MI5 suspected Bond screenwriter was communist agent
Wolf Mankowitz Wolf Mankowitz was said to discuss Marxist theories with friends
The man who wrote the screenplay for a James Bond film was himself suspected of being a communist agent, newly released Security Service files show.
The MI5 file on Wolf Mankowitz, a "convinced Marxist," shows he was monitored for more than a decade.
Mr Mankowitz wrote the screenplay for the unofficial Bond film Casino Royale in 1967 and was also involved in the film Dr No.
The files are available at the National Archives in Kew.
Mr Mankowitz, who died in 1998, introduced film producers Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzman to each other.
He was subsequently involved in writing the script for their first Bond film together, Dr No.
Born in London's East End, Mr Mankowitz attended Cambridge University where he joined the University's Socialist Society and met his wife Ann, a Communist Party member.