Mr. Wint & Mr. Kidd

Mr. Wint & Mr. Kidd are fictional characters in the James Bond novel and film Diamonds Are Forever. In the novel, Wint and Kidd are members of the Spangled Mob. In the film they are henchmen for the villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld. In the film Mr. Wint is played by actor Bruce Glover and Mr. Kidd is played by Putter Smith.

Film Bio

Mr. Wint and his partner Mr. Kidd are assassins working for Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Their assignment is to kill everyone in the "pipeline" that are connected to the diamonds being smuggled to Blofeld.

Several scenes in the film strongly suggest that Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd are involved in more than just a professional relationship. The two are seen arm-in-arm in a more-than-friendly pose on two occasions. Also, when the two are on the same flight as smuggler and Bond girl Tiffany Case, Mr. Kidd says that she is "quite attractive;" Mr. Wint gives him a nasty look before Mr. Kidd qualifies his comment with the words "for a lady."

The two use numerous methods of killing their targets (or trying to), some highly creative:

• Placing a scorpion down the shirt of a South African dentist.
• Using a radio-controlled bomb to blow up a helicopter shortly after killing the dentist.
• Sealing Bond in a coffin and sending him into a crematorium furnace.
• Tying the feet of Plenty O'Toole to a concrete block and throwing her into a swimming pool.
• Putting Bond into a length of pipeline to be buried in the desert outside Las Vegas.

Their final attempt to kill Bond and Case takes place on a cruise liner after Bond foils Blofeld's plot. They pose as stewards in the couple's suite, serving them a romantic dinner complete with dessert. However, when Bond remembers the smell of Mr. Wint's aftershave and links it to his prior misadventures, the pair immediately turn against him. Mr. Kidd then ignites the kabobs he is holding in both hands, aiming to burn Bond alive while Mr. Wint holds him. During the struggle, Case throws the dessert at one of the pair; she misses, and the dessert turns out to be concealing a bomb. Bond first neutralizes Mr. Kidd by splashing brandy on the kabobs and his clothes, setting him on fire. Within seconds, he is burning uncontrollably, and in desperation jumps overboard. The film portrays Mr. Kidd as dead when he hits the water. Then, Bond gains the upper hand against Mr. Wint, pulling his arms between his legs and tying his hands and the bomb together with his coattails. Bond then throws Mr. Wint overboard, and the bomb explodes while he is falling toward the water.

Novel bio

In the novel, the duo have a much more tame role. As main henchmen to the Spangled Mob it's their mission to make sure the smuggling of the diamonds and everything connected to it go off without a hitch. If something does goes wrong Mr. Wint & Mr. Kidd are sent to essentially persuade whoever to never again make a mistake.

From London to New York City it's their job to tail whoever is smuggling the diamonds internationally to ensure that the smuggler doesn't get any ideas about going into business for themselves. For this the duo take on the likeness of American businessmen who call themselves "W. Winter" and "B. Kitteridge". Whenever Wint & Kidd are not portraying the businessmen, however, they're wearing ski masks so no one can figure out who they are.

Although they are both assassins, Mr. Wint is deathly afraid to travel. When he does he wears an identifying nametag and a sticker that says "My blood group is F". Due to this phobia Mr. Wint picked up the nickname "Windy" although no one would call him that to his face. Mr. Kidd is nicknamed "Boofy".

The duo are shot to death by Bond after kidnapping Tiffany Case on the Queen Elizabeth. Bond comes to her rescue by climbing down the side of the ship and diving into their porthole where they have a small gun battle.

Trivia

• The original names of the henchmen were supposedly going to be Wint & Gore, however Ian Fleming changed Gore to Kidd at the request of his wife's cousin who was nicknamed "Boofy" Gore.