**YOU ARE NOW ENTERING SPOILERTOWN**
Plot: Blofeld is stockpiling diamonds for a satellite laser so powerful he can ransom the world.
Foiled by: Bond parachutes onto the oil rig lair, has THE ENTIRE FUCKING SCHEME EXPLAINED TO HIM and eventually blows up the command center… by smashing it with a crane… which is holding Blodfeld…. who is in a submarine with which he was trying to escape.
Intriguing Setting(s): Vegas baby!
Bond: Sean Connery (for REAL his last one)
Villain(s):
- Blofeld, and his many body doubles, posing as reclusive millionaire Willard Whyte
- Mr. Wint & Mr. Kidd – (insert shudder noise)
- Bambi & Thumper – the memorable guards keeping the real Willard Whyte captive
Bond Girl(s):
- Tiffany Case – Quite possibly my favorite Bond Girl of all time, climactic bikini hijinks at their best. Also the first American Bond Girl.
- Plenty O’Toole – Gold-digger and unfortunate casualty in line of women Bond fails to keep alive
HL’s Hot Take: While it strains the limits of “Let’s kill him THIS way!” believability (even for a Bond film), it’s one of my favorites, for no other reason than it’s damn entertaining. Connery is back, the ladies are hot and fiesty, the plot is better than most and Bond is more badass than usual. I’m with Ebert on this one! It is what it is, and that’s why it’s good. I mean seriously, the entire operation relies on a cassette tape? And you let Bond check it out? What if he just smashes it to pieces? Oh well, we’re all having fun!
Head Librarian Rank: 8/24
Critical Rank: 17/24 (apparently Ebert was on an island for this one)
TRIVIA SECTION!
Odds & Ends:
- Bond kills Blofeld in the open! Revenge for Tracy! …… Oh wait he … it was just … body double. Got it.
- Plenty O’Toole is played by Lana Wood, Natalie Wood’s sister.
- There is an epic car chase down the Vegas Strip with 007 driving a moon buggy.
- The plot is strikingly similar to Die Another Day…
- Relatively unknown American actor John Gavin (he played Caesar in Spartacus) was originally cast since it would be an American focused film, but when Connery said he’d come back they bought out Gavin’s contract. After OHMSS, George Lazenby had declined a 7-movie deal (?!) thinking Bond would be antiquated and irrelevant soon.
- Willard Whyte’s character was based largely on the reclusive Howard Hughes.
6 Degrees Cameos: Aside from the previously mentioned Charles Gray link, the endlessly creepy Mr. Wint is in Chinatown.
Gadgets: fake thumbprints for Bond, a ring that rigs slot machines for Q
Cars: Aston Martin DBS, though it is only seen in Q’s lab being repaired, not driven by Bond
Awards: Oscar nod for Best Sound (lost to Fiddler on the Roof)
Release Order: 7/25 (1971)
Stranger Than Fiction:
In real life, Lana Wood’s sister, Natalie Wood, was married to actor Robert Wagner. In 1979, she died by drowning, as Lana’s character (Plenty O’Toole) does. Later, Robert Wagner married actress Jill St. John who plays Tiffany Case in the film. In addition, Wagner went on to have a starring role in the Austin Powers film franchise, a parody of the Bond movies.