- "Life's too short for "someday"."
- ― Marc-Ange Draco
Marc-Ange Draco is the head of one of the most powerful crime syndicates in the world and father of Tracy Bond (therefore James Bond's father-in-law). Portrayed by the late Italian actor, Gabriele Ferzetti, and dubbed over by the British actor, David de Keyser, he appeared in EON Productions' 1969 James Bond film, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, and was based on the literary character from Ian Fleming's 1963 novel of the same name. Draco was subsequently re-imagined for Activision's 2012 video game, 007 Legends.
Biography[]
Background[]
Little was known of Marc-Ange Draco's early life save for his business ventures both legal and illegal. While a fugitive hiding in the mountains of Corsica, he met his wife-to-be; an English romantic looking for bandits. They fell in love and married, producing their only child - Teresa. His wife died in 1955 when their daughter was twelve years old. Draco subsequently sent her to a boarding school in Switzerland. Deprived of a stable home life, Tracy joined the "international fast set", committing "one scandal after another". When Draco cut off her allowance, Tracy committed "a greater folly" out of spite. She later married Italian Count Giulio di Vicenzo who subsequently died in a car accident alongside one of his mistresses. By September 1969[1], Draco served as the head of the Unione Corse, one of Europe's largest crime syndicates - second only behind SPECTRE. However, his legitimate business fronts were more extensive; spanning construction, electrical supplies, and numerous agricultural holdings.
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (film)[]
After James Bond saved the life of the now-suicidal Tracy, Draco arranges for him to be ushered to his office at gunpoint. Following a more cordial reception, the desperate father tells 007 of the troubled past of his daughter and begs him to court Tracy with the goal of marriage; offering a personal dowry of Ā£1,000,000 (worth Ā£22,600,000.00 as of 2024) as enticement. While Draco views Bond's relationship with her as the beginning of therapy, the spy is unconvinced and doesn't need the money, advising that she needs a psychiatrist instead. Realizing Draco's connections, 007 asks him for the location of wanted fugitive and head of SPECTRE, Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Ever the businessman, Marc-Ange uses the information as leverage to persuade Bond into pursuing his daughter, and Bond agrees this time. Bond attends his birthday celebration, but Tracy remains aloof, especially after her friend Olympe reveals Draco's agreement with Bond. Contemptuous of her father's plans, she forces Draco to reveal a connection between Blofeld and Swiss solicitor Gumbold from an office in Bern, Switzerland. Despite obtaining this lead to the criminal mastermind, Bond continues to sincerely court Tracy out of love and the pair fall in love. Meanwhile, Draco continues to help the spy via his vast resources.
Following Tracy's kidnapping by Blofeld, Bond approaches Draco with a proposition - since the British Secret Service is unwilling to intervene, he requests that Draco and his men aid him in an assault on Blofeld's mountain hideaway, Piz Gloria. They subsequently raid the facility in helicopters, posing as a Red Cross flight carrying medical supplies to Italy. Upon arriving, Draco and his men rescue the kidnapped Tracy, and the criminal syndicalist personally knocks his daughter unconscious when she refuses to abandon Bond. They plant timed explosives around the building, completely destroying it and the biological weapons being developed there. Draco later hosts his daughter's wedding to Bond at one of his properties in Portugal. A strange meeting of the lawful and criminal worlds, he and the head of the Secret Service, M, exchange pleasantries and "war stories" - reminiscing that M had been "the man who cost [him] three of [his] best operators" in November 1964. As the newlyweds prepare to depart, Marc-Ange unsuccessfully slips a dowry envelope into Bond's pocket and ushers them both into the Aston Martin DBS; unknowingly waving goodbye to his daughter for the last time because she is then killed by Blofeld and his subordinate Irma Bunt.
Personality[]
A photograph of Draco's deceased wife, as seen in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969).
Marc-Ange Draco is a shrewd businessman, confident and influential enough to run the Union Corse and to manage his many connections, particularly in the underworld. Quiet but self-assured, he has made enough money from his many illegal businesses and his legitimate activities in agriculture and construction. However, despite his reputation as a feared mobster and the effectively illegal nature of his activities, he has a strong sense of morality and is willing to do anything to make up for lost years with Tracy, who is stubborn and doesn't always get on with him. Although he is sometimes strict with his daughter, he only wants to protect her and make her happy, being aware of the neglect she has suffered.
Draco is also charismatic and is generally warm, respectable and caring towards those closest to him, especially Bond. He is also refined, dressing in expensive suits and expressing himself with a polite and sometimes poetic vocabulary. In many ways he is actually like Bond, which is evident in his love of good food and drink and his cynical, wicked sense of humour. With his many strengths and loyalty, Draco proved to be an extremely valuable ally to Bond as well as a man of his word as he still wished to hand over his dowry to 007 despite the fact that he genuinely loved his daughter.
Henchmen & associates[]
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Behind the Scenes[]
Gabriele Ferzetti was cast as Draco after the producers saw him in We Still Kill the Old Way, but Ferzetti's heavy Italian accent also led to his voice being redubbed by David de Keyser for the final cut.[2]
Gallery[]
_3.png "Tracy Bond (On Her Majesty's Secret Service) 3.png (3.55 MB)")
Trivia[]
- Gabriele Ferzetti was only 13 years older than Diana Rigg, who played Tracy.
- Marc-Ange Draco is the first crime syndicate Don to befriend Bond and assist him with informations required for his missions. The only other head of Mafia who would also follow this suit was Valentin Zukovsky.
See also[]
References[]
- ā (1969). On Her Majesty's Secret Service (Blu-Ray). Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
- ā On Her Majesty's Secret Service Ultimate Edition'. MGM Home Entertainment.