Never Say Never Again
Dir: Irvin Kershner
1983
**
It's fair to say that Ian Flemming, Eon and Cubby Broccoli weren't always gentlemanly when it came to the treatment of Kevin McClory. McClory co-wrote the script for Thunderball and created the much loved character Ernst Stavro Blofeld and his dastardly organisation known as SPECTRE but wasn't credited when Flemming decided to turn the script into a novel. When the novel was subsequently filmed, McClory sought creative rights and was awarded film rights while Flemming kept rights to the film. McClory produced Thunderball but was turned away from the franchise soon after, with bitterness and resentment existing between he and Eon from then on. McClory threatened legal actions several times after Thunderball when Blofeld and SPECTRE were used without permission. In 1981's For Your Eyes Only, Cubby Broccoli insisted on the inclusion of a scene in which an un-named character, complete with white Cat, be dropped down a chimney by Bond before the main story. The character is undoubtedly meant to be Blofeld. This was Broccoli's swipe at McClory that basically said that the Bond films no longer needed the character or his organisation, although the truth was that nearly every villain of the series since Thunderball had been a version of Blofeld but given a different name. After years of development hell and legal problems, McClory finally got the chance to adapt his script, originally titled Longitude 78 West and then later James Bond of the Secret Service, for the big screen. McClory had had Sean Connery on board with his project for some time after Connery sided with the writer. Connery hadn't considered playing Bond again until a year before he did, believing he would simply produce instead. Having Connery back as Bond after 12 years was a real coup. McClory then hired Irvin Kershner as director, who was hot property having made Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back a couple of years previous. Orson Welles was suggested for the role of Blofeld but it was finally offered to Max Von Sydow, who did a pretty good job in my opinion. Klaus Maria Brandauer was cast as Maximillian Largo upon Connery's suggestion and although he brought somewhat of a new and more human feeling to the archetypal Bond villain, it never really feels quite right. Indeed, nothing about the film feels quite right, the new elements falling flat and the attempts at trying to recreate the ethos of the older films falling flatter. Kim Basinger's Domino Petachi is probably the least interesting of all the Bond girls and it is Never Say Never Again that we have to hold responsible for Rowan Atkinson's worst project to date, the decidedly unfunny Johnny English was obviously influenced by Atkinson's brief (but not brief enough) appearance as Nigel Small-Fawcett - Bond's unnecessary comedy side-kick. The title Never Say Never Again was suggested by Connery's wife after he had declared 'Never again' after completing Diamonds are Forever, she's even credited with 'Title by' in the credits, but after the film's release and after all the legal wrangling and production issues, I can't help but think the title only emphasizes the fact that maybe he should have stuck to his initial decision and saved himself and the character some integrity.