Bond 7
When Bond (Sean Connery) investigates mysterious activities in the world diamond market, he discovers that the evil Ernst Blofeld (Charles Gray) is stockpiling the precious gems to use in a deadly laser satellite capable of destroying massive targets on land, sea and air. Bond, with the help of beautiful smuggler Tiffany Case (Jill St. John), sets out to stop the madman, but first he must grapple with a host of enemies. He confronts offbeat assassins Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd, as well as Bambi and Thumper--two scantily-clad beauties who are more than a match for Bond in hand-to-hand combat! Finally, there's the reclusive billionaire Willard Whyte (Jimmy Dean), who may just hold a vital clue to Blofeld's whereabouts. Hilarity ensues.
Trivia: Upon release, this film broke Hollywood's three-day gross record. During the filming of Plenty O'Toole's death in the swimming pool, Lana Wood actually had her feet tied (albeit loosely) to a cement block on the bottom. Film crew members held a rope across the pool for her, with which she could lift her face out of the water to breathe between takes. Unfortunately, like most pools, this one had a sloping bottom, and the block was slipping into deeper water with each take. Eventually it reached a depth from which she could no longer get her face out of the water. Alert film crew members noticed this, and quickly jumped into the water to untie her feet, thus saving her from drowning for real. Wood, being a certified diver, remained calm during the ordeal, although she later admitted to a few "very uncomfortable moments" while she was unable to breathe.
Willard Whyte is obviously based on Howard Hughes. Hughes, however, played a more substantial role behind the scenes allowing EON to film inside his casinos and at his other properties. His fee was reputed to be one 16mm print of the film. American actor John Gavin was signed to play James Bond in this movie. At the last minute, Sean Connery agreed to return as James Bond for the sixth time in a two picture deal and at an astronomical salary for the time. Albert R Broccoli insisted that John Gavin be paid out in full his contract. When asked if he would play Bond again after Diamonds Are Forever, Sean Connery replied, "Never again." Remember that later on.
The laser satellite's reflector is actually the reflector from an old fashioned, non-electronic camera flash attachment. Lana Wood had to stand on a box for some of her scenes with Sean Connery because, even in high heels, she was too small to fit into the frame with him.
The Characters:
- James Bond - Sean Connery, for his sixth and last official turn as the secret agent.
- Ernst Stavro Blofeld - Third film, third actor, this time it was Charles Gray. This also marks the last time Blofeld and SPECTRE are in any Bond movies. After this, writer Kevin McClory's legal claim against the Fleming estate that he, and not Ian Fleming, had created the organization for the novel "Thunderball" was upheld by the courts.
- Mr. Wint and Mr. Kid - Bruce Glover and Putter Smith, the slightly odd assassins. There is a strong suggestion that they are involved in more than just a professional relationship; they appear to be homosexual, although the film never explicitly makes that clear. Throughout the film, they use several interesting ways of assassinating their victims, from the use of a scorpion to kill a South African dentist, tying the feet of Plenty O'Toole to a metal plate and drowning her in a swimming pool, and attempting to incinerate James Bond alive in a crematorium furnace.
- Tiffany Case - Jill St. John. The aptly named Tiffany Case is the lead Bond girl of Diamonds Are Forever. Jill St. John was originally slated to play Plenty O'Toole until the producers thought that St. John was "too much of an actress" for the role of Plenty. Tiffany was so named because she was born on the third floor of the world-renown jewelry store of the same name when her mother was shopping for a wedding ring. In the movie, Tiffany, "like any sensible animal", allies with whichever side that seems convenient at the moment. In the end, as Fiona Volpe might comment, she "repents" and return to the side of right and virtue.
- Plenty O'Toole - Lana Wood. Plenty O'Toole is another of the (suggestively named) Bond girls who appeared in the scenario only to exit it a few minutes later. Most of Plenty's scenes ended up on the cutting floor, two of which were included on the Special Edition DVD. The first scene was of her having dinner with Bond, the second was of her sneaking back to the hotel room (after being thrown out the window and into a swimming pool) seeing Bond and Tiffany together, and looking up Tiffany's address from her purse (which would have closed a plot hole because to explained how she knew where Tiffany lived).
- Bambi and Thumper - Lola Larson and Trina Parks. Although not a real Bond girls per se, they form the female duo who guards Willard Whyte; the two remain to this day one of the best remembered henchwomen of Bond villains. Trina Parks thought it was interesting to have a combat form styled after rhythmic gymnastics and dance, thus she choreographed many of her own moves in the movie. For years, Donna Garrett was credited with playing Bambi, for she appeared (and credited) in the film's trailers. But it was gymnast Lola Larson who actually ended up in the movie playing the role.
The Theme Song:
Vehicles & Gadgets:
- Pocket snap trap — A small gadget hidden in a pocket to give a person performing an unwanted search on the wielder a painful surprise that would provide a critical distraction for the wielder to exploit for an attack.
- 1971 Ford Mustang Mach 1 — Tiffany Case picks up Bond after eluding some henchmen.
- Moon Buggy — Used by Bond to escape from the laboratory.
- Fake Fingerprint — Bond uses a fake fingerprint that clings to his thumb to trick Tiffany Case into believing he is Peter Franks.
- Slot Machine Ring — Q created a ring that when used ensures a jackpot at the slot machines every time.
- Grappling braces — When Bond rides on top of the elevator to the suite of Willard Whyte he uses for the last leg of this trip the rappelling cord built into his braces. (A similar gadget is the belt used in GoldenEyep. Bond uses a special gun to fire the pitons needed to rappel, and later demonstrates that this can also be a deadly weapon.
The movie begins with Bond's worldwide pursuit of the head of SPECTRE, Ernst Starvo Blofeld in revenge for the murder of his wife, Tracy Bond with the implied permission of MI6, at the end of the previous adventure, On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Cornering Blofeld in an underground lab where the villain is in the process of creating duplicates of himself (via a form of plastic surgery), Bond throws Blofeld into a vat of superheated mud. "Welcome to Hell, Blofeld," he quips.
Okay, this was a good movie, but not on par with the other Connery Bonds. I think it may have been because they were trying to appeal to an American audience, so almost the whole movie is set in Las Vegas. This would happen again in Live and Let Die, the next Bond movie, which takes place in New York, New Orleans, and a caribean island. Of course I could be wrong, Dr. No and Goldfinger are set in the Americas. It would be 12 years before we see Connery return as Bond in the unathorized Never Say Never Again, (Hummm, I wonder who said "Never again")
Next Up: Live and Let Die, Roger Moore stars in the first of seven Bond films for him (the most for any actor to play Bond, Connery would end up in seven too, but one was unofficial)
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