why was Moore allowed to play Bond in AVTAK at 57?
Andy007
Posts: 100MI6 Agent
This is not a thread intended to criticise AVTAk. I actually like it much more than most people, but a question has to be asked why Broccoli wanted Moore at 57 to continue? Why did he not look elsewhere and rule Moore out of the running. At this stage Moore was on a film-by-film contract and was not obligated to return for AVTAK so why were negotiations even held with him at that age? Was it because Broccoli was waiting for Dalton or Brosnan to be available so carried on with Moore for convenience until either of them were available..Moore always looked younger than he was, but in AVTAK does show his age more and looks an ageing Bond lacking energy & conviction. Would be interested to hear the views on this.
Comments
NSNA, and to give him a record over Sir Sean .
And even at 57 he looked better than many 45 year olds who were rode hard and put away wet.
I guess there's an indulgence to allow him to play the role again (Cubby's sentimentality) but at the same time audiences didn't seem time mind (OP's BO success).
"Better make that two."
When OP bested NSNA at the box-office, Cubby's strategy was proved sound. There have been suggestions that Moore had insisted on a two picture deal* (which I think unlikely) so was locked in to AVTAK, while others (including Moore himself) have said that Cubby offered more money than Roger was able to resist to play Bond one more time.
* http://www.warpedfactor.com/2017/01/bond-10-things-you-might-not-know-about_12.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4-sMr967Jw
But the trip from Siberia really took it out of him!
"Better make that two."
"he just looked like a pervert"
Wow - and this only a couple of weeks after Sir Roger's passing!
You folks are such a good sports, I must say {[]
Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
Few months now mate...
"Better make that two."
Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
That may be, but I hoped that we as James Bond Fans would be a bit more sensible about how we speak about a great man's heritage - particularly some weeks after his passing.
I don't expect you to understand this though. I respect many of your contributions a lot - but I wonder what's going on in your mind in the last weeks. This is not the first time that I am shaking my head about a comment that you've made.
And you have been really brilliant previously!
Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
At the time Moore didn't seem so old because a) Other leading men of the Dallas Dynasty era were old anyway and b) Today everyone is trying to look in their 20s, it's a cult of youth. c) We kind of transferred the young Moore we were used to facially onto the older Moore, as that's what we'd been used to until then.
But for the younger audience au fait with Stallone etc yep he'd have looked old.
Another point: Moore was Bond then. So it's like complaining about Ford doing another Indy film rather than getting a younger guy in. Just bring him out one more time and get the lighting right. It's your last chance.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Well put. I myself, am still pretty sad we lost Sir Roger this year. He was a true gentleman who embraced his fans, Bond and his role in the franchise's legacy.
That said, back to the topic at hand. I'd say one element Sir Roger had working in his favor in 1984 when AVTAK was being cast was that, although getting older, his physical image hadn't changed much.
After Bond, Connery's appearance evolved to the point the characters he played in, say The Man Who Would Be King, or Meteor, with his graying facial hair and so forth were far removed from the Bond image. By the time he came back for NSNA, there would have to be much discussion on how he should look: toupee or not, beard or not, etc Eventually it was settled to have him be an older version of the Bond he was in the '60's.
Roger, on the other hand, more or less maintained a consistent appearance throughout his career. I do think, though, the weight loss and mole removal prior to AVTAK did age him even more. In The Naked Face he looks pretty much the same as he did in OP, and I think he could have looked like that in AVTAK, actually.
He does look quite old in AVTAK but he's still Bond and Cubby knew he was a safe bet despite tapping up other potential actors for the role.
Good Point.
We also had George Peppard in The A Team, William Shatner in TJ Hooker and Lee Majors in The Fall Guy. All very popular prime time shows with older leading men.
anecdotally, wouldjya believe certain of my schoolchums at that time regarded Connery as this old guy who made the films so long ago they were no longer relevant? this at a time when there was a classic Connery film on at least one Sunday a month on teevee ... it just took kids longer to see past the oldfashioned cars and production values I guess
but when Dalton finally took over, it wasn't exactly successful, so the producers were right to keep Roger working as long as they could keep him. And Brosnan at that time was much too skinny and youthful looking, that would not have worked either, I don't think
Had a good chat with an older American woman the day Sir Roger passed and I casually admitted that he got a bit old in the end and she said "Ahhh! It was the 80s! It was perfectly fine!"
"Better make that two."