- "Now write this: The greatest rapture in my life was afforded me on a boat in Nassau by Fatima Blush. Signed: James Bond, 007."
- ― Fatima Blush to James Bond.
Fatima Blush (also known as Number Twelve) is a fictional SPECTRE assassin and secondary antagonist of the unofficial 1983 James Bond film Never Say Never Again, portrayed by former model and Playboy cover girl Barbara Carrera. The character is a re-imagining of the character Fiona Volpe, who first appeared in EON Productions' 1965 James Bond film, Thunderball.
Film biography
Fatima Blush is first seen requesting access to a safe deposit box in an unidentified French bank. It is revealed that the bank is a cover for SPECTRE, a criminal organisation run by Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Opening a hidden door, Blush proceeds to a secret underground meeting room, where Blofeld is outlining his organisation's latest and most audacious scheme - the theft of two atomic warheads. Blush is assigned as the handler of Captain Jack Petachi, a US Airforce communications officer who SPECTRE have turned via heroin addiction. Now their willing and obedient servant, Petachi has underwent a surgical operation to replace his right-eye's cornea with an exact replica of that of the president of the United States. Shortly thereafter, he is moved by Blush to the Shrublands convalescent clinic near London to recover.
James Bond first encounters her at the clinic, disguised as a nurse, as she gives a sadomasochistic beating to Petachi in a nearby room. After Fatima finishes her beating, Bond sees the captain using a machine which scans his eye. However, Bond is seen by Blush and an attempt is subsequently made to kill him in the clinic gym. Shortly thereafter, Petachi uses his retinal implant to circumvent security at an American military base in England. While doing so, he replaces the dummy warheads in two cruise missiles with live nuclear warheads; SPECTRE then obtains the warheads to extort billions of dollars from NATO governments. Blush subsequently murders Petachi by throwing a snake into his car and finishes the job with C4 explosives.
In the Bahamas, Bond spots Fatima while she is waterskiing in front of him. She approaches Bond, flirts and suggests that she can show him the best places to dive. On the way, Fatima seduces Bond before they start their underwater tour. She tries to kill him with remote-controlled sharks which she lures to him with a tracking device she planted on his air tank. Bond manages to escape and a frustrated Fatima notices him return to shore on-board another woman's boat. She attempts to blow them up with C4 as they make love in the hotel; however, the pair decide to go into her room instead his, resulting in another failure.
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Fatima holds 007 at gunpoint, as seen in Never Say Never Again.
Fatima later attends a charity ball in Nice, held by her SPECTRE superior, Maximillian Largo. After Bond upstages him at the event and attempts to make contact with Petachi's sister Domino, Largo sends Number 12 to assassinate him. Bond returns to his villa to find Nicole, his French contact, dead, having been killed by Blush. After a vehicle chase on his motorbike, Blush captures Bond and holds him at gunpoint. In a neurotic twist, 007 is forced to write his memoirs putting her as the "Number One" sexual partner he encountered, Bond uses his Q Branch fountain pen to shoot Blush with a rocket dart. Ironically, nothing is left but her high heel shoes.
Gallery
_Never_Say_Never_Again_288.jpg "Fatima Blush (played by Barbara Carrera) Never Say Never Again 288.jpg (1.09 MB)")
Trivia
- The character's name came from one of the early treatments of Thunderball by Ian Fleming, Kevin McClory and Jack Whittingam.
- Notably, Barbara Carrera guest starred on an episode of TV sitcom That '70s Show alongside Maud Adams (Andrea Anders and Octopussy) and Kristina Wayborn (Magda), both of whom starred in the rival EON Productions film Octopussy. She also starred alongside Tanya Roberts, who portrayed Stacey Sutton in A View to a Kill.
- Carrera's performance as Fatima Blush earned her a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress, which she lost to Cher for her role in Silkwood.