Roger Moore gets a publisher

I have seen about twenty news releases telling me that Roger Moore was writing an autobiography called My Word Is My Bond. I couldn’t figure out why this was news, since I blogged it back in October.

Okay, after two days, I’ve got it. It’s because he signed a deal with HarperCollins. But seriously? Whoop-de-doo. Was there anyone in the world who thought maybe he wouldn’t be able to find an interested publisher?

The amount of non-news in the world annoys me. It’s news when Moore announces the book. It’s news when the book is published and we can read it and review it and discuss it. All the gradations of progress in between are not news. Signing with HarperCollins? Not news. Finishing Chapter 1 and progressing on to Chapter 2? Not news. Buying a new ream of paper? Not! News!

Geez Pete.

Lost in Translation

The movie Lost in Translation, which I watched last night, has a lot of James Bond tie-in. First, Bill Murray’s character is filming a Suntory Whiskey commercial in Tokyo. Then he does a photo shoot for the product’s magazine ads. The photographer, whose English is minimal, asks Murray to assume various poses and suggests a James Bond pose (mimes shooting a gun) and says “Roger Moore! Roger Moore!” Murray says he prefers Connery, but the photographer says “No, no Connery. Roger Moore!”

Connery did a Suntory Whiskey ad.

At another point in the film, an American actress staying at the hotel sings in the hotel lounge (the lounge singer must be on break) and does an awful rendition of Nobody Does It Better.

Overall, the enormous anxiety of being a foreigner in Tokyo, expressed in the film, also seems to tie into You Only Live Twice.

Roger Moore happy to admit he was too old for A View to a Kill

Nice interview here with Roger Moore.

First, he tells us something that many of us believed; that Daniel Craig is a very fine James Bond:

“I have seen Daniel Craig in a number of films. He is a thundering good actor. The movie (‘Casino Royale’) showed me that he is one hell of an athlete,”

In regard to AVTAK:

Moore, who was 58 when the movie came out, described the film as the least favorite of his Bond roles. “I was only about 400 years too old for the part!” he quipped.

Read the whole thing.

Safari Suit

Looking through my search terms (searches that brought people to this blog), I find the phrase “Sean Connery Safari Suit.”

As Pierce Brosnan would say: No, no, no!

Roger Moore wore a safari suit, not Connery! Notable examples appeared in TMWTGG and Octopussy.

Summing up James Bond (“The One Who” game)

I actually did this in The Ultimate James Bond Fan Book, but I don’t have the manuscript in front of me, and I thought it would be fun to do it again, fresh. I mean, I may end up repeating myself, but I might not.

Here’s the idea: Each actor who played Bond can be characterized, summed up in a few words. Let’s start with the notion that each actor had something valuable to bring to the role, and not be insulting, and then let’s see where we go.

Sean Connery is the one who…
is Scottish.
Created the role.
Has a lisp.
Kills in cold blood.

George Lazenby is the one who…
is Australian.
Only played Bond once.
Has dimples.
Broke a stuntman’s nose during his audition.

Roger Moore is the one who…
was “a gentleman spy.”
Made more Bond films than anyone else.
Raised one eyebrow.
Was tongue-in-cheek.

Timothy Dalton is the one who…
is Welsh.
Was the “dark Bond.”
Is known for playing villains in numerous movies.
Is the tallest Bond.

Pierce Brosnan is the one who…
is Irish.
Straightens his tie.
Seems like a combination of all his predecessors.
Should have gotten one more chance!

Daniel Craig is the one who…
is blond.
Is the shortest Bond.
Surprised a lot of fans.
Is the “rebooted” Bond.

Your turn!

Happy 80th to Roger Moore

Roger Moore, recent recipient of a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, turns 80 today. He has officially played James Bond more often than any other actor: seven times (Sean Connery played Bond in six official and one unofficial movies).

Roger Moore Day

It’s Roger Moore day, with two great news items:

1. Moore will receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Long overdue, I say! He is not my favorite Bond, but no one can argue he isn’t a real star.

2. Even better, Moore will “write” an autobiography. (Write is in quotes because the ghost-writer is announced right in the press release.)

On the eve of his 80th birthday, Sir Roger has finally agreed to tell his life story—including his four marriages, most famous performances, and his escapades with friends including Michael Caine, Tony Curtis, Sean Connery and David Niven. The memoir is tentatively scheduled for publication in autumn 2008, with a working title of My Word is My Bond.
—
In a note to be circulated to publishers today, he says: “I’m not looking to dish dirt or recycle sleaze stories, goodness knows there is enough of that in the world. Rather, I would like to write a warm, amusing, and maybe even slightly emotional volume that tells my story; corrects some of the inaccuracies previously reported; offers an insight into the world of a jobbing actor and retired 007; and reflects my love of life.”

Roger Moore on Brosnan and Craig

The Daily Express has a cute interview excerpt from Roger Moore.

“I made seven Bond films and they were all successful,” insists Moore. “Maybe I could have done with one of Pierce Brosnan’s – or rather I could have done with one of Pierce’s pay cheques!”

Nice. Because Roger doesn’t make enough money. Of course, the Express isn’t giving the tongue-in-cheek tone that we know Roger must have had!

When asked which Bond film outside his own he would have liked to have starred in, he insists: “It certainly wouldn’t have been Casino Royale – jumping across those cranes and the building site. No thanks – I don’t have that sort of energy. Daniel Craig [Brosnan’s successor] deserves every penny of his salary for that alone.”

Sigh, how true. Oh, Roger, if ony your movies had more energy.

The history of Bond actors (in brief)

When Eon first cast another actor as Bond, lots of folks said it couldn’t be done. If there had been an Internet back then, there would have been ConneryISBond.com. Even with the primitive (teehe) technology available in 1969, a lot of people managed to make their complaints heard. To this day, I run into people who have never seen anyone but Connery in the role, or have reluctantly viewed later movies and found them wanting—mostly, found them wanting a certain Scotsman.

But Lazenby’s casting, unsuccessful though it was, did an interesting thing: It freed Eon. They didn’t feel they had to cast ‘Connery light;’ audiences still came to see a Bond movie without The Man. So they felt confident in changing the game utterly, and casting Roger Moore; long on their list, and an actor absolutely nothing like Sean Connery.

But confidence is a funny thing. Once Moore proved a hit, Eon was reluctant to change. There is no doubt that Moore was way too old to play 007 in A View To a Kill, but I’d argue he was long in the tooth by Octopussy, even though that is a much better movie. Seven movies is probably just too many.

Letting go of Moore finally taught the Bond producers a lesson in letting go; a lesson that perhaps Pierce Brosnan believes they learned too well. Lots of fans (like me) believe that Brosnan had a fifth excellent Bond in him, but it was not to be.

What’s interesting here is the way that Eon was able to move from one actor to the next. Dalton made one successful and one less-than-stellar (financially) movie, and some of us stand by his portrayal. But from Dalton on, the producers have been able to look at each actor as truly a new era, a new Bond, a new interpretation, and allow the movies to shape the actor, and the actor to shape the movies.

Could Pierce Brosnan have made Casino Royale? I believe so. I believe he could have made an outstanding Casino Royale. But he couldn’t have made this Casino Royale; the one Daniel Craig made. It would have been a Brosnan movie, with whatever you feel is good or bad about that. CR is Craig’s movie through and through; I mean, yes, it’s Ian Fleming’s, it’s Martin Campbell’s, it’s Paul Haggis’s, but it’s really Daniel Craig’s. He’s been allowed to interpret the character, to be in his own place with 007, and that has made all the difference.

Bond films and the Roger Moore humor controversy

An earlier post on Bond Actors and Humor drew more comment than any other post I’ve ever made. For that reason, I thought it was worth revisiting.

Fans were sharply divided in comments. There were the pros:

John Smith
Roger Moore’s the best

Carton of Milk
(i personally WANT my bond films to have half-corny half-clever quips).

Tref
Roger Moore is king!

Sergio M. Says:
I can’t believe what I’m reading. Roger Moore was the best Bond by far. And the best thing about it is the fact that he didn’t take the role serioulsy. Guys, get real. The character is a beautiful over the top charade. A representation of each man’s fantasies… luxury, lust, danger, sex, cars, guns, casinos, more beautiful women, saving the world…and license to kill. If you got it all, well…go with a smile. And Roger did it.

And the cons:

Mark Stevens:
Roger Moore is the reason I quit watching Bond films…he never seemed to be worried that he could die (I think that the “Tango and Cash” characters acted the same way). That takes away from the suspense; and in a film where you KNOW the main character is going to live – you need some suspense.

Henry Hubbard:
I truly believe Roger Moore is the weakest of all the Bond actors. His tongue-in-cheek take on the character did not appeal to me at all and his movies left me yawning.

Some of this is age-based. I’ve done extensive fan surveys (my book publishes the results), and it’s pretty clear that the Bond you grew up with shaped your experience of who the character should be. If you’re a child of the 70s or 80s, you probably prefer the light-hearted approach.

Now, I grew up in the 70s, but my dad took me to second-run theaters and I saw all the Connery movies, which he preferred. I like my light-hearted with a healthy dose of sex and danger. And like most women, I tend to prefer the whiff of danger to the well-manicured gentleman (which is undoubtedly why Daniel Craig is causing such major swoonage among female audiences). I think too much humor takes something essential away from the character of 007.

But this controversy will never really go away. Some Bond fans are fans of funny movies starring James Bond, and some Bond fans are fans of espionage movies starring James Bond, and rarely if ever do the twain meet. I think Roger Moore will continue to be the touchstone for this controversy for years to come.