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And @0BradyM0Bondfanatic7, I agree with much of what you say. It is so nice to read your answers; you are always thoughtful and describe things brilliantly.
I should have Brady's answers by the end of the night, so it'll continue at that point!
Q: 11.) Let's get into the smaller bits of the Bond universe: what are some of your favorite scenes throughout the films? Favorite allies and henchmen? Favorite lines?
A: As far as scenes go, everyone who knows Brady is aware that I love the Tennyson sequence in Skyfall above all others. It’s the perfect symbolic tribute to Bond and his franchise as a whole, always fighting onwards despite facing adversity. So I’ll go into detail about a couple of my other favorite moments since everyone is probably sick and tired of hearing me talk about Skyfall. In second place would definitely be Bond and Vesper’s meeting on the train to Montenegro in Casino Royale. It’s the first time we meet Vesper in the flesh and boy does she impress. Not very shocking to wonder why I fell in love with her just as Bond did at first sight. Eva commands the scene so well, and the chemistry she and Dan share is beyond astounding. The repartee between Bond and Vesper is biting, flirty and at times competitive, but all in a playful and fun manner that really sparks the flame that burns their love bright later on. The scene sets the foundations for so much that occurs in the remaining acts, including Bond’s adoration for this woman that makes him more than willing to throw away the only world he knows: one of intrigue, danger and bullets, for an honest life of love with soul intact.
Briefly going through some of my other favorite scenes, for action nothing beats the fight with 007 and Grant on the Orient Express in From Russia for the classic era and the Madagascar chase in Casino for the modern era. For the former, you knew that all of From Russia With Love was leading up to this one kinetic, brutal face-off with Bond and Grant, and when it finally arrives the sequence delivers. I love the little games Bond and Grant play off each other like a mental chess match before the fight. As with many men, Grant’s hubris gets him as he seems to grow too comfortable around Bond, thinking he has already gotten the Lektor in his possession, but he slips up and like Kronsteen before him, he didn’t readily prepare for Bond. As soon as Bond sees this man order red wine with fish and slip in a little something to Tatiana’s drink, the game is on. This contentious stare fest between men leads to one of the most iconic bouts in cinematic history. Bond and Grant, two men tussling brutally in the enclosed space of that train compartment. Connery and Shaw’s stunt work in a lot of the scene add a sense of realism to every movement, and the busted out lights create a near total darkness that manifests intensity and danger alongside the beautiful blues the camera captures. It’s very much a hard-edged and equal fight, where both Bond and Grant get theirs along the way, ending in 007’s vanquishing of his enemy in cold, brutal form. The icing on this tasty cake is when Connery’s Bond, bloodied and covered in sweat spits “old man” back at Grant’s lifeless corpse, one final jab for all the barbs he’d had to take up to that moment. It doesn’t get much better than that.
I love the Madagascar chase for much the same reason. It’s our first real introduction to Craig’s Bond as a full-on 00 agent, and boy does he impress. The chase with Mollaka sets the stage for the kinds of brutal and intense action that are a staple of the Craig era, with Bond’s rough and tumble nature clashing well with the bomb maker’s graceful and coordinated movements as each traverse the terrain in their own fashion. The action really kicks Casino into full throttle and the thrills of the sequence keep your blood pumping long afterwards.
And for the more emotional scenes, the demises of Vesper and M are teary favorites, but one I feel sorely underrated is in LTK when Della throws Bond her garter. The melancholic look in Bond’s eyes when you see his mind flashing to the image of Tracy is heart-breaking, and Dalton sells that intimate little moment very well. It’s also a great bit of continuity to let everyone know that this Bond is the same one from OHMSS, silencing all the crazy codename advocates. Bond’s reluctant acceptance of the garter is also powerful. Maybe he accepts the item because he is hanging on to the good memories of his wedding day surrounded by colleagues and friends, or maybe he still has hopes of retiring from all the danger to settle down once and for all. Who knows for sure? It’s all a part of that never-ending mystery about Bond, and why it is so fascinating to dissect him as both man and legend.
As for allies, nobody beats Quarrel and Kerim for the classic era and Mathis for the modern times. The relationship that Bond has with each of these men is very special. With the Bond and Quarrel dynamic you find two men that are very different, yet so alike. They are both familiar with a certain kind of danger and flirt with it, and like Quarrel fears the supernatural dragon of Crab Key Bond will have a very ghostly SPECTRE at his shoulder in the next few adventures as well. There’s just something that makes these two hit it off, and I can’t really explain it. Quarrel seems to respect this British man who doesn’t seem to have a superstitious bone in his body, and Bond seems to trust and respect the Jamaican even for all his rants about No’s island.
With Bond and Kerim it’s much the same thing, a very simple something that makes them click. I think both are very accustomed to the same lifestyle. Bond is used to being tailed just as Kerim and his boys are, and they share a deep sense of loyalty and trust in those they surround themselves with. The men share moments of both great frivolity and danger as the film goes on, and it bonds them concretely. Bond’s face when he finds Kerim dead on the Orient Express tells you everything you need to know; these two cared about and respected each other deeply.
Once again, much the same happens between Bond and Mathis. This partnership feels very much like the same as the one Bond and Kerim share in From Russia. It also helps that like Connery and his allies Dan has great chemistry with Giancarlo Giannini who adds even more talent to an already stellar cast. Bond and Mathis are both a part of the spy world so their dispositions are much the same, with 007 acting as a protégé of sorts to his new friend from MI6. Behind the tough exteriors both men also share a lot of touching moments, the best of which happen to be the plane discussion in QoS Bond and Mathis share as well as the latter’s death scene in that same film. Through both CR and QoS the two men have ups and downs, and a tie of sorts breaks that must be built up again once Bond accuses Mathis of treachery. Their relationship is founded on forgiveness, not only in each other but also in those they love. In fact, Mathis is a linchpin in Bond’s own forgiveness of Vesper, allowing him to move on once and for all from his first great love. In many ways Mathis was the aged and experienced agent that knew how the game of espionage was played and how it could cripple you if you weren’t ready for it, and he often tried to get Bond to learn from the kinds of mistakes you can make in that business, like growing cold towards old lovers.
Moving on, my choice for favorite henchman is easy: Necros. He’s just brilliant, a real game-changer from the campy henchmen of old, a proper, more modern day Grant. He’s brutal, efficient and cold, and his fight inside the Stonor House and cargo plane cement him as that unforgettable force. Great all around, and very much underrated and wrongfully overshadowed by Oddjob and Jaws, two I’m just not that crazy about when it comes down to it. I guess it’s just my love of realism and brutality in my villains that draws me to Necros. And then there’s Elvis…
Favorite lines, you say… I don’t think I could pick a favorite line but my favorite exchange of dialogue would probably be the aforementioned meeting between Bond and Vesper on the train. I also love M’s defense of MI6 in Skyfall as necessary protectors in lands both foreign and domestic, as well as her powerful recitation of Skyfall. It doesn’t get much better than that.
Very well said, you've tackled just about the best scenes that the world of James Bond has to offer! I, too, absolutely love the first meeting between Bond and Vesper, watching them size one another up.
Q: 12.) What is your favorite finale out of the films?
A: Wow, my favorite out of 23 finales? For some reason I’m partial to the finales of the Craig era most of all. In Casino Royale we get one last big action spectacle that begins with Bond’s shocked realization that he has been played all this time and ends in Vesper’s death. While the action is grand, biting and suspenseful, Eva’s acting really sells the sequence in Venice. Her acting during Vesper’s death scene literally makes Casino feel like a snuff film because it is so hauntingly realistic. Bond’s shattered heart matches mine at the end of that scene as he tries to save her, all to no avail. Then we are finally treated to Dan saying those classic lines after she shoots White before credits role.
QoS also thrills me, but offers something more special: character development. The big sequence in the eco hotel is fierce like the growing flames encompassing our spy, especially the face off with Bond and Greene. Greene is a very psychotic, crazed man and his swinging of the axe and shrieks that sound almost like battle cries add to this characterization of him. At the end of it Camille gets her revenge, whether she likes it or not and Greene gets what has been coming to him. While Bond saving the day is great, the king of this finale is a moment empty of all action: Bond’s confrontation of Yusef in Russia. This is not only one of my favorite parts of the film, but of the franchise. This is the moment I had been waiting to see ever since I learned of Vesper’s deception by Quantum, and boy does it deliver. Yusef smugly happens to be in the process of baiting another woman just like he did Vesper by the time we meet him, but once he enters his apartment and lays eyes on Bond his world comes crashing down. The sequence is a stunning moment for Bond, and a big bit of character development. The Bond from the opening of CR would have popped this bastard for what he did, but after learning how futile personal vengeance can be, Bond spares Yusef and allows MI6 to take him in. It shows once again that Bond is the one fixed point in his age, loyal to the end and a survivor forevermore.
Finally, Skyfall’s great finale completes what I would call “The M Trilogy.” I love the relationship that Bond and M have in these films, where both parties respect and honor each other even when their own agency wants to retire them for good. We have a boss and her employee whose relationship has always felt more like that of a mother and son. M is constantly grinding Bond for his mistakes, and he is constantly doing things he is told not to no matter what she says. And yet there’s also a common bond between them. They are both loyal to a fault, stubborn as can be, and they never give up, no matter what. M does truly feel like the only maternal figure in Bond’s life, making Silva’s quips about “Mommy” not being too far off the mark. As M lies dying in Bond’s arms, all these moments between them flash before my eyes, and it’s kind of hard not to get emotional; it truly feels like the end of a long journey between two friends. Both Dan and Judi have had such brilliant chemistry and that build up of such a strong and compelling dynamic across three great films pays off officially here. The line that always gets me is M’s delivery of “at least I did something right” before passing away. No matter how many mistakes she had made in the past, no matter how many difficult decisions she ordered during her job, M’s greatest work and teachings all live on in Bond, who she taught to not only be a better agent, but a better man. Her gift to Bond in her will cements this: just like the bulldog that was the only surviving remnant of the MI6 explosion, Bond is a stubborn survivor who seems to make it out on top every time, always to be counted on and never to be doubted.
Craig indeed does deliver some of the better finales. I do enjoy that Greene is no match physically for Craig's Bond, but he's so psychotic that when he is blindly swinging that axe, it takes a lot for Bond to defend himself.
Q: 13.) In 2012 we celebrated the 50th Anniversary of 007. Where do you think we'll be in another 50 years in terms of James Bond?
A: Wow, good question. I could never say where we will be with any kind of certainty, but I can say where I hope we’ll be. While it is inevitable that the style and tone of these films will change as they have been known to before, I can only hope in my heart of hearts that EON and whoever may be running things decades down the line always holds on to the essence of what makes these films great. They’re action masterpieces, escapist fantasies and brilliant visual documentaries of global locales, but there’s also a real beating heart at the center of it all. I hope future films down the line treat the character of Bond and those around him with respect and devote effort to exploring who he is in an ever-changing world like the Craig era has done. Bond is compelling and deserves scripts that properly and intelligently challenge him and analyze what makes him who he is. I hope we keep getting these kinds of smart character studies of him as both a spy and a man as his place in the world shifts and his usefulness in a growing technological age wanes.
I want the films down the line to capture life at that time, the style and fashions, all the human concerns and the atmosphere of what it was like to be alive at that time. For example, the Connery Bond films capture the Cold War feeling of paranoia and atomic danger, the Moore films the challenges of gaining and losing détente with the Soviets and the more modern films of the Craig era address the dangers of a technological world where our greatest enemies can be a man far off the grid on a laptop or even our own allies. As long as the future films continue the theme of the Bond films acting as time capsules capturing memories and history, I think they’ll be just as timeless as they have always been.
Finally, I hope the franchise simply adheres to the mission statement that its central character always has. Like Bond this franchise has seen challenges in the form of fierce litigations, crippling casting changes, tone alterations and more, yet it still keeps on surviving. As long as the franchise retains that survival instinct that has gotten it this far I think we will always have another Bond adventure to look forward to.
Q: 14.) Share your dream Bond film: director, soundtrack, cast, plot, set pieces, whatever you'd like to share.
A: My dream Bond film, eh? Well, considering this likely applies to our current time period and not the past, I’d probably pick Nolan as the director to continue that earnest and unreserved feeling the Craig era gives off, but only if he allows someone else to handle the action pieces as he can be hit and miss. He’s obviously a big fan of the franchise and understands the elements that make each work while allowing room to infuse his own style into it, so I think he’d be brilliant. If we’re lucky he’d even bring along some of his favorite actors he loves working with like Marion Cotillard, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Christian Bale or Leonardo DiCaprio. Hey, don’t look at me like that, it’s a dream Bond film after all.
As for the soundtrack I’d love for Hans Zimmer to get his paws on a Bond film as I love his scores, especially for how he can make a few simple notes into an emotional and powerful piece of music. He scores both emotional and action packed beats in a story well, so I think he’d do really well composing a Bond film. The theme song would be a loud and brassy smooth tune sung by none other than the fantastic Michael Bublé (bows to shrine), someone I have advocated from the start. He’d bring a more modern version of Matt Monro’s From Russia With Love with his own style and panache.
Now for the plot. In a perfect world this would be a Craig era film that continued the Quantum plot that was left in QoS. To give you a sort of rough idea of the plot, Quantum returns to their operations in a big bad way, forcing Bond to get back on their trail once again, but how does he begin? I’ll tell you how. He locates Yusef who is being held for his associations with Quantum and evil dealings following the ending of QoS and Bond is going to use him to track down the whereabouts of Quantum, baiting them to bring them in his sights. I’ve suggested that Bond and Yusef should be forced to work together for a while now because I simply find the potential to be delicious. Yusef was instrumental in deceiving Vesper and was partially responsible for her suicide, so what would Bond do if he had to work with this scum? Along the way I’d love to see Bond in an action set piece in the snow, skiing his way out of danger in some fashion. It’d also be great to see Bond head to Ireland if Quantum are involved with the IRA, leading to some explosive shoot-outs there, which would be interesting considering Mallory’s history with them. I’d also love to bring Guy Haines back into the plot as well as White, and since Haines is high up in Quantum AND a friend of the Prime Minister back in London it would be great to see Bond attempting to go after him but told to back down by his own government. A lot of great intergovernmental tension could form there. Great locations for the film to take place in would be Serbia, Ireland and Dubai, just to name a few that I find intriguing and unexplored by the series at this point. I haven’t really thought out every aspect of it, but the central idea of Bond having to rely on Yusef is intriguing to me. The writer, in a perfect world, would be me (wink wink).
Continuing Quantum's storyline, eh? I like your style. ;-)
Q: 15.) This doesn't have to pertain to your favorite and least favorite films, but which of the movies is easiest to rewatch? Hardest to rewatch?
A: The easiest to watch are the early Connery films, namely DN, FRWL and TB, and the entirety of the Craig era. Those films are in my mind the quintessential Bond, especially DN, FRWL and CR. They make up a large part of my top favorite films if I were to list them out. The Connery films are just classics that really set the stage for the near perfect 60s era when the franchise was just infantile. Bond has rarely been as cool as he was in those films and now the current Craig era has elevated Bond even further with its films that act as deep and intellectual character studies of the spy. I guess it makes perfect sense then that the films that are easiest for me to rewatch are also my favorites.
The hardest films for me to rewatch are the campy Bond films, like DAF and MR for instance. I never watch the Moore films and haven’t seen DAF in eons. I’ll have to re-explore the Moore films again soon as they grew on me a lot more the last time I saw them, but DAF will be a real challenge to revisit. I really have to be in the mood to watch a film, Bond included, and if I’m not it’s like pulling teeth. I just don’t think Bond works as a campy character in films jam-packed with one-liners and moments of extreme parody, which some of the films have gotten way too close towards. However, I will admit that campy adventures like some of the Moore films brought a lot to the series despite growing too silly for my tastes at times, so there is a foundation of respect there between them and I.
If there is one thing you should know about me, @jobo, it is that my "brief" is everyone elses' "long." ;)
Q: 16.) Tell us about yourself, whatever you'd care to share, i.e. hobbies, outside of Bond interests, job(s), etc.
A: This is a pretty broad question, so I don’t really know where to start. I’m 20 years old, soon to be 21 come October, and I live in northern Pennsylvania. I’m currently a college student and will soon be heading into my junior year majoring in art and writing. Outside of Bond I am very passionate about and invested in Sherlock Holmes and Batman, my other favorite characters. My hobbies include listening to music, reading, watching and discussing films, gaming, and of course making art and writing anything I can think up. I don’t really have much else to say, and I don’t want to say too much so that the other members can ask me questions, if they have any.
Q: 17.) What is your favorite non-Bond film, TV show, and novel?
A: I don’t have a clear favorite film but one that always instantly comes to mind is “Good Will Hunting.” I could turn that on and enjoy it any time and its message about doing what your heart tells you to no matter what anyone else wants for you is a powerful one, especially for me as I am closer and closer to leaving college and entering this “real world” everyone keeps telling me about. The script is one of the greatest adapted to the screen, the acting is beyond stellar, and its mix of side-splitting comedy and human to human drama and emotion is rarely bested. It’s one of the few films that I can find nothing wrong with, and I just get a warm feeling every time I watch it; very uplifting, and for my money, a modern cinematic masterpiece.
As for favorite TV shows, they are usually of the mystery/thriller variety. Obviously BBC Sherlock is way up there, one of my favorite shows in the past couple decades that really does justice to my favorite character. Castle and The Mentalist are other favorites not only for their great characters but also because I like to solve the murders/crimes myself as the show goes on. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is another that always comes to mind when someone brings up favorite shows, as is Boy Meets World and the Batman Animated Series from the 90s. Those three were all very much instrumental in who I am today. The first two were hilarious, yet also taught you important lessons along the way, and I challenge anyone to name a better fictional teacher than Mr. Feeny. Batman is pretty self-explanatory. Above all other heroes there has always been something about Batman that made me fall in love with him ever since I was a child. My mom even has pictures of me in a Batman suit she sewed for me that I’d get in and run around wearing even on a humid summer day. There’s just something about him, the mortal man who stands amongst literal gods, and can still outsmart and outlast them. He’s sharp as a thousand tacks, trained his mind and body to peak perfection and never gives up, no matter what is against him. He’s an interesting and tragic character and his excellent rouges gallery heightens my love for him. I wouldn’t be the same person without being indoctrinated by the great Batman all of my life, and boy am I proud to be a fan.
My favorite novels/stories/whathaveyou to read are hands down Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories. I could literally talk for hours about Holmes, Watson and all the cases. Much like with Batman and Bond there is just something about those characters that I connect so effortlessly to. Holmes is easily my favorite character of all time, and he’s timelessly fascinating. We connect with Watson, the everyman and follow this strange, brilliant, indescribable detective on these cases and just watch him tick. I also love the loyalty and friendship Holmes and Watson share, and value those things in my own life above all others. Doyle is for my money one of the greatest writers to ever grace the earth. He was just a doctor but his mastery of the written word is more impactful on me than anything the likes of Shakespeare could drum up. Writing those stories changed everything, and it’s hard to imagine a world without a Baker Street, where inside number 221B Holmes and Watson sit by the firelight.
Q: 18.) Favorite artist, band, or genre(s) of music?
A: My favorite artist/entertainer would probably be the late great Frank Sinatra. His voice was in a class of his own, his style unmatched and his presence pure magic. If I’m ever down in the dumps I can listen to some of his music and smile instantly. I love the jazzy flare much of his work has, which just so happens to be my favorite main genre of music. There’s nothing that beats that big orchestral sound. Other greats that I listen to are Phil Collins, Billy Joel, Elvis and Michael Bublé, just to name a few. As for favorite bands, Journey and Queen would be way up there. My parents would always play oldies when I was little so music has always been a big part of my life. It’s easily my drug of choice, and nothing can get you higher than a great tune.
Q: 19.) You can meet any three celebrities, who are they and why?
A: Well, considering the people I’d like to meet most have all sadly passed, I’ll name those that are still living. The people that instantly flashed in my head are Sean Connery, Daniel Craig and Benedict Cumberbatch, though I wouldn’t call them celebrities. I don’t like how the famous are almost treated as a separate species by the media and how spotting one is like snapping a photo of a unicorn or sasquatch. I also hate how so many worry about the lives of the famous and who they’re dating or what they’re wearing that they lose focus on their own. So, with that in mind if I was ever lucky enough to meet those men I’d treat them as the human beings they are and simply talk with them as such. I find Sean to be an absolutely undisputed legend and to just hear him talk about his life would be incredible. He’s a part of an era that I find to be very special, so just listening to him recount what life was like back then would be grand. Dan’s another easy choice. I really respect him as a man and performer, especially for his work on Bond. He’s so involved with his projects and always gives it his all. I also love how private he is, as I am, and he always tells it exactly like it is. As with Sean, I’d simply love to sit and chat with him, share our favorite films, books and all that stuff to try and find a common bond (pun very intended). Finally, Benedict Cumberbatch is yet another “famous” person of today I would extremely enjoy speaking to. He’s done such justice to Sherlock Holmes in the BBC series and his other roles show off the enormous amount of talent he possesses. He’s got such a presence about him and is sharp as tack. I feel like I could sit down and discuss very specific topics like movies and novels and also more broad ones like politics and the state of the world as it is today. If I met any of them I’d treat them with the respect they deserve, and that means no pictures, autographs or nothing. All that material stuff can’t ever equal the memory of being there and speaking with someone who has in some way impacted your life like those men have impacted mine.
Q: 20.) (Random what-would-you-do question.) I hand you a box. This box can contain anything in the universe, from an old candy bar wrapper to a bank account with unlimited money. The box's size is irrelevant, it can literally contain anything you could possibly think of. Now, if you open the box, whatever is inside is yours, no questions asked. However, if you choose not to open the box, you can take a check for $1 million instead, but it'll always eat at you, not knowing what was in the box. Now remember, this box can contain an old leaf...or all of the answers to all of life's little mysteries. What do you do?
A: Oh, that’s easy. I’d find an identical box that is the exact same as the one you tell me you are offering me, and the night before you’re going to present it and allow me to choose, I switch boxes on you. Then when you put the box in front of me I’d decline, take the million and still have whatever is in the real box. Of course that plan can no longer work now that I’ve told you this, so I hope you don’t actually have a box with all the answers to the world in it.
In all seriousness, I’d probably do what everyone else wouldn’t. I pride myself on doing things very differently from how others my age would, and since most would probably take the easy million I’d choose to open the box. Whether it’s a leaf or “all the answers in the world,” I’d still find it to be the more interesting choice. And there’s always a slim chance that what’s inside could be useful. With any luck it’s a device that would allow me to go back in time so that I could walk up to my younger self and command him to enjoy his childhood, because this whole “growing up” concept sucks.
Yeah, Brosnan is fine. I haven't watched his films for a long while now, so they definitely deserve revisiting just to see how I feel about them. His Bond isn't one I get frustrated with like the campy Bond films, but I also don't scream and shout with joy like with Connery and Craig's Bonds either; he's kind of in the middle really.
It's why I love doing Bondathons, it's always nice going back and seeing how my attitude towards a film can radically change.
I'll be sure to update my thoughts on Brosnan's Bond and his four when I do an inevitable revisiting on those films soon. It's actually something I genuinely look forward to and since it's been so long since I last saw them it'll be interesting to see how I feel about the era now.
fair 'n uff. I guess that's just Brosnan, indeed. Although I find DAD atrociously bad and GE very good, the other two are definately 'in the middle'.
The way the world is heading at the moment ? Good luck with that .
Ahem. Appears I was hijacked. My question for Brady is, if he could have any one actor in the Bond role, from any period in the history of cinema, from any country, any one actor, who would he be?
Looking forward to his answer then I have one, too.
@StirredNotShaken, the actor I would want in the Bond role already got his chance: Sir Sean Connery. I would love it if he never aged and got to stay exactly as he looked from DN through TB and was Bond forever. DN and FRWL are his peak Bond films in my opinion. He was just the complete Bond package, and could be a delightful mix of suave, deadly and light-hearted at any one moment. Getting to see that man in all the rest of the films would be incredible; I certainly wouldn't mind him bleeding into the Moore era. Other choices besides Sean would be Cary Grant in his younger years or Humphrey Bogart, though he was admittedly an American.
And you all know I don't play favorites and enjoy your company equally. At least, that's what my publicist is telling me to say...
Yes, ever since I was little I knew a moment would come where I'd have to grow up, go to college and get a job like everybody else, and constantly feared it. The problem is I worried early on, even in my early, early teen years when I should have just enjoyed the time I had left and pushed off those thoughts. It's hard though at that age when every adult around you is pressuring you about what college you're going to, what you're going for and all that, instead of letting you be and enjoy what time you have left before high school graduation. I just wish I could go back in time and tell my little self to buck up, stop being so miserable and enjoy the time he had left, because life now frankly sucks. Not to put a downer on the interview, though...
I was just thinking about how much you and I both love older films and the great actors from the past. If you could take one actress from any decade and put her into a Bond film, who would it be and why? (I just keep picturing you choosing Lauren Bacall). :)
Well, our hobbies are resurrection. B-)
Lauren Bacall would definitely be one of my top choices for a 40s or 50s Bond film. I actually made a poster with her as Vesper while Cary Grant was Bond. It would have been spectacular to see her acting opposite Sean in a Casino Royale adaption in the early 60s, as she was the queen of femme fatales. One of her best moments:
It's easy to see why Bogie fell in love with her.
But the ultimate, ultimate choice would have to be Marilyn Monroe. She's my favorite actress even more for her story off screen than on, and find her drastically underrated. She got casted often as a ditz but was a brilliant, beautiful mind. Check out her work in Asphalt Jungle and Niagara and you'll see a woman more than able to handle dark, serious character roles. Seeing her as a Bond girl would have been incredible, but sadly she was taken from us less than three months before Dr. No released in theaters. If she had gotten a Bond role it is possible that not even Eva's Vesper could compete for my love in comparison.
I love Marilyn, too, and think she had some wonderful talent. I especially enjoy her in Some Like It Hot (my personal favorite of hers).
As for Lauren, she is just stunning. Always loved watching her. She was so different, especially at that time, and so very memorable. The scene you posted is one of my very favorites! (I have actually quoted her dialog from that scene to a special man in my life. Let's just say, it was favorably received.) ;)