"Moore As Bond"

Below is an article I had written about Roger Moore's tenure (1973-1985) as James Bond:


”MOORE AS BOND”

I always found it odd that many Bond fans tend to dismiss Roger Moore's performances as a non-threatening Bond. While watching the "Special Features" segment for my "CASINO ROYALE" DVD, I saw the "Bond Girls Are Forever" segment in which Jane Seymour described her character's relationship with Moore's Bond. From what she and Maud Adams had said, I got the distinct impression that in his own way, Moore's Bond was just as ruthless as the other Bonds.

Unlike his fellow Bond actors, Moore’s ruthlessness usually did not involve grittiness of any kind or overt menace. Judging from Seymour's description of Moore's Bond and my own memories, I suspect that Moore's ruthlessness was a lot more subtle, but equally cold-blooded. I believe that Moore had portrayed Bond as a manipulative and cold-blooded cad, who would use anyone to achieve his goal . . . while smiling in their faces or whispering soft words. And thinking about this made me realize that Moore's portrayal of Bond had more than just tongue-in-cheek humor. He had portrayed a Bond that turned out tobe very unique from the others. Perhaps the other Bonds have used or manipulated others (think of Bond's use of Solange in "CASINO ROYALE"), but they have never done it with such cold-blooded style as Moore.

Roger Moore had first been considered for the role of James Bond back in 1961 or early 1962, about a year before he began his six-year run as another British literary icon . . . Simon Templar aka “THE SAINT”. He eventually took over the Bond role from Sean Connery in 1972 and his first movie became 1973’s “LIVE AND LET DIE”. Moore would spend the next twelve years portraying the British agent. And during that period, he would gain the reputation of being a lightweight Bond – one who resorted to jokes, light charm and gadget instead of ruthlessness and sheer grit. A reputation – in my opinion – that I believe was unfairly dumped on him.

Whereas other actors who have portrayed Bond (Connery, Dalton and Craig, especially) tend to show the agent’s more ruthless side in gritty action sequences and overt violence, Moore’s take on Bond’s ruthlessness tend to be a little more subtle. Moore has shown Bond’s grittier side in movies like ”THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN” and ”FOR YOUR EYES ONLY”. However, his grittiness more plausible in the 1981 film, in which he did not seem bent upon impersonating Connery like he did in the 1974 film. However, subtlety and caddish behavior seemed to be the hallmark of Moore’s performance. And here are a few examples (if you know of any more, please let me know):

- In ”LIVE AND LET DIE”, he deliberately tricked Solitaire into believing they were destined to be lovers, so that he could have sex with her and manipulate her into revealing all about Kanaga’s operation. One of the low moments in Bond’s career.

- Also in ”LALD”, Bond unceremoniously shoved a shark pellet into Kanaga’s mouth, causing the latter to expand before blowing up. Rather cruel way to kill someone.

- In ”THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN”, he seduced fellow MI-6 agent, Mary Goodnight into spending the night with him. But when Scaramanga’s mistress, Andrea Anders, comes knocking at his door, he forced Goodnight to hide in a nearby closet, while he has sex with Anders. Hmmmm . . .

- Also in ”TMWTGG”, Bond offered a young Thai boy to fix his boat engine for money. When the boy does as he asks, Bond shoved the kid into the water. That was . . . pretty shitty.

- In ”THE SPY WHO LOVED ME”, Bond started to enjoy the favors of a young woman that was hired to distract him at Fekkish’s home. But when he saw that Sandor is about to kill him, he used the young woman as a human shied. This is debatable, since there are those who believe that she simply became an accidental target.

- Also in ”TSWLM”, Bond shoved Sandor off a roof, after the latter grudgingly gives him the information that he needs. And later, he shot an unarmed Karl Stromberg in the chest . . . four times.

- In ”MOONRAKER”, Bond sexually seduced one of Drax’s employees, Corine Dufour, so that she could lead him to Drax’s personal safe for information. This action eventually led to Corine’s death at the jaws of a pair of Dobermans. I can only assume that Bond never realized the consequences of his actions.

- Finally in ”FOR YOUR EYES ONLY”, Bond shot Emile Loque in the shoulder, forcing the Belgian hitman to swerve to the edge of a cliff. In what is considered to be a very celebrated scene, Bond slowly sauntered over and kicked Loque’s car over the cliff.

I tried to think of any real cold-blooded acts on Bond’s part, in Moore’s last two films - ”OCTOPUSSY” and ”A VIEW TO A KILL”, but I was unable to. Perhaps by 1982 or 1983, Moore had slowly become aware of the fact that his Bond was a lot more cold-blooded than he had originally intended. Or perhaps his Bond had matured into a man who realized that he did not need to resort to cold-blooded and caddish acts to complete his assignment. Who knows?

But I hope that this puts an end to the idea that Roger Moore’s Bond was simply some light and sophisticated man who seemed more concerned with jokes and beautiful women. Because from what I have seen from most of Moore’s films, his Bond seemed quite capable of being ruthless. Perhaps he was not as gritty as the likes of Sean Connery, Timothy Dalton or Daniel Craig, but Moore’s Bond could be quite a dangerous and cold-blooded man.