According to an article in the London Times, documents have come to light proving that Ian Fleming indeed based the Thunderball book on a sceenplay written by Irish film producer Kevin McClory. The film that never was would have starred Richard Burton as the secret agent and was to have been directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
See http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/article3099637.ece
for more details.
This story may interest Israel authors, given that best selling authoress Naomi Ragen is currently defending herself against similar plagiarism charges.
