This is a bit counter to one of People Talking’s principles, because I’ve not seen any of these in a theater lately (although I’ve already reviewed ‘Thunderball’), but in preparation for ‘SPECTRE’, I’ve watched every single James Bond motion picture (including both non-EON films and a 1954 episode of CBS’s ‘Climax!’), and recorded my fresh thoughts and impressions of each in this space.
As there are 26 separate items to digest, these will be published in three posts over a three day period, rather than all at once.
1954: Casino Royale (CBS’s ‘Climax!’)
- Well, now I know that everyone should really start with this one first, because it actually explains Baccarat (apparently it’s like Blackjack, except you’re trying to get closest to Nine, Aces are worth One, and Tens and Face Cards are worth Zero).
- Barry Nelson as American James “Jimmy” Bond is very American; “Clarence” Leiter is very British (even though Michael Pate was actually Australian).
- Peter Lorre as the first on-screen Bond villain is quite apropos.
- It shows its age, but it’s still pretty dramatic; I imagine a television audience in the Fifties would have found it quite thrilling.
- Much like ‘Star Trek: The Motion Picture’, a lot of fans and people in general refer to ‘Dr. No’ as “The Boring One”, and I understand that comment, especially in comparison to the films that followed, but I’ve always had a soft spot for it.
- I like the fact that other than his new Walther PPK and a geiger counter, there are no “Bond Gadgets” in this one; that’s a precedent yet to be set.
- Really, ‘Dr. No’ feels more like a detective story than a spy movie as we think of them today; James Bond, while suave and sophisticated, is honestly in over his head by the end of the movie.
- One precedent that is set in ‘Dr. No’ is the super-villain complete with amazing super-villain lair. For a film with a relatively low-budget (most of the non-principle guys and girls are dubbed over by the same guy and girl, respectively), Ken Adam did some great production design.
- Ahhh, sequels; double the budget of the original and see what happens. This is actually a great sequel because it does two things good sequels should do: pick up after the last movie (Sylvia Trench shows up at the beginning again; SPECTRE wants revenge for Dr. No), and expand the universe (first “appearance” of SPECTRE’s “Number One”).
- Multiple Bond movie precedents are set: first pre-title scene (with a twist!), first title song (although it’s not sung during the opening credits, but rather the end credits), first “appearance” of Blofeld, first appearance of Desmond Llewelyn as Q, and first appearance of an actor whose character is killed off in one movie, but returns on screen in another movie as a new character (Walter Gotell appears in this movie as Morzeny; returns later in six Moore/Dalton movies as Soviet General Gogol).
- We haven’t gone full 007 yet. ‘From Russia With Love’, while far more expansive geographically than ‘Dr. No’, is still low-key compared to the rest of the franchise, and I rather like it because of that. The “gadgets” are still very plausible (I rather like the compact sniper rifle), and even the goals of the villains are pretty small and personal; no doomsday machines or worldwide extortion plots.
- First of all, James Bond in the USA, everybody. James Bond in America. I have to think that had a factor in the popularity of this one.
- Second of all, now we’re talking. This is like ‘Friday the 13th: Part 3’ when Jason Voorhees puts on the hockey mask. We’ve got a pre-title scene with our hero, a title song actually sung over the opening credits, ridiculously named women (Pussy Galore? C’mon.), we’ve got things that don’t exist in real life (like “skin asphyxiation”), we’ve got the kitted-out Aston Martin, we’ve got a henchman with some kind of impediment, Felix Leiter is played by a different actor than the last time, and we’ve got 007’s magical…appendage (it turns bad girls good). This is the James Bond franchise from here on out, people. Embrace the madness.
- Also, compared to ‘From Russia With Love’, which has about a full hour of mostly build-up, ‘Goldfinger’ gets off to a fast start; I’m talking like five minutes after the opening credits, we’re in it.
- What was even the point of the Masterson sisters? Maybe they had a larger role in the novel, but they seem awfully expendable in the movie.
- Honestly, as seemingly important as it is to the franchise, I’m not sure Goldfinger ranks in my personal Top 5 Bond Movies.
- Go big or go home. This was the first Bond film shot in 2.35 : 1 Panavision widescreen (‘Dr. No’, ‘From Russia With Love’, and ‘Goldfinger’ were all shot in 1.37 : 1 aspect ratio).
- Another movie, another actor playing Felix Leiter.
- Four 007 pictures in four years? Now I know why Connery got so burned out on the role.
- Baccarat scenes carry so much more weight when you know how Baccarat actually works.
- Claudine Auger, I mean, just, wow.
- Fans of ‘The Dark Knight’ will recognize the Skyhook recovery system.
- I’ve already talked about this movie; you can read more thoughts here.
1967: Casino Royale (non-Eon)
- What?
- You know when a movie is so incomprehensible that somebody says, “It feels like it was directed by five different people”? This actually was directed by five different people, and it feels as such.
- That said, this ‘Casino Royale’ is meant to be a comedy, so I don’t judge it the same was as any other Bond movie. It definitely has its laughs, but as parody movies go, it’s got nothing on Mel Brooks.
- If you’ve ever wondered where the spinning bed scene in ‘Austin Powers’ came from, it came from this movie (among other things, like Burt Bacharach).
- Also, classic ‘Family Guy’ fans will recognize one of the musical cues from Stewie’s “sexy party” cutaways.
- A few actors in ‘Casino Royale’ had already been in other previously released Bond films, and many more would feature in 007 movies yet to come.
- We’ve always known Universal Exports as part of Bond’s cover, but this is the first movie to make reference to his military rank (Royal Navy Commander).
- Also, first fully on-screen appearance of Ernst Stavro Blofeld, played by Donald Pleasence (perfectly cast). SPECTRE’s Number One finally gets a face, and what a face it is.
- Ninjas!? I know Menahem Golan took credit for introducing Western audiences to Ninjas with ‘Enter the Ninja’, but it would appear he was well-beaten to the punch.
- Two years after showing off the jetpack, James Bond gets another flying machine to wear a geeky helmet in (Little Nellie).
- This is the first Bond movie where 007 doesn’t get his orders from M in London, but rather some exotic location (in this case, a submarine). In fact, the whole movie takes place outside the Western hemisphere.
- I particularly like the music in this one. Very lush and cinematic.
- What does 007 need with a bunch of MSG? Seriously, as part of his subterfuge at Osato, he asks for a bunch of monosodium glutamate. Weird.
- Really interesting: author Roald Dahl wrote the screenplay for this one.
1969: On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
- Well, Sean Connery’s gone; replaced by Australian-born George Lazenby, who is different in so many ways.
- Up until the Daniel Craig era, this was the longest Bond movie, clocking in at almost two-and-a-half hours.
- Diana Rigg. Yes, please.
- It feels like they decided to pretty completely throw out the “Bond formula” for this one. It’s slightly psychedelic and a just a touch campy, but at the same time very personal and human. I don’t think there’s another film in the Eon series that offers a true comparison. I mean, you’ve got a courtship montage, he’s falling in love, we see him very vulnerable, we see him totally screwed and ready to just give up; this is not the James Bond we’ve been accustomed to, then or now. It’s like he’s a real human being who doesn’t have all the answers.
- First time in the series that 007 tries to tender his resignation, and the first time he goes rogue.
- So, is the character still supposed to be the same even though it’s a different actor? He breaks the fourth wall by saying, “This never happened to the other fellow,” but then there are multiple direct references to the past films in the series, as if it was him. I don’t know.
- Apparently the downbeat ending was actually supposed to be the intro to the next movie, but then Lazenby’s agent gave him some really dumb advice and convinced him to quit the role, thus setting the stage for a one-off return of Sean Connery.
- Oh, boy. The panic moves. “Oh, no; people didn’t like the last one. We gotta bring back Sean Connery (even though he’s older and doesn’t really look like James Bond anymore), we gotta bring back Guy Hamilton to direct; we even have to bring back Shirley Bassey to sing the theme song. And the last one ended on a downer, so we gotta make this one funnier.”
- The movie starts out with Bond all pissed off and looking for Blofeld, I assume to get revenge for his wife, but they never say so; again, is it the same character? I don’t know.
- The main gimmick for this one is James Bond in Las Vegas, and, much like Vegas, everything feels a bit cheap and trashy (and campy), especially that moon rover thing. It just looks awful.
- It’s not all bad though, I like Jimmy Dean (even though it’s totally random why he’s in it), and I like Charles Gray’s approach to the Blofeld character. And who wouldn’t love some Jill St. John?
- That said, there are a number of elements in this one that ‘Austin Powers’ borrowed, and rightfully so (like the cover industrial organization).
Continued in Part 2…