Bond Films: Sixties Bond

At this point I've seen all of the Connery Bond films, as well as the Lazenby Bond, except for Never Say Never Again, which as a non-EON film is what I would call non-canonical - it stands on its own.

While I am tempted to refer to this as the Connery Bond era, I think Sixties Bond is a bit more apt. Amateur Bond-o-Files will judge Bond movies by the actor playing them, as do the hoi polloi. However, as I have advanced my Bond Knowledge, I've learned that the actor is only one element among many that can make or break a Bond Film.

Sixties Bond set the tone for future Bond films. There is a villain, there is a girl, there are mysterious strangers, assaults, kidnappings, and gadgets.Sixties Bond varies in the amount of self-aware irony on display. At times, Sixties Bond enjoys being well-regarded while he knows he is only pretending to be well-regarded, and at other times, Sixties Bond is sure of himself even in the midst of the most ridiculous acts.

Sixties Bond is a good pairing with the first two seasons of Mad Men, on AMC. Sixties Bond is of that era, and so is a cultural artifact of the world that the characters in Mad Men seek to mold. The casual smoking, drinking, and sex in both represent the aspirations of the male middle class. Don Draper not only wants to live the James Bond life, but he knows other men want that life, and he can build entire advertising campaigns around that aspiration (see Season 4's build-up to the Jaguar campaign).

Sixties Bond has an arc through the first four or five films. Bond is a super secret agent; he uncovers a plot by a second-tier villain, a member of an international terrorist conspiracy; after defeating Dr No, he is hunted by the conspiracy, and outwits their trap. He takes on another criminal, Goldfinger, and later, the terrorists again; Emile Largo, in Thunderball.

Then . .  .Bond goes wonky.

In my opinion it's best to avoid You Only Live Twice and Diamonds Are Forever. Especially the latter, just pretend it never happened. After Thunderball, go straight to On Her Majesty's Secret Service (OHMSS). There, you'll find as good a Bond plot as any. Get over Lazenby. He's not bad.

In OHMSS we see Bond forced to make real choices: he's taken off the case of the criminal conspiracy he's chased for the entire franchise; he falls in love with a troubled woman who tries to commit suicide early in the film; he's given an offer of information on his quarry in exchange for making a deal with a powerful criminal. Bond is not quite omnipotent in this film. He is vulnerable, and in the end, he gets married. Bond pays for that vulnerability, but for the audience, we see a human being, not a projection of our inner superman complexes.

Bond films are as much about their villains as Bond himself. In Sixties Bond, this is usually Ernst Stavro Blofeld, typically offscreen but aided by his minions. Dr No is a pretty good villain, more tragic than menacing - he's practically how Edward Scissorhands would have turned out as an adult. Goldfinger is a great villain, the Continental banker as villain, perfect for the times. However, of all Blofeld's lieutenants  Largo seemed the most dangerous. He's smart, a strong leader, and has no hesitation about killing his underlings when they get in his way.

Among these villains, Blofeld stands out above them, and deserves special mention. He changes in pretty much each movie, switching from the lap-cat voice-in-a-chair to Donald Pleasance's simpering scarface, to Telly Savalas' athletic skier, to Charles Grey's ridiculously body-doubled majordomo. The producers ought to have been wise enough to know that you can only reveal Blofeld once; after that, he's either dead, or a known force in the world. He's either Moriarty or Darth Vader; he can't be both. All that aside, I was surprisingly impressed with Telly Savalas' Blofeld. This was a man who could physically kick Bond's ass in person. Sure he had minions, but that was only because otherwise he couldn't be bothered, not because he couldn't do the work himself.

Among the girls, special love has to go out to Diana Rigg in OHMSS. She manages to be a little crazy, a little conniving, and more than a little appealing all at once. She's Bond's match mentally and physically, but without threatening his manhood. Unlike Pussy Galore - who let's face it, gets props for her name, and not the fact that she leads her own squadron of women stunt pilots - Rigg's girl is competent in a way rivaled only by Ursula Andress in Dr No. I almost forgot the girl in Thunderball, who manages to spear Largo, rescuing Bond and avenging her brother at the same time. Contrast any of these girls with Jill St John in Diamonds Are Forever. They would kick her ass.

Dr No is a good introduction to the series, but not necessary  After seeing so many variations and parodies of the formula, it's a little weird to see it straight.

From Russia With Love is Bond at his fighting best. The plot is old-fashioned spycraft; this is Bond in the world of the Third Man. The only weird part is the Turkish spymaster played by a Mexican-American.

Goldfinger has a good plot and a great villain, a great henchman, and a mostly interchangeable cavalcade of women. Bond hits his tride here in Bond-villain interplay. It's required viewing for the franchise.

Thunderball also features a good plot and a great villain. It's somewhat topical for modern viewers - international terrorists steal nuclear warheads, plan to detonate near Miami. It also features what over the most elaborate scuba-fighting sequences ever.

You Only Live Twice has a great theme song, sung by Nancy Sinatra. Also, we get a wide shot of the secret volcano lair. That's about all this film has going for it.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service makes you care about Bond. Blofeld's motivations and scheme don't make a lot of sense, but everything else works. It's a high point of villain, girl, and plot.

Diamonds Are Forever is like a parody of a Bond film. It's needlessly ridiculous, with a silly villain, a useless girl, and caricature henchmen. Avoid it if you can.

So, I close out Sixties Bond with the recommendations outlined above - there are two you can skip. From Russia With Love and OHMSS were my favorites, followed by Thunderball and Goldfinger, in that order.

Next up: Live and Let Die, kicking off the 12-year, 7-film Roger Moore era.