Richard Maibaum

Writing

Richard Maibaum

Born 1909-05-26 · New York City, New York, USA

The name is "Maibaum, Richard Maibaum".....the brilliant screenwriter who adapted the Ian Fleming 007 novels into the highly entertaining screenplays of nearly every James Bond film from Dr. No (1962) through to Licence to Kill (1989). Maibaum attended New York University, then studied acting at the University of Iowa. By the time he was in his late twenties, Maibaum was a well established Broadway actor and playwright. He entered films as a screenwriter in 1937, spending the war years with the army's Combat Film Division. In 1946, he joined Paramount as both screenwriter and producer, contributing to such films as The Big Clock (1948) and The Great Gatsby (1949). From advice that making films abroad was an excellent tax shelter, Maibaum formed a partnership in the 1950s with producers Irving Allen and Albert R. Broccoli This led to his involvement in the phenomenally successful James Bond series of the 1960s and 1970s and, after Ian Fleming, Maibaum has arguably been the person most responsible for shaping the image of the screen's most famous spy!

Acting credits

Behind the camera

Dr. No poster
7.0

Agent 007 battles mysterious Dr. No, a scientific genius bent on destroying the U.S. space program. As the countdown to disaster begins, Bond must go to Jamaica, where he encounters beautiful Honey Ryder, to confront a megalomaniacal villain in his massive island headquarters.

Dr. No

1962

The Man with the Golden Gun poster
6.5

Cool government operative James Bond searches for a stolen invention that can turn the sun's heat into a destructive weapon. He soon crosses paths with the menacing Francisco Scaramanga, a hitman so skilled he has a seven-figure working fee. Bond then joins forces with the swimsuit-clad Mary Goodnight, and together they track Scaramanga to a Thai tropical isle hideout where the killer-for-hire lures the slick spy into a deadly maze for a final duel.

The Man with the Golden Gun

1974

For Your Eyes Only poster
6.5

A British spy ship has sunk and on board was a hi-tech encryption device. James Bond is sent to find the device that holds British launching instructions before the enemy Soviets get to it first.

For Your Eyes Only

1981

Thunderball poster
6.7

A criminal organization has obtained two nuclear bombs and are asking for a 100 million pound ransom in the form of diamonds in seven days or they will use the weapons. The secret service sends James Bond to the Bahamas to once again save the world.

Thunderball

1965

A View to a Kill poster
6.3

A newly-developed microchip designed by Zorin Industries for the British Government that can survive the electromagnetic radiation caused by a nuclear explosion has landed in the hands of the KGB. James Bond must find out how and why. His suspicions soon lead him to big industry leader Max Zorin who forms a plan to destroy his only competition in Silicon Valley by triggering a massive earthquake in the San Francisco Bay.

A View to a Kill

1985

From Russia with Love poster
7.1

Agent 007 is back in the second installment of the James Bond series, this time battling a secret crime organization known as SPECTRE. Russians Rosa Klebb and Kronsteen are out to snatch a decoding device known as the Lektor, using the ravishing Tatiana to lure Bond into helping them. Bond willingly travels to meet Tatiana in Istanbul, where he must rely on his wits to escape with his life in a series of deadly encounters with the enemy.

From Russia with Love

1963

Goldfinger poster
7.4

Special agent 007 comes face to face with one of the most notorious villains of all time, and now he must outwit and outgun the powerful tycoon to prevent him from cashing in on a devious scheme to raid Fort Knox -- and obliterate the world's economy.

Goldfinger

1964

The Living Daylights poster
6.5

After a defecting Russian general reveals a plot to assassinate foreign spies, James Bond is assigned a secret mission to dispatch the new head of the KGB to prevent an escalation of tensions between the Soviet Union and the West.

The Living Daylights

1987

Diamonds Are Forever poster
6.4

Diamonds are stolen only to be sold again in the international market. James Bond infiltrates a smuggling mission to find out who's guilty. The mission takes him to Las Vegas where Bond meets his archenemy Blofeld.

Diamonds Are Forever

1971

Licence to Kill poster
6.4

After capturing the notorious drug lord Franz Sanchez, Bond's close friend and former CIA agent Felix Leiter is left for dead and his wife is murdered. Bond goes rogue and seeks vengeance on those responsible, as he infiltrates Sanchez's organization from the inside.

Licence to Kill

1989

Octopussy poster
6.4

James Bond is sent to investigate after a fellow “00” agent is found dead with a priceless Fabergé egg. Bond follows the mystery and uncovers a smuggling scandal and a Russian General who wants to provoke a new World War.

Octopussy

1983

The Spy Who Loved Me poster
6.8

Russian and British submarines with nuclear missiles on board both vanish from sight without a trace. England and Russia both blame each other as James Bond tries to solve the riddle of the disappearing ships. But the KGB also has an agent on the case.

The Spy Who Loved Me

1977

On Her Majesty's Secret Service poster
6.6

With the help of Marc-Ange Draco, head of the Unione Corse crime syndicate, and Draco's troubled daughter Tracy, James Bond tracks his archnemesis, Ernst Stravro Blofeld, to a mountaintop retreat in the Swiss Alps, where he is training an army of beautiful, lethal women.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service

1969

Foreign Correspondent poster
7.0

American crime reporter John Jones is reassigned to Europe as a foreign correspondent to cover the imminent war. When he walks into the middle of an assassination and stumbles on a spy ring, he seeks help from a beautiful politician’s daughter and an urbane English journalist to uncover the truth.

Foreign Correspondent

1940

The Big Clock poster
7.3

George Stroud, a crime magazine's crusading editor, has to postpone a vacation with his wife - again - when a glamorous blonde is murdered and he is assigned by his publishing boss to find the killer. As the investigation proceeds to its conclusion, Stroud must try to disrupt his ordinarily brilliant investigative team as they increasingly build evidence that he is the killer.

The Big Clock

1948

Bigger Than Life poster
7.2

A friendly, successful suburban teacher and father grows dangerously addicted to cortisone, resulting in his transformation into a household despot.

Bigger Than Life

1956

The Amazing Mr. Williams poster
6.0

Kenny Williams, a lieutenant on the homicide squad, is engaged to Maxine Carroll, the Mayor's secretary. Or isn't he rather married with his job? For each time he has a date with his longtime fiancée, he is prevented from keeping it by his devotion to duty. Maxine, in desperation, decides to take action and bring Kenny to the altar. Who will win, Maxine's curves or the glorious fight against crime?

The Amazing Mr. Williams

1939

Zarak poster
5.4

A notorious bandit develops a grudging respect for the English military man assigned to capture him.

Zarak

1956

The Great Gatsby poster
5.4

Nick Carraway, a young Midwesterner now living on Long Island, finds himself fascinated by the mysterious past and lavish lifetyle of his landlord, the nouveau riche Jay Gatsby. He is drawn into Gatsby's circle, becoming a witness to obsession and tragedy.

The Great Gatsby

1949

The Great Gatsby poster
5.4

Nick Carraway, a young Midwesterner now living on Long Island, finds himself fascinated by the mysterious past and lavish lifetyle of his landlord, the nouveau riche Jay Gatsby. He is drawn into Gatsby's circle, becoming a witness to obsession and tragedy.

The Great Gatsby

1949

No Man of Her Own poster
6.9

A penniless pregnant woman adopts the identity of a rich woman killed in a train crash.

No Man of Her Own

1950

The Red Beret poster
6.7

Steve MacKendrick resigns from the US Army after causing the needless death of a fellow officer. Wanting to serve in the war, he enlists as a Canadian in the British 1st Parachute Brigade. He proves himself exceptionally skilled for a recruit, arousing the suspicion of his commanding officer who starts an investigation. He redeems himself during combat. The film was titled "Paratrooper" in the US.

The Red Beret

1953

Ransom! poster
7.2

A wealthy business man stuns his wife and town with a televised response to his son's kidnappers.

Ransom!

1956

I Wanted Wings poster
5.6

Told in flashback, this drama follows the training and personal lives of three recruits in the Army Air Corps: a wealthy playboy, a college jock, and an auto mechanic. Love interest is supplied by a female photographer and a sultry blonde.

I Wanted Wings

1941