The James Bond Bedside Companion

by Raymond Benson

  There is one moment which seems out of place because of its violent realism. When Bond finally kills Karl Stromberg, the actor has been directed to convulse horribly for a second or two; and there is more blood than usual in a Bond film. There hasn't been a death this ugly since Thunderball.

  Gilbert seems to have a confused sense of directorial judgment. There are sequences that standout jarringly in the film. The humor undermines most of the suspense or tension in the story. What Gilbert has handled well is the overpowering spectacle of it all; and this is the picture's primary asset.

  ACTORS AND CHARACTERS

  Roger Moore is his usual suave, sophisticated self, but there are moments when flashes of a tougher character come through. The filmmakers seem intent on emphasizing their belief that Moore is the ideal Bond according to Fleming's picture of the character. At one point in the film. Bond visits a sheikh named Hussain. Hussain was an Etonian classmate of Bond's, and they refer to this in their conversation. But the "real" Bond would be disinclined to talk about his days at Eton, since his attitude toward his school tie is very cynical, so the filmmakers are distorting Bond's character with this ploy.

  Roger Moore's leading lady in The Spy Who Loved Me was lovely Barbara Bach as Russian agent Anya Amasova. (Wide World Photo.)

  Moore is better in the fight sequences, though. There is one terrific fight on a rooftop with Sandor, one of Stromberg's henchmen. At one point in the battle, Sandor almost falls off the roof backwards, but saves himself by grabbing hold of Bond's tie. All Bond has to do is knock Sandor's hand away and the man will fall to his death. Bond asks where he can find Fekkesh, a man in possession of a microfilm containing plans of Stromberg's submarine tracker. Sandor, fearing for his life, answers Bond quickly. And then, Moore calmly chops the man's hand and Sandor falls. This is more like something the Sean Connery Bond would have done—it's somewhat out of character for the Roger Moore Bond. It's a moment that stands out.

  There's another interesting instance when Bond first speaks with Anya at the Mojave Club. She seems to know all about him, and begins to relate his past and biographical facts to his face. Bond is slightly amused until she begins talking about his marriage. Immediately, we see Bond stiffen, and a dark cloud passes over his face. He cuts her off and abruptly rises from his seat. This is the first reference to Tracy since On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Moments like this tend to make Bond a little more human, and they are a pleasure to see. Moore is quite effective here.

  Barbara Bach, an extremely attractive actress and model, portrays the "Me" of The Spy Who Loved Me. But Vivienne Michel she isn't. She is Major Anya Amasoya, Agent XXX of the Soviet Union. Apparently, Broccoli thought it would be a classic situation for Bond to join forces with a Russian female counterpart. Therefore, Anya serves not only as the Bond-girl in the film, but also as the ally. Miss Bach is adequate in the role, but there are certain dramatic scenes in which she lacks dynamics. In the previously mentioned scene in which she swears to kill Bond once their mission is completed, she displays no emotion at all. But in the more romantic sequences, such as when she and Bond have hitched a ride in a peasant's boat up the Nile to Cairo, Miss Bach is very effective. She's a beautiful woman with a strong screen presence that is missing in some Bond-girls.

  The late veteran German actor Curt Jurgens portrays Karl Stromberg, and his performance is disappointing. Stromberg is a man in love with the sea, hoping to build a new city of followers in Atlantis, his underwater fortress. He is attempting to destroy life on land to make this possible. It's obvious that Stromberg was Blofeld in an early script, because his mannerisms, speech, and environment all reflect that character. The only thing missing is the white cat. Jurgens is a fine actor, but he plays the role on one level. He speaks slowly, and there is no energy in his delivery. To put it bluntly, Karl Stromberg is a dull villain. We've heard and seen it all before.

  More interesting, however, is his super-henchman, Jaws. Played by the over-seven-foot-tall Richard Kiel, this character was an immediate hit with younger audiences. The response to the character was so great that the producers decided to bring Jaws back in the next film, Moonraker. An indestructible giant of a man, equipped with sharp, steel teeth, Jaws disposes of his victims by biting them in the neck, Dracula-style. Jaws has no dialogue, but he makes his intentions known through facial expression. The character is fun and proves to be quite menacing in certain sections. But the filmmakers insist on using the character for comic effect. The situation would worsen in Moonraker. Kiel, however, performs his role with vigor and conviction.

  A familiar face from fantasy films (such as the Sinbad series), Caroline Munro, portrays Stromberg's mistress and helicopter pilot, Naomi. Miss Munro is also an extremely attractive actress, and for once, uses her seductive qualities for an evil character. The shame is that her role isn't larger. Miss Munro creates an unusual female villain type (a la Fiona in Thunderball) but the script gives her nothing to do. She meets her death soon after her first appearance when Bond's Lotus fires a missile at her helicopter.

  Vernon Dobtcheff and Nadim Sawaiha portray the film's two Obligatory Sacrificial Lambs, but they barely qualify. The characters are Max Kalba and Fekkesh, respectively. They are contacts in Egypt who lead Bond to the stolen microfilm containing the plans for Stromberg's submarine tracker. Both characters meet their death early in the film, not giving us much chance to develop any sympathy for them.

  Walter Gotell, who played the SPECTRE training camp commander in From Russia With Love, portrays General Gogol of the KGB, who becomes a regular character in the series from this point. In this film, Gogol joins forces with M, since the search for the microfilm is in the best interest of both countries. Geoffrey Keen makes an appearance as the Minister of Defense, who also becomes a running character in the series. Basically another M, this character adds more comedy in the form of an authority figure's constant exasperation with Bond's actions.

  M, Moneypenny, and Qall show up on location in Egypt, as well as on a huge battleship off Sardinia at the film's end. There is even a special Egyptian Q Branch, where Qis developing items such as a hookah with guns in the hoses. These obligatory sequences are becoming increasingly egregious.

  OTHER ASPECTS

  Ken Adam does it again, designing monstrous, spectacular sets for the film. The notable achievement this time is that Adam allotted at least a million dollars of his budget to build an entirely new soundstage at Pinewood Studios. It is the largest soundstage in the world, measuring 374 feet long, 160 feet wide, and 53 feet high. The building has been named Number 007 and will be used for subsequent Bond films as well as other pictures. For The Spy Who Loved Me, the soundstage was used as the inside of the Liparus tanker, where replicas of nuclear submarines are held in troughs. It is here that the final climactic battle between Stromberg's forces and the submarine crews takes place. The set is sleek, workable, and beautiful to look at.

  Cinematography in the film is by Claude Renoir, whose grandfather was the brilliant painter, Pierre Auguste Renoir, and whose uncle was the great filmmaker, Jean Renoir. His work is impressive, giving the film a polished and exotic look that is a cut above the rest of the series, except for perhaps You Only Live Twice. Lamar Boren, who photographed the underwater scenes in Thunderball and You Only Live Twice, filmed the many ocean sequences.

  Editor and second unit director John Glen makes his mark in the series with The Spy Who Loved Me. Glen had been second unit director/editor for On Her Majesty's Secret Service, and his filming of the pre-credits scene of the new picture recalls the former one. Ski champion Willy Bogner, Jr. is again the camera operator for the ski scenes, and the entire sequence is thrilling. In fact the pre-credits scene in this film is the best one since Goldfinger. It contains the most outrageous and spectacular stunt of the entire series. As Bond is chased on skis by a Russian hit team, he shoots the leader with a ski-stick gun, and then skis straight off a ledge. We see Bond falling and falling into the abyss, losing his skis and turning so
mersaults. The descent seems to go on forever as the audience wonders where in the world they filmed this sequence. Finally, we see a parachute, decorated with the Union Jack, open and carry Bond to safety.

  The 3,000 foot Asgard peak off of which stuntman Rick Sylvester skied in the spectacular pre-credits scene in The Spy Who Loved Me. (Photo by Rick Sylvester, courtesy of Steven Jay Rubin.)

  This magnificent stunt was performed by ski champion Rick Sylvester (for which I hope he received a great deal of money). Weather conditions had to be completely perfect for Sylvester to do the jump. The location was the three-thousand-foot-high Asgard peak in Auquittuq National Park on Canada's Baffin Island. Naturally, the jump had to be shot in one take, so several cameras were set up in key locations, only one of which was successful in capturing the stunt John Glen supervised the sequence.

  Bob Simmons, as usual, handled the remaining stunt work, including the fights with Jaws. And thanks to John Glen's editing, it is impossible to tell whether it's Moore fighting, or Simmons doubling Moore.

  The big gadget in the film is the updated Aston Martin—the Lotus Esprit. On land, it's basically like its predecessor (it contains a paint sprayer in its tail end rather than an oil slick); but its most impressive feature is the fact that it can become a submarine. Lotus provided Eon Productions with several bodies for the car, and Perry Submarines and Oceanographics built the rest of "Wet Nellie," as it is called. The car is actually a submersible, which means that the driver must wear a skindiving suit and oxygen tanks. When it's underwater, the Lotus can fire CO2 guns, launch mines, and perform the usual assortment of tricks associated with a Q Branch creation. Much of the success of the Lotus sequence is attributed to special effects supervisor Derek Meddings. His model work for the film is state of the art. Many of the Lotus shots feature models, and the shots of Stromberg's tanker, the Liparus, also incorporate a model. The Liparus model was over seventy feet long, and was actually exploded for the final scene.

  John Barry is absent from the film, and popular composer Marvin Hamlisch scores The Spy Who Loved Me. Hamlisch does a marvelous job, for which he received two Oscar nominations: one for best score and the other for best song. The main title song is "Nobody Does It Better," with lyrics by Carole Bayer Sager. Carly Simon performs the song in the film, and it subsequently became a hit single. Maurice Binder's main title design incorporates images of Roger Moore behind this song, the first time that the actor playing Bond has been used here. The rest of Hamlisch's score is very modem; his version of "The James Bond Theme" (called "Bond 77" on the soundtrack album) has the semblance of a disco beat. His underwater music accompanying the Lotus is beautiful, and his work with arranger/composer Paul Buckmaster on the cabaret and nightclub scenes is also unique.

  MOONRAKER (1979)

  PRODUCTION

  The eleventh James Bond film was originally announced to be For Your Eyes Only, but the success of Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind encouraged Cubby Broccoli to change his mind. Moonraker, the only available Fleming title that could possibly incorporate an outer space theme, was chosen as the next adventure. But therein lies the rub—the entire concept behind choosing Moonraker for the next film emphasizes the Bond series' inability to maintain its originality. The new opus would simply be an imitation not only of Star Wars and the like, but of the Bond series itself.

  As a result, Moonraker must rank as the least artistically successful film in the series. Ironically, Moonraker is now the biggest grosser to date for Eon Productions. Diehard Bond fans who complained about the direction the series has taken since On Her Majesty's Secret Service were few in number, and it was the new generation of adolescents at which Moonraker was aimed. The film contains the most absurd and ridiculous slapstick humor of all the films, and the character of James Bond functions merely as a focal point for a series of outlandish set-pieces. And even the set-pieces are recycled from previous films.

  With Michael G. Wilson now executive producer, Broccoli was forced to join forces with a French production company due to Britain's tight tax laws. Therefore, only the special effects in Moonraker were shot at Pinewood Studios in England. All interiors were built and shot in France. Locations chosen for the film were Los Angeles, Venice, and South America. The film was the most expensive in the series, mainly due to the elaborate special effects, but also because of the relocation of the interior scenes. Moonraker cost thirty million dollars to make, which is thirty times the cost of Dr. No, and twice that of The Spy Who Loved Me.

  The film was widely advertised as being "scientifically accurate." Broccoli went on record to say that everything in the film was "science fact, not fiction." With the help of NASA in an advisory capacity, the concepts behind the space shuttle in the film are truly believable; but the latter half of the film—dealing with space stations and laser battles between two armies of astronauts—is ridiculous. James Bond almost became an astronaut in You Only Live Twice but was stopped before he could enter the SPECTRE rocket. This is acceptable, to a certain extent; but actually putting Bond into space is another thing altogether. Ian Fleming's James Bond, despite rigorous training in Naval Intelligence and expertise in a number of fields, was never qualified for space travel. It's just another example of how little care is taken in developing the Bond character for the films.

  SCREENPLAY

  Tom Mankiewicz did initial work on the script of Moonraker, but is uncredited. Christopher Wood penned the final shooting script, as well as the novelizations for both The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker. The two plots are basically the same, and almost nothing remains from the original MOONRAKER novel (which, although somewhat dated, remains a very good story). Instead of planning to destroy London with an experimental rocket, Hugo Drax is plotting to destroy all human life on earth and breed a new generation of perfect mortals under his rule in a space station orbiting around the globe. Some difference! (And wasn't Karl Stromberg attempting to do the very same thing, only underwater?)

  Jaws is back, but attempts are made to make him seem more human, and even lovable. At one point, Jaws emerges from a pile of wreckage to spy a small, freckle-faced, dumb, bespectacled, blonde girl. Her name is Dolly, and it's love at first sight Jaws grins, his steel teeth sparkling, and he takes Dolly's hand. Together they walk away from the debris as the music becomes tender. The series has never dipped so low into kitsch. At a crucial moment during the film's climax, Bond convinces Jaws that Drax intends to destroy the giant and his girlfriend because they are not considered perfect. Jaws ponders this, and then becomes a good guy and helps Bond defeat the evil Hugo Drax. It seems that the filmmakers intended Jaws to become some kind of hero, too, so that he could become a recurring character. But it is obvious that the plan failed, because most of Jaws' scenes in Moonraker are embarrassing. Any threat Jaws might have been to Bond is completely thrown out the window; he is simply a cartoon character who is in no danger of actually getting hurt. Moonraker is the first maudlin James Bond picture.

  Several sequences recall similar events in previous films. For instance, the scene in which Bond is trapped inside a centrifuge machine is strikingly comparable to the "rack" scene in Thunderball. The street carnival in Rio recalls the junkanoo in the same film. The gondola boat chase is a rehash of the dong chase through the floating market in The Man With the Golden Gun. The boat chase in the Brazilian jungle is similar to the flotilla chase in From Russia With Love. And the final climactic battle between the NASA astronauts and Drax's army recalls the underwater battle from Thunderball; the assault on SPECTRE's volcano in You Only Live Twice; the raid on Piz Gloria in On Her Majesty's Secret Service; the bombing of SPECTRE's oil rig in Diamonds Are Forever; and the battle between the submarine crews and Stromberg's men in The Spy Who Loved Me. The repetitiveness of the Bond series is most apparent in Moonraker.

  There are a few funny lines, and most of them are given to Drax. "You appear with the inevitability of an unloved season," he tells Bond on their third encounter. But my favorite is
when he turns to Chang, his manservant, and says, perfectly seriously, "Look after Mr. Bond. See that some harm comes to him." But many lines, unfortunately, are groaners. Holly Goodhead's last line in the film, as she and Bond make love in orbit above the earth, is, "Oh James, take me around the world one more time."

  DIRECTION

  Lewis Gilbert is back for his third Bond effort. His usual slick, fast tempo is applied to Moonraker, but the progression of events in the film is so contrived that it is difficult to detect any semblance of a story line. It seems that Bond simply hops from one country to another; it's not quite clear why he is doing so. Unless one's ears are pricked to catch every word, one might miss the fact that Bond travels to Venice to spy on a certain glass factory mentioned in one of the papers he found in Drax's safe in Los Angeles.

  Gilbert's penchant for juvenile humor gets in the way quite a bit in Moonraker. The pre-credits sequence itself sets up the overall mood of the film. It begins with impressive model work by Derek Meddings, showing the hijacking of a Moonraker shuttle from the back of a 747. Next, we cut to a private airplane, where Bond is embracing a flight attendant. But she pulls a gun on him, and threatens to bail out of the plane with the pilot Bond overpowers her and attacks the pilot. But the pilot jumps out of the plane. Then, Jaws suddenly appears from nowhere and tosses Bond out of the plane, without a parachute. What follows is literally breathtaking. Freefalling, Bond straightens his body like a spear and dives through the air to catch up with the pilot. He grabs the pilot and wrestles off the parachute. The pilot falls to his death as Bond puts the parachute on himself. If the filmmakers had ended the sequence here, it would have worked beautifully; but the tendency in Moonraker is toward overkill. Not far behind Bond is Jaws, now wearing a parachute. Jaws attempts the same trick of holding his body like a spear, and eventually catches Bond. Bond escapes by opening his parachute. Jaws attempts to open his chute, too, but the rip cord snaps. Jaws plummets into the middle of a circus tent, and of course, lives to chase Bond again later.