On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)

Today I'll be continuing my James Bond marathon with the 6th official film, On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969).

SYNOPSIS:
James Bond (George Lazenby) happens across an Italian contessa, Tracy Draco (Diana Rigg) and rescues her from a suicide attempt, as well as protecting her from some aggressive bodyguards that have been following her.  Impressed with the effort to protect and woo his daughter, Marc Ange Draco (Gabriele Ferzetti) offers to pay Bond £1 million dowry if he'll win over his headstrong daughter and marry her.  Bond considers the offer on the premise that Draco use his (less than legitimate) influence to help Bond track down Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Telly Savales), whose trail has been cold for 2 years now.  Through Draco's resources, Bond locates Blofeld running an experimental allergy clinic in the Swiss alps.  Bond must infiltrate the clinic and stop Blofeld from his latest global scheme before it's too late!

REVIEW:
First off, I want to point out that, unlike my other James Bond reviews, there will be a spoiler in this one.  I will clearly mark it so you can skip it if you want, but the ending to this film is something I want to discuss, because it's something that will come up in later films.  So you have been warned.

This was the first official Bond film to not star the Scottish Sean Connery.  Instead, they hired the Australian George Lazenby, keeping up the tradition of a non-English actor playing the Englishman.  Sadly this was George Lazenby's only Bond film; although he spoke highly of it for the rest of his life and reveled in the fact that he got to be James Bond.

A proper Australian gentlemen

M (Bernard Lee) relieves Bond of his search for Blofeld, telling him "Operation Bedlam is dead."  Bond insists that he's just found a lead through Draco, but M tells him to drop it.  Upset, Bond asks M's secretary, Miss Moneypenny (Lois Maxwell) to write his resignation letter.  He goes to clean out his desk, pausing on various souvenirs from past films as their theme music faintly plays in the background.

Probably the only time you'll ever see Bond's office in the films.  He much prefers field work to paperwork.

Being called back to M's office, he's told that his 2-week leave has been approved.  Moneypenny requested time off for him instead, telling him she knew he didn't really want to resign anyway.  This won't be the first time that Bond threatens to resign in the franchise, but he thanks Moneypenny by giving her a quick peck on the lips and offering to take her out on a proper date the moment he returns.  Will Moneypenny finally have a shot at a relationship with Bond?!

Bond then infiltrates Blofeld's new lair through the disguise of a genealogist (study of ancestry), as Blofeld has taken the name of Count Balthazar de Bleuchamp and is trying to make a legitimate claim of the title through genealogical records.  He's given himself some plastic surgery, removing his face scar and cutting off his earlobes to appear as though he's a descendant of the Bleuchamp's.

Now, I will mention at this point that there's a huge continuity error here.  In the previous film, Bond and Blofeld met face-to-face.  But now that Bond is showing up under a pseudonym, Blofeld welcomes him in without hesitation, apparently not recognizing his mortal enemy.  I guess the change of actors made everyone forget that these two characters actually know each other from the previous film.  Oops.

Bond and Blofeld, meeting face to face... again.

An interesting detail to note is that James Bond researched his own genealogy while getting into the role and found himself tied back to Sir Thomas Bond, a real-world nobleman whose coat of arms has the Latin phrase orbis non sufficit (the world is not enough) emblazoned across it.  This family motto would become the name of a James Bond film much later on, along with its theme song.

♫ The World is Nooooot Enough! ♫

It's interesting to note that Bond, the perpetual bachelor, seems to have met his match with Tracy.  She's tough-willed, determined, and not afraid of trouble.  When Bond is in a pinch, she jumps in to rescue him and the two of them escape together.  He decides that maybe she's just the kind of woman who can keep up with him and his adventures.  So he officially asks her to marry him.

---

SPOILERS AHEAD!! (Skip the next 4 paragraphs if you don't want the ending spoiled)

---

So let's get in to this ending.  As usual, Bond saves the day, but Blofeld escapes once again.  Bond marries Tracy with an extravagant wedding.  Everyone attends, both from Draco's family and MI6 staff.  Draco and M seem to hit it off, reminiscing about Draco's shady operations and how he's managed to elude MI6.  Moneypenny can't stop crying, likely because her crush is now married off to someone else and she never got that date.  Q (Desmond Llewelyn) makes an appearance to wish Bond well, but Bond tells him, "This time, I have the gadgets, and I know how to use them."

"I'm well-equipped for THIS mission, Q!"

So Bond and Tracy drive off for their honeymoon, stopping on the side of the road to remove the ridiculous amounts of flowers adorning their vehicle.  All of a sudden, Blofeld and his right-hand henchwoman, Irma Bunt (Ilse Steppat) drive by and open fire!  Bond takes cover behind his car, then jumps in the driver's seat, exclaiming, "It's Blofeld!"  He looks over to his new wife to find a bullet right between her eyes.

A cop on a bike pulls up to find Bond cradling Tracy's head in his lap.  He tells the cop, "It's all right.  It's quite all right.  She's having a rest.  We'll be going on soon.  There's no hurry, you see?  We have all the time in the world."  Then the film ends.  Truly, the most tragic and heartbreaking ending to a Bond film.

This was how Ian Fleming's 11th novel by the same name ended.  As you may remember from my You Only Live Twice (1967) review, this story actually preceded that one, causing Bond to become borderline useless in the next story.  But the movies were made out of order, so the previous film had to change their plot drastically to adapt.  Tracy would be known as the only girl to every officially marry Bond (he married a Japanese woman in You Only Live Twice (1967), but under a fake name). In the novels, he'd visit her grave every year on the anniversary of her death.  We'll witness this at least once in future films, and he'll make a reference to his past marriage in another film.

---

END OF SPOILERS

---

I just want to point out that this was the Diana Rigg I grew up with.  Everyone seems to recognize her as tough and fearless Olenna Tyrell from the TV show Game of Thrones, but I always remembered her as Tracy Draco from On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969).  She was absolutely beautiful back then, and just as strong and determined as her Olenna Tyrell character.  Glad to see that attitude of hers never changed.

Diana Rigg was always one of my favorite Bond girls

On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) had a nice theme song, and the opening title sequence to accompany it shows clips from all the previous Bond films, to remind you that yes, even with a new actor, this is still the same James Bond.  Also, if you get a chance, you should look up the song, "We Have All the Time in the World," by Louis Armstrong.  It's a beautiful, yet tragic love song to accompany this film.

RECOMMENDATION:
This is an essential turning point for the Bond franchise.  Despite putting a new actor in the role, it took a risk by introducing a capable Bond girl who could handle the danger alongside Bond.  He truly found his match.  This is a very good film that shows a more emotional Bond, and George Lazenby did excellent in the role.  I'd highly recommend this film!

Casino Royale (1967)

I'm still continuing my James Bond marathon this month, but today is a slight deviation from the official films.  Today, I'll be reviewing the spy spoof film Casino Royale (1967).

SYNOPSIS:
Sir James Bond (David Niven), the original gentleman spy, is persuaded by world intelligence leaders to come out of retirement to deal with an exceptionally dangerous threat to all the world's spies.  SMERSH, an international anti-spy organization, has been preying on the growing trend of overly-sexualized spies in the field, by training their own femme fatale unit to seduce and then eliminate them.  Sir James Bond leads MI5 in creating their own unit of James Bonds who are exceptionally trained at resisting feminine charm, and to confuse SMERSH with their identical names and 007 code names.  Will the Bonds be able to track down the mysterious Dr. Noah, leader of SMERSH, and put an end to his schemes?

REVIEW:
This was a fun spoof of the official James Bond films, a bit light on comedy, a bit all over the place, but it delivers on entertainment.  It starts out pretty interesting, drags a bit in the middle, but the third act leading up to the climax is excellent, ending the film in a very chaotic final battle, in very similar fashion to Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles (sans the 4th wall breaking).

Can YOU tell the difference between these two films?

Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman bought the movie rights to all the James Bond novels except the first one, Casino Royale, because Ian Fleming had already sold the rights to a producer/director. The film rights were brought to CBS to create the self-titled hour-long episode on Climax! Mystery Theater (see my first James Bond review for the story on that episode).  The rights to Casino Royale were then handed back and forth for a bit before landing in Charles K. Feldman's hands.  Not able to negotiate a deal with Broccoli and Saltzman to co-produce a film, he decided to make a satire film instead.  Later, in 1999, EON would buy the rights to Casino Royale, and in 2006, they produced a rebooted Bond film of the same name.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Sir James Bond (David Niven) is the perfect gentleman in this film.  He's disgusted by MI5 handing off his real name and 007 code name to their next agent after Sir Bond's retirement.  His former boss, M (John Huston), was trying to keep the legend of the immortal James Bond alive, but the new guy is an alcoholic womanizer who smokes too much and uses too many fancy gadgets instead of raw ingenuity and skill (sound familiar?).  However, when Sir Bond is targeted by SMERSH operatives too, he begrudgingly returns to service.

The perfect gentleman doesn't exi-

Sir Bond is the exact opposite of James Bond, fending off women's advances like a pro.  He refuses to sleep with anyone, doesn't drink, and admits that he's been trying to quit smoking.  He takes over MI5 in the absence of M, and learning that the current James Bond has left to become an actor, Sir Bond decides to form his own troupe of James Bonds in order to confuse SMERSH.  But this is an equal-opportunity employment; three of the James Bonds are actually women!

Even while surrounded by gorgeous women, Sir James Bond keeps his libido in check

Here's where the story starts to get a little muddled.  I guess they wanted to make use of the Casino Royale movie rights at this point, because an elaborate plot is formulated to stop Le Chiffre (Orson Welles) from earning enough money to pay what he owes to SMERSH.  A good chunk of the film is dedicated to setting up this whole plot and carrying it through.  Afterward, Sir Bond's adopted daughter, Mata Bond (Joanna Pettet), named for his deceased lover Mata Hari, is randomly kidnapped in broad daylight via a UFO and taken away.  Sir Bond and his remaining Bonds all track her down to SMERSH headquarters where they come face-to-face with Dr. Noah (an obvious nod to Dr. No).  There, they learn his (ridiculous) master plan and attempt to put a stop to it.  Notice I haven't credited Dr. Noah's name?  No, his face isn't hidden like Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the official James Bond series.  But the character was a surprise villain, having already been established earlier in the film, so I won't spoil it with the actor's name.

The mysterious Dr. Noah, moments before his reveal

Peter Sellers, the actor who plays Evelyn Tremble, one of the recruited James Bonds, apparently nearly ruined this film.  He was very entitled and difficult to work with.  When Princess Margaret, sister of Queen Elizabeth II, visited the set one day, Sellers, who had known her previously, made a very obvious show of greeting her in front of everyone. The princess ignored him and walked right past, instead running up to Orson Welles and fawning over him. Sellers stormed off set, and since then, refused to do any scenes with Orson Welles.  All their scenes together had to be filmed on separate days, with stand-ins for the other.

Also, Peter Sellers had always wanted to do a serious Bond film.  Learning after-the-fact that this role was satire, he made an effort to play it serious regardless.  He demanded changes to his script to match a more serious tone and did his best to eliminate any comedy in his scenes.  Hence why this satire film is light on comedy and drags in the middle, mostly during Sellers' scenes.  That, plus many other conflicts he caused on set, caused him to be fired before all his scenes were complete.  He was supposed to be the lead character, taking over the official James Bond role from Sir James Bond, but with his firing, a new ending was written, bringing Sir James Bond into the field to deal with SMERSH himself.  Which worked out very well, in my opinion.

Peter Sellers injured this actress, firing blanks at her face in this scene. She was terrified to be in a scene with him after that.

RECOMMENDATION:
Overall, it was a very unusual film.  With a slow and boring 2nd act and a total run time of 2 hrs, 11 mins, this film could've easily cut out some scenes and tightened up others.  Transitions between scenes were not always smooth and clear, and even after re-watching it for the 3rd time now, I still had to look up the story online to help me understand exactly what happened in certain places.  The film doubled its $6 million budget during production and was so chaotic and behind schedule, some of the actors walked.  Woody Allen, who plays Sir James Bond's silly nephew, was so outraged at the lavish spending and improper use of time and management on set, that he walked out on his last day of filming and boarded a plane to New York while still in costume.  It's definitely a film you should check out at least once, but if you're intent on doing a James Bond marathon, you can easily skip this one.  It won't add anything of substance to the franchise.

Random Trivia: Ian Fleming actually wanted David Niven to play James Bond in the cinematic version of his novels.  But when the studio chose the Scottish Sean Connery to play an English gentleman, Fleming was pissed.  However, having seen Connery in the role, Fleming eventually decided that he was a good fit, and even re-wrote James Bond's ancestry to make him Scottish-descended.

You Only Live Twice (1967)

Today, for my James Bond marathon, I'll be reviewing the 5th official James Bond film, You Only Live Twice (1967).

SYNOPSIS:
An unidentified spacecraft has been capturing US and Russian space shuttles orbiting the earth and then disappearing from radar.  Both nations accuse the other of the foul deed, bringing them to the brink of war.  The more level-headed UK sends James Bond (Sean Connery) to Japan to investigate a possible lead, bringing him face-to-face with his mysterious arch-enemy and leader of SPECTRE, Ernst Stavro Blofeld! (Donald Pleasence)

REVIEW:
This was a big film!  Blown up to be the biggest Bond production yet, because Sean Connery announced he was quitting the role of James Bond forever after this film.  You see, the producers, expecting that Connery wouldn't be able to keep up the role forever, decided to hold secret auditions for a potential replacement actor for Bond.  But Sean Connery caught wind of it.  He was so outraged, he announced the end of his role as James Bond once this film was over.  Which led to a mad rush to find a replacement actor.  But more on that in the next official Bond film review.

Sean Connery had defined the character of James Bond on the big screen.  Knowing this would be the final Sean Connery film (and potentially the end of their franchise if they couldn't find an actor to live up to the role), they decided to make it as spectacular as possible.  James Bond will meet Blofeld for the first time and Blofeld's face would finally be revealed.  James Bond will get married.  James Bond will become Japanese and learn martial arts.  James Bond will die.

James Bond's Japanese look.

On top of that, the studio built a massive $1 million studio for Blofeld's secret volcano lair.  It was one of the largest stages every produced for a film at the time and could be seen for miles.  It attracted a lot of curious onlookers to Pinewood Studios.  It was also the inspiration for grandiose evil lairs in many future supervillain films, including Austin Powers, where Dr. Evil had his own volcano lair.

The granddaddy of all evil lairs!

Speaking of Dr. Evil, the character's look was inspired by the appearance of Ernst Stavro Blofeld in this film, who finally revealed his face!  He was a serious-looking bald man with a rather large scar running over his droopy right eye and down his cheek.  He didn't sound as intimidating as his previous iterations in other films, and being shorter than Sean Connery, it was hard to see him as a threat while he's looking up into Bond's face.  But he lived up to his infamy all the same.  His volcano lair also had a pool of piranhas, which he used to dispose of his employees who disappointed him.  Classic supervillain move.

The face that defined supervillains for decades to come!

I mentioned that James Bond dies in this film.  That's not exactly a spoiler, as it happens at the very beginning of the film.  Bond is flirting with a woman in a fold-out bed when she flips his bed up into the wall, trapping him.  Two men run into the room and unload machine guns into the bed.  When police arrive, they find a bloody Bond and pronounce him dead.  After receiving a proper burial at sea (he was a Navy Commander, after all), Bond's body is retrieved by MI6, only for us to discover he was alive and well, breathing through an air tank in his body bag.  And thus, the world believes him dead, taking some heat off him and giving him the freedom to go undercover once again.  I guess it's hard to be a SECRET agent when everyone knows your name.

Blargh.  I am dead.  No, seriously guys.

The first time I saw this film, I knew the next film would have a new actor as 007.  So when this scene happened, I though they were killing off James Bond for real, so they could introduce a new character to take his place.  But no, it negated his death almost immediately with a flimsy excuse.  I guess this was the film's way to make sense of its title.

You Only Live Twice, Ian Fleming's 12th novel, was the last novel he'd publish in his lifetime.  In an almost suiting manner, the story was practically one of finality for James Bond.  In Fleming's previous novel, James Bond actually got married, but his wife was murdered mere hours after the ceremony by Blofeld.  In You Only Live Twice, Bond has become practically useless as a spy, letting depression and apathy take him over.  As a last chance for redemption, M sends Bond to Japan to persuade them to share intercepted Russian radio transmissions.  The Japanese agree, but only if Bond kills a mysterious Dr. Shatterhand who has been plaguing them.

It turns out Shatterhand is Blofeld in disguise!  Bond swears revenge for his wife and eventually kills Blofeld once and for all, but suffers a head injury in the process.  Suffering from amnesia, he ends up settling down as a Japanese fisherman, while the rest of the world declares him deceased.  But he's unable to get a Russian name out of his head and he travels to Russia to learn about his past and hopefully regain his memory.

The next two novels were released after Ian Fleming's death; one being an incomplete manuscript that publishers did their best to flesh out into a full story, and the other being a collection of unreleased short stories concerning Bond.  So the story of Bond officially ended at You Only Live Twice, where Bond is granted a second chance at living a normal life.  Fortunately, the films did not end here, despite Sean Connery passing on the role.

Q (Desmond Llewelyn) makes his return in this film, equipping Bond in the field again.  James Bond requests the delivery of "Little Nellie" and her father.  It turns out Little Nellie is the name of a tiny personal helicopter armed to the teeth with machine guns, flame throwers, aerial mines, rockets, and heat-seeking missiles.  Her father, of course, was Q, the man who invented her.  Besides the helicopter, Bond is given a cigarette rocket by the head of the Japanese Secret Service, Tiger Tanaka.  It's a cigarette that, when lighted, shoots a mini rocket from within it.

Little Nellie (helicopter) and her father (Q, left)

As usual, this film has a beautiful self-titled theme song.  You can watch/listen to it here:

RECOMMENDATION:
This film completed the classic supervillain tropes, with a secret volcano lair and an evil villain with a face scar.  If you want a taste of the classic super spy films, you absolutely have to watch these first 5 official James Bond films for the complete effect.  If you love action films, you must see the originals that set the stage for all secret agent action films to come!

Thunderball (1965)

Welcome back!  Continuing with my James Bond marathon, today I'll be reviewing Thunderball (1965), the 4th official James Bond film, and by far the most controversial film in the franchise!

SYNOPSIS:
A plane carrying two atomic bombs mysteriously crashes into the ocean.  Within a day, the evil international organization SPECTRE claims to have control of its nukes and demands NATO pay a ransom of £100 million within 7 days; otherwise they'll use them to wipe out a large city in the US or UK.  All nine 00 agents are brought in to investigate, but James Bond (Sean Connery) requests to pursue a clue in the Bahamas.  There, he meets Emilio Largo (Adolfo Celi), a sinister one-eyed man whom Bond begins to suspect is involved with SPECTRE.

REVIEW:
Once again, this film begets more famous supervillain tropes with the return of SPECTRE.  We see Ernst Stavro Blofeld and his white persian cat once again (well, all but his face) as he briefs a meeting room full of his SPECTRE agents.  Finding one guilty of embezzlement, he presses a button on his console to electrocute the man's chair and dispose of his body under the table.

The mysterious Blofeld holding a SPECTRE meeting

We're also introduced to Blofeld's Number 2, a.k.a. Emilio Largo.  He's a silver-haired villain who wears an eye patch over his left eye.  Obviously, he was the inspiration for Dr. Evil's Number 2 in the Austin Powers films.  Plus, Largo has a pool of sharks that he feeds his employees to when they displease him; another famous trope that Austin Powers adapted (sadly, no friggin' lasers attached to their heads in Thunderball (1965)).

Q (Desmond Llewelyn) makes an appearance half way through the film, choosing to arm Bond in the field this time.  He provides Bond with a Geiger counter disguised as a watch, a waterproof camera, a mini pistol that fires flares, a tiny pen-sized breathing device that would allow someone about 4 minutes of air underwater, and a radioactive pill that would send out a homing signal once ingested.  We also briefly see Bond's famous 1964 Aston Martin DB5, a relief considering he wrecked it in Goldfinger (1964) and then spent the rest of the movie as basically a captive.  Somehow, he recovered it and restored it (probably on the government's dime, considering it was a gov't-issued vehicle).

The SPECTRE logo has been refined in this film.  The last time we saw a SPECTRE ring was in From Russia with Love (1963), which looked like a goofy sketch of a 4-armed octopus/skull hybrid.  The logo in Thunderball (1965) was more detailed, creating a more menacing 8-legged octopus. Years later, in SPECTRE (2015), the logo would be redefined yet again, with a 7-legged octopus.  Here are the various iterations:

So let's get into the meat of this film's controversy.  Thunderball (1965) was originally supposed to be the first James Bond film.  In 1958, Ian Fleming hired on Kevin McClory (who also brought in Jack Whittingham) to assist him in drafting a screenplay for his novel series' titular character.  The three of them went to work writing the screenplay, but when the deal ultimately fell through, Ian Fleming took the unfinished draft and used it as inspiration to write his 9th James Bond novel, which he named Thunderball.  Upon reading an early release of the novel, McClory and Whittingham filed a lawsuit to stop the release of the novel, claiming that it was heavily plagiarized from their screenplay.

During the legal battle, Ian Fleming suffered a heart attack and decided he was too tired and weak to continue legal discourse.  He settled out of court with McClory, agreeing to give him certain rights to the screenplay, including characters, story, and film rights, but prevent him from creating a film with it for at least 10 years.  Meanwhile, Ian Fleming would maintain the rights to the novel he wrote, but would have to credit McClory and Whittingham as collaborators in subsequent printings.

Ian Fleming would suffer a second heart attack 9 months later, this time ending his life.  In 1964, after the success of the first three Bond films, McClory approached Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, the current owners of the film rights to the James Bond novels, and arranged a deal to adapt his screenplay for Thunderball into an official movie.  Per his legal agreement, he did not participate in the production of the film, but he received a writing credit.

To this day, there is still controversy over who exactly came up with SPECTRE and its leader, Ernst Stavro Blofeld.  They first appeared in the original screenplay for Thunderball, long before any Bond films were made, but a note written by Ian Fleming for McClory and Whittingham make it almost appear as though Fleming himself came up with the evil organization.  Their exclusive rights would be contested by McClory for many years, until eventually, EON Productions dropped them from the franchise altogether, choosing to come up with real-world threats for Bond instead of continually battling a mysterious international terrorist organization.

Kevin McClory passed away in 2006.  In 2013, EON purchased the rights to Thunderball and all associated stories, characters, and organizations from his family's estate, allowing them to finally use the evil empire in their modern Bond films.  Blofeld would live again!  But I'm getting way ahead of myself.

Kevin McClory - The jerk who maintained lawsuits against the films for years

The soundtrack for Thunderball (1965) is absolutely beautiful!  The gorgeous orchestral works for the water-themed film has set a precedent for aquatic themes in future works.  I even noticed World of Warcraft, when creating their underwater realm Vashj'ir, used a similarly-styled theme for the background music.  Here's Thunderball's self-titled theme song and opening title sequence, but I recommend looking up the rest of the soundtrack for this film:

RECOMMENDATION:
Up to this point, Goldfinger (1964) had solidified the standard for international spy films, outperforming its two predecessors.  Thunderball (1965) continues to expand the world of James Bond and uphold the standard set by its previous title.  Bringing back the classic SPECTRE organization after a brief hiatus, we get to see just how involved this secret empire is in world affairs, and how resourceful they can be.  If you've been following the films up to this point, you definitely can't miss this one!  And just a reminder: Amazon Prime has apparently made all the Bond films previous to the Daniel Craig era available for free streaming as of April 1st.  So go check them out!  You can watch them along with me this month!

Goldfinger (1964)

Today, we continue my James Bond marathon with the third official film, Goldfinger (1964).  Now with pictures!  Go back to my previous James Bond reviews for some extra images to enjoy.

SYNOPSIS:
James Bond (Sean Connery) is tasked with tracking a self-made jeweler and gold bullion dealer by the name of Auric Goldfinger (Gert Fröbe).  He's to find out if Goldfinger is importing his gold illegally.  But while casing the eccentric gentleman, Bond discovers a far more devious plot to raid the gold stores at Fort Knox and obliterate the world's economy!

REVIEW:
Q (Desmond Llewelyn) is back again, this time issuing James Bond his most famous car: a 1964 Aston Martin DB5.  But this is no ordinary car.  It includes high-tech gadgets such as rotating license plates, GPS tracking, bullet-proof rear plate, smoke screen and oil slick buttons, machine guns that pop out of the front, and of course, a button on the shift knob that ejects the passenger seat.  Q also hands Bond two tracking devices; one the size of a deck of cards that can be hidden in a vehicle, and a miniature version to put in a hidden compartment in the sole of his shoe.

The gold standard of Bond cars

Goldfinger is the first official Bond villain who is not associated with SPECTRE.  He was associated with them in the books, but for the film version, he was just an eccentric man who loved everything about gold and would do anything to increase the value of his gold collection.  As you may have guessed, Austin Powers' Goldmember was based on Goldfinger; although Goldmember was a lot more creepy.

Goldfinger does not approve of Goldmember

Goldfinger employs as his personal muscle, a short, mute Asian man by the name of Oddjob.  His specialty (besides being insanely strong) is throwing his steel-rimmed bowler hat to kill people.  He was also the inspiration for the Austin Powers henchman, Random Task, who would throw his shoe at people.  Anyone who played the multiplayer mode of the old Nintendo 64 game GoldenEye can attest that Oddjob is the absolute worst.  Being the shortest character, he was the hardest to hit in that game.  Screw anyone who chose to play as Oddjob!

Playing as Oddjob is cheating!

Ahem.  This film was far more successful than the previous two, and brought about its own share of recognizable tropes.  For instance, there's a scene where Bond is strapped to a table while a laser is slowly moving up between his legs.  A nervous Bond asks Goldfinger, "Do you expect me to talk?"  To which Goldfinger laughs, "No, Mr. Bond. I expect you to die!"

That's gonna sting a little...

There is another famous scene where Bond finds a girl dead who has been painted gold from head to toe.  This scene was due to the old superstition that if you covered your entire body in paint, you would somehow suffocate and die.  It was believed that your skin needed to breathe, and covering all of your skin would kill you.  Fortunately, that's not a real thing.

What a way to go... suffocated by blocked pores

The Bond Girl in this film is a tough and feisty lady by the name of Pussy Galore (Honor Blackman), who is a pilot and has trained a team of female pilots known as Pussy Galore's Flying Circus.  So far, she's the toughest woman in the series.  She spends most of her screen time rejecting Bond's charm and fighting back when cornered.  It was definitely a different era when this film released, because the way Bond eventually seduces her is very rapey.  He ends up forcing her down to the ground, pinning her with his own body. She fights him the entire time, until he inevitably gets close enough to locks lips with her.  All of a sudden, her fight is gone and she finally gives in to him.  My wife and I joked that Bond's lips must be magical because no girl continues to resist him once he's kissed them.  And Sean Connery's Bond has been very forceful in initiating intimacy; sometimes with strangers he's just met!  He was a powerful sex icon in his day, but by today's standards, Bond would be in jail for sexual assault in a heartbeat.

This isn't creepy at all...

After the lighter, more romantic theme of the previous film, this film comes in strong with a powerful singer, cautioning against letting Goldfinger get too close.  Here's the film's opening title sequence:

RECOMMENDATION:
This film improves on the previous two, having finally found a good blend between secret agent and gentleman spy.  The story is exciting from start to finish and the battle of wits between Bond and Goldfinger keeps you entertained.  Not to mention, Goldfinger's plan, once laid out, is actually quite brilliant.  If you watch any of the early Bond films, you have to see this one!

From Russia with Love (1963)

My next installment of the James Bond marathon includes the second official film, From Russia with Love (1963).

By the way, I just found out yesterday that Amazon Prime just released all the pre- Daniel Craig Bond films in high def for free streaming.  If you have an Amazon Prime account, you can watch all the classic films along with me!

SYNOPSIS:
The international terrorist organization, SPECTRE, plans to get their hands on a decoding device known as the Lektor.  Their plot requires tricking a young Russian girl, Tatiana "Tanja" Romanova (Daniela Bianchi) into seducing James Bond (Sean Connery) into helping her "defect" to England with the Lektor; upon which SPECTRE plans to steal once it's out of Russian hands.  Tanja takes orders from Rosa Klebb (Lotte Lenya), a brutish lady whom Tanja doesn't realize has been relieved of her duties in Russia and is now working for SPECTRE.  Stalking in the background is Donovan "Red" Grant (Robert Shaw), a large blonde assassin for SPECTRE who is specially trained to kill James Bond and steal the Lektor.  Will Bond be able to rescue the girl and escort her and the Lektor safely to England...?

REVIEW:
This is the continuation of the (then-new) James Bond franchise, picking up shortly where the previous film left off.  We catch up to Bond "reviewing an old case" as he's having a fun picnic with Sylvia Trench (Eunice Gayson), the first girl Bond met with in the previous film.  He's called in to work immediately, where he's told of this very obvious trap that's been presented to him - a beautiful young girl wants to defect with a decoder, but only if James Bond himself comes to escort her.  MI6 is very intent on getting their hands on a decoder, so they send Bond to Istanbul to investigate and determine if there's a chance he could bring it home, despite the obvious set-up.

"Reviewing an old case"

We are introduced to Q (Desmond Llewelyn), a.k.a. the Quartermaster, head of Q-Branch.  A Quartermaster is one who provides rations and/or other provisions for a military, and Q is just that man, giving Bond his first gadgets.  He's given a briefcase with a tear gas can inside.  Open the case the wrong way and you get a face full of tear gas.  Also hidden in the lining of the briefcase is a knife, extra rounds for his gun, and 50 gold coins in case he needs something to barter with.  Side note: Desmond Llewelyn would continue to fulfill his role as Q in the Bond franchise for many decades, until his untimely death in a car crash in 1999.

Q meeting up with James Bond for the first time

This film is the first time the leader of SPECTRE is seen; although we never see his face.  We only see the white persian cat he lovingly strokes in his lap, which has become a supervillain trademark thanks to these early Bond films.  We also see the iconic SPECTRE logo on his ring, a black octopus.  He's referred to as Number 1 (a.k.a. Ernst Stavro Blofeld) and he's very displeased with James Bond killing Dr. No, one of his top agents.  Kronsteen (Vladek Sheybal), a.k.a. Number 5, presents a plot to steal a Lektor from the Russians, and Rosa Klebb, a.k.a. Number 3, offers to involve James Bond in their plot, giving them another chance to kill him.  She recruits Tanja, pretending to continue her role as an officer of SMERSH, a Russian anti-spy organization, and then recruits Red to kill both of them once the Lektor is secure.

The mysterious Ernst Stavro Blofeld, leader of SPECTRE (The man, not the cat)

Blofeld is uncredited in this film.  It was their intent to keep his identity a complete secret, so even his actor's name is unmentioned.  In the place of the actor's name in the credits, there is only a question mark.  It will be several films before we're finally able to put a face to the name.  But when we do, his revealed face ends up being the inspiration for Dr. Evil in the Austin Powers films.  Rosa Klebb is also a huge inspiration for Frau Farbissina, Dr. Evil's right-hand henchwoman.

SMERSH was an actual Russian organization in the mid-40s.  It's name was a portmanteau: Смерть шпионам (SMERt' SHpionam, a.k.a. "Death to Spies").  Coined by Joseph Stalin, it was intended to be a counter-intelligence agency, protecting the Red Army from infiltration and internal conflict.  Ian Fleming included a fictional version of SMERSH as his international terrorist organization in his novels, up until he wrote Thunderball, where the new acronym SPECTRE took over as their new name.  It was a better name for an organization with no political ties to any one nation; no longer feeding off their real-life Russian roots any longer.  But Thunderball also brought conflict with that new name, a story I will tell when I get to that film in a couple days.

This film was based on Ian Fleming's 5th novel: "From Russia, with Love."  It was surprisingly loyal to the original story, only changing up a few details here and there.  This would also be the last film that Ian Fleming would ever see, as he passed away a year later, just before the third film released.  From Russia with Love (1963) had its own self-titled theme song, which sets the mood just right.  You can watch/listen to it here:

RECOMMENDATION:
This was an excellent follow-up to Dr. No (1962).  Bond is assigned to escort a defector with a Lektor, and he ends up fighting for his life in the process.  The story keeps you engaged, but not overwhelmed with action.  Like its predecessor, it has quieter moments where you can breathe a bit and process the story so far.  Plus, they filmed on location in Istanbul, so you got to see some of the beautiful sights.  That's one of the best parts of James Bond films; seeing the beautiful locations around the world where he travels.  If you want some action and intrigue, as well as more insider info to the mysterious SPECTRE organization, this is the film for you!

Dr. No (1962)

Happy April, everyone!  Welcome back to my James Bond marathon!  Today, I'll be reviewing the first official Bond film, Dr. No (1962).

SYNOPSIS:
Strange radio signals have been throwing NASA's space rockets at Cape Canaveral off course.  British spies were investigating a potential lead down in Jamaica when they suddenly went missing.  MI6, the secret head department of British Intelligence, sends their best agent, James Bond (Sean Connery) - code name 007 - to investigate their disappearance.  Along the way, Bond meets up with a CIA agent, Felix Leiter (Jack Lord), a local fisherman named Quarrel (John Kitzmiller), and Honey Rider (Ursula Andress), a woman hunting for seashells who gets caught up in the action.  Together, the group must track down the mysterious Chinese man, Dr. No (Joseph Wiseman) and uncover his secret plot to destabilize the world!

REVIEW:
This film, being the very first official Bond film, introduced several characters who would continue to make appearances throughout the history of the films.  James Bond being the biggest, but also his American CIA agent counterpart, Felix Leiter; his boss at MI6, M (Bernard Lee); and M's secretary, Moneypenny (Lois Maxwell), who would spend years pursuing Bond but never getting more than flirtatious affection from him.

James Bond's first introduction to the big screen

This film also introduced the secret terrorist organization, SPECTRE (Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge, and Extortion).  They would go on to become one of the greatest antagonists that James Bond battles with.  However, due to a real-world legal battle, they disappeared from later films.  But I'll get more in detail about that in later reviews.

This first Bond film is a classic, bringing you back to the simpler times of the early '60s.  There are no fancy gadgets involved.  James Bond is forced to give up his trusty Beretta handgun in exchange for the government-issued Walther PPK, which would become his standard-issue gun throughout the film series. And that's it; no other gadgets or secret toys.  He's sent on assignment to find out what happened to his fellow agents in Jamaica and uncover the secret radio disturbances.  The US is planning to send their next rocket to the moon, which requires very precise coordinates, so Bond is on a tight deadline.

Along the way, he seduces a couple women, bests a few assassins, and eventually finds himself in the secret lair of Dr. No, where he has to find a way to shut him down for good.

Honey Rider and James Bond

What I love about this film is the pacing.  Unlike modern action films that have non-stop action, only pausing to insert some exposition for the audience, this film takes its time.  You watch Bond go through the entire investigation process.  He finds clues that eventually point him toward his destination, but getting there is the story.  In this 2-hour film, he doesn't even meet Dr. No until the last 20 minutes!

There are wonderful stretches where you watch a process unfold, rather than cutting straight to the action.  For instance, there's a point where a henchman goes to warn Dr. No that Bond is on their trail.  But it doesn't cut to him talking to Dr. No.  Instead, you see him leave his office, go down to the docks, explain to a boatman why it's essential he "break protocol" and visit Dr. No, travel to an island, in-process on arrival, and be escorted to a dark room, where he FINALLY gets to talk to the boss.  It gives so much room to just observe the story and process it, without holding your hand from plot point to plot point.  Which is the whole point of a visual medium; show, don't tell.

Felix Leiter and James Bond meet for the first time

It's also interesting to note that in this film, which released in 1962, Cape Canaveral was trying to send a mission to the Moon.  It wouldn't be until 1969 when we actually land on the Moon.  So making a successful mission to the Moon was a big deal at the time of this film's release; part of the motivation for Bond to succeed in his mission, and a big motivator for the villain to ensure it didn't happen.

Dr. No himself is the first Bond villain with a sinister style/defect.  His hands are both metal.  I assume they're robotic, as he can move his fingers and grab things, but it's never clearly expressed.  He just refers to them as accidents caused in pursuit of his goals.  He also wears a traditional gray Asian suit with a high collar, which would later be the inspiration for Dr. Evil's gray jumpsuit in the Austin Powers films.  The character of Dr. Evil, however, would be based off the actual leader of SPECTRE, who we will learn about in tomorrow's review.

Dr. No and his metal hands

Finally, this film started the famous gun barrel opening scene, followed by the film's theme music set to dancing silhouettes of women.  Every James Bond film is known for their beautiful orchestral theme song that matches the time period in which it was released.  But the main theme for this film became the standard James Bond theme for the rest of the franchise.  Regardless of which film you're watching, the "James Bond Theme" song can be found playing in one form or another.  Easily one of the most recognizable musical riffs today.  Here's the title sequence for this film in its entirety:

RECOMMENDATION:
This film is a masterpiece, introducing the famous Ian Fleming novels to the big screen.  Despite being the first official movie, the story of Dr. No was actually Ian Fleming's 6th book in his series.  You'll learn that the movies definitely have a signature style for the stories/characters that differ from the books.  And in some cases only use the title of a book while presenting its own unique story.  Back then, loyalty to the source material wasn't a big deal.  What mattered was how moviegoers would enjoy the films, and they were a hit!  This film spawned a franchise that is still going to this day, 58 years later.  If you haven't seen this very first James Bond film, you should!

Random Trivia: Sean Connery started balding at 21 years old.  By the time he filmed Dr. No, he was 32 and had to wear partial wigs.  Throughout his entire time as James Bond (and most of his young acting career), he wore wigs.  It wasn't until he was really old and gray that he fully embraced his bald head.  For years, I didn't realize that Indiana Jones' elderly father in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) was the same actor as James Bond in these early Bond films.