10 Iconic Movie Moments With Unexpected Origins

4. Bond's Scuba-Tuxedo - Goldfinger

The Scene

Goldfinger's pre-title sequence memorably sees James Bond (Sean Connery) dismantling a drug lab in Latin America. 007 sneaks onto the island in a wetsuit, takes out the guards and then removes the wetsuit, revealing a perfectly-pressed, immaculate white tuxedo underneath.

It's at once thoroughly daft and a perfect summation of Bond's preternatural suaveness - and above all else, fans love it.

How It Happened

This scene doesn't appear in Ian Fleming's book nor was it originally written into the script - the film was initially supposed to open with Bond already suited-up on the island.

British spy novel author Jeremy Duns did some digging a few years back, and surmised that Bond's dapper arrival was almost certainly inspired by a most improbable real-life bout of espionage.

During World War II, Dutch spy Peter Tazelaar infiltrated Nazi-occupied Netherlands by reaching the shore by boat in a wetsuit, after which he removed his wetsuit to reveal a dinner suit underneath, allowing him to pose as a party-goer and avoid detection.

As for how this real-life flourish ended up in Goldfinger's script? The screenplay was polished by Paul Dehn, a senior intelligence officer in WWII who, Duns believes, had knowledge of the mission and inserted it into the film.

Given that Dehn's biggest contribution to the script was indeed the pre-title sequence, it makes all the sense in the world. Sadly Dehn passed away in 1976 before anyone could get confirmation from the man himself, but the logic absolutely tracks.