The Charm of Connery

Goodbye Sean

Sean Connery charmed us, which made Bond a charmer. All other Bonds would be judged against that ability, until Daniel Craig. Craig was the modern Bond, the guy with business on his mind. In between, there are 4 other Bonds: George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, and then Daniel Craig.

By 1968, Connery had grown weary of Bond. He wanted to be known for more than playing James Bond. Connery had starred in the two most lucrative Bond films; Goldfinger, which grossed, in today’s dollars, 820.4 million and Thunderball, 848.1 million. From that point on, Bond never regained the prominence it once had. I theorize that is partly due to the audience boiling down to a core of Bond fans, whilst the rest of the movie going public had had enough.

The transition from Connery, began with an actor, who had never acted in a movie; George Lazenby. Lazenby is the only actor to play Bond in only one movie; On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. The movie was released in 1969, the story published in 1963.

Lazenby lacked charm. Why he was chosen is a matter of speculation. Connery returned for one more Eon produced film, Diamonds are Forever. He would, 10 years later, make another Bond film, but one that was produced by a different company. That film would be Never Say Never Again. It was a remake of Thunderball.

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service is an important film because in this story, Bond falls in love, and marries. The plot is the stock affair of Blofeld versus Bond. This time, Blofeld uses bio warfare to attempt his usual goal of world control. He weaponizes several young women to deliver his death virus. The subplot has Bond resigning his commission, however, Moneypenny changes the wording in the letter to “take a leave.” Bond, warned off the case by M, worms his way back into the action. Whilst he’s at it, he falls in love.

He meets the countess Teresa, played by Diana Rigg, when she attempts to kill herself by drowning in the ocean. It’s so typically romantic, the knight in shining armor, jumping out of his Aston Martin, to save a countess! The twist is, she runs away from him. What an ungrateful wench! However, their lives are intertwined by the Fates. Once the Fates have their finger in things, there’s no turning back.

Teresa’s father offers Bond a million pounds if he will marry the girl. This is an old device, that men of importance would find a knight to marry their daughter to. To protect her. But this is the end of the 1960s, with the experiments in hedonistic living in full swing. Plus Bond is not exactly a role model for the conservative lifestyle. Ah, but when love hits, even Bond bonded. Except we cannot have him remain so. Fleming killed the wife off about an hour after they tied the knot.

Any death scene with Bond displaying grief is a tricky one to bring off. I did not like how they handled it. The movie’s plot does follow the novel closely, the only Bond movie that did. That doesn’t save the ending for me. Too much of a monologue when I wanted the silence which sudden death produces in a loved one. Because nothing shocks like it. The witty Bond driven to silence in grief would give us a new layer to examine in this trained killer. Yes, he can be hurt, emotionally. And the future brings us a Bond who has closed his emotions down even more.

Diamonds are Forever does not mention the death of Bond’s wife. Connery is back as Bond, and Jill St. John is the Bond girl. This plot has Blofeld, again, going for control of the world, again, with Bond and his sidekick in the CIA, Felix Leiter, with his crew, saving the day.

Diamonds are Forever was released in 1971. The book was published in 1956.

The main action takes place in Las Vegas, circa 1970. Oh what a small city it was then. I remember it because two friends from my boarding school days, lived there. I went for a weekend visit, amazed at how much neon one small city could display.

There is no Aston Martin in Diamonds. There is a Mustang Mach I.  In red. Oo-la-la.  In 1970,  I loved that car. Today, I still love love that car. Tomorrow will be the same. It is so nice, and noisy, like a husky voiced wom

an. Well, muscle cars are supposed to sound like muscle cars. In the chase scene it out runs several sheriffs trying to catch Bond. Their pileups are legend. It is one of several humorous facets of the film.

The other fun chase takes place in the desert, with a moon buggy, ETVs and a couple of cars. Legend!

And then, there is Mr. Wint and Mr Kidd. Cold blooded killers, these two love their work. They are, to my knowledge, the first openly gay men portrayed in a modern context. They certainly break the conventional image of gay men as weak and feminine. These two are anything but. They are non conventional killers, quite creative in their kills. They are Blofeld’s paid serial killers.

What I dislike about the film are the clothes! The 1970s fashion had arrived. Jill St. John could not save the fashions. No one could. St. John wore bikinis more than any other garment. The gents didn’t mind that one bit, for she had quite the body.

Oh yes, the plot. It’s about diamonds stolen by Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd for Blofeld. He uses the diamonds to make a super weapon that is sent up into space on a satellite. The weapon can destroy nuclear missiles and subs. After Blofeld’s evil plan is foiled, there are still millions of dollars worth of diamonds orbiting Earth. This situation gives St. John’s character, Tiffany Case, the best line in the film: “James, how are we going to get those diamonds down?”

Indeed.

Diamonds are Forever remains one of my favorites in the Bond canon of films. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service has come up in my rankings. The plot is complex, the ski chase exciting, and the love of a woman he wants to spend his life with, well, Bond is both lucky, and unlucky, in love.

And so ends Connery’s participation in the Eon Bond series. This new decade will find the Boomers going to work to build careers that will change the lives of billions. In the meantime, Roger Moore will take over as Bond.