Something of a Must With Me ~ OHMSS Appreciation

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  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    Very nice review, @Shardlake. One minor error. FRWL also has an instrumental main title tune.
  • Posts: 4,044
    And Dr No.
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    He said so.
  • Posts: 4,044
    He said so.

    I resign as proofreader.

  • Lancaster007Lancaster007 Shrublands Health Clinic, England
    Posts: 1,874
    Mathis1 wrote: »
    Ah, TV Times!! is that the issue that had Rog picture in the centre in full spacesuit outfit? i remeber that! I still have the issue with Rog on the cover, May 1983, where ITV channel had the 'James Bond- the first 21 years' programme! I remember LALD being premiered, early 80's, everyone talking about it in school next day! Anyone remember the mag 'Look In' They had a great picture preview of it that week!

    I still have the covers (and inside stories) for the original showings of Dr No, FRWL, Goldfinger and Thunderball. Nice to see the art director had no idea and used a still from DAF for the Thunderball cover.
  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce 'One of the Internet's more toxic individuals'
    Posts: 9,117
    Mathis1 wrote: »
    Ah, TV Times!! is that the issue that had Rog picture in the centre in full spacesuit outfit? i remeber that! I still have the issue with Rog on the cover, May 1983, where ITV channel had the 'James Bond- the first 21 years' programme! I remember LALD being premiered, early 80's, everyone talking about it in school next day! Anyone remember the mag 'Look In' They had a great picture preview of it that week!

    I still have the covers (and inside stories) for the original showings of Dr No, FRWL, Goldfinger and Thunderball. Nice to see the art director had no idea and used a still from DAF for the Thunderball cover.

    Let me guess - it's the one of Sean firing the piton gun with the carnation in his buttonhole?

    TV Times used that for every Sean film for years.
  • ChriscoopChriscoop North Yorkshire
    Posts: 281
    [img][/img]20160904_202841.jpg

    Iconic image for a chap of my age
  • Lancaster007Lancaster007 Shrublands Health Clinic, England
    Posts: 1,874
    Mathis1 wrote: »
    Ah, TV Times!! is that the issue that had Rog picture in the centre in full spacesuit outfit? i remeber that! I still have the issue with Rog on the cover, May 1983, where ITV channel had the 'James Bond- the first 21 years' programme! I remember LALD being premiered, early 80's, everyone talking about it in school next day! Anyone remember the mag 'Look In' They had a great picture preview of it that week!

    I still have the covers (and inside stories) for the original showings of Dr No, FRWL, Goldfinger and Thunderball. Nice to see the art director had no idea and used a still from DAF for the Thunderball cover.

    Let me guess - it's the one of Sean firing the piton gun with the carnation in his buttonhole?

    TV Times used that for every Sean film for years.

    That's right Wiz, you'd have thought that they could have actually found an image from Thunderball, or as they did for FRWL commission a painted cover.
  • A video from the 4k showing of OHMSS in Oslo 1 September.

    http://www.filmweb.no/filmnytt/article1289814.ece
  • edited October 2016 Posts: 1,469
    I'm looking for opinions about the scene with Bond at the skating rink, including if you've read Fleming's novel (I haven't). It's my impression that, in that scene, especially when Bond is sitting on the bench by the skating rink, Lazenby shows some of his fear--uncharacteristic from how we mostly see Bond and from the rest of Lazenby's performance. Contrast that with Connery in Thunderball, the scene at the Kiss Kiss Club where Bond is surrounded while dancing with Fiona Volpe--he appears totally cool under pressure though totally alert to the possibilities around him. In the OHMSS novel, did Fleming portray Bond as afraid in that scene, that he couldn't overcome the challenge? Or do you think it was Lazenby's limited acting range. Or the director wanting it that way to amp up the drama before Tracy appears in front of Bond? (that's my guess). Personally, I think Connery's performance in that situation is more believable, even though his timing during the gunshot is rather... impeccable.
  • Posts: 11,425
    They're both well done scenes and the parallels are very strong. I just enjoy them as two different interpretations of the character.
  • Posts: 4,615
    IMHO, the attempt to portray Bond as a more human and fallible person was brave and obviously not for everyone but, when looking at the present DC version of Bond, it was the beginning of a trend that is still with us.
  • thedovethedove hiding in the Greek underworld
    Posts: 5,426
    I viewed the skating scene as a "I'm tired from skiing down that mountain, I don't know what else to do I think I will take a load off and see what happens." It does compare nicely to the TB Kiss Kiss scene.

    It was mentioned in another thread how OHMSS was almost shot in a few different years. I had heard that it was to go after GF but then Mclory made EON an offer they couldn't refuse and TB came instead. Then it was going to go after TB but it was decided that there was too many similarities. I believe someone at EON called OHMSS TB on skis. They do have a similar vibe to them. Anyway interesting to think about Connery in OHMSS right after GF. Would YOLT been next? What would have happened if TB hadn't been made by EON?

    Ok getting a bit off track.
  • echoecho 007 in New York
    Posts: 6,297
    I realize Eon didn't really care about filming the novels in order, and CR wasn't available.

    But would OHMSS (directed by Young?) right after GF have been too soon for the Tracy story? I'm not sure.
  • Posts: 1,296
    Let me guess - it's the one of Sean firing the piton gun with the carnation in his buttonhole?
    Oh my Lord I read this wrong at first, haha Lol, but just to be polite I won't say how. :)
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    echo wrote: »
    I realize Eon didn't really care about filming the novels in order, and CR wasn't available.

    But would OHMSS (directed by Young?) right after GF have been too soon for the Tracy story? I'm not sure.
    @echo, I'm actually pleased with the order we got.

    It was crucial for Bond to meet Blofeld face to face in YOLT before he ever met him again for OHMSS, at least in my opinion. The tension at their reunion could have only been heightened more if one actor had consistently been cast as ESB, but as with Felix, this was always impossible to pull off for whatever reason.

    If there's one thing that stains the 60s era, as perfect as it is, it's that crucial characters always change faces, in the literal sense. It's hard to connect to Felix when in every film he's played by a different person, just as it's incredibly hard to rally against Blofeld when the actors change every film for him too.

    Just as we went from the dapper and lean Lord Leiter of DN to the old and gluttonous Cec Linder Leiter of GF, we got a fluctuating portrait of Blofeld that saw him change drastically in height and weight, and all the features in between. Granted, the changing of actors gives Blofeld an almost metamorphic, intangible feeling, like he shape shifts and immerses himself into different "characters" to remain hidden as SPECTRE's leader, but that's not good enough and doesn't adequately allow me to suspect my disbelief.

    Savalas is probably my favorite ESB simply because he feels the most evocative of who I expect Blofeld to be (and he matches the Blofeld we see parts of in DN, FRWL and TB too). I expect him to be tall, with a booming voice and well built enough to be quite capable, a good doppelganger for Bond that are almost mirrors of each other in prevalent ways. If we got that consistent image of Blofeld in the 60s, instead of a fluctuating shuffle of vastly different actors, I'd be very satisfied, because at least I could look at the actor, whether I liked them in the role or not, and say yes, that is Blofeld! But as we have it, Bond's Moriarty has always been mishandled greatly, for whatever reason. If the dream team of the 60s couldn't pull it off well, how can we expect others to manage it?
  • Posts: 1,296
    Short but sweet little unreleased Barry cue from the ice rink

  • edited October 2016 Posts: 489
    Just think, DAF with Lazenby + Peter Hunt directing. We missed something there.

    That would have been incredible, as well as the rest of the 70's 007 films with GL, a truly great Bond.
  • suavejmfsuavejmf Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England
    Posts: 5,131
    BAIN123 wrote: »
    I bet Fleming would have approved of OHMSS. And Lazenby.

    I suspect initially Fleming would have been very snooty of Lazenby (an Aussie car salesman/model with no acting experience...and THAT beard). However, he would have probably liked him in the finished film.

    True. He would probably have balked at a homosexual directing OHMSS too. But Hunt was brilliant.
  • SeanCraigSeanCraig Germany
    Posts: 732
    After it's initial release OHMSS was, for various reasons, not that well-received. But when did that change and audiences realized how good it actually is? The themes and motifs played much better with the Bond audiences later.

    Does anybody know when that started to change with some retrospective article or so?

    I think it's comparable with Blade Runner or Vertigo - films that became classics much later.
  • Posts: 19,339
    SeanCraig wrote: »
    After it's initial release OHMSS was, for various reasons, not that well-received. But when did that change and audiences realized how good it actually is? The themes and motifs played much better with the Bond audiences later.

    Does anybody know when that started to change with some retrospective article or so?

    I think it's comparable with Blade Runner or Vertigo - films that became classics much later.

    Well,im not sure it has been received much more nowadays than then by the general public.
    Its more that the fans and people with an interest in Bond have accepted it and know how good it is.

    People still look at the film in the TV guide and say "Oh im not bothered with that film,its the one with the other fella in it,the bloke who only made one film."

  • Posts: 11,189
    I remember that in 2002 OHMSS was featured in an Itv "Best Ever Bond" documentary. The programme consisted of the 10 best moments in Bond as voted for by the public. One of them was Tracy's death scene.

    I think the film is possibly better regarded than a lot of people think.
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    I also think in 1969 it was in fact the
    Eighth top grossing film of the year.
  • Posts: 11,189
    I think it was shunned primarily because of Lazenby quitting and the producers consequently distancing themselves from it.
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    Yes, it took a long time for the events of OHMSS to be accepted, even in the Bond canon itself.
  • edited December 2016 Posts: 19,339
    Well it didnt help that DAF did the same thing DC is doing in my avatar above, to OHMSS,and denied the film ever existed.

    If EON themselves are doing that,then the public will think OHMSS is a mistake as well.
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    DAF has more reverberations of OHMSS than some like to say. The events of the previous film aren't mentioned in specifics, but in DAF Bond does take a selfish leave of absence to kill Blofeld, an act that M is visibly infuriated over, as Bond was being unprofessional and taking more time for his own problems than that of the world's. The film doesn't gloss over this, and gives screen time to show M upset at how Bond has handled Tracy's death, and how he acts after the mission is over, rather self-satisfied and undignified. Bond is visibly sadistic in the movie as well, enjoying his attempts to get at Blofeld ("Welcome to Hell, Blofeld"), and there's a rage in the performance that hints at it being the Bond of OHMSS.

    The only thing missing in the movie is Bond saying, "This is for Tracy," while he is trying to kill Blofeld on the oil rig. We don't get a shot of Tracy on the wedding day, or Bond visiting her grave, but what the film gives us is more than enough to point to the fact that this is the same Bond of the previous film, going after Blofeld with all he has and devoting all his time and energy to making the man feel his pain.
  • Mendes4LyfeMendes4Lyfe The long road ahead
    edited December 2016 Posts: 8,395
    Delete.
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    Yes, there's strong overtones in the scenes with Plenty that Bond plans to nail her in memory of his recently deceased love. Also when Moneypenny mentions Bond bringing a diamond ring back from Holland, you can tell he is crying on the inside.

    Is this some failed attempt at manifesting clever sarcasm or something? As I said, the film doesn't come out and say it's a sequel to OHMSS, but there is a lot in there that makes it a tangible follow-up to that movie if you study Bond and his actions in it. It's quite plain to see, really, but my apologies for having the audacity to even suggest it's there.

    Christ.
  • Mendes4LyfeMendes4Lyfe The long road ahead
    edited December 2016 Posts: 8,395
    Yes, there's strong overtones in the scenes with Plenty that Bond plans to nail her in memory of his recently deceased love. Also when Moneypenny mentions Bond bringing a diamond ring back from Holland, you can tell he is crying on the inside.

    Is this some failed attempt at manifesting clever sarcasm or something? As I said, the film doesn't come out and say it's a sequel to OHMSS, but there is a lot in there that makes it a tangible follow-up to that movie if you study Bond and his actions in it. It's quite plain to see, really, but my apologies for having the audacity to even suggest it's there.

    Christ.

    I think you've taken my comment a little too personally. Relax, I see the point you're making.
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