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You'd think, but I suppose the iconography of it keeps things simple for the papers who just want the general public to notice their front pages. I agree though, he was great in so many things as well as being the number one Bond, for me.
Indeed, but you'd think people would find a photo of Sean Connery simple enough to recognise Sean Connery! :)
In a way it kind of makes me wonder if my perception is kind of skewed because I'm a Bond fan and maybe most other people do just think of him as Bond. But I kind of can't quite buy that: that period from the mid 80s or so to the late 90s where he was one of the very biggest movie stars there was can't have been forgotten, you'd think. He was bigger than Bond.
But I guess I'm fighting the tide if I complain about the press: they all got excited that Woolworths was coming back because a sixth form student opened a hoax Twitter account this week! :) They're not clever or thorough people!
It's absolutely impossible to disagree with this
It was a joke. You know? Roger Moore knew the value of taking the piss out of oneself - I hope the MI6 guys aren't too poe-faced to be insulted by such a joke, then again ...
From her obit:
https://www.nytimes.com/1995/11/30/arts/dorothy-jeakins-dies-at-81-designed-costumes-for-films.html?searchResultPosition=1
(She said the only fan letter she ever received from an actor came from Sean Connery, after she dressed him for "The Molly Maguires," a 1970 film about a secret society of Irish mine workers in 19th-century Pennsylvania. "Your clothes made me feel like a coal miner," he wrote.)
Despite his many battles with studio heads, in every interview that I’ve ever read, Connery is always described as a very supportive and giving actor. Even Mie Hama (YOLT) – described working with Connery in glowing terms.
"Connery looks absolutely confident in himself as a man. Women want to meet him, and men want to be him." -- Pauline Kael
“Nonprofessionals just didn’t realize what superb high-comedy acting that Bond role was. It was like what they used to say about Cary Grant. ‘Oh,’ they’d say, ‘he’s just got charm.’ Well, first of all, charm is actually not all that easy a quality to come by. And what they overlooked in both Cary Grant and Sean was their enormous skill.” -- Sidney Lumet
“There are only seven genuine movie stars in the world today, and Sean is one of them.” -- Steven Spielberg
After Sean Connery turned 90 I realized there was a good chance that someday soon I would wake to see his obituary. The news is neither shocking nor surprising, just sad. Not for Connery, who lived a terrific life, going from the slums of Edinburgh to the top of the world, becoming one of the greatest icons of modern cinema, but for us. He was larger than life, so how could he possibly die? To lose a man who embodied legends feels wrong, almost impossible.
The producers of the Bond movies were extraordinarily lucky--the man they cast was a natural movie star. Not merely a good actor or camera subject, but an actor with the charisma and presence displayed by a hero of history and legend. Who else could so convincingly play Agamemnon, Robin Hood, King Arthur, Hotspur, Macbeth, and Richard the Lionheart? Who else could seem so at home in those roles? The man with the capacity to embody these characters was fated to turn James Bond into a modern-day mythic hero. And when Connery embodied Bond he seared the character into the world's consciousness. Millions responded to his indisputable charisma, animal magnetism, and suave sense of irony and play. He created the role and defined it. For all of these reasons, it is impossible to imagine another actor surpassing him as Bond. Such an actor need to be what Connery was: an actor capable of creating legends onscreen, an icon in the same line as the larger-than-life screen gods--Bogart, Cooper, Grant, and Gable.
I would rather celebrate than mourn a man who enjoyed such a brilliant career. Like many great stars he made several duds, but all are compensated for by his triumphs. I wish he had gone out with a better film than the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (I would have loved to see him as King Lear) or had appeared in few more films, but I can't blame him for being fed up with modern Hollywood, a town run by idiots (in his words).
Though many remember him for his roles in blockbusters of the 80s and 90s, Connery did his greatest work in the 1970s, in the movies where he fully emerged from Bond's shadow. The greatest evidence of Connery's acting prowess is The Offence (1973), with his most challenging and lest glamorous role, a grubby, burnt-out small-town detective. Many actors shrink and grow drab in such down-to-earth, exhausting parts, but Connery stayed riveting.
To witness the greatest display of Connery's megawatt stature, his ability to embody legendary characters, watch his "mythic trilogy" of The Wind and the Lion (1975), Man Who Would Be King (1975), and Robin and Marian (1976). All of the characters in these films are flawed, flesh and blood men; Connery's earthiness never lets us forget this. But these men also attain a form of mythic greatness, conveyed by Connery's inner strength and command of the screen.
I don't know what Sean Connery was like in private life, but he had unrivaled charisma onscreen. Charisma is ultimately a form of self-confidence arising from a person's sense of his own merit. There is nothing self-conscious or forced in this person's acceptance of himself and his power. He is at home with the best of himself and thus able to express his finest qualities without strain or pretense. Many of us envy such people, so when Connery played James Bond he became the great fantasy hero of his age. To have such natural charisma and self-confidence made him the eternal James Bond. And yet after Bond this self-acceptance and confidence allowed him to escape sleek modern fantasy and play legends and mythic archetypes that were also deeply human. No other actor of our time managed this. Sean Connery takes his greatness to the grave.
During quarantine, I read one of the many Connery bios I have and a line stood out that summed him up. He mentioned that he would never tear up a hotel room or do something similarly destructive just because he's a star because he thought more about the person who would have to clean up after that. That's class.
"Sean Connery (1930-2020): He WAS James Bond, But Also So Much More" by Glen Kenny on Decider--the title is self explanatory.
"Bonded and Unbound: Sean Connery, 1930-2020," by Matt Zoller Seitz on RoberEbert.com, starts off extremely critical but is more understanding than some of the twitter denunciations.
"R.I.P. Sean Connery" has choice excerpts from his 1965 interview with Oriana Fallaci.
It's actually from 1997 and only the first section of it is online, but Kathleen Murphy's Film Comment article "The Man Who Would be King: Sean Connery" is excellent.
If anyone has found other good articles or obits, feel free to share.
Also, amul India gave a really sweet tribute to connery https://www.newsindiatimes.com/a-diamond-is-forever-amul-pays-tribute-to-original-james-bond-sean-connery/
Worth checking out for fans. Superb, supporting cast too. Michelle Pfeiffer, Bond alumnus Klaus Maria Branduer and Michael Kitchen. Not to mention the legendary Roy Schieder.
I own a couple of good books on Connery, both written by great people within the Bond world, Lee Phieffer and Robert Sellers, and have enjoyed dipping into them again over the weekend.
BT3366 - Could you recommend a good Connery Bio that you read during quarantine please?
It is a shame we never got the definitive autobiography but I'd like to read the next best thing.
Saw it when it was released and quite liked it.
I need to watch this one again soon. Been years. Great Connery flick!
Condolences to his family and friends at this sad time.
Great movie, and i believe Michael Caine was first choice for the role. Much as I love Caine, Connery is much more suited.
I may be late in commenting, but my wife and I actually discussed which movie to watch in Sean's memory. It turned out to be FRWL (though Red October, The Untouchables and Indiana Jones 3 were strong contenders). At any rate, RIP (quite without religious meaning, but a lot of good intentions).
And PS: I also watched ENTRAPMENT last night (for the first time after more than ten years) and also enjoyed it.
Even back then, Connery was an absolute beast wasn't he. Look at the size of him compared to the others.
In another life, if he'd have signed for Matt Busby, I could see him easily going toe to toe against Billy Bremner and Norman Hunter etc.
But it does look like Connery is stood next to Reggie Kray! :D
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