The James Bond Film Festival. Part 10: The Spy Who Loved Me

Cafe Society
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The James Bond Film Festival. Part 1: Dr. No
The James Bond Film Festival. Part 2: From Russia with Love
The James Bond Film Festival. Part 3: Goldfinger
The James Bond Film Festival. Part 4: Thunderball
The James Bond Film Festival. Part 5: You Only Live Twice
The James Bond Film Festival. Part 6: On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
The James Bond Film Festival. Part 7: Diamonds are Forever
The James Bond Film Festival. Part 8: Live and Let Die
The James Bond Film Festival. Part 9: The Man with the Golden Gun

Half way through the series!

To tell the truth, I don’t remember which was the first Bond film I ever saw. But I think it was The Spy Who Loved Me.

Curt Jürgens portrays Karl Stromberg, a reclusive industrialist who is collecting submarines. His Evil Plan™ is to use the nuclear missiles on the submarines to detroy New York City and Moscow, causing a nuclear war that will destroy the world. In its place, he plans to build an underwater Utopia. James Bond (Roger Moore) teams up with Russian agent Anya Amasova (Barbara Bach) when Soviet General Anatol Gogol (Walter Gotell) and M (Bernard Lee) decide they have a common interest in getting the submarines back. A minor complication is that Bond killed Amasova’s boyfriend (Michael Billington) on his previous mission. This is only a minor complication though, designed to cause some friction when she finds out Bond is the killer.

Jaws (Richard Kiel) makes his first appearance in this film as the toothy assassin. Stromberg has another assistant by the name of Naomi (the beautiful Caroline Munro). Munro, IMO was much prettier than Bach. There’s something rat-like about Bach’s face in this film. Maybe it’s her teeth. Not that she wasn’t pretty – just a little odd-looking.

The Spy Who Loved Me has some of the coolest, most memorable gadgets and scenes in a Bond film. Or I may just remember them because this might have been the first one I saw. The trademark shot is during the pre-title sequence. Bond is being chased by Russian agents in Austria. He escapes by skiing off of a cliff and parachuting to safety. The Union Jack parachute is classic! And who could forget Bond, in his RN Commander’s uniform, scooting along on the stone-aged Sea-Doo? (I think it was a Sea-Doo. If anyone knows the manufacturer for certain, please let me know.) Then there was the Lotus Esprit. When I was a kid, that was my dream car. Even 26 years on, the lines of the classic Lotus are inspiring.

Speaking of the Lotus, I think this must have been the most outrageous Bond car to-date. The Aston-Martin had its gimmicks, but the Lotus turns into a mini-sub! Rather preposterous, but I liked it when I first saw it.

A couple of points bugged me in the film. Seriously; James bond wearing a Seiko? No Rolex Submariner this time. (And this won’t be the last film in which Bond wears a Seiko. I’ll mention it when the time comes, but there’s a scene in another film where a Seiko billboard figures prominently.) I also didn’t like the funkified Bond Theme during the ski chase. Way too disco. Fortunately they had the presence of mind to cut the music entirely when Bond goes off the cliff. The silence was quite effective.

I’d have to say this is the best Bond film since On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. Moore plays it straight and does a good job. Kiel’s pastel blue leisure suit made me smirk, but I guess that was the style back then. Other than that, he makes a good henchman. I mentioned that Bach is a little strange-looking, but that doesn’t matter as much as her acting – or lack thereof. I don’t know if it’s because she was struggling with the Russian accent, but her performance was rather wooden. Even with the face though, she was nice to look at. (I would have liked to have seen more of Caroline Munro.) But overall this was a good effort. The pacing was good, the story was good, and Ken Adam’s sets were fabulous. The Big Battle™ in the ship was spectacular.

Two details to look for: First is the scene where the Lotus comes out of the ocean. There’s a guy on the beach who looks at his bottle of vino and thinks he’s drunk and seeing things. He shows up in at least one other Bond film (although I don’t recall which). The other thing is in the end credits: “JAMES BOND will return in FOR YOUR EYES ONLY”. Actually, For Your Eyes Only will be released in 1981 – two years after Moonraker (1979).

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The Spy Who Loved Me was the third Bond film I saw, after Dr. No and Goldeneye. I actually like this one a lot.

I love the theme song, I think Curt Jürgens (who spoke five languages, apparently) is very good as Stromberg, and Roger Moore looks good in a Naval uniform (Bong being a Commander and all.)

My only problem with the film is Barbara Bach. She seems a bit mis-cast as Anya. She looks a bit waifish standing next to Roger Moore. The character is well written, but Bach is just missing something. A View to a Kill has a similar problem. Stacey Sutton (Tanya Roberts), is supposed to be a geologist, but it’s hard to buy Tanya Roberts, who resembles a walking sex doll.

Oddly, Barbara Bach played another Slavic agent (this time Yugoslavian) in 1978’s Force 10 from Navarone, the slightly underrated and long-delayed sequel to Guns of Navarone, which starred none of the original cast but made up for it by casting Harrison Ford, Robert Shaw and Edward Fox. Funnily enough, Force 10 also featured Richard Kiel. She’s better in that film.

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Rick Sylvester was the stunt man for the opening – IMO it is in the top two for the always great Bond openings.

Carly Simon does “Nobody Does It Better” and-- IMO it is top three for the best Bond theme songs.

I think this was probably the best Moore-as-Bond film.

I liked Keil as Jaws in this one – before he becomes a true cartoon character in Moonraker – he really sells power and strength fighting Bond.

I think you guys are a little hard on Bach – agreed she was not as easy on the eyes as most Bond heroines before or since – agree it wasn’t an Oscar-worthy performance. However, I liked the play between her and Moore – as Bond had killed Bach’s fiance on his previous misson and it gave a little more depth to her character and the relationship, and human motivations.

One other point: They jettisoned so much of Fleming’s story for this (Had to as Bond 1st appears well over 1/2 way through the book). Ironically they got rid of the camp and creaky jokes that crept into the film series in the previous two films and returned to a harder-core spy-thriller vibe the much closer to the way that Flemming had written the series. Go figure.

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A running gag that I call “Drunk Guy” (even though he’s sober, he is holding liquor) starts in this film. He stares at his liquor bottle as if to say “am I drinking too much, or did I really see that?” when Bond’s car drives out of the water. He’ll return in Moonraker, staring at his bottle again once a gondola goes up on land, and in For Your Eyes Only (this time he doesn’t stare at his bottle-in fact, he’s on screen for less than a second) after Bond skis across a picnic table.

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“Drunk Guy Seeing Things” was mentioned on one of the DVD extras as being an assistant director or something, who got pressed into service for the first time in this movie. They needed some “anonymous guy” for the Lotus sighting, and he was standing around NOT assistant directing and thus got cast. There is a brief interview with him in which he states that he is recognized on the street to this day, but still has less than one minute of screen time total!

Maybe I’m the same age as Johnny L. A. , but I also remember this as my first Bond film. The Lotus Esprit has held a special place in my heart ever since I saw this movie.

As for the opening scene - the DVD extras go in depth with this. The stuntman who pulled it off had never done a jump from this location (in fact, no one had), and he had to convince the producers that it actually could be done. They sent the entire crew up to this mountain and promptly sat on their asses while massive storms rolled in. After a few days they were ready to pack it in and call it quits when the weather cleared. They had one day to get it done, and Rick Sylvester did it perfectly - what you see is actually what happened. The producers, however, got lucky: the shot that you see of Sylvester falling and pulling his chute is from the ONLY camera that actually managed to follow him off the cliff. Every other cameraman ( I think there were four total) lost him after he went over the edge. I can’t remember who’s idea the Union Jack chute was, but I think it was Sylvester’s. I know that it was someone on-scene, and not the producers. Sometimes that’s how things go - some guys on a mountain come up with an idea, ONE guy manages to catch it on film and it becomes a defining Bond moment. Classic.

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This is probably my least favorite Roger Moore Bonf film.
But, Jaws is my favorite evil sidekick. He’s also in Moonraker, I think.

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This my second favorite of the Moore Bonds (after For Your Eyes Only), and I’ll contend it’s the closest to the spirit of Goldfinger of all the later films, if rather more cartoonish.

Some of my favorite gadgets of the series showed up here, what with the sub-eating tanker, the Lotus (best Bond car after the Goldfinger Aston) and Stromberg’s underwater lair. Also one of the silliest: wasn’t this the one with a motorcycle sidecar that turns into a missile?

Richard Keil’s Golem-like ‘Jaws’ certainly made a memorable impression, although unlike others here I thought his charactrer was way over the top for even this series, particularly his constant recoveries from clearly life-ending mishaps. Thought Ms. Bach didn’t quite cut it either; I’ll agree with Johnny L.A. that the pulchritudinous Ms. Munro steals the show. Did think Curd Jurgens really nailed his character, as someone who obviously wishes all those bothersome humans would just go away. Every time I see the film, I think: “now there’s a guy who hasn’t had any fun in a long, long time”. Must not have been getting any from Ms. Munro’s character to be that dour.

BTW, until reminded by these discussions, I hadn’t realised just how often Bond seems to end up having to battle some henchman or other in an overnight train compartment. You’d think he’d just give up and take the bus home.

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Bond kills a lot of people in every film, but for some reason I was struck by how vicious he was in this one. At the beginning of the tanker battle he bursts into a compartment and cuts loose with a submachinegun without warning. He does the same on a walkway. After Stromberg tries to shoot him Bond says, “You’ve shot your bolt,” and shoots him with a pistol. Then he shoots him again. Then he shoots him again. I found it to be very cold, like the time in Dr. No when he shot the unarmed man in the bedroom (“You’ve had your six.”).

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I don’t know if she stole the show, but she’s very good looking. Here are some photos from the film.

Incidentally, Ms. Munro has a new film coming out around Halloween called Flesh for the Beast.

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The Spy Who Loved Me is my favorite Bond film. The movie was so good they re-made it. See MoonRaker.

Spy : hot female Russian agent works with Bond
Moon: hot female American agent works with Bond

Spy: bad guy has killer lair under the ocean
Moon: bad guy has killer lair in space

Spy: bad Jaws!
Moon: bad Jaws turns good!

And those are just the obvious similarities.

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She does have a great interplay with Bond, there’s no question about that.

I just thought Bach looked a little young for the part (even thought she wasn’t.) Then again, not every Bond girl has to be a tall amazon. She just seems kind of pubescent, especially compared to Roger Moore. It’s a minor complaint, really.

Still, things could have been worse. Lois Chiles (Moonraker) had auditioned for the part.

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Funny you should mention Moonraker. :stuck_out_tongue:

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TSWLM – also my first Bond film seen on theatrical first-release, and how lucky for me. Good action, over-the-top henchman, great theme song, nifty gadgets, good balance of Bond-as-agent vs. Bond-as-wisecracking-superhero and the evil mastermind plans on using something that can actually destroy the world (3 SSBNs). BTW as to the “killer Bond” – since he is working essentially alone or with minimal support, he can’t take prisoners; and unlike his antagonists, he knows that it behooves him to make sure the other guy is really dead. I like that dark side of Bond.

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Right. But since Bond is a good guy, they rarely showed him being ruthless.

I also liked the scene in the Middle East where the baddie is holding onto Bond’s tie. When Bond gets the information he needs, he slaps the bad guy’s hand from the tie, causing him to plummet.

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Yechhh!

Christopher Wood’s first outing as Bond screenwriter produces something even worse than The Man with the Golden Gun. Wood would later go on to give us the atrocious Remo Williams – THe Adventure Begins (and, thankfully, ended with that film. There are a HELLL of a lot more “Destroyer” books than James Bond books, and they’re worse than Fleming at his worst.)
Fleming reportedly refused to sell the rights to anything more than the name of this book, retaining the rights to the story. It probably didn’t matter. By this time, the Bond films had nothing to do with the novels (although no one could have foreseen that when Fleming was still alive). The book is an interesting read – if you can find it. It’s the hardest to find of all the Bond paperbacks. The story is told from the Point of View of the heroine (the “Bond firl”), which is pretty neat in itself, but the story is unspectacular, and, as noted above, Bond’s appearance in it is late. One of the villains has the hair-destroying disease allopecia. It’s the same thing Kennedy conspiracy darling David Ferrie had, and I’ve often wondered if Fleming knew about that weird character.

For the first time, screenwriter Wood produced an original novelization of a Bond film to go along with the movie’s release (instead of them re-releasing the Fleming novel – which didn’t match). For the first time since Diamonds are Forever, they had a book tie-in to the film. Wood would repeat this with Moonraker, but after him the practice would die until John Gardner wrote a movie tie-in to License to Kill, the first movie without a Fleming original novel or story.
The movie story, as has been pointed out many times (but not yet in this thread) is virtually a re-make of the movie You Only Live Twice, only this time they’re abducting submarines, not space capsules. They even originally planned to have the same villain – “Stromberg” was supposed to be Blofeld, but the moviemakers found they didn’t have the rights to Blofeld or SPECTRE. (The folks who did later used both in the non-EON Bond film Never Say Never Again.)
Pretty damned silly (although not as bad as the next entry, Moonraker). “Jaws” had the potential for a good villain henchman, but they drew him too cartoonishly. What saved this film, the Good Thing, were the stunts.

Oh, yeah, and apparently, since Goldfinger, Bond has learned to defuse atomic bombs.

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I picked up my Bond books at a used bookstore. (Or is that a “used-book store”?) I was a bit taken aback by the POV of the book – which, IIRC, was essentially a diary being kept by the heroine. Unfortunately, I packed up most of my books and moved them into storage last year so I can’t go back and refer to them for these threads.

Oh, I liked this one. It was totally divorced from the book, but I liked it as a film.

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I really liked this one. I think my favorite scene is when Stromberg is alone in his study, and raises up the paintings so he can watch the fish outside, and plays the Andante from Mozart’s Piano Concerto #21, one of my favorite pieces of classical music. (Too bad the soundtrack was also ruined by that awful sythesizer music during the Pyramid scenes, and that brutal Disco Bond music).

And I agree that Bond was more noticeably cold in this one - remember that scene where the bad guy is holding his tie, and when he gets “Pyramids” out of him he immediately knocks the henchman’s hand away so that he falls to his death.

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Once again everything’s been said… This one, like Moonraker and You Only Live Twice is way too cartoon-ish. NothingMan already covered the obvious ones.
I do like Bond admiring Naomi when Bond first meets her: “Such lovely lines,” also referring to her boat. This is also where the goofy, wise-cracking Bond is the worst. After the aforementioned guy with the rocket-sidecar gets covered in feathers and flies off the cliff, Bond quips, “All those feathers and he still can’t fly.” Har, har.
As mentioned a few threads ago, the guy who played the captain of the American submarine was previously in YOLT and maybe another one. Which brings up a possible plot hole… why did Stromberg’s ship capture the American sub? He already had his two subs, why capture a third? Seemed like the only reason was just so Bond could get aboard the tanker.
Finally, speaking of music, pay attention to the scene where Bond is trying to plant the detonator at the doors of the operation room. He rides on top of the floating camera, with the Bond theme blaring in the background. Then he pulls the wire for the camera, and the picture and music stop simultaneously. Kind of a cool effect.
Even more finally, :slight_smile: I never saw the movie xXx. Was that name derived from TSWLM?

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This was the first Bond film made that departed entirely from the novels by Ian Fleming.

I didn’t mind this much, as the novel of the same name as written by Fleming is essentially unfilmable, as well as pretty bad. As has been mentioned, the entire first half of the novel is the story of how the fairly dim-witted heroine is betrayed by men (she gets caught in flagrante delicto in a movie balcony with her first boyfriend, who then dumps her, and then gets involved with some German who flies her to Switzerland for an abortion after he impregnates her and then refuses to marry her. I imagine this was terribly shocking when first written, although I doubt it raises many eyebrows nowadays).

I had read most of the novels by the time I got around to TSWLM, and I knew that Fleming was just going thru the motions with the book. He does not include the physical flaw he liked to give his heroines in this one (Vivienne something or other). Honeychile Ryder had a broken nose, Domino Valente had one leg shorter than the other (!), Tatania Romanova thought her mouth was too wide. This one, nothing.

Anyway, Vivienne takes a motorcycle trip thru Canada to recover from her abortion and heartbreak over being dumped yet again, and gets involved in an insurance scheme to burn down the motel she is working at and frame her for it. Two bad guys show up to do the deed. One has alopecia, or the total absence of hair, and the other has steel teeth (no doubt where they got the Jaws idea). All this has consumed a hundred pages or so.

Then Our Hero shows up out of nowhere, shoots the bad guys, screws the heroine, and leaves. End of story.

As I said, the book is essentially unfilmable. The first half seems to come out of a bad romance magazine, and the entire role of Bond is too perfunctory to make even a short story. Fleming obviously just tossed Bond in to make the book sell. It would have taken a major re-write to make the thing into an interesting short Bond story that Fleming could sell to Playboy, as was done with The Living Daylights or Property of a Lady.

I think the producers did the best they could by creating a whole new Bond picture from scratch, and then slapping the Fleming name on it.

Regards,
Shodan

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Unless you count the then-shocking “flaw” of having had an abortion.