But the closeness of both variants points to something of a 'common ancestor' from which both originated. Of course, we needn't make a direct link between Fleming's 'kiss, kiss, bang, bang' phrase, and the later variant used in Italy. Fleming suggested that while Chandler's novels were 'sociological studies', his were 'pillow fantasies of the bang-bang, kiss-kiss variety'.
In a letter dated 27th April 1956, responding to Chandler's view that, despite his favourable review of the book, Diamonds Are Forever contained some bad parts, Fleming admitted that he probably didn't take his own writing seriously enough. In his article, Fleming presented a selection of correspondence between him and Chandler in which they discussed, among other matters, books, writing, and authors (they both admired Eric Ambler and Dashiell Hammett). In 1959, The London Magazine published a tribute written by Fleming to his friend Raymond Chandler, who had died that year. In fact, we can place Fleming's usage some seven or eight years earlier. His version – 'bang, bang, kiss, kiss' - appears in an article based on a 1963/4 interview published in 1965. The phrase, which became widespread around 1964/5, is usually attributed to the Italian fans or press, but I revealed that Ian Fleming had used a similar phrase.
In an earlier article, I discussed the origin of the phrase, 'Mr Kiss Kiss Bang Bang'.
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