In defense of Stacy...
Firemass
AlaskaPosts: 1,910MI6 Agent
I've read various complaints over the years about AVTAK Stacy Sutton being the worst Bond girl ever. I've heard the arguments, but honestly don't agree. She's not a noticeably worse actress than Barbara Bach or Lois Chiles. In fact, her often criticized screaming elevator scene is a welcome burst of sheer terror in the Bond films. Whereas Bach and Chiles seemed unusually calm for their various life-threatening situations.
Seemingly every other Bond girl since TSWLM's Anya Amosva has been toted as an "equal" for Bond. Chiles was a CIA agent/astronaut, Pam Bouvier is a CIA agent/pilot, Wai-Lin is Chinese Intelligence/x2machine-gun toting badass, and Jinx is *yawn* ass-kicking NSA agent. Are these Fleming-esque Bond girls? I think not. Don't get me wrong, I probably have more feminist leanings than most Bond fans. However, I also enjoy the fantasy aspect of the Bond girl in need of rescue. Stacey delivers this in spades. But she's not a bimbo like Mary Goodnight, In fact, Stacy was quite brave to wield a shotgun loaded with rock salt. That's a great self-defense weapon that she would believably be using.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but Stacy is the first Bond girl to be seen holding down a regular 9-5 day job. This trait would be revisited with Natalya as a computer programmer and less-believably in TWINE with Denise Richards as a nuclear physicist. We also spend quite a bit of time in Stacy's house and see her feeding the cats and discussing her dad's ashes on the mantlepiece. Another touching scene is when she gets flustered after being fired and Bond tries to comfort her. Stacy the most human and down-to-earth out of all the Bond girls. Far from useless, her geology background helped Bond out quite a bit once inside Zorin's mine shaft. And how cute did she look in that fitted grey work uniform? "Pity you couldn't find one that fits"
Looks are also very important and good heavens Stacy is gorgeous. Those dreamy blue eyes and pale blonde hair is enough to make her one of my favorites regardless of anything else personality wise. Maybe coincidence that her initials are SS, but I find it to be a subtle reference to her distinctive Aryan features, which is a running theme with AVTAK. Whereas Zorin is genetically enhanced, Stacy is pure as snow.
No watch out for that slow moving airship!
Seemingly every other Bond girl since TSWLM's Anya Amosva has been toted as an "equal" for Bond. Chiles was a CIA agent/astronaut, Pam Bouvier is a CIA agent/pilot, Wai-Lin is Chinese Intelligence/x2machine-gun toting badass, and Jinx is *yawn* ass-kicking NSA agent. Are these Fleming-esque Bond girls? I think not. Don't get me wrong, I probably have more feminist leanings than most Bond fans. However, I also enjoy the fantasy aspect of the Bond girl in need of rescue. Stacey delivers this in spades. But she's not a bimbo like Mary Goodnight, In fact, Stacy was quite brave to wield a shotgun loaded with rock salt. That's a great self-defense weapon that she would believably be using.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but Stacy is the first Bond girl to be seen holding down a regular 9-5 day job. This trait would be revisited with Natalya as a computer programmer and less-believably in TWINE with Denise Richards as a nuclear physicist. We also spend quite a bit of time in Stacy's house and see her feeding the cats and discussing her dad's ashes on the mantlepiece. Another touching scene is when she gets flustered after being fired and Bond tries to comfort her. Stacy the most human and down-to-earth out of all the Bond girls. Far from useless, her geology background helped Bond out quite a bit once inside Zorin's mine shaft. And how cute did she look in that fitted grey work uniform? "Pity you couldn't find one that fits"
Looks are also very important and good heavens Stacy is gorgeous. Those dreamy blue eyes and pale blonde hair is enough to make her one of my favorites regardless of anything else personality wise. Maybe coincidence that her initials are SS, but I find it to be a subtle reference to her distinctive Aryan features, which is a running theme with AVTAK. Whereas Zorin is genetically enhanced, Stacy is pure as snow.
No watch out for that slow moving airship!
My current 10 favorite:
1. GE 2. MR 3. OP 4. TMWTGG 5. TSWLM 6. TND 7. TWINE 8.DN 9. GF 10. AVTAK
1. GE 2. MR 3. OP 4. TMWTGG 5. TSWLM 6. TND 7. TWINE 8.DN 9. GF 10. AVTAK
Comments
It seems I always have to defend AVTAK, so it's great to see someone defend Stacey! And you're right... she happens to be quite the piece of eye candy
1. GoldenEye 2. Goldfinger 3. Skyfall 4. OHMSS 5. TWINE
#1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
Arguably Tatiana Romanova way back in FRWL. She was a clerk, albeit a military one, although quite possibly conscripted. And then conscripted again by Klebb because she sorta fit the profile of what SPECTRE was looking for. If we count Natalya Simonova as having a 9-5 day job working at a top secret military installation, we should probably count Tatiana Romanova.
I've got to agree with Blackleiter, though. Stacy Sutton's just a total write-off in my view. She actually made the film worse for me (and as much as I like Walken's Max Zorin and Patrick Macnee's Sir Godfrey Tibbett, the rest of the otherwise-promising film was in my opinion a bit of a let-down, though certainly not deserving of the "worst Bond film ever" title it's sometimes saddled with). Perhaps Lois Chiles as Holly Goodhead was mailing it in and marginally better or worse, but she didn't exactly drag down what was already a complete mess of a film. Only one other Bond girl to me...Denise Richards as Christmas Jones...actually dragged a film down and made it personally less enjoyable.
The irony is I actually think Tanya Roberts could have played a differently-written Bond girl (something I DON'T think Denise Richards could have carried off, though Sophie Marceau mercifully makes up for it)...however, I think the character of Stacy Sutton was just dreadfully written and not salvageable (either that or Tanya Roberts simply couldn't carry off that particular role). It actually makes for an interesting contrast with the character of Dr. Christmas Jones, I think. I'd say the character was salvageable, but horribly cast.
Agree, i like both girls particularly Goodhead.
Denise Richards was just fit, I never had a problem.
Stacy is okay, I mean I found her role less pretentious than those of Melina and Octopussy, because really I just don't think Moore or the director could make those roles fly, so they just bogged the movies down. Honestly, I'd take Stacy over Kim 'Boring' Basinger who is wholly unanimated, a TV movie of the week actress at that time. Or the slightly irksome Fatima 'Look at me, I'm the star of this, not Kim' Blush.
But all those you've named are American gals, and it seems that riles some of us perhaps. A bimbo with a European actress has a certain je ne sais quoi, a US bimbo is just a bimbo it seems...
Roger Moore 1927-2017
But...Tanya Roberts, while beautiful, is simply dreadful in the role. I would never place Bach, Chiles, Adams, d'Abo, etc. anywhere where near the pantheon of good actresses, and perhaps Tanya is no worse. Problem is, bad acting in an emotive role is far more more obvious than bad acting in a sedate role (which all those other women played). Her performance is so off that it almost feels camp. That's fine for Jill St. John in an out-an-out farce like DAF, but not okay in a supposedly serious Bond film like AVTAK.
Interesting points. Where you and I fundamentally disagree is that I really like how Stacy's character was written on paper regardless of the actress playing the role. We got to know her as a real person more-so than most other Bond girls. Just a super hot ordinary girl trying to get by in this world.
Sir Hilary,
Thanks for at least hearing me out first. I guess I prefer the emotive to the sedate. Stacy acts about how a normal person would behave in those situations. (ie screaming) She was a good sport and gave 100% to the role instead of just sleep walking though it like many other Bond girls.
I'm not claiming Stacy is the best or anything, I just think she deserves more credit.
1. GE 2. MR 3. OP 4. TMWTGG 5. TSWLM 6. TND 7. TWINE 8.DN 9. GF 10. AVTAK
#1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
You phrased this probably better than I did. Is it realistic? Maybe. Is it entertaining? Not to me or the vast majority of people I've spoken with who watched the film.
It would also probably be more realistic for Bond to have STD's (it was fairly obvious he had unprotected sex at times). Which was kinda hinted at, I may add. Remember that scene in NSNA when Bond's urine sample sent a guy reeling? Single...most...cringeworthy...moment...ever, even it was played for laughs. That, and it inspired an SNL sketch.
Admittedly, it's apples to oranges, BUT it regardless did appear in a Bond film (even if an unofficial one, it wasn't intended to be a parody). Now, how about we do something that's more apples to apples...like maybe in LTK give David Hedison's Felix Leiter thoughts of suicide or sobbing uncontrollably or popping more and more painkillers or any other normal man's reaction to losing his wife in a chillingly brutal manner whilst being totally crippled and unable to avenge her in any way shape or form? Is that realistic? Very. Do you want it taking up about half the plot of LTK? Probably not, but if we're going for a human reaction, then there ya go.
Just because something is more realistic doesn't mean it's more entertaining.
Really? I find that surprising. Not the bit about Stacy, but that you have several friends that are Bond enthusiasts. I mean, none of my buddies have any interest in James Bond. Consider yourself fortunate.
(Although I would still throw that out as evidence against Stacy unless they put it in writing)
for the record I thought David Hedison's cheerful phone call at the end of LTK was a major letdown. Anyway....
1. GE 2. MR 3. OP 4. TMWTGG 5. TSWLM 6. TND 7. TWINE 8.DN 9. GF 10. AVTAK
The screeming in the elevator doesn't bother me in the slightest. I never even noticed it until others pointed it out. So she's screaming? Wouldn't you in a burning elevator shaft? Same for the mine flood, golden gate climax and the like.
Holly Goodhead in MR is FAR WORSE than Stacey Sutton any day. She showed absolutely no emotion throughout the entire film, and that really annoyed me. And yes, the "hang on James" line was god awful.
1 - Moore, 2 - Dalton, 3 - Craig, 4 - Connery, 5 - Brosnan, 6 - Lazenby
Roger Moore 1927-2017
I'll agree here. Goodnight was almost cartoonish in her ditzy and frequently disappointed reactions to Bond. Just not a good character despite a pretty actress. Goodhead played out pretty well to me.
Yes, I think it was Maibaum who complained that Goodnight as portrayed by Britt Ekland did not bring the character as he envisaged it (as Bond's helpful and intelligent Girl Friday) to the screen in any real sense.
Actually, I only have one friend who is a true Bond fanatic (well, plus my Dad). The rest are people who have a familiarity with the series and will watch it and give me their opinions, but little else.
But then, that's exactly what I was going for: the casual moviegoer who probably didn't know very much about Bond vs. the Bond fanatic. My one buddy is an EXTREME Flemingist. As in, "no Bond film happened between OHMSS and CR". Seriously. Dad basically helped formulate my own views on the Bond universe, although he and I differ radically on two films (TLD and DAF). But the rest are always willing to watch a Bond film and give me their impressions. As casual moviegoers, they despised Stacy and thought she was powerless and annoying. Mary Goodnight and Dr. Christmas Jones also got similarly awful reviews.
Although you can choose to ignore them if they don't put it into writing, obviously, I would say doing so is a bit over the top. I have about a dozen people* I know who don't like her at all except that's she easy on the eyes and nothing else. As one of my friends who could probably disassemble his 1981 Pontiac Firebird and then reassemble it again without help told me, "eh, I'd spend half an hour with her character. But any time beyond that is wasting my own."
*Note that I picked these buddies because they'd watch ANYTHING.
I think that there's more to Stacey Sutton than meets the eye!
No there isn't
Well, read Andrew McNess's book - he makes a great argument on how the film has time to breathe between the action set-pieces. Something QoS could have learned from...
Granted...but have a read of the book - these small elements - Bond baking a quiche, fixing wiring, tucking Stacey into bed - allow the film some human moments - a unique moment almost shared by QoS short story - it humanises the character constructs of Stacey and Bond. Well worth investing in a copy - he's become a Facebook friend of mine!
Yes, I like QoS too, but the action sequences come to thick and fast!
Not really...its the films style...but that's a different thread
Yes...fast like a bullet, to quote Marc Forster!