Nice review, TB2, though obviously I don't 100% agree.
Charles Grey was a perfect Mycroft to Jeremy Brett, and could have been a perfect Blofeld in a better-scripted movie. I'd say his best cinematic moment was as the villain in Hammer's "The Devil Rides Out" (with, as the hero, none other than Sir Christopher Lee!).
Moneypenny out of the office. I do enjoy this cameo a lot. Certainly a lot better than the pitiful parts she was given in the likes of TSWLM and MR.
Although she does show some weird bad taste here: 'haha a gag about you buying me a diamond ring and marrying me even though the last time I saw you was at your wedding just before your wife got shot right through the face haha'
If Craig had refused to do SF (let's say cos Broccoli wasn't giving him what he wanted?) and was replaced for that one film by the lump of talking wood known as Cavill, then Craig returned to play Bond in SP- all you Danboys would be in a very similar situation to us Bondfans back in the early 70s.
It's generally held that OHMSS is a superior movie to DAF (even I won't argue that one) and that SF beats SP. Just having Connery back as Bond did make a huge difference at the time which of course is irrelevant now, so I'm trying to give a modern parallel. The situation isn't quite the same and can never be, but that's a different discussion.
Jill St John was excellent in the earlier parts, less so later
Charles Grey had the potential to be a great Blofeld, but was let down by the script later on
Mr Wint & Mr Kidd are wonderful henchmen
Plenty O'Toole is a fun character
Some of the dialogue is fantastic- very quotable
The side characters (Rodney, Mr Slumber, Metz) are colourful and memorable
John Barry is at his best, and that is enough to carry an entire movie
And
Sean Connery gives a relaxed, yes sometimes too relaxed, performance as 007. He effortlessly dominates this movie even though he's clearly operating at less than 100% full capacity.
I can agree with most of this except for Wint and Kidd. I think John Brosnan summed it up nicely in his JBITC book: They look grotesque enough but lack menace (or words to that effect). I feel you should be scared for Bond to go up against a henchman as in Red Grant or Oddjob. To this effect, Peter Franks is the proper henchman in DAF and it would have been better if he had stayed around until the end and let Bond dispose of Wint and Kidd in Amsterdam. I know this would have meant rewriting the script but can you imagine hoŵ tense the fight on board the cruise liner would have been after watching Franks dispose of Mrs Whistler and Shady (on screen, not off), he would have almost rivalled Red Grant.
Using Charles Grey after he had played Henderson in YOLT was also an error and a mistake that EON would make again in the future in casting actors in different roles. I have no problem with that in very minor roles like Ed Bishop, but with someone like Grey, who has distinct looks and mannerisms it spoils the enjoyment for me. And of course turning him into a camp character was unforgivable
But overall, despite many flaws, DAF remains a very enjoyable outing.
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
@Barbel. Conjecturing about that Cavill/Craig 'what if?' Is a perceptive way of looking at it.
@CHB. Unlike Robert Shaw or Bruce Glover, Joe Robinson was more of a stuntman than an actor. He was Connery's martial arts trainer and had doubled for Hans in YOLT. Wint and Kidd as they are fit well in the kind of Bond film that DAF wants to be. If we imagine that DAF had been made between FRWL and GF and directed by Terence Young as a straight Bond film of that vintage, it would have been a very different proposition, probably a lot closer to Fleming, and the casting choices very different. I'd have loved to have seen that film, too.
Just a minor point of obscure trivia. The January 1972 edition of 'Photoplay: Film Monthly' went with a cover of Connery in his white tux and his arm around Plenty in the casino; it led with a long, solid article about the new Bond film, basking in the excitement of having Connery back in the shoulder holster. But spot the error in this paragraph, following a mention of Blofeld and before moving on to Wint and Kidd and Bambi and Thumper:
"There are other villains to be dispatched in true OO7 style: Bruce Cabot as the manager of a leading Las Vegas gambling casino; Laurence Naismith as the head of the diamond syndicate in London; Joe Robinson as a member of the racket."
Critics and material I don't need. I haven't changed my act in 53 years.
rewatched the elevator fight. Yep, it's the best part of the movie.
I must admit, I think it's nicely vicious but it's a little boring. It goes on for ages without really changing much- they're just banging around in the slowest lift in the world for ages.
The action scenes in this one are amongst the worst in the series I think, with the moon buggy chase being the absolute worst- there's no shape to it. The Mustang chase is probably the best in the film and even that's not better than 'fine'.
@CHB. Unlike Robert Shaw or Bruce Glover, Joe Robinson was more of a stuntman than an actor. He was Connery's martial arts trainer and had doubled for Hans in YOLT. Wint and Kidd as they are fit well in the kind of Bond film that DAF wants to be. If we imagine that DAF had been made between FRWL and GF and directed by Terence Young as a straight Bond film of that vintage, it would have been a very different proposition, probably a lot closer to Fleming, and the casting choices very different. I'd have loved to have seen that film, too.
I was thinking more of having him as a shadowy figure for the whole movie until the end, as Shaw was in FRWL, just disposing of Mrs Whistler etc., and then having his few lines on the cruise liner. He handled his lines competently enough in DAF so am sure he could have done so. Obviously he doesn’t have the acting prowess of Shaw. I think I read somewhere that he was actually up for the part of Red Grant, thankfully Shaw got he part as no one could have topped that performance.
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
Comments
Charles Grey was a perfect Mycroft to Jeremy Brett, and could have been a perfect Blofeld in a better-scripted movie. I'd say his best cinematic moment was as the villain in Hammer's "The Devil Rides Out" (with, as the hero, none other than Sir Christopher Lee!).
Oh no, that's LALD! Where else does our man have to deal with voodoo?
Although she does show some weird bad taste here: 'haha a gag about you buying me a diamond ring and marrying me even though the last time I saw you was at your wedding just before your wife got shot right through the face haha'
This one looks positively smutty! It's all in the wrist, Miss O'Toole! ;%
I just thought of this analogy-
If Craig had refused to do SF (let's say cos Broccoli wasn't giving him what he wanted?) and was replaced for that one film by the lump of talking wood known as Cavill, then Craig returned to play Bond in SP- all you Danboys would be in a very similar situation to us Bondfans back in the early 70s.
It's generally held that OHMSS is a superior movie to DAF (even I won't argue that one) and that SF beats SP. Just having Connery back as Bond did make a huge difference at the time which of course is irrelevant now, so I'm trying to give a modern parallel. The situation isn't quite the same and can never be, but that's a different discussion.
But I undershtand, what you are trying to shay in your broken englisch
Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
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I can agree with most of this except for Wint and Kidd. I think John Brosnan summed it up nicely in his JBITC book: They look grotesque enough but lack menace (or words to that effect). I feel you should be scared for Bond to go up against a henchman as in Red Grant or Oddjob. To this effect, Peter Franks is the proper henchman in DAF and it would have been better if he had stayed around until the end and let Bond dispose of Wint and Kidd in Amsterdam. I know this would have meant rewriting the script but can you imagine hoŵ tense the fight on board the cruise liner would have been after watching Franks dispose of Mrs Whistler and Shady (on screen, not off), he would have almost rivalled Red Grant.
Using Charles Grey after he had played Henderson in YOLT was also an error and a mistake that EON would make again in the future in casting actors in different roles. I have no problem with that in very minor roles like Ed Bishop, but with someone like Grey, who has distinct looks and mannerisms it spoils the enjoyment for me. And of course turning him into a camp character was unforgivable
But overall, despite many flaws, DAF remains a very enjoyable outing.
@CHB. Unlike Robert Shaw or Bruce Glover, Joe Robinson was more of a stuntman than an actor. He was Connery's martial arts trainer and had doubled for Hans in YOLT. Wint and Kidd as they are fit well in the kind of Bond film that DAF wants to be. If we imagine that DAF had been made between FRWL and GF and directed by Terence Young as a straight Bond film of that vintage, it would have been a very different proposition, probably a lot closer to Fleming, and the casting choices very different. I'd have loved to have seen that film, too.
Just a minor point of obscure trivia. The January 1972 edition of 'Photoplay: Film Monthly' went with a cover of Connery in his white tux and his arm around Plenty in the casino; it led with a long, solid article about the new Bond film, basking in the excitement of having Connery back in the shoulder holster. But spot the error in this paragraph, following a mention of Blofeld and before moving on to Wint and Kidd and Bambi and Thumper:
"There are other villains to be dispatched in true OO7 style: Bruce Cabot as the manager of a leading Las Vegas gambling casino; Laurence Naismith as the head of the diamond syndicate in London; Joe Robinson as a member of the racket."
I must admit, I think it's nicely vicious but it's a little boring. It goes on for ages without really changing much- they're just banging around in the slowest lift in the world for ages.
The action scenes in this one are amongst the worst in the series I think, with the moon buggy chase being the absolute worst- there's no shape to it. The Mustang chase is probably the best in the film and even that's not better than 'fine'.
I was thinking more of having him as a shadowy figure for the whole movie until the end, as Shaw was in FRWL, just disposing of Mrs Whistler etc., and then having his few lines on the cruise liner. He handled his lines competently enough in DAF so am sure he could have done so. Obviously he doesn’t have the acting prowess of Shaw. I think I read somewhere that he was actually up for the part of Red Grant, thankfully Shaw got he part as no one could have topped that performance.