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Which Fleming Characters Were Best Cast in the Films?
This could also go in the Lit section, and if a mod wants to move it, I won't object.
Now to the task at hand, I think there has been some terrific casting of Fleming characters. Joseph Wiseman as Julius No, Lotte Lenya as Rosa Klebb, Robert Shaw as Red Grant, Bernard Lee as M, and George Lazenby as Bond all spring to mind. In these instances, I couldn't have cast actors that more perfectly represent Fleming's characters if I tried.
Whom would you nominate?
Now to the task at hand, I think there has been some terrific casting of Fleming characters. Joseph Wiseman as Julius No, Lotte Lenya as Rosa Klebb, Robert Shaw as Red Grant, Bernard Lee as M, and George Lazenby as Bond all spring to mind. In these instances, I couldn't have cast actors that more perfectly represent Fleming's characters if I tried.
Whom would you nominate?
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Comments
Here are my choices:
- Timothy Dalton as Bond
- Jack Lord as Felix Leiter
- Rory Kinnear as Tanner
- Agreed on Wiseman, Lenya, Shaw, Lee
- Michael Lonsdale as Sir Hugo Drax
Timothy Dalton (and Sean Connery) as James Bond 007
Bernard Lee as M
Wiseman as Dr Julius No
Shaw as Donald Grant
Chris Lee as Francisco Scaramanga
Mads Mikkelsen as LeChiffre
Jane Seymour as Solitaire
Yes, that certainly was another great one.
Lee as M of course
Lois Maxwell as MP. Although am I just being blinded by the fact that Maxwell took such ownership of the character that she trumps what Fleming wrote.
Robert Shaw as Red Grant
Mie Hama as Kissy was pretty close
Lotte Lenya as Klebb
I think Charles Gray as Blofeld was about the right size and stature, even if he wasn't quite as menacing. At least he had hair. Fleming's Blofeld looked most like Gray I think.
Both Jack Lord and Rick Van Nutter as Leiter.
Gert Frobe as Goldfinger
Wiseman as Dr No = perfection.
Gabrielle Ferzetti as Draco. Like Pedro Armendariz as Darko Kerim though, this may be somewhat clouded by the fact that many of us saw the films first and thus envisioned the screen characters in the books. Fleming's Kerim was a lot rougher and more barbaric.
Ferzetti as Draco I think was close.
Ilse Steppatt as Bunt was well cast I thought.
Tetsuro Tamba seems pretty close as Tiger.
Ursula Andress as Honey. Fleming liked her so much he even gave her a literary reference in his OHMSS.
Jane Seymour as Solitaire? Fleming Solitaire I don't think was as weak.
Harold Sakata as Oddjob was bang on! Maybe the most perfect casting of all
Was Honor Blackman close as Pussy or Shirley Eaton as Tilly Masterson?
Fleming's Domino was feistier than Auger's screen domino.
Giancarlo Giannini as Mathis seems close.
All the Fleming characters in FYEO seem pretty good. Topol as Columbo. Casandra Harris Lisl. Not sure about Julian Glover though. Does he work as Flemings Kristatos?
Biggest miss. Charles Gray as Dikko Henderson :P
As for Tracy, I think Rigg's screen portrayal was actually better realized than what Fleming created. Rigg very much fleshed out the character.
Fleming's Tracy goes AWOL for a good stretch, plus I think she was a blonde if memory serves
Bernard Lee as M
Lois Maxwell as Ms. Moneypenny
Giancarlo Giannini as Mathis
Eva Green as Vesper Lynd
Pedro Armendariz as Kerim Bey
Robert Shaw as Red Grant
Gert Fröbe as Auric Goldfinger
Harold Sakata as Oddjob
Gabriele Ferzetti as Marc-Ange Draco
Ilse Steppat as Irma Bunt
Jane Seymour as Solitaire
Timothy Dalton as James Bond
John Terry as Felix Leiter
Note: by perfect casting, I mean almost as Fleming wrote the character. Sometimes this is debatable--Dalton lacks some of the literary Bond's charm. Other selections are note-perfect: movie Mathis has the wisdom of his book counterpart (too bad he wasn't given screentime to debate Bond on the nature of evil) and Armendariz captures Darko's joi de vivre. John Terry from TLD might surprise some, but he is closer to the literary Felix than any other: young, Texan, affable, and someone who seems genuinely at ease with Bond.
Casting that differs from the book but works perfectly (or very well) in the movie:
Sean Connery as James Bond
Joseph Wiseman as Dr. No
Diana Rigg as Tracy di Vincenzo
Lotte Lenya as Rosa Klebb
Honor Blackman as Pussy Galore
Anthony Dawson and Eric Pohlmann as Ernst Stavro Blofeld
Tetsurō Tamba as Tiger Tanaka
Telly Savalas as Ernst Stavro Blofeld
Bruce Glover as Mr. Wint and Putter Smith as Mr. Kidd
Topol as Columbo
Note: these are actors who don't exactly fit what Fleming wrote, either because they physically differ from the originals or have slightly different personalities, but they play the characters so well they compensate by adding an extra dimension to them. Connery's Bond is more insolent, sly, and predatory than Fleming's, and that makes him enormously charismatic. Rigg is haughtier and definitely less blonde than book Tracy, but she also has more personality. Blackman is a tougher, no-nonsense Galore. Tamba is younger than book Tiger but retains his zest, just as Topol is less fat than the original Columbo but just as full of vitality. Lenya is thinner and more high-strung than the original Klebb, and just as nasty. Savalas has a different accent and look than the original Blofeld but invests him with greater menace and physicality.
Unsuccessful Casting:
Mads Mikkelsen as LeChiffre
Christopher Lee as Scaramanga
Yaphet Kotto as Mr. Big
Britt Ekland as Mary Goodnight
Cec Linder as Felix Leiter
Adolfo Celi as Emilio Largo
Charles Gray as Dikko Henderson
Charles Gray as Ernst Stavro Blofeld:
Jill St. John as Tiffany Case
Norman Burton as Felix Leiter
Michael Lonsdale as Hugo Drax
Note: these are not necessarily bad performances. They just don't line up with the original versions of the characters and they aren't compelling enough to stand up on their own. St. John and Ekland are stuck playing bimbos. Lee lacks his customary menace. Lonsdale is occasionally witty but more often stiff. Gray is too foppish in both of his roles. Kotto, Mikkelson, and Celi play shrunken-down, uncharismatic versions of the original villains. They aren't monstrous enough for Fleming's world. The actors playing Leiter look too old and sound too staid.
Robert Shaw as Red Grant
Bernard Lee and Ralph Fiennes as M (though Fiennes has only had a single scene as M, he's done great so far)
Sean Connery, Timothy Dalton and Daniel Craig as James Bond
Anthony Dawson as Blofeld's hand stroking a cat
I will defer and list my favs
Gert Frobe as Goldfinger. In the book he was only 5 feet tall and hardly imposing. It was a smart choice to use a more physically and bigger than life actor for this iconic villain.
The entire cast for LTK and FRWL. These two films are the most meticulously cast.
I could go on but I won't. In most cases EON has hit the mark (or come very close to it despite what the books and Fleming may have dreamed up). In some cases the films have improved on what was envisioned. For example, the script for Goldfinger improves on Auric's caper but that's another discussion.
Diana Rigg
Topol
Bernard Lee
Gabriele Ferzetti
Lotte Lenya
The Monster from Lille--heh, hadn't even thought about that one, but you're right.
As for Doleman's Lippe, I think Doleman was appropriately menacing, but Fleming's Lippe he certainly was not. They bore no resemblance whatever.