Tart's Handkerchief

[Auric]

In the movie Diamonds Are Forever, James Bond is rendered unconscious and buried underground in a new sewer pipe. Upon coming to he sees a rat...

"Well, one of us smells like a tart's handkerchief."
[sniffs]
"I'm afraid it's me. Sorry, old boy."


So, beyond being a witty remark, what exactly does a tart's handkerchief smell like? One would think cheap perfume at best and, erm, bodily fluids at worst. Note, the sewer was as yet unused so the smell was all Bond's. Did Mssrs. Wint and Kidd defile him while unconcious?

 

[djheater]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L...n_Diamonds_Are_Forever
...Mr. Wint can also be seen spraying himself with perfume (Bond later remarks that Wint smells like a "tart's handkerchief"...

Wint is perfumey... in carrying Bond the smell transferred.

 

[calvinbiss]

So 'tart' is slang for homosexual in that generation?

 

[effowe]

Originally posted by: calvinbiss
So 'tart' is slang for homosexual in that generation?

No, it's a whore.

 

[djheater]

Originally posted by: effowe

Originally posted by: calvinbiss
So 'tart' is slang for homosexual in that generation?

No, it's a whore.

In the final scene with Wint and Kidd Bond sees through their ruse because he smells Wint's perfume and remembers it from the sewer pipe.

A tart's handkerchief smells like cheap perfume.

It's a silly joke because a rat certainly wouldn't smell that way... just Bond making light of the situation, and observing (to the audience) that he smells Wint's characteristic scent.

 

[mikej007]

Wint and Kidd were the worst Bond "villains" in history. They defile the whole series... and not because they were gay, just because they were fucking lame.

 

[djheater]

Yeah, as primary villians they were pretty lame... Should've been Bunny and Thumper throughout the film.

 

[Auric]

I think that entry referring to Bond commenting on Wint smelling like a tart's handkerchief is wrong. He says that only during the sewer rat scene. Later he does make the connection with the scent and Wint, saying he has smelled it before and both times it was a rat, or such as.

He could have smelled Wint at the mortuary before being knocked out from behind but it seems unlikely that simply being carried (especially by hands and feet since both villains did so) would have transferred the odour.

-
Ah, apparently I missed something: when they loaded Bond into the car trunk, Wint's bottle was in there and got broken. Ergo, he did indeed smell of perfume/cologne... at least (not that the story would imply Bond was buggered but hey, it's a possible alternate subtext).

Wint and Kidd are rightly described on wikipedia as "quite possibly psychotic, undoubtedly sadistic". Still, I agree they are kinda lame.

During my goggling, I discovered a recently established London jeweller of the same name: "Wint & Kidd". Funneh.