Bondfest: The Man with the Golden Gun
Mission Dossier: The Man with the Golden Gun
The Year: 1974
The Director: Guy Hamilton
The Bond: Roger Moore
The Girl: Britt Ekland as Goodnight
The Baddie: The world’s greatest assassin Francisco Scaramanga and his small offsider Nick Nack
The Scene
Didn’t watch the film out here, but thought it would be nice to do some writing in the sunshine and fresh air after a couple of days getting square eyes in front of a screen.
Opening with a close-up of a third nipple, as you do, The Man with the Golden Gun is a globetrotting Bond adventure flying around between Thailand, Macau, Hong Kong, Britain and more. Thankfully this film is far more respectful of Asian cultures when compared with the horrific effort of You Only Live Twice, incorporating some cool martial arts sequences and providing some handy local allies for our hero. The film was critically derided upon its release; however I recall quite liking it on my first viewing, so let’s check out if that verdict remains accurate.
The film continues the upward swing of the series with Moore at the helm, with the interesting story and a nice man to man battle between James Bond and the film’s main villain Francisco Scaramanga. Whilst the film does expand out the narrative as it goes on, it remains essentially a battle between Bond, and the world’s greatest assassin, the titular man with the golden gun. Having Christopher Lee play the role of Scaramanga is a great boon for the film. He really is a fantastic actor and brings a calm menace to his role, an excellent and worthy adversary foil for James Bond. Lee perfectly conveys an egotistical man who happily toasts “To us, for we are the best”. Roger Moore continues to grow into the role of Bond decently if not spectacularly. It is great to see a really amusing scene between he and M early in the film, with M happily providing a list of parties who would be willing to pay for Bond’s assassination. No other Bond would ever have the rapport with Bernard Lee’s M that Connery had, but Moore does a pretty good job working with him.
One of the other strengths for me is the supporting characters, who add a lot to the overall experience. Despite her rather bumbling manner, Britt Ekland’s Goodnight is a pretty good Bond girl who adds a spark to proceedings throughout. Nick Nack, played by Herve Villechaize, is Scaramanga’s midget offsider. Whilst it would have been easy for the character to descend into a figure of ridicule and endless midget jokes, he manages to be a serviceable henchman mainly due to Villechaize’s excellent performance. Undoing a lot of this good work is the inexplicable return of the most annoying character in Bond history, Louisiana Sherriff JW Pepper as played by Clifton James, who finds himself on holidays in Thailand spending most of his time spouting racist epithets at the locals. When he is “deputised” to assist Bond, the audience is on a hiding to nothing. He only features for 10 or 15 odd minutes, but I simply cannot comprehend what the makers of the film were thinking when they decided to bring JW back for a second time round.
Christopher Lee really is fantastic as Scaramanga, the man with the golden gun.
The Man with the Golden Gun gets by on the strength of its core villain, supporting cast and a storyline that pits Bond off against a cracking enemy. Like its predecessor, the film is not in the league of the series’ first four efforts, but is definitely an enjoyable enough watch.
Verdict: Stubby of Reschs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mSVvuqwyOA
Bondfest Leaderboard
- Thunderball (1965)
- Goldfinger (1964)
- Dr No (1962)
- From Russia with Love (1963)
- The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
- Live and Let Die (1973)
- Diamonds are Forever (1971)
- You Only Live Twice (1967)
- On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)
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Bondfest: Live and Let Die
Mission Dossier: Live and Let Die
The Year: 1973
The Director: Guy Hamilton
The Bond: Roger Moore
The Girl: Jane Seymour as Solitare
The Baddie: Dr Kananga/Mr Big, a Prime Minister/drug dealer, ably supported by his clawed henchman Tee Hee Johnson
The Scene
After another pretty short sleep, this was definitely a coffee film.
Despite the initial murder at the United Nations, once again a change in Bond results in a change in atmosphere with Live and Let Die featuring voodoo, the Caribbean and New Orleans very early on. The audience is even given a glimpse into Bond’s apartment, a radical departure from the Connery films which kept this side of Bond’s life hidden from view.
Rather than a tale of world domination, Live and Let Die is essentially a story concerning the drug trade and one player’s intention to flood the market with free heroin in order to both drive out his competition and massively increase demand. Presumably wishing to tap into the popularity of blaxploitation of the time, the filmmakers attempt to shroud the story in numerous elements of the sub-genre – African American lingo, the music utilised, use of some questionable racial terms. There are also some questionable characters in this. The unnecessary presence of Quarrel Jr takes the viewer outside the world of the film and gets them thinking about Dr No rather than the one they are watching. Also, the presence of an infuriating Louisiana Sherriff threatens to ruin one of the best chase sequences in any Bond film.
I mentioned the notability of the couple of chase sequences in Diamonds are Forever and how they would dictate much of what would follow, and that comes to fruition in Live and Let Die. In fact, the numerous chase scenes in this film are possibly its most enjoyable aspect. They are well thought out, exhilaratingly shot and best of all have a creative range of vehicles. We see Bond attempting to outrun his enemies in a plain old car, a plane, a speedboat and best of all a double-decker bus. And like any self respecting double-decker bus scene, there is a run in with a low bridge. The entire film actually is distinguishable by a newfound focus on spectacle, Mr Bond’s run-in with a pool full of crocodiles and alligators another prime example. Refreshingly the emphasis on really poor special effects of the last couple of films appears to have fallen by the wayside, with a satisfying, legit explosion bringing the extended boat chase to a satisfying conclusion. Jane Seymour as the tarot card reader Solitaire gives one of the best performances by a Bond girl thus far. She gives a look of ethereality and backs that up with the use of her mannerisms and voice. Her performance is convincing, with the acting chops to convey fear and a wide range of other emotions really effectively. Despite some of the voodoo elements of the film being hit and miss, I think that the parts involving her work well and bring something to the film overall.
The principal cast of the film
Live and Let Die is a return to form of sorts for the series, whilst not being in the same league as the first four Connery films. The storyline is pretty small in scope and the blaxploitation elements generally jar. But the focus on really well shot, creative chase sequences and the excellent performance from Jane Seymour means that there is a fair bit to enjoy in this one.
Verdict: Stubby of Reschs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRgICh0dK9I
Bondfest Leaderboard
- Thunderball (1965)
- Goldfinger (1964)
- Dr No (1962)
- From Russia with Love (1963)
- Live and Let Die (1973)
- Diamonds are Forever (1971)
- You Only Live Twice (1967)
- On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)
Bondfest: Diamonds are Forever
Mission Dossier: Diamonds Are Forever
The Year: 1971
The Director: Guy Hamilton
The Bond: Sean Connery
The Girl: Jill St. John as Tiffany Case
The Baddie: SPECTRE’s big guy, Ernst Blofeld is back for even more in this one
The Scene
BBQ and Bond with friends
After the not particularly successful Lazenby experiment in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, the original James Bond, Sean Connery, was persuaded by a big fat pay cheque to return for Diamonds are Forever.
The result, whilst an improvement on the previous film, is a pretty bland effort with probably the most uninteresting narrative thus far in the series. The film starts promising enough. Shirley Bassey, the undisputed queen of Bond theme songs, belts out another absolute cracker. The film proper also has a promising start, with Bond appearing to kill his arch nemesis Ernst Blofeld. But from pretty early on it is all downhill. The film has a really quite unnecessarily complicated narrative that jumps from diamond smuggling to military testing with very little rhyme or reason. It also decides to continue the seeming obsession with space in these recent Bond films. None of it is particularly engaging at all, with the lack of a clearly defined ‘endgame’ for Blofeld and friends a major shortcoming. Assisting Blofeld are the henchmen Mr Wint and Mr Kidd, two extremely unfortunately presented homosexuals. They are caricatures and it is a real shame to see such a presentation taking place. Aside from all of that, they add very little to the film, with their menacing evil not really being directed into the story. Rather they almost seem to be part of another movie.
The horrid Mr Wint and Mr Kidd
The film does do a roaring trade in chase sequences. Almost back to back are one of the series’ most insipid and then one of the most inspired. The insipid features a sever lack of speed as a slooow moon buggy is pursued by even slower three wheel motorbikes. The inspired comes straight after as Bond and Tiffany Case attempt to outrun the fuzz, including an incredible little sequence involving a parking lot. I think this second chase is notable because big chase sequences have not been that big a feature thus far in the series. But from this point on they do play a much larger role, providing some of the series most iconic and exhilarating moments. Just like You Only Live Twice, enjoyment of the film is severely compromised by horrid special effects. The series seems to have moved away from ‘mechanical’ explosions and the like, leading to laughable cartoony explosions. The best part of a decade earlier, the explosions in Dr No looked fantastic, presumably because they were blowing shit up for real rather than trying to create it artificially. Despite the fact that he is starting to look a little old for the role, it is somewhat refreshing to see Connery back in the main role. His rapport with Bernard Lee’s M is immediately apparent. Also back are the realistic fight scenes, with Connery’s physicality returning with a vengeance. Though to be honest, whilst preferable to Lazenby, it is undeniable that Connery has lost a step or two, his comedic delivery especially is a fair way below the sharpness that was such a feature of the first four films. Another low point of the film is poor characterisation, especially of the female characters. Bond’s main female companion Tiffany Case is a bland and ineffectual presence whilst minor characters such as Plenty O’Toole are just annoying.
After an utterly inspired run through the first four classic films, close to unequalled in a series in film history, the James Bond series is in a serious funk. These last three films, whilst this is the best of them, have been pretty darn poor. There are some nice moments in Diamonds are Forever, but they are too few and far in between. The film overall is a major disappointment, with the return of Connery not reigniting the series as one would have hoped.
Verdict: Schooner of Carlton Draught
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-va1qL-UaqY
Bondfest Leaderboard
- Thunderball (1965)
- Goldfinger (1964)
- Dr No (1962)
- From Russia with Love (1963)
- Diamonds are Forever (1971)
- You Only Live Twice (1967)
- On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)
Bondfest: On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
Mission Dossier: On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
The Year: 1969
The Director: Peter R. Hunt
The Bond: George Lazenby
The Girl: Diana Rigg as Countess Tracy di Vicenzo
The Baddie: SPECTRE’s big guy, Ernst Blofeld is back for more in this one
The Scene
A new Mexican place opened up near my house. So I thought it would be wrong not to try a burrito from there for lunch. Thought it would be even more wrong not to have Mexican beer along with it.
Our Aussie George’s only film in the Bond hotseat On Her Majesty’s Secret Service has long been my least favourite Bond flick. The film was not particularly well appreciated critically upon release. Recently the film has undergone reconsideration though, with Christopher Nolan a notable fan of the film, mentioning it as an influence whilst discussing the creation of The Dark Knight Rises (2012). I hate to disagree with the esteemed Mr Nolan, but I do not see the attraction to this film.
I was wrong about Goldfinger, but I struggle to see that another film from the series will displace On Her Majesty’s Secret Service from the bottom of the Leaderboard. It really is a woeful, unexhilarating experience. More than that, it is rather incompetently made, generally not a hallmark of any of the Bond series, even the poorer ones. The film’s rather strange narrative sees Blofeld attempting extortion by gaining control of the world’s food supply. Oh and Bond falls head over heels in love and gets married. Though the film does forget about this rather important subplot for a fair percentage of its running time. You can see that the filmmakers are trying to do a little something different with the character, which is understandable given the change in lead actor. But the whole thing does not ring true. I’m not sure how much of that is attributable to Lazenby, for one he definitely cannot deliver the zingy one-liners that Connery was so adept at dishing out. Connery somehow managed to take lines that would have been utterly stupid in the hands of others and make them sound convincing. This really well illustrated by Lazenby’s efforts at delivering them.
Mind you Lazenby is not helped by a woeful script that is so full of shit one-liners it at times feels like a piece of pseudo-comedy. Early on Lazenby’s Bond breaks the fourth wall, turning to the camera and saying “This never happened to the other fella.” It is a technique that fails completely. Even if you are going to have a Bond film with a silly plot, it should at the very least maintain a facade of seriousness. Even worse is another moment that toys with the boundaries of the film’s world. After attempting to quit MI6 Bond is packing up his office. As he goes through his belongings, he comes across artefacts from his previous film missions. Each time he picks up one of the items the theme song from that film blasts out. It is just a truly horrid scene. It is actually pretty difficult to choose the worst moment in the film. The lovesick montage of Bond and his bride to be is right up there with the worst in the series, not just the film. Another letdown are the fight scenes. Gone are the gritty realistic efforts of Connery. In their place we get sequences that are infuriatingly sped up and shot in a very choppy manner, suggesting that they could not get them right without tweaking them in this way. Whilst it goes close, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service is not entirely without merit. The ski chase is somewhat exhilarating, especially when Bond breaks one of his skis and races down the mountain at great pace on one leg. Similarly some of the mountain scenery is really beautiful to look at. But let’s face it, when those are the major positives of a Bond film, you are digging deep for the good points.
Mr and Mrs Bond
Everything that this film does has been done far better in the five films that preceded it. The ending, whilst an infamous one, is ineffective because what has occurred beforehand does not make you believe that it is genuinely a big deal. There is nothing to make the audience believe that this relationship is any more genuine than Bond’s numerous other flings, so the reason they would marry is unclear. Lazenby failed utterly to put his stamp on the character of Bond like no other actor who played him. Which goes a long way to condemning this to being one of, if not the worst of all Bond films.
Verdict: Schooner of Tooheys New
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yf_I84W-_cw
Bondfest Leaderboard
- Thunderball (1965)
- Goldfinger (1964)
- Dr No (1962)
- From Russia with Love (1963)
- You Only Live Twice (1967)
- On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)
Bondfest: You Only Live Twice
Mission Dossier: You Only Live Twice
The Year: 1967
The Director: Lewis Gilbert
The Bond: Sean Connery
The Girl: Akiko Wakabayashi as Aki and Mie Hama as Kissy Suzuki
The Baddie: SPECTRE’s big guy, Ernst Blofeld.
The Scene
Tea + Bond = Good
The James Bond show goes on tour in You Only Live Twice which takes the viewer on a tourist’s tour of Japan – sumo wrestling, the bright neon lights of Tokyo, ninjas and so on.
SPECTRE is back in town, this time spearheaded by their Number 1 Ernst Blofeld now sporting his iconic shaved head. The organisation manages to steal spaceships from both the Americans and the Russians which leaves both countries blaming the other and the world on the brink of World War III. The title refers to the oft copied, but here I think pretty original, conceit of Bond faking his own death in order to get SPECTRE and other enemies off his tail. It is interesting that the Bourne films were so praised for their realistic brand of film hand-to-hand combat because I think these early Connery films do that really well. The Judo influenced action looks rough and tumble, as long as the finger is kept away from the fast forward button which it predominately is in this film. Coupled with some of these excellent fight scenes is probably the series’ first extended car chase. Involving a helicopter with a huge magnet of course. Despite a decent first half though, there is a blandness to the script as well as some of the cringeworthiness that will plague many of the worst Bond films, especially the one that follows this one. Summing up how poor and unoriginal the script is is the fact that Blofeld utilises murderous man-eating piranhas, only one film following a villain who used man-eating sharks to slay his foes. A bit too soon really.
There is an uncomfortable exoticism about how the Japanese are presented in the film, not to mention the ‘yellow face’ makeup that Connery’s Bond ends up in which is really unfortunate. Obviously the James Bond series is not a bastion of great progressive values, but even so, the disrespect of another culture and women in this one is jarring. The constant referring to a woman that Bond is forced to marry as having the “face of a pig” to go with the racial aspects I have mentioned above round out an uncomfortable aspect that the film has. Some of the space sequences of the film provide a bit of a precursor to those that will follow in the Roger Moore starring Moonraker (1979). But they also show off some woeful special effects that are far worse than many films that were made even before this one. The poor quality of the effects is a real distraction. It also mars the aerial sequences of the film. They are not bad enough to ruin an excellent dogfight scene involving Bond’s baby helicopter Little Nelly, but they give it a fair shake. But neither of these are anywhere near as bad as the rubbish stock footage of a volcano that mars the film’s finale. These poor effects throughout give the film a cheap feel that a film of this sort of budget should definitely be able to avoid. The central villain of the piece, Blofeld, is surely the greatest in the series. Here there is a fantastic scene where Blofeld reveals his scarred face to Bond. It is a shame that the character, played so well by Donald Pleasence, is not onscreen for near enough time to save this film.
Finally Blofeld takes centre stage in this film.
In comparison to the first four classics that preceded it, You Only Live Twice is undeniably flat. There are some exciting moments, some of the chases and fistfights for example. But the unsavoury atmosphere of the Japan set parts of the film coupled with a bland overall story despite a couple of excellent ideas, means that this is easily the weakest entry in the series so far. It is incredibly disappointing that the ultimate villainous lair – inside a volcano! – is so wasted by featuring in this film.
Verdict: Schooner of Carlton Draught
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxteuPr28Xw
Bondfest Leaderboard
- Thunderball (1965)
- Goldfinger (1964)
- Dr No (1962)
- From Russia with Love (1963)
- You Only Live Twice (1967)
Bondfest: Thunderball
Mission Dossier: Thunderball
The Year: 1965
The Director: Terence Young
The Bond: Sean Connery
The Girl: Claudine Auger as Domino Derval
The Baddie: SPECTRE’s Number 2 Emilio Largo and his frickin sharks.
The Scene
Even though I am posting this review about midnight on day 2, this was in fact my breakfast film for the day. Strong black coffee, muesli and Bond.
Often when Bond films start with a really absurd prologue, they stay rather absurd and a little rubbish. Thunderball bucks this trend though. The prologue features a funeral, cross dressing and a jetpack of course. It also features a cracking fight scene which sets the tone for the rest of the film in my opinion.
Previous viewings of this film had left me feeling a little underwhelmed, with the extensive underwater sequences in particular not impressing me. However this time around, my thoughts are very much different. I really do love seeing the continued presence of the SPECTRE organisation as Bond’s villainous foil. Especially the gradual building of Blofeld as arch villain, with the obscuring of his face continuing throughout this film. Also continuing are the organisation’s bizarrely low percentage assassination methods that they attempt to bring to bear on Mr Bond. This time it is not the deadly spider of Dr No, rather death by spinal stretching machine. As absurd as both of these are, it has to be said that both of these sequences are shot with aplomb and a whole lot of tension. The opening half an hour odd of this film is really something else. Bond faces off with a number of different foes in a health retreat as the main plot gradually reveals itself. SPECTRE this time are inserting themselves into the business of NATO, flogging an entire fighter jet along with the two atomic weapons onboard. Their plan is to hold NATO to ransom, demanding 100 million pounds in exchange for the two nukes. SPECTRE’s number 2 Emilio Largo makes a great villain in this film. The character has an inherent theatricality, with his eye patch and mannerisms, which fits the film well. Whilst there are no really standout henchman to support him, Largo does have a frickin pool with frickin killer sharks in it. He puts it to fantastic use throughout the film too.
The underwater sequences that I mentioned at the start of this review actually work fantastically well and are deployed in a number of different ways. There is something almost hypnotic about watching the wordless action taking place as SPECTRE’s finest camouflage a jet under the sea. Likewise the beautiful violence of the repeated underwater fight scenes which should be slow and unwieldy but are actually intriguing and suspenseful is a rare treat to behold. Especially cool is a large scale showdown at the end, a good old fashioned gunfight with spear guns. It is quite the effort to make underwater fight scenes actually look believable, but this film achieves it. Along with these fantastic underwater scenes, Connery continues to show just how adept he is at the land based combat too. The raw physicality of the hand to hand combat scenes is great, avoiding the attempts of later films to make it look too over the top. Overall the film is an evolution rather than a revolution. What I mean by that is that it is not reinventing the wheel for the series; rather it is just taking what has already been laid down and improving on it. A great case in point is the ‘ticking clock’ structure which works well at heightening the tension and also differentiating the film from the first three in the series, as Bond and friends race desperately to save the day.
In my review of Goldfinger, I suggested my doubts about whether or not it would be topped as my favourite Bond film. Well it has been, very quickly too. Goldfinger has a special place in my heart, but if I am honest, I think that Thunderball is the superior film. Whichever way you put them, they are probably the greatest back to back features of the series. The underwater sequences, which I thought did not work on previous viewings, really are a point of difference for the film and elevate it above anything that the series has produced thus far.
Verdict: Longneck of Melbourne Bitter
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElyENM6i0xg
Bondfest Leaderboard
- Thunderball (1965)
- Goldfinger (1964)
- Dr No (1962)
- From Russia with Love (1963)
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Bondfest: Goldfinger
Mission Dossier: Goldfinger
The Year: 1964
The Director: Guy Hamilton
The Bond: Sean Connery
The Girl: Honor Blackman as Pussy Galore
The Baddie: Auric Goldfinger, ably assisted by the deadly hat throwing Oddjob.
The Scene
Starting this film after midnight on day 1 meant an energy boost was in order.
If there is one James Bond film I have seen more than any other, it is definitely Goldfinger. I have long considered it my favourite of the series and it is also the only Bond film to feature on the ‘1001 Films you must see before you Die’ list. This exercise is all about seeing these Bond films anew though, so let’s see if it still holds up for me.
It does. Seeing them all again, I may eventually find a new favourite but I doubt highly anything will surpass this film. The film has so many iconic moments that make it a classic – the golf game, the gold paint, the most famous theme song in the series, the epic final showdown in Fort Knox – I could really go on. The scene with Bond and the laser is my favourite scene of any Bond film and features my favourite line in all the series when Goldfinger responds to Bond’s “Do you expect me to talk?” with the brilliant retort “No Mr Bond, I expect you to die.” All of these iconic elements are tied together nicely by the clever narrative. A gold merchant plots to make all of the gold in Fort Knox radioactive, to increase the value of the massive stock of gold he already owns. Again this film balances the light and dark aspects of the series really well. The opening sequence is violent, Bond electrocutes a guy in a bath. Then a Bond Girl is shockingly knocked off very early in the film, after the audience expected her to play a major role in the film. In contrast the one-liners from Bond just get pithier and pithier, just managing be wryly amusing rather than outright annoying, which is a hard balance to nail.
Where Goldfinger really excels is in the field of villains. The story departs from the SPECTRE-centric narratives of the first two films and instead focuses on Auric Goldfinger, played by Gert Frobe. Frobe, despite speaking little English, gives a very good performance as Goldfinger, a self-aggrandising figure who sees himself as being as groundbreaking as the first bloke on the moon or the scientist who split the atom… but you know, in the field of crime. And of course Goldfinger employs the most famous and awesomely named henchman probably in film history, Oddjob. Played by former wrestler Harold Sakata Oddjob is a short, dynamic dude who brings a lot to a mute role. Plus he kills people by throwing his frickin top hat at them which is undeniably cool. Whilst he did pop up in From Russia with Love (1963), Goldfinger features Q’s first proper appearance. It is all here this time: the witty rapport and scolding attitude towards Bond, the underground training facilities and the fully kitted out Aston Martin with convenient ejector seat. Finally of course, Goldfinger features the quite absurdly named character Pussy Galore who is Goldfinger’s personal pilot. How that one got past censors I will never know. As played by Honor Blackman, Ms Galore is a sassy character. There is often, especially recently, discussion about how the newest Bond Girl is a very different kind of foil for Bond. But for me, Pussy Galore is the original ‘different’ Bond Girl. She, at least in part, thinks for herself, is tough and has a lot of skills as a pilot. Not just there to look pretty and make love to Bond at the drop of a hat. Though I would be lying if I said there wasn’t a little of that in there too.
I think this is probably the most iconic image from the entire Bond canon.
There is a reason that Goldfinger is the archetypal Bond film, it still holds up really well to this day. A great villain with an even better henchman, a sassy Bond girl who adds a lot to the story and a great central evil plot at the film’s core. If you have never seen a Bond film (!) then I suggest that this is where you start. Tis the perfect introduction.
Verdict: Longneck of Melbourne Bitter
Progress: 65/1001
Bondfest Leaderboard
- Goldfinger (1964)
- Dr No (1962)
- From Russia with Love (1963)
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Bondfest: From Russia with Love
Mission Dossier: From Russia with Love
The Year: 1963
The Director: Terence Young
The Bond: Sean Connery
The Girl: Daniela Bianchi as Tatiana Romanova
The Baddie: Rosa Klebb of SPECTRE, ably assisted by buff henchman Red Grant
The Scene
Dinner, beer, James Bond. An awesome Sunday night.
The success of Dr No (1962) ensured a sequel followed only the year after in the form of From Russia with Love, one of the most beloved films of the series, especially in critical terms. The film opens with what I think to this day is one of the best opening sequences of all the Bond films. James Bond himself is seemingly killed in the sequence. However it turns out that it is merely an enemy training mission using live adversaries.
Once again SPECTRE are up to their old tricks in this film. The central premise of the script is a clever one, with the evil organisation playing the Brits and the Russians off against each other in order to get their grubby little paws on a cipher decoder thingamajig. This brings together Bond and Russian spy Tatiana Romanov, played excellently by Daniela Bianchi. Their relationship is a pretty developed and deep one when compared to most of Bond’s romantic liaisons over his 50 years onscreen. The SPECTRE arc is probably the most convincing and best of all the multi-film arcs in the entire series and this film fleshes out the organisation a lot more. We get to see more of the scope of their organisation with their training camps and weaponry suggesting they are a fair match for MI6. The main villain is SPECTRE’s Number 3 Rosa Klebb who has recently defected from the Russians. The film is at pains to make clear that SPECTRE is not the Russians. In the books the adversarial organisation went by the name SMERSH which was the USSR secret service, but the filmmakers were not keen to inflame any tensions whatsoever. This film also gives us our first glimpse of Ernst Blofeld, who will go on to become the series’ greatest ever villain. It is only a brief cat-stroking glimpse, but a glimpse nonetheless.
The other iconic character to make a first appearance in From Russia with Love is Desmond Llewellyn’s Q. There is none of the joking with 007 that will eventually make him a fan favourite, rather he just drops off Bond’s high-tech suitcase to him and then goes on his merry way. Once again, this is another cracking early Bond script. It is a bit of a slow burn, there is not too much action in the first half hour. But it ramps things up after that, especially in a large scale battle at a gypsy camp which has the epic feel of a final showdown but comes not even halfway through the film. Bond’s one-liners are a lot more prevalent in this film and Connery seems to have a whole lot of fun delivering them. Actually I was surprised by how genuinely funny this film is and not just in terms of one-liners. There are some nice jokes built up throughout, especially in Bond’s interactions with M’s secretary Moneypenny. Performance wise Connery is once again excellent in the role. The villains are really good in this too. Especially menacing is Lotte Lenya as Rosa Klebb who gives quite a chilling turn despite not being onscreen particularly long. Robert Shaw, who would go on to play Quint in Jaws (1975), brings a terrific physicality to the role of Red, a SPECTRE henchman and his fistfights with Connery’s Bond are raw, painful looking and believable.
The two main women of From Russia with Love
From Russia with Love continues on in the excellent vein of Dr No whilst also showing how the series would be able to remain relevant by changing up its output. The film is more grounded and character driven than the first film, conveying more a sense of the realities of The Cold War as opposed to maniacal taking over the world schemes. Not that there is anything wrong with that, I think for me Dr No is still a very slight favourite over this follow up effort.
Verdict: Pint of Kilkenny
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_USL1yvnaw
Bondfest Leaderboard
- Dr No (1962)
- From Russia with Love (1963)
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Bondfest: Dr No
Mission Dossier: Dr No
The Year: 1962
The Director: Terence Young
The Bond: Sean Connery
The Girl: Ursula Andress as Honey Ryder
The Baddie: The titular Dr No & his crazyarse metal hands
The Scene:
Started Dr No in my Sydney hotel room. Unfortunately in a somewhat hungover state.
Whilst not Ian Fleming’s first James Bond novel, Dr No was the first to be adapted for the big screen. The result is a strong entry in the series that established many, but not all, of the iconic elements that would come to define the series over the next 50 years. Here is the gunshot start, but not the bombastic vocal theme song. The villainous lair is here, but Q’s bag of gadgetry is not on the scene as yet. The rest of the iconography would gradually be bedded down over the next few films.
The storyline of the film is basically that Dr No wishes to more or less take over the world. He works for the evil organisation SPECTRE, with whom our Jimmy will have numerous run-ins with, especially throughout the early entries into the series. The character of Bond in this first film is an interesting one. For much of the film he is not the lone, ‘man apart’ figure that crops up in many later films. Especially through the early parts he is a team player, working with the local police chief, the CIA’s top man Felix Leiter and local fisherman Quarrel to try and solve the mysterious death of British operative Strangways. The first half of the film is more mystery flick than spy thriller, as Bond works his way around the island of Jamaica gathering clues and following up leads, which is great fun. The last 45 minutes sees the action shift to Dr No’s island where we see Ursula Andress make her famous entrance onto the screen. Has there been a more iconic first appearance by a character in film history? I doubt it. This is a cracking part of the film. The island is a great setting, as Bond, Andress’s Honey Ryder and Quarrel make their way through thick jungle by wading through the river. When they are captured and taken to No’s lair, the impressive set design takes over. The lair has become a bit of a cliché, thanks essentially solely to the Bond films. But there is a care and creativity to the design of this one that is impressive, some of it even bordering on the surrealist.
Andress making her iconic entrance
Bond films, whilst understandably not every film fan’s cup of tea, have always been well made. While I was only watching a DVD copy of Dr No, it still looks so sharp all these years on, with excellent cinematography. Sean Connery definitely has the physical presence to play Bond well, but in addition to that he is also a very good actor. He is believable, delivers lines well (helped here by a script that leaves cringeworthy one-liners to a minimum) and even shows the occasional, tiniest glimpses of vulnerability. Also great in a small role is Bernard Lee as M, with him and Connery’s Bond showing an immediate onscreen rapport that the two would build on in ensuing films. I touched on the script briefly, but I will mention it again. It is a very good one with a deftness and lightness of touch that is present in all of the best James Bond films. A lightness of touch that occasionally gets warped into pastiche in some of the lesser series efforts. There is also darkness here though, it is easy to look back on these early Bond efforts and forget that it is present. Late in the film Honey relates the tale of how she was raped when younger. She takes pride in the fact that she killed the perpetrator with a deadly spider, and is pleased that it took him a week to die. Pretty much straight after that Quarrel, a character that the audience has come to love, is burnt alive.
Dr No is a great start to the Bond series. It is not perfect, the first half of the film becomes a little repetitive with the endless attempts on Bond’s life and the action sequences would be tightened as the series progressed. But there is so much to love about this film and it is great to see where it all started, in this one of the stronger Bond films.
Verdict: Pint of Kilkenny
Bondfest Leaderboard
- Dr No (1962)
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Au Revoir Les Enfants
Rustling through my computer the other day, I came across this very short review which was originally intended as part of a compilation review. Dispensing with the others, here are some brief thoughts on a Louis Malle classic.
Louis Malle’s Au Revoir Les Enfants (1987) is a war film without a war. Its central concept explores World War II through its interjections upon normality. Unfortunately all too often the film gets bogged down in boarding school cliché, dampening the effect of what should be a very powerful core narrative. The story begins by following Julien, a young outsider soon joined by Jean, a quiet new student. Strangely this new arrival is refused communion when he tries to take it and also rejects any pork products no matter how malnourished he is. Strange then that it takes the otherwise extremely intelligent Julien most of the movie to figure out that Jean is a Jew who is being hidden in the school by the monks.
Lacking in a knockout emotional punch and/or message; not being particularly enjoyable and not being a technical or stylistic masterpiece this film made little impact on me. What this film is is pretty average. It is a well made picture made by a man who has a reputation as a master director. But this film is just ok. And it does not do justice to its premise or its subject matter. A disappointment.
Verdict: Schooner of Carlton Draught
Progress: 65/1001
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