James Bond - Diamonds Are Forever

31 December 2014

Diamonds Are Forever 1971

• Director:  Guy Hamilton
• Based on the novels  by Ian Fleming
• Cast: Sean Connery, Jill St. John, Charles Gray, Lana Wood, Jimmy Dean, Putter Smith, Bruce Glover, Bernard Lee, Lois Maxwell
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Sean Connery  – The Rock, First Knight, Murder on the Orient Express, Goldfinger, Marnie, Dr. No, From Russia with Love, The Longest Day and others of the early Bond films but I’m not sure which ones
• The others: in various old films and TV series
• Why? Curious. Hal and I saw several Bond films in a Bond festival in the early 70’s and enjoyed them. Sean Connery is the only Bond we have ever seen.  Friends have said later actors have been good too. And with Judi Dench they can’t be all bad.  So we bought the box...
• Seen:  Once previously, maybe? I really don’t remember. December 26, 2014.

Sean Connery is back. Will it help? Shirley Bassey is back.  Will it help?

It certainly starts harshly with a bizarrely violent Bond. And he’s turned into a priggish snob with no signs of recently having lost his beloved bride.

Mr Wint and Mr Kidd, the gay villains – is this the first time gays appear in a macho spy film? – are funny. Much of the movie is funny.

But diamond heists – and diamonds – have always bored me.  As do car chases.  Do other movie goers really love car chases or do directors just believe they do? Me they put to sleep. .. zzzzz....

Well, well, well. The arch villain (with the white cat), so viciously murdered by Double-Oh Seven in the intro, suddenly reappears – in several versions with several white cats. Of course he’s behind the entire diamond thievery.

And now we’re suddenly out in outer space again.  And there seems to be a lot of atom bombs going off. This is getting a little weird. But it also touches upon the grim possibility of nuclear blackmail.

Connery and Bassey do their bit. Mr Wint and Mr Kidd lift it too.  Otherwise it’s much the same as the others. A little better than some.  And it’s rather endearing that macho James Bond allows himself to look so ridiculous so often, and with such a suave smirk.

2½ * of 5