obscure nobody before shooting “Dr. No.”
He shot a series of movies like “The Red Beret,” “Storm Over the Nile,” “Action Tiger,” etc., with the highest box office not exceeding 2 million US dollars.
While “Dr. No” had already exceeded 1 million US dollars in box office upon release.
Historically, this movie grossed 59 million US dollars with a cost of 1 million US dollars.
For a director who had never succeeded before, Terence would definitely think it was his own merit, but deep down he would vaguely feel it was due to riding on Lin Ran’s popularity.
The powerful and evil Dr. No, plus space elements, something about stopping NASA from launching rockets, just short of naming the doctor Randolph Lin.
In newspaper promotion, the focus was also on the villain Dr. No, not James Bond.
However, they didn’t know that this movie could gross 59 million, so after Albert and Harry exchanged a glance, Albert stood up and said:
“Change it. We only need to change the Dr. No character, and just the background. Call the screenwriters immediately. I want to see the new setup by tomorrow morning. I’ll talk budget with United Artists. They know how formidable Randolph is and will give us extra budget.”
For producers Albert and Harry, besides being producers, they were also shareholders of Eon movie company. United Artists was their investor, their financial backer.
If they resisted to the end, the company’s future would be affected, and United Artists would be dissatisfied with them.
Even if the box office is high, so what? Terence Young could gain fame and go shoot movies at other companies, but their future business would be affected.
Compared to one full meal, they chose to be full every meal.
“There’s still time. If it’s just reshooting this part, at most half a month. The studio definitely won’t be happy. But if this is the only way to keep the film in theaters and avoid more trouble, I think we have no choice.” Harry added.
Terence knew the producers had decided, and he couldn’t resist. He sighed deeply, looking out the window at the rain: “If we mess this up, we’re done. But if it saves the series, the risk is worth it.”
Albert stood up, took his jacket, and comforted: “This is also a once-and-for-all solution. The next Bond, if there is one, won’t have this political baggage. I have to go announce this bad news to the crew.”
Albert walked out of the room, the door closing gently with a low sound.
Terence and Harry exchanged weary glances, the weight of the decision hanging over them like the London fog outside the window.
In later generations, when the 007 series became an unavoidable classic spy series in film history, there was widespread discussion about who the villain character Dr. No in the first 007 movie really was.
Only a small portion of London’s audience saw the Chinese descent version, the Dr. No version that directly alluded to Randolph Lin. Later, whether English audiences, or Western Europe and America audiences, all saw the version of the evil Nazi Germany doctor.
The Chinese descent version of Dr. No became a film history rarity, and even Eon company itself couldn’t find the video tape of this version.
On the later generation’s internet, one could only sense the charm that Dr. Lin actually brought from scattered remarks.
“Too bad, I’m quite curious about General Manager Lin’s version of the evil doctor.”
“Yeah, cold and powerful, just thinking about it feels cool. Why did General Manager Lin make them change it?”
On later generation’s Simplified Chinese Internet Weibo, people wouldn’t feel offended by such characters; they would just think it’s white people barking like losers, and instead hope to see Lin Ran’s version of the charismatic villain character.
London’s film practitioners directly felt Lin Ran’s power.
After seeing in the newspaper that Lin Ran came to Downing Street to negotiate cooperation, they were immediately notified by the censorship committee that Chinese descent people were not allowed to be used as villain characters.
On the plane to Stockholm, Lin Ran briefly told Jenny about the matter he asked Downing Street to help solve.
Jenny clapped after hearing: “Exactly, professor. You asking Downing Street to help solve this problem is a million times more useful than publishing an article in the newspaper.”
Lin Ran asked: “Is this why you advised me not to publish the article?”
Jenny explained: “Yes.
If you published that article mocking all English people, at that time point you would vent your anger, but it would be completely useless for solving the problem.
Even originally Downing Street was willing to help you solve this, helping you pressure all movie production companies through the film censorship committee to not allow Chinese descent people as villain characters.
But just because you published that article, public opinion would form pressure, and even if Downing Street wanted to help, the pressure of public opinion would make them afraid to do so.
While you used the resources you have to complete a resource exchange with Downing Street, that’s the real way to solve the problem.
I believe for a long time in the future, you won’t see movies portraying Chinese people as villains, and all you need to do is help them pass a message.”
Lin Ran countered: “What if I hadn’t thought of it myself?”
Jenny laughed: “Professor, I don’t believe you wouldn’t think of this method.
Besides, even if you didn’t, ‘Dr. No’s’ investor is United Artists. I also have a way to pressure them through United Artists to solve this.”
Lin Ran thoughtfully said, “So you invited me to see ‘Dr. No’ deliberately to make me see the phenomenon of Chinese people being targeted in public opinion?”
Jenny shook her head, “How could it be? This was a date. Date, understand?
Finally coming to London for a date to watch a movie, how could I ask for trouble.
I simply saw the handsome Chinese person on the movie poster, and heard the Chinese person inside said your lines, thinking it would be interesting for us two to watch it live.
After all, you yourself are sitting in the audience. How would I know the Chinese person in the movie is a villain character.”
Jenny was afraid Lin Ran would misunderstand, “This is also the first time I saw it. If I knew the movie was about this, I definitely wouldn’t invite you to watch.”
The International Congress of Mathematicians was held in Stockholm, Sweden, from August 15 to 22, 1962.
At this time, Stockholm had gathered top-tier mathematicians from countries around the world.
Even among the many mathematicians, Lin Ran was the most dazzling in both age and identity.
Jenny was in the media area, not with Lin Ran.
Lin Ran was sitting with his “mentor” Seagull.
“Randolph, congratulations on the award.” Seagull said.
Seagull was very happy, genuinely happy. He was praised by Andrei Weil as the greatest mathematician of the first half of the 20th century. Though not necessarily the greatest, definitely one of the greatest.
And his own student had the potential to become the greatest mathematician of the second half of the 20th century, even without question.
With such an inheritance, how could he not be happy?
