“I take it you spend quite a lot of time in the saddle.”
BOND 16 .
A VIEW TO A KILL
John Glen . 1984
So, perhaps, Moonraker wasn’t so far fetched, after all…. On 5 October 1983, astronomer Antonin Mrkos of the Klet’ Observatory in the Czech Republic, discovered a new main-belt asteroid in the heavens. Checking the number it would have be consigned made it clear what to call it… Asteroid 9007 James Bond!
Cubby Broccoli’s Bond 14 opened soon after the real James Bond, the noted ornithologist, died February 14, 1984, in Philadelphia aged 89. There are many fans who figure the screen Bond died about the same time.
David Bowie was one of them.
Bowie refused to be the villain
– he was bored by the recent Bond villains.
He wasn’t much smitten with the money being offered either. Then again, he could also see that Zorin was obviously modeled upon and aimed at Sting.
After Thunderball II, meet Goldfinger revisited…
The Kill script sadly shared (too) many similar story elements with Bond 3, as the scenario tried to hide its slim origins – a 1959 short story first called Murder Before Breakfast. That made it appear like a case for Miss Marple. So did the film!
Stacey Sutton . Broccoli saw Priscilla Presley and Sharon Stone but selected Timothy Leary’s sister-in-law, Tanya Roberts – the ex-Sheena who had been turned down by director Blake Edwards for 10. Oddly, becoming a Bond Girl seemed to mark the end of her career… on the A, B or Z lists. She has been buried in TV guest slots since 1994.
Tanya was rather cautious. She felt that every girl who’d ever been a Bond Girl had seen their career go nowhere. “No one works after they get a Bond movie,” she told her agent. ”Are you kidding? Glenn Close would do it if she could!” “All you have to think to yourself is: Could have I been better in the part? That’s all you can say to yourself because turning the part down would have been ridiculous, you know? I mean nobody would do that, nobody. I was very young and I did what I felt was the right choice to make.”
Director John Glen felt Maryam D’Abo was too young (at 24) for Pola Ivanov which went to Fiona Fullerton (32). Maryam grew up in time to be asked by Glen to be Kara Milovy, sliding down a snowy mountain in her cello case in the next Bond – in every sense of the word – Timothy Dalton’s crackerjack debut, The Living Daylights. Which is when Glen famously called her: “The most sophisticated Bond lady since Diana Rigg.” (All inside two years). Glen booked her again for the 1994-1995 TV series, Space Precinct, and his last movie, The Point Men, 2000. She wed another UK director, Hugh Hudson, in 2003; they first met when she auditioned for Jane in his Tarzan movie, Greystoke, in 1982.
After the usual contract delays, Roger Moroewas announced on December 9, 1983 for what proved his 007th and finalfilm – at last! – andhisleast favourite. Shooting started on August 3, weeks after the fire at the 007 stage at Pinewood (re-opened in January 1985 as the Albert R Broccoli 007 Stage).
Moore said he decided to quit on learning that Tanya Roberts’ mother was younger than he was! At 57, he was now old enough to play M.
Roger Mortuary
finally got the message.
Moore is less.
He had played the suave secret agent until he was 58 years old, and knew that his clinches with young co-stars in Octopussy and A View to a Kill had the public squirming. “Of course I was getting long in the tooth. I was 58 when I finished. My God, Gary Cooper was seemingly an old man when he was about 56 doing Love in the Afternoon with Audrey Hepburn… When the leading ladies came in and they were younger than my daughter, I thought: Hmm, this is getting on a bit. And then… God, I could’ve had them as grand-daughters. It becomes rather disgusting – dirty old man. I see the blogs where [people write that] I was too light and I was too old… Well, I still got paid, and had a lot of laughs. I didn’t regret any of it.”
Lois Maxwell also made it her last film as Miss Moneypenny. Broccoli blockedherpromotion to M.Robert Brown remained behind the desk as Cubby felt the public would not approve of a womangiving orders to 007.SIS (aka MI6) had its first woman head, Stella Remington, in 1992 and the Bonds followed suit in 1993 with Judi Dench’s M in GoldenEye. (“OK,” said Judi, “as long as it’s not a gimmick”).
“People loved Roger Moore,” said one of his successors, Pierce Brosnan. “Roger did a great job, did seven films and it was entertaining. His Bond was what it was. I think you’ve got to respect the role.”
“Sean Connery was great, but I thought nobody else was close to what I think the character needed to be – Roger Moore was that guy.” This is Burt Reynolds, nearly the Diamonds Bond, talking with Mike Fleming Jr for Deadline Hollywood, December 22, 2015. “I mean Roger grew up knowing how to order a martini [not true], and I don’t know the difference between a martini and a whatever, but I think I could’ve had a good time with Bond. I think that the problem has been that they haven’t found a guy who was ballsy enough as a character, but yet had a great deal of suave and knew how to handle himself. So, as a character, Roger Moore has all that stuff, but Roger’s a little bit cleaned and scrubbed, you know?”
When Broccoli and his step-son heir, Michael G Wilson (co-scripter and co-producer) studied the entrails of the box-office take, they found it lower than usual. They needed a new Bond – fast. “We’re not,” stated Broccoli, “in the superannuated Bond business. Roger Moore had a shade too much mileage behind him.”
Whose fault was that!
Tributes >>>>>>>
Sir Roger Mooree was the first cinema Bond to die – May 23, 2017 – ten years after the first screen Bond, Barry Nelson.
“I was very sad to hear of Roger’s passing, we had an unusually long relationship by Hollywood standards, that was filled with jokes and laughter. I will miss him” – Sean Connery
“Dear Sir Roger Moore… You were a big part of my life, from The Saint to James Bond… you were a magnificent James Bond and one that lead the way for me, the world will miss you and your unique sense of humour for years to come.” – Pierce Brosnan.
“Nobody Does It Better”- Daniel Craig.
“On the screen, he reinvented the role of James Bond with tremendous skill, charisma and humour. In real life, he was a genuine hero working as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for many years dedicating his life to alleviating the suffering of children all over the world. He was a loyal and beloved friend and his legacy shall live on through his films and the millions of lives he touched.” – Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson.
As I’ve indicated in going through his reign, Moore – one of the nicest (and funniest) guys you’d ever hope to meet – was far from the finest Bond, and he knew it, turning the series into a bigger joke than it was ever intended to be. But, as he told me as far back as 1980… “I’ve done it, I’ve proved I can do it. I’ve proved I can make money. And I object to discussing terms for the next film while being threatened with their many clones being tested. Which strikes me as being slightly bad manners. I’m not into that rat-race.”He had played 007t until he was 58 years old, and knew that his clinches with young co-stars in Octopussy and A View to a Kill had the public squirming. “Of course I was getting long in the tooth. I was 58 when I finished. My God, Gary Cooper was seemingly an old man when he was about 56 doing Love in the Afternoon with Audrey Hepburn… When the leading ladies came in and they were younger than my daughter, I thought: Hmm, this is getting on a bit. And then… God, I could’ve had them as grand-daughters. It becomes rather disgusting – dirty old man. I see the blogs where [people write that] I was too light and I was too old… Well, I still got paid, and had a lot of laughs. I didn’t regret any of it.” – TC