The celebrated playwright Sir Tom Stoppard once leapt at the chance to adapt a novel by his literary hero, Graham Greene. The project, however, would become a notorious cinematic failure, remembered for its severe production struggles rather than its artistic merit.
A Faithful Adaptation Hampered by Budget
In 1979, Stoppard wrote the screenplay for The Human Factor, based on Greene's espionage novel which the author famously described as being free from the violence often associated with the genre. Stoppard remained remarkably faithful to Greene's original text, aiming to capture its subtle, non-Bond-like intrigue.
Unfortunately, the film's production was plagued from the start by extreme budgetary restraints. Much of the filming took place in and around Greene's hometown of Berkhamsted, but the financial limitations constantly hampered the process. The result, as Stoppard later candidly admitted, was a disaster on multiple fronts—artistically, technically, and logistically.
The James Bond Wink Left on the Cutting Room Floor
Despite the film's overarching problems, Stoppard did allow himself one playful diversion from the source material. He wrote a scene that paid a deliberate, witty homage to the world of 007, which Greene's novel deliberately eschewed.
In the scene, a character complains about never going to the cinema, recalling a trip with Ian Fleming: “Couldn’t make head nor tail of it – fella kept killing people with gadgets and being kissed by amazing-looking girls who then tried to kill him – and all the time he was trying to save the world from some foreigner in a submarine I think it was.”
This meta-commentary on the Bond franchise was a scene Stoppard particularly enjoyed writing. Yet, in a final stroke of misfortune for the troubled production, the sequence was cut from the final film, remaining forever on the cutting room floor.
A Legacy of Cinematic Bankruptcy
Reflecting on the project in an interview for the book Travels in Greeneland: The Cinema of Graham Greene, Stoppard did not mince his words. He stated that the film's financial and creative failings were evident for all to see, bluntly noting, “you could see its bankruptcy all over the screen.”
This episode remains a fascinating footnote in the careers of two British literary giants—a well-intentioned adaptation sunk by practical realities, and a rare, humorous nod to James Bond that audiences never got to see.
