The most recent James Bond film/s (in case you forgot, it was split into two parts) goes on five & a quarter indigestible hours. This first James Bond film (now an improbable senior citizen) runs an hour 50 minutes and plays better than ever. Long considered a trial run next to its two top-rated follow-ups (FROM RUSSIAN WITH LOVE/’63; GOLDFINGER/’64), a look at the refreshed print proves it holds its own in the early Bond pecking order. With a just unpacked quality from semi-regular Bond director Terence Young on a laundry list of Bond iconography. From bloodied gun-barrel kickoff and Monty Norman’s hot electric guitar-lick theme; into Maurice Binder’s opening credits; that unstirred martini; brief banter with Miss Moneypenny; chemin de fer at the card table, the formal introduction ‘Bond . . . James Bond’; Ken Adams sets; Richard Maibaum script & quips. (Plus hardly a process shot in sight, the bane of '70s BOND, none till the 50" mark.) And, of course, Sean Connery’s Bond; classic & classy, but with an indelible touch of working-class bully-boy in his cruel curled lip. Only two missed elements of much importance: no John Barry score* and no final credit notification saying ‘James Bond Will Be Back.’ The storyline (wacko genius, think Asian Captain Nemo, hopes to disrupt NASA’s latest moon-prep launch from his secret ocean fortress near Jamaica) as clever & lean as Connery’s never surpassed Bond.* Both story and character driven, the film blessedly bloat-free (bloat crept in early, starting with THUNDERBALL/’65. And note, those early films came out every year, no six+ year wait between.
ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: *Per that famous Bond theme: John Barry (and his band) credited with the rendition, and Barry long claimed partial authorship.
CONTEST: *People also think Connery the hairiest of all Bonds. (Not on his head! Look close, it’s already going,) He’s not! Name the most hirsute 007 to win your choice of a MAKSQUIBS writeup.
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