The Man with the Golden Gun
Dir: Guy Hamilton
1974
*****
Ask many Bond fans what their favorite Bond film is and you'll find The Man with the Golden Gun comes quite high on people's lists. Roger Moore's second outing as 007 is an adaption of Ian Flemming's 13th James Bond novel, the last full 007 story, published eight months after the author's death. Released in 1974, it was the ninth James bond film to be released in twelve years and by this point the franchise, or should I say the audience, was suffering 007 fatigue. Roger Moore was still splitting opinion and although the film made a profit, it was significantly less than Live and Let Die released the year before. Again, Guy Hamilton's humour hindered the World's favorite spy. Bond script-writer Tom Mankiewicz also suffered from Bond fatigue and Richard Maibaum returned to the franchise to finish off the original script which is vastly different to the original novel. The previous year's Live and Let Die had tapped into the popular Blaxploitation scene to appeal to wider audiences, in The Man with the Golden Gun a large slice of the film is dedicated to the then popular martial arts genre; Chambara. It's a great scene but it doesn't really fit well within the film. This and many other disjointed decisions were the first cracks of what would be a troubling time for the franchise. The big reason the film is now so highly regarded is down to the villain. Francisco Scaramanga, an assassin and Bond's deadliest rival yet, played by the brilliant Christopher Lee, who is now a firm favorite among the fans. Jack Palance was initially offered the role but turned it down, it was then remembered that Ian Flemming had suggested his cousin Christopher Lee to play Dr. No.. When asked, Lee said that Flemming would often say he'd put his name forward for villains but always forgot, so it was nice to be finally asked, albeit ironically after Flemming's death. Britt Ekland and Maud Adams were both offered parts and both are among the favorite Bond girls of the series, with Adams returning to the franchise in Octopussy. Another notable Bond villain of sorts was Nick Nack, played by midget Herve Villechaize. Nick Nack was Francisco Scaramanga's man servant on his secret Island. This secret Island off the coast of Thailand is easily the coolest of the Bond Villain bases and no doubt the inspiration of popular TV show Fantasy Island , that saw Herve Villechaize play a similar role. The critics slammed The Man with the Golden Gun on it's release, Harry Saltzman ended his partnership with Cubby Broccoli and sold his 50% to United Artists and legal issues would see Bond on hold for a further three years. The film is memorable for many things, the Golden gun itself, a flying car, the greatest car stunt of the entire franchise, the return of Sheriff J.W. Pepper, the shipwreck of the RMS Queen Elizabeth doubling as a MI6 base, Kung-Fu, A deadly midget, Lulu's suggestive theme song, Carry On humour, a giant laser gun, Mary Goodnight ("Goodnight Sir"), German Expressionism (Scaramanga's funhouse) and a rubber nipple. For all intents and purposes it is a flop, and one of the greatest ever made at that.
Diamonds Are Forever
Dir: Guy Hamilton
1971
*****
Diamonds Are Forever, the seventh 007 film and the Forth of Ian Flemming's novels (the earliest to be adapted at this point), is a bit of a mess, albeit a wonderfully over the top and beautifully ridiculous mess. I thought it was both a welcome return and a brilliant new direction for the character. After George Lazenby left the series after just one film (On Her Majesty's Secret Service) the producers had little time to find a replacement Bond. At first, they settled on half Mexican, half Irish actor Jack Gavin (although Adam West and Michael Gambon were both considered). United Artists wasn't happy with this decision and it was agreed that only Connery would do, they had to get him back. They presented Connery with a financial offer he couldn't refuse and Jack Gavin went on to become the United States Ambassador to Mexico. United Artists and the producers really wanted to re-create the commercial success of Goldfinger, their biggest hit to date (although not financially). They re-hired Goldfinger's Guy Hamilton to direct and asked Shirley Bassey back to sing the theme song (asking her to sing passionately and as if she was singing about a penis rather than a Diamond!). They even went as far as writing a script that would have seen Goldfinger's Twin as the villain who would seek revenge for his brother's death. This idea was scrapped after Cubby Broccoli used an idea he had a dream about that involved identity theft and his friend Howard Hughes. Once again, SPECTRE and Ernst Stavro Blofeld are the enemy but neither are mentioned by name following a legal claim against the Flemming estate by Kevin McClory whom insisted they were his creative property after he wrote both in the original script that became Thunderball. Neither SPECTRE nor Blofeld would be seen again for another decade. Interestingly, Blofeld isn't really the villain he was in Diamonds Are Forever, instead, his henchmen Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd are far the more interesting baddies. The story is contrived and sprawling, Hamilton's want of humour reaches new heights and stolen Moon buggies, multiple Blofeld's and the overall camp feeling of the film make the film a less serious venture and more of a fantasy adventure. Personally, I love the over the top Bond films, Sean Connery will always be my favorite 007 but if I'm being honest it is Roger Moore's films that I love the most.
Goldfinger
Dir: Guy Hamilton
1964
*****
Goldfinger is probably, by and large, the most popular James Bond adaptation so far. The debate continues but I don't think I've ever heard anyone say they didn't love it. Guy Hamilton took over directional duties from Terence Young after he was unfairly refused share of the films profits. Hamilton did a fine job but it was clear his vision was somewhat bigger than Young's. The production was far larger than the previous two films as were the characters. Hamilton also interjected an element of humour that was missing from the first couple of films and certainly from the novels. It's this introduction of humour in the series that has divided every Bond fans since that makes Goldfinger the most influential of the adaptations. It's clear that Goldfinger (the seventh of Ian Flemming's 007 novels) was made with a larger audience in mind, it's budget was more than the previous two films combined and the investment payed off. Richard Maibaum returned as script writer after working on the two previous films but Goldfinger is arguably his best adaption and the one he made most changes too. In the book, Goldfinger steals all the Gold from Fort Knox, something that would have taken far too long in real life. Maibaum rewrote this part so that Goldfinger would instead render the gold useless making his own gold more valuable. This was a clever rewrite that made much more sense and added a great twist to the story, however, not everyone agreed and Maibaum was replaced before being re-hired. Maibaum's brief replacement was Paul Dehn and although Dehn's script was rejected, his idea of having an opening action scene that would have no relevance to the actual film would be a reoccurring theme in the series. The bigger, better, faster ideology worked a treat and Goldfinger was a huge success for the series and the future of the franchise was secured. Goldfinger is among the most iconic of the Bond films, thanks to its stand out characters and classic scenes. Shirley Eaton's gold covered body sprawled across the bed has been described as "one of the most enduring images in cinematic history". Honor Blackman's Pussy Galore has been voted the fan's favorite Bond Girl repeatedly since '64 and Harold Sakata's Oddjob is the first great henchman of the series and a firm favorite among fans. Gert Frobe brought far more to the character of Goldfinger than Orson Welles probably would have done (in my opinion) and the famous 'I expect you to die" scene whereby he nearly cuts Bond in half with a laser (starting at the crotch) is considered a classic. Another big star of the film was of the four wheeled variety. Goldfinger represents the first film that saw Bond drive the iconic Aston Martin DB5, complete with oil slick dispenser, ejector seat and revolving licence plate (an idea conceived by Hamilton who acquired a number of parking tickets during filming). It also represents a huge step in product placement, nothing to boast about but at least the car was relevant as Bond did drive an Aston Martin in the books, although it was a DB Mark III rather than a DB5. It's not like he was drinking Smirnoff Vodka rather than a shaken (not stirred) Martini *ahem*. Sadly, author Ian Flemming died just before the film's release. He visited the set several times but he would never see the final cut of what is universally considered the best adaptation of his work to date
Live and Let Die
Dir: Guy Hamilton
1973
*****
1973's James Bond outing Live and Let Die is the 8th 007 film and the second of Ian Flemming's novels. Guy Hamilton's humourous and somewhat over the top style was decided as being the future direction of the franchise and, keeping with the trend of the day, in 1973 the world's favorite Spy would enter the world of the Blaxploitation movie. Screenwriter Tom Mankiewicz suggested the adaptation during the filming of Diamonds are Forever as he thought that having a mainly Black cast would be current and exciting, given the media coverage the Panthers were getting at the time. The story follows that of the novel very loosely, Mr. Big being a Soviet spy who deals in roman coins, rather than the Drug baron he is in the film. In fact, more of the book's contents can be found in later Bond films For Your Eyes Only and Licence to Kill. This time Connery was definitely out, a new Bond had to be found. Many names were suggested, the studio wanted an American and approached Burt Reynolds, Paul Newman and Robert Redford. Clint Eastwood was first choice with his role in Dirty Harry in mind but Eastwood declined stating that he thought the character should be played by a Brit. Cubby Broccoli agreed and after considering many British actors including Julian Glover, John Gavin (once more), Jeremy Brett and Simon Oates, to name a few, it was Michael Billington the studios wanted. However, Broccoli submitted Roger Moore's name into the fold, as he had done when casting Dr. No and On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Moore played the character the only way he could, completely different to Connery but very much fitting with the part. A new chapter was born, Guy Hamilton stretching his comedic direction even further than before and creating an allover different kind of 007 that has divided Bond fans ever since. Jane Seymour was cast as Bond girl and has since been regarded as a fan favorite and David Hedison makes his Felix Leiter debut and remains my personal favorite. The bad guys are great. Julius Harris plays the sinister hook-handed Tee Hee, while Yaphet Kotto's Mr. Big suffers one of the best deaths of the entire series. However, Geoffrey Holder's Voodoo master Baron Samedi, remains one of the most terrifying and thrilling bad guys of any film, ever, and is a huge reason why many consider this their favorite of the Bond films. Plus the brilliant Clifton James Sheriff J.W. Pepper cameo and it is safe to say that this is by far, my personal favorite of the Bond films.
The Colditz Story
Dir: Guy Hamilton
1955
****
When you think of World War II POW escape movies most think of The Great Escape first. I know I do anyway. Guy Hamilton's The Colditz Story comes a very close second. It may not have the huge global cast but it does have some of the greats including John Mills, Eric Portman, Lionel Jeffries, Ian Carmichael and the often overlooked (and a personal favorite) Richard Wattis. While The Great Escape was about the tactics of escape, The Colditz Story celebrates the cooperation of allies during the war and the politics of a prisoner of War. The only fault with The Colditz Story is perhaps the lack of brutality. Made just over a decade after the real events, it was maybe seen as a little too soon for 100% realism. One thing it does have plenty of though is the spirit of those brave men who never gave up and took whatever came to them with distinguished defiance.
An Inspector Calls
Dir: Guy Hamilton
1954
*****
J.B. Priestley's An Inspector Calls was written for the stage but Guy Hamilton adapted it to film, perfectly. Everything that exists within the stage version is there still but Hamilton seems to have made a point of adding everything that the theatre simply could not accommodate. The ending is as open to interpretation as intended but there is something about it's captured in this film that makes it so special. I think maybe it is due to Alastair Sim's performance. I can't see anyone else in that role now no matter how hard I try. His knowing smile at every juncture makes the film for me, especially so in his very last scene. It's Dickens meets Hitchcock and every bit as good as that sounds.
