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Best answer, of course.
And I'd further prefer being isolated in that avalanche-proof device with Elektra if she didn't freak out inside it.
Elektra King? Well, knowing she's a villain, then I'd leave her in that Avalanche proof device, and I think she's also a bit boring to be with, and like @CommanderRoss said, she's arrogant and selfish, it would've been better for her to ski alone.
;) Love this, I can hear it in her voice! Sophie was great at capturing the spoiled child who thought she was entitled!
Marceau really deserved a better movie.
She could've fit better in a Craig Era Bond film, imagine, if she's the villain in Skyfall?
I liked Silva as a villain, but Marceau would've been more electrifying as her character, Elektra.
Well Skyfall was a better made version of The World is not Enough. Some days, I think that Silva should have been Trevelyan, if Goldeneye hadn’t been remade to Craig’s era.
Lets move on to another set of performances and maybe this one is unfair but it set up nicely in my mind. Over the years Felix Leiter has been portrayed by a wide range of actors. Cool, chubby, irrigated, exasperated, have all been highlighted within this character.
Only two men have portrayed James' American ally more than once. So lets ask ourselves the question:
Would you rather watch David Hedison as Felix in LALD/LTK OR Jeffery Wright as Felix in CR/NTTD?
I've eliminated QOS since he's screen time with James is limited to one scene. I would prefer you just consider the performance of the actor and not the movies as a whole.
Which actor nails Felix better in their two films?
It is notable that both Wright and Hedison are arguably the only ones who had a believably friendly relationship with Bond- I actually believed them as friends. The bar scene in NTTD is the most successful for that I'd say. Whereas, for example, I didn't feel like Bond and Felix had ever even met before in DAF!
I might give honourable mention to Bernie Casey though- he wasn't quite up there but closer than most.
I didn't felt any chemistry between Hedison and Moore in LALD, to be honest, I wished Tony Curtis played Felix Leiter instead in LALD (Curtis and Moore showed great banter and chemistry in The Persuaders, and I can buy them being Bond and Felix Leiter more in that show than Moore was with Hedison).
But, Hedison did actually had great chemistry with Dalton in LTK, I bought their friendship, but not for Moore, unfortunately.
So, Jeffrey Wright takes the cake in here.
Bond: But I'm wearing it!
Elektra: No you're not!
It’s a role where the actor brings much to it. Get an uncharismatic or forgettable Felix and it’s a thankless role. I’d argue only Henderson and Wright (and of course Casey in NSNA) brought the right mixture of coolness and warmth. Even Jack Lord feels a bit cold in the role. There really have been some some strange choices for the role (not quite sure why anyone thought Norman Burton would be right for the part).
Agreed with the comment above that it would have been nice to see Hedison again with Roger; they had a bit of rapport. I would say that perhaps he would have been good in AVTAK in the Chuck Lee role, bookending Roger's 007 period, but that film probably had enough over 50s in it already! :)
I suppose Linder isn’t inherently that cool, at ease figure that Lord is which has an impact. Linder and Button seem to play much more straight laced ‘by the books’ Leiters and are noticeably older than Connery. They’re also less individualistic, working with several CIA agents rather than assisting Bond themselves. One can imagine them spending more time in an office or at most in a safe house rather than in the field. Some of the humour or dramatic irony between Bond and these incarnations even comes from this I guess - ie. In DAF Bond knows because he’s been actively working on the case where the diamonds are on the body whereas the more bureaucratic Leiter in his mocked up security uniform is a bit clueless. Both Leiter and his CIA friend in GF are hapless at checking in on Bond/realising he’s in danger when they spy on him at the ranch.
It’s not an approach to the character I think works. Leiter I think should have a bit of that ‘off the books’ spirit to him which Bond shares. He should also be more hands on which gives the pair that extra dash of comradery and shared experience.
Yes, I agree- I guess to be fair that's how Leiter is written in GF too; I suppose as a counterpoint to make Bond look more unique and sexy, which isn't actually a bad idea in itself. As such I think Linder does a good job: you clearly get the feeling that he knows and likes Bond and the sort of things (ladies) he gets up to, but doesn't do that himself, and he comes across as likeable, which is better than most Felixes.
Shockingly he was only a year older in GF than Pierce in GoldenEye!
Yes, I guess 'off the books' is a good way of putting it: you've got to make sure he's never quite on the same level. You've got to be careful with using Felix: I think LALD uses him pretty badly- for some reason, despite being on his home soil, he stays at home every time Bond is out having an adventure, and you do kind of wonder where he is. The ending especially- why doesn't he help Bond infiltrate Kanaga's lair?
I think Wright's Felix is used pretty well: in QoS you can feel his hands are tied but Bond is more on the outside, and you feel they are looking out for each other.
I guess Felix needs to be sort of halfway: he's not fully a safe house, by-the-books guy, but he's also not as fully unchained as Bond is. He's got a foot in both camps.
That's why, I think Tony Curtis would've fit, he could've worked in LALD, granted that he also had a great chemistry with Moore, something that I didn't felt with Hedison (The Persuaders clearly showed this rapport).
Hedison had a more chemistry with Dalton in LTK.
And yes, Jeffrey Wright is the most utilized Felix Leiter, he's put in good use.
To each their own. I like Hendison in LALD. I can believe that him and Moore’s Bond would go for a drink together as they do in the film. And I believe he’d be capable of stepping outside the safe house/join Bond in the field. If anything I feel an aspect of that friendship is lost in LTK because Hendison is older than Dalton, so he comes off as more an ‘older mentor’ type rather than a colleague of the same generation, which is still valid.
Yes, I buy Dalton's friendship with HedisonLeiter less, mostly because of Dalton's performance to be honest. He's so overly intense that he doesn't really seem very interested in his friend or enjoying his company. Imagine the best man's speech with him glowering all the way through! Hedison is actually doing all the heavy lifting there in terms of their relationship.
As you say, Moore and Hedison seem much more comfortable in each other's presence, and there's a jocularity which is more redolent of actual friends.
Haha, good point! Out of all the Bonds I’m not sure Dalton’s would be the best best man.
That said one wonders what the stag do would have looked like….
Felix: So, what are up to James? A bar or two, maybe a casino. Come on old buddy, let’s hear it!
Bond: Well, let’s just say Felix, things are about to turn naaasssty
Lets talk about Q! That beloved character who equips double-o-7 for his missions. Always slightly exasperated and slightly snobby with his love of the gadget and never having the time for James and his antics.
Over the years Q scenes have been favourites by many fans. Some find the GF scene with Q to be a great one. "I never joke about my work double-o-7". Others find poignancy in TWINE "Never let them see you bleed."
I need to ask the question:
Would you rather the Q scene take place in HQ OR out in the field?
At HQ, would be GF, TMWTGG, FYEO, TLD, GE, SP,
Out in the field would be TB, YOLT, Spy, MR, OP, LTK, TND, TWINE, DAD
So what is it going to be? Do we prefer Bond gets his gadgets at HQ or out in the field?
Heh! It does make me think that, in a bizarre parallel world, Roger could have been in LTK and actually done a decent job! He'd have made the wedding stuff better, and FYEO has him do a bit of the revenge grit, so he could have got away with the rest of the film. Not playing to his strengths perhaps(!) but I can kind of see it.