Count Lippe is a SPECTRE operative who is the tertiary antagonist in 1965 film Thunderball, in which he was portrayed by Guy Doleman.
Film biography[]
A nobleman of undetermined nationality, Count Lippe is encountered by James Bond at the Shrublands health spa. He is ultimately revealed to be an agent of SPECTRE charged with hiring Angelo Palazzi to impersonate NATO pilot François Derval. The spa itself is conveniently close to the RAF airbase from which SPECTRE plans to hijack a Vulcan bomber and its atomic payload.
On his first meeting with Lippe, Bond notices a criminal tattoo (a red square with a spike through it - a Tong symbol) on the man's wrist. Suspicious, he searches Lippe's room, but is seen leaving by Palazzi who is bandaged after plastic surgery. Fearing there would be a discovery, Lippe tries to murder Bond with a spinal traction machine, but is foiled by Patricia Fearing. As in the novel, Bond retaliates against Lippe by trapping him in a steam bath and turning up the heat.
Later that evening Lippe and Angelo arrive at a Whitbread House hotel where the unsuspecting François Derval is relaxing with his mistress, SPECTRE assassin Fiona Volpe. Making a call from the public telephone box outside, Lippe informs the pilot that they have a car waiting to take him to the air base. The pair then proceed up to Derval's room and murder him with a poison gas pistol. After receiving his payment from Volpe, Angelo demands more - a quarter of a million dollars. The Count threatens Angelo with a silenced pistol, but is instructed by the more pragmatic Volpe to put it away. She agrees to his demands to avoid further complications.
Using a fake ambulance, which Lippe had arranged, they transport the dead and bandaged Derval back to Shrublands to make it appear that he is Angelo. As they dispose of the body they are suddenly interrupted by Bond and are forced to abandon the corpse in the traction room. As he makes a phone call, one of Lippe's assistants makes an attempt on Bond's life, but is ultimately killed. On his way out of the traction room Bond trips the fire alarm forcing the Count to flee the scene.
The following morning, Bond leaves due to an urgent call from the office. Lippe notices him leaving and sets off in pursuit of Bond's DB5. Approaching from behind, the Count attempts to shoot 007 with a revolver. As Bond prepares the car's defenses, Lippe's vehicle suddenly bursts into flames - shot from behind by the rockets of a masked assassin's motorcycle. As the assassin streaks past, Lippe's vehicle careers out of control and topples into a ditch where it explodes violently. It is revealed that Lippe was killed by Volpe on Blofeld's orders, as punishment for his poor judgement in hiring the greedy Palazzi.
See also[]
- Thunderball
- Never Say Never Again
- SPECTRE
- Emilio Largo
- Fiona Volpe (Luciana Paluzzi)
- List of James Bond villains