Bond Secret File #7 - Diamonds Are Forever

Introduction: 9/10
The return of Sean Connery as James Bond and director Guy Hamilton, Goldfinger, help to bring the Bond franchise back to it's original roots. With Diamonds Are Forever returns the familiar consistencies that made the franchise so unique and entertaining, something that seemed to be purposely shied away from in On Her Majesty's Secret Service. The introduction re-introduces us to Sean Connery as James Bond as he proceeds to go around beating people senseless in order to obtain information on the whereabouts of Ernst Stavro Blofeld. It's inferred that Bond is out for revenge of the death of his wife, but it's never specifically mentioned, not until Roger Moore is Bond's wife ever brought up again. The title sequence is back to normal as well, no more clips from previous films, and a title sequence which clearly makes good use of diamonds!

Title Song: 10/10
Diamonds Are Forever also sees the return of the title song with lyrics, where the previous film had only a score. This title song is one of my favorites if not my favorite, great lyrics, great score and it matches the film and the franchise perfectly, where some of the songs in the Roger Moore era become pretty ridiculous. Title theme is sung by Shirley Bassey:

Diamonds are forever, they are all I need to please me, they can stimulate and tease me, they won't leave in the night, and I’ve no fear that they might desert me.

Diamonds are forever, hold one up and then caress it, touch it, stroke it and undress it, I can see every part, and nothing hides in the heart to hurt me.

I don't need love, for what good will love do me? Diamonds never lie to me, for when love's gone, they'll lustre on.

Diamonds are forever, Sparkling round my little finger, unlike men, the diamonds linger, men are mere mortals who are not worth going to your grave for.

I don't need love, for what good will love do me? Diamonds never lie to me, for when love's gone, they'll lustre on.

Diamonds are forever, forever, forever. Diamonds are forever, forever, forever, forever and ever.

Bond: 10/10
The return of Sean Connery seemed to be pure luck as the producers began to feel they were hurting the Bond franchise due to the very low turnout for On Her Majesty's Secret Service and decided it was time to take Diamonds Are Forever back to the height of the Bond films and make it more like Goldfinger. They also had this crazy idea to make Bond more American, which is insane, but they actually considered Adam West, and eventually signed American actor John Gavin, who had play Sam Loomis in Hitchcock's, Psycho.

But the movie executives wanted Connery back, so Sean was offered a deal he couldn't refuse. The deal consisted of a salary of $1.25 million dollars, 10% of the films gross, $145,000 for every week the film ran over schedule and financial backing to produce two films, one in which Connery could direct. While this all might not seem like much today with actors getting paid $20 million a film, at the time this was enough to put Sean Connery in the Guinness Book of Records as the highest paid actor at that time. But Connery did something you'd see no actor do today, he donated his entire salary from Diamonds Are Forever to the Scottish International Education Trust.

While Sean Connery may not be as young, witty and sarcastic as he was in his younger years as James Bond, it's clearly noticeable he's enjoying this film more than his last appearance in You Only Live Twice. Which only reinforces my thoughts that Connery wasn't all to pleased with that film. Diamonds Are Forever brings back a spark in Connery that hasn't been seen since Thunderball and his presentation of an older Bond is at times better than ever before, with more action than any previous Bond film and many more classic 007 moments. Sean Connery will forever be the best Bond in my opinon and it was a pleasure to see him leave the franchise in style, even though I still wish he had made more.

Main Bond Girl:

Tiffany Case: 9/10
Played by Jill St. John, Tiffany Case is a very beautiful adversary for Bond. They first meet when Bond is impersonating Peter Franks, a diamond smuggler hired to transport stolen diamonds into the United States. Case is in on the job at first, unaware of what the purpose of the diamonds is, and unaware that Peter Franks is actually British Secret Agent James Bond. But Case is not as ditsy as some of the previous Bond girls, who don't seem to have a mind of their own and resort to following Bond around blindly. She doesn't know which side of the fence she wants to be on and is constantly switching between the side of Bond and the villain. It's a little similar to Teresa in On Her Majesty's Secret Service except for the fact that the character of Tiffany Case is not nearly as confusing or dry.

The Villains:

Ernst Stavro Blofeld: 4/10
This marks the return of Blofeld for the third time in a row, which frankly begins to grow a little old. Once again he's played by a different actor, Charles Gray who had a small role in the beginning of You Only Live Twice, before he was stabbed in the back. Originally the producers had thought of bringing back Gert Fröbe to play Goldfinger's twin brother, but that ultimately fell through and Blofeld makes another return. Personally would have rather seen the twin brother of Goldfinger, which sounded like it would have been pretty interesting. In the beginning of the film Bond believes he's killed Blofeld, which is obviously too easy seeing that this guy comes back all the time. He reappears later on as the head of the diamond smuggling chain, in the midst of creating a satellite which he intends to send into space and using the diamonds as one big laser disc his plan is to detonate all nuclear weapons in the planet.

This final appearance of Blofeld is also the worst. Maybe its all the plastic surgery Blofeld has had has caused him go insane, but compared to his first full appearance in You Only Live Twice there is no comparison between the characters at all, he's gone from evil and menacing to corny and stupid. This is my ongoing complaint about different actors playing the same character, because in all realty they're not the same character and any way you try to explain their physical difference it's harder to conceal the differences in acting style. Blofeld is the main reason Diamonds Are Forever grows so corny, with the Blofeld look a likes and Blofeld dressing in drag (definitely not something a real Bond villain would do). Overall this version of Blofeld is the worst villain so far and the only thing that really hinders this film from being quite perfect.

Mr. Wint & Mr. Kidd: 8/10
While these two could be classified as lesser villains they played a large role in the first part of the film, and actually ended up being better than the "cross-dressing" Blofeld. A good comparison for these two is an evil version of Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum; they are the "murderous duo" whom Blofeld hires to cover up the tracks made by everyone associated in smuggling of the diamonds. There are a few noticeable scenes which seem to suggest they are gay, I don't get the point of throwing this into the film, it only adds another corny aspect to an already at time greasy plot. Ultimately it only hinders the villains of this film from really appearing evil.

Total Rating : 8.3/10

Overall (Including Film Rating) : 8.7/10
9/10