Mankiewicz interview

blueman · May 2007

Great bits here, sounds like he was a lucky guy to fall into the gig. Hadn't heard he rewrote TSWLM, but makes sense.

http://www.mi6.co.uk/news/index.php?itemid=4983

Sir Hillary Bray · May 2007

Nice find, blueman -- thanks! Most of this I knew already, but it's great to read Mankiewicz's own words. I can just imagine him getting under Cubby's skin with all those obscure references.

) The TSWLM bit was news to me -- I certainly never made the connection between him and Markowitz.

blueman · May 2007

It's funny, but the more I read about Cubby, the more amazed I am that the series has outlived him, he seemed out of step with the times back in the 70s, no wonder the 80s were such a morass. Bond owes far more to Connery--and Moore--than Cubby IMO. It's a shame Cubby couldn't have reset the series ala CR 20 years ago with Dalton, it certainly couldn't have turned out any worse than TLD/LTK. Would've meant hiring a director who was more than a yes-man, and embracing a Bond more akin to the DN/FRWL Bond (again like CR has done), but what a missed opportunity. Thank God Brosnan kept the series afloat until such a reset could indeed happen.

Krassno Granitski · May 2007

blueman wrote:

It's funny, but the more I read about Cubby, the more amazed I am that the series has outlived him, he seemed out of step with the times back in the 70s, no wonder the 80s were such a morass. Bond owes far more to Connery--and Moore--than Cubby IMO. It's a shame Cubby couldn't have reset the series ala CR 20 years ago with Dalton, it certainly couldn't have turned out any worse than TLD/LTK. Would've meant hiring a director who was more than a yes-man, and embracing a Bond more akin to the DN/FRWL Bond (again like CR has done), but what a missed opportunity. Thank God Brosnan kept the series afloat until such a reset could indeed happen.

Don't know where to begin. You are sooo wrong onevery level.

Dan Same · May 2007

blueman wrote:

Thank God Brosnan kept the series afloat until such a reset could indeed happen.

I completely agree with you on this one.

superado · May 2007

blueman wrote:

It's funny, but the more I read about Cubby, the more amazed I am that the series has outlived him, he seemed out of step with the times back in the 70s, no wonder the 80s were such a morass. Bond owes far more to Connery--and Moore--than Cubby IMO. It's a shame Cubby couldn't have reset the series ala CR 20 years ago with Dalton, it certainly couldn't have turned out any worse than TLD/LTK. Would've meant hiring a director who was more than a yes-man, and embracing a Bond more akin to the DN/FRWL Bond (again like CR has done), but what a missed opportunity. Thank God Brosnan kept the series afloat until such a reset could indeed happen.

Very fair assessment. Cubby and Harry achieved early success to the series by stretching the envelope, but you wonder if Cubby's propensity to maintain the status quo involves the fear of failure as well as plain old greed to milk the franchise as much as its teets could muster.

Dalton's casting was such a bold move in itself, but I also agree that fettering this action with the formula kept the direction from realizing something greater.

Loeffelholz · May 2007

Excellent points from both blue and supes {[]

Of course, our man in Regent's Park West is keeping quite a very close eye on my praise of CR these days, :v but I must say that Barbara Broccoli's influence on the franchise, lately, is becoming increasingly obvious...

And we'll leave it at that.

blueman · May 2007

superado wrote:

Very fair assessment. Cubby and Harry achieved early success to the series by stretching the envelope, but you wonder if Cubby's propensity to maintain the status quo involves the fear of failure as well as plain old greed to milk the franchise as much as its teets could muster.

Dalton's casting was such a bold move in itself, but I also agree that fettering this action with the formula kept the direction from realizing something greater.

Thanks, supes. {[]

Wasn't Cubby the one who nixed the restart with Dalton? I thought Wilson was all for a "new beginning," but Cubby feared audiences wouldn't go for it and stuck with the formula. I think the experience with Lazenby--which includes all the major studio intrigue behind it--left lasting scars that defined the series through DAD. And even though I don't agree with what Cubby did, I can certainly appreciate it on a certain level: because of his choices (whatever the motivation) we have a legacy of filmed Bond that is truly astonishing. He also left his family a grand old business to play with, so good on him for that.

Go Babs!

Mankiewicz interview

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