Reviews of FOUR James Bond Movies
Reviews of Four JAMES BOND Movies
Below is a list of reviews of four Bond films I have recently watched:
”DR. NO”
Adapted from Ian Fleming's 1958 novel, this 1962 movie marked the cinematic debut of the Bond franchise, created by Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzman (EON Productions). Sean Connery also made his debut in this film as the MI-6 agent, James Bond. Although many critics and fans consider film as one of the more impressive in the franchise, I honestly cannot say that I share their opinion.
”DR. NO”’s story starts with the murder of MI-6 agent Strangeways and his secretary by a trio of assassins in Jamaica. Bond is ordered by his superior, M, to investigate the agent’s death and eventually stumbles upon a plot by SPECTRE agent, Dr. Julius No to disrupt the U.S. space program for the Chinese Republic. The main problem I had with ”DR. NO” is its schizophrenic plot. What began as a mystery thriller ends as a fantasy-style adventure, when Bond (and CIA contact Quarrel) makes his way to Dr. No’s Crab Key Island and disrupts the villain’s plot. Even worse, the movie seemed peppered with stilted dialogue that made me wince.
Even Connery’s performance seemed as uneven as the movie’s story and production style. In many scenes, he seemed to be the epitome of the smooth British agent. And in other scenes - especially with Jack Lord (portraying CIA agent, Felix Leiter) - he came off as gauche and wooden. Much has been made of Ursula Andress’ performance as “Bond Girl No.1” Honey Ryder - especially her famous first appearance as her character emerges upon a beach. Frankly, I could not sense the magic. Nor did I find Andress’ presence in the movie that impressive. Not only was her character irrelevant to the story, she did not really aid Bond’s attempts to defeat Dr. No.
I first became a fan of Joseph Wiseman ever since I noticed his sly and subtle performance as a 1960s gangster in the TV series, ”CRIME STORY”. But I was not that impressed by his Dr. Julius No, who simply bored me to tears. I might as well say the same about Anthony Dawson’s performance as SPECTRE agent, Professor Dent. ”DR. NO” can boast first-class performances by Lord as the smooth and dominating Felix Leiter; John Kitzmiller as the exuberant Jamaican CIA contact, Quarrel; and Zena Marshall as Professor Dent’s secretary and SPECTRE agent, Miss Taro.
”DR. NO” can also boast some fine photography of Jamaica (probably among the best) by Ted Moore and a first-rate musical score by Monty Norman (the man who gave us the original “James Bond” theme). But some of the movie’s flaws - namely the uneven script, along with the choppy dialogue and direction - makes ”DR. NO” vastly overrated by other Bond fans critics in my eyes. But what can I expect from a movie that consistently puts me to sleep two-thirds into the story.
”LIVE AND LET DIE”
Between 1967 and 1972, EON Productions spent a chaotic five years trying to find one man to settle down portray James Bond following Sean Connery’s decision to retire from the role. Nineteen sixty-eight found Australian model, George Lazenby in the role. But after one movie, the excellent ”ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE”, Lazenby decided that he did not want to continue the role. Connery came back for one last movie - ”DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER”, but did not bother to stick around. Then in 1972, Broccoli and Saltzman hired Roger Moore (famous for the TV series, ”THE SAINT”) to portray the British agent. And Moore went on to play the role for the next 12 years. But he had to start somewhere and he did with 1973’s ”LIVE AND LET DIE”. This was the very first Bond movie I had ever seen. Although I have a great sentimental attachment to it, I do not really consider it to be amongst the finest in the franchise. Nor is it a personal favorite of mine.
Following the murders of three MI-6 agents (in New York, New Orleans and the fictional island of San Monique), Bond is assigned by M to investigate their deaths. His investigations in New York leads him to a Harlem gangster named Mr. Big. But as it turns out, Mr. Big is also San Monique’s foreign minister. Bond eventually learns that Kanaga/Mr. Big plans to use the heroin grown in the San Monique opium fields to flood the current heroin market and gain complete control of the U.S. drug market. He killed the three British agents, because apparently they were in danger of stumbling upon his scheme.
I am going to be frank. As much as I like ”LIVE AND LET DIE”, I have never been impressed by its screenplay, adapted by Tom Mankiewicz from Ian Fleming's 1954 novel. It never made any sense to me that the British government would be interested in the activities of a diplomat from an island that had obviously been a former French colony, or an American gangster. If the three agents and Bond had been French, I could see them working with CIA agent Felix Leiter on this case. But there you have it. And Bond’s San Monique showdown with Kanaga had always struck me as being rather disappointing. Another aspect of the movie I found disappointing was the leading lady - namely Jane Seymour as Kanaga’s Tarot card seer, Solitaire. I have nothing against Seymour’s performance. She seemed to be her usual competent self. But other than predicting Bond’s arrival in New York and later, at Kanaga’s San Monique estate, and warning Bond about Rosie Carver (via a Tarot card); I found nothing impressive about Solitaire’s role in the story. Especially since she eventually became nothing more than a moaning damsel-in-distress. And Geoffrey Holder as Baron Semedi did not really do much for me, but his ghostly appearance at the end of the movie was memorable.
Fortunately, ”LIVE AN LET DIE” had its virtues. Roger Moore’s long experience with action roles in television (”MAVERICK”, ”THE SAINT”, and ”THE PERSUADERS”) allowed him to segued into the Bond role with great ease. He already seemed very comfortable in the role and without any problems, managed to establish his own style. Unfortunately, very few people appreciated this. And Yaphet Kotto created an impressive villain in an interesting duel role as the smooth and intelligent Kanaga/the bombastic Mr. Big. To this day, Julius Harris’ TeeHee remains one of my favorite Bond henchmen of all time. All I can say was that the man was perfect - humorous, yet very menacing. David Hedison’s friendship with Moore proved to be very effective in his first outing as CIA agent, Felix Leiter. The warmth and easy between Leiter and Bond seemed more apparent than in any other Bond film. And I rather enjoyed Gloria Hendry’s performance as the amusingly clumsy, yet treacherous Rosie Carver. And let us not forget the hilarious and unforgettable Clifton James as the long-suffering Southern lawman, Sheriff J.W. Pepper. James’ peformance was so impressive that the producers brought him back to reprise his role in 1974’s ”THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN”.
Also among ”LIVE AND LET DIE”’s virtues was its smooth direction by Guy Hamilton, which included a rather fun boat chase through the Louisiana bayou, fine performances and the rich atmosphere of New York’s Harlem and New Orleans. Cinematographer Ted Moore did much to contribute to the film’s atmosphere. But it is the movie’s score by George Martin and theme song by Paul McCartnery and Wings that seemed to be the movie’s most impressive virtue . . . other than Moore, Kotto and James’ performances. Although ”LIVE AND LET DIE”’s story remains unimpressive to me, it still turned out to be a rather entertaining film.
”FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE”
Have you ever heard the song, ”What a Difference a Day Makes”? Well, the phrase - ”What a difference, a year makes” kept going through my head, while viewing 1963’s ”FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE”. It seemed such a difference from the very inferior ”DR. NO” (and would prove to be quite a difference in my eyes to 1964’s ”GOLDFINGER”. Not only do I consider ”FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE” to be one of the finest Bond films in the franchise, I also view it as Connery’s best. In fact, as with 1965’s ”THUNDERBALL”, his acting was superb in this film. James Bond not only seemed mature, but . . . [gasp] human. All one has to do is examine his interactions with leading lady Daniela Bianchi to notice this. Connery has never been so human as he was in this movie. And sadly, he was never this human again.
Connery was supported by a first-class supporting cast. First of all, there is Daniela Bianchi portraying the Soviet cipher clerk assigned to seduce him, Tatiana Romanova. What started as an assignment for Tania, ended up as full-blown love. Although, Bianchi had her dialogue dubbed by Zena Marshall (”DR. NO”), she did an excellent job in projecting Tania’s wide range of emotions - including her disgust at ex-Soviet turned SPECTRE agent, Rosa Klebb (Lotte Lenya). Speaking of Lenya . . . my goodness, I am speechless! What can I say? The woman was superb! Creepy in her scenes with Bianchi and Walter Gotell, yet fearful in the scenes featuring SPECTRE’s leader, Ernst Stavos Blofeld, she gave one of the best performances by any actor or actress portraying a Bondn villain/villainess. And I must say the same for the highly revered Robert Shaw. Not only did his Donovan Grant turned out to be the template for many Bond henchmen to come (with only ”THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS”’s Andreas Wisniewski coming close), he and Connery provided one of the best dramatic moments and fight sequences in the entire franchise. On Bond’s side, there was Hollywood character actor, Pedro Armendariz, who portrayed Bond’s Turkish contact, Kerim Bey. Sadly, the role of Bey would prove to be Armendariz’s last one. After finishing his scenes, he committed suicide, rather than suffer any longer from cancer. But fortunately for many Bond fans, Kerim Bey would prove to be his greatest and most memorable role. Bernard Lee and Lois Maxwell were competent as usual. And the movie would serve as the debut of Desmond Llewellyn as MI-6’s Quartermaster
Based upon Ian Fleming's 1957 novel, ”FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE”’s story centered around SPECTRE’s scheme to lure James Bond into stealing a valuable Soviet decoding machine, and unknowingly deliver it into their hands. In the process, Agent 007 is to suffer a disgraceful death, in revenge for the death of Dr. No. The movie not only had the good luck to be based upon one of Ian Fleming’s few well-written novels, the screenwriters Richard Maibaum, and Johanna Harwood did an excellent job of translating it to the screen. Rich with atmosphere and mystery, ”FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE” almost seemed like the perfect spy thriller - a far cry from the schizophrenic and inferior ”DR. NO”. A few changes had been made, but overall they seemed to serve the story very well.
Was ”FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE” perfect? No. I have a few complaints. For example, there is the Bond-Grant confrontation. From a dramatic viewpoint, it gave Connery and Shaw to exercise their acting chops. From a storytelling viewpoint, it made no sense. It just did not make any sense to me that Grant would take his time preparing to kill Bond on the Orient Express, once he got the drop on the British agent. While Grant was busy searching Bond’s jacket and putting on his gloves, I found myself screaming at my TV screen - ”What in the hell are you waiting for? Kill him!” I also found the two action sequences that preceded Bond and Tania’s arrival in Venice a bit too much. I had the feeling that the writers added an extra action sequence in order to fill in the movie’s running time. I could have done with either the helicopter sequence or the Adriatic Sea boat chase. But the addition of both - one after the other - seemed a bit too much. But despite all of this, my positive view of ”FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE” still stands.
”THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN”
What can I say about 1974’s ”THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN”? It is not the worst James Bond movie I have ever seen. I can think of at least two or three of which I have a lower opinion. But I do believe that it is the worst Roger Moore film in the franchise. Apparently screenwriter Tom Mankiewicz believed the same. He made the decision to bow out of adapting Ian Fleming's 1965 novel, before the script could be finished. ”THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN”’s plot the Solex Agitator - a device which can harness the power of the sun. Before Bond could investigate the death of scientist who was thought to be in possession of information crucial to the creation of the Solex Agitator, he has to find out why hitman Francisco Scaramanga had sent a golden bullet to him. It turns out that Scaramanga’s long-suffering mistress, Andrea Anders, had sent the bullet to Bond, hoping that he would kill the hitman. Eventually, Bond teams up with MI-6 agents Mary Goodnight and Lieutenant Hip against Francisco Scaramanga - The Man with the Golden Gun and his employer, billionaire Hai Fat. Eventually Scaramanga kills Hai Fat and become the sole possessor of the Solex Agitator. He also kills Andrea and kidnaps Goodnight. Bond tracks Scaramanga to an island of mainland China, where the action finally culminates in a duel between the two men - Bond's Walther PPK against Scaramanga's Golden Gun.
I must admit that the movie’s plot seemed interesting. It certainly did not seem like the disappointment that ”LIVE AND LET DIE” turned out to be. The problem with ”THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN” is that it was so poorly executed . . . especially by director Guy Hamilton. There seemed to be a lack of style or substance in how the movie was directed. Roger Moore’s performance did not help matters. After his impressive debut in his previous movies, many Bond fans made a fuss over the fact that Moore’s Bond seemed nothing like Connery’s Bond. Which led to Moore being forced to an attempt to recapture Connery’s style. And it did not work. He came off as false and almost wooden. Only two scenes saved Moore’s performance from being a complete bust - his encounter with the Macao gunsmith, Lazar (”Speak now or forever hold your piece.”) and the Bond/Scaramanga confrontation during luncheon on the assassin’s island when Bond expresses his dislike of Scaramanga’s suggestion that the British agent is nothing more than a fellow assassin.
Speaking of Scaramanga, EON Productions had the good fortune to cast Christopher Lee (the future Count Dooku and Sarauman) as the movie’s main villain, expert assassin Francisco Scaramanga. The scene that featured Scaramanga's recollection of a pet elephant produced a very poignant performance from Lee. In fact, only Lee and South Korean actor, Soon-Tek-Oh (who portrayed MI-6 agent Lieutenant Hip) seemed to be the only two cast members who gave consistently excellent performances throughout the entire film. I certainly cannot say the same about the other supporting cast members. Herve Villachaise (four years before ”FANTASY ISLAND”) simply annoyed me. Maud Adams seemed to be her wooden self. Britt Ekland, although a good actress, had the bad luck to portray the annoyingly clumsly Mary Goodnight. Bernard Lee seemed a bit over-the-top in his constant annoyance toward Bond and Hip. Desmond Llewellyn as Q was as annoying as M seemed to find him. I do not even recall the quality of Lois Maxwell’s brief performance as Moneypenny.
I must admit that cinematographers Ted Moore and Oswald Morris beautifully captured the exotic allure of Southeast Asia. It seemed a pity that John Barry could not produce a memorable score and that Don Black wrote what I consider to be the second worst Bond theme song (performed by Lulu) in the franchise’s history. Oh well. Nothing is perfect. Unfortunately for ”THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN”, it was far from perfect.