The James Bond Bedside Companion (77 page)

Gobinda is played by Kabir Bedi, a noted Indian actor. The character is another obligatory strongman/ henchman typical of the series and offers nothing new. There is, in fact, one bit which is a direct steal from Oddjob in
Goldfinger
. After Bond has beaten Khan in backgammon, Gobinda grabs the pair of dice and crushes them with his bare hand, just as the Korean bodyguard did with the golf ball after 007 defeated Goldfinger on the course. But Bedi manages to appear threatening in most of the sequences, and is no more or less successful at the role than other actors playing this type of character in earlier films.

Lovely Swedish actress Krishna Wayborn plays Magda, a villainess in cahoots with Octopussy and Kamal Khan. A former track star, Waybom possesses a sleek athletic build which comes in handy for the gymnastic feats the women in the film must perform. Waybom has a striking screen presence which works well for the role, but her lack of screen time is disappointing. She also functions as an early sex interest for Bond. At one point, while Bond and Magda are in bed, she lifts her empty wine glass into view and tells him that she needs "refilling." Bond mischievously raises his eyebrow.

As mentioned earlier, Indian tennis star Vijay Amritraj portrays Bond's ally in India, and also becomes the film's Obligatory Sacrificial Lamb. Posing as a fisherman while staking out Octopussy's island, poor Vijay is murdered by one of Khan's thugs by an ingenious yo-yo-like contraption with a table-saw blade. Amritraj delivers the necessary good-humored qualities typical of all Bond-allies, and comes off quite well in the role.

General Orlov is played by Steven Berkoff, a talented writer, actor, and director who is the founder of the London Theatre Group. Orlov, who sits on the Soviets' security council, is reminiscent of George C. Scott's radically right-wing general in
Dr. Strangelove
. Orlov wants the council to forget about peace talks and launch a massive attack on Western Europe just to satisfy his lust for military power. Naturally most of his colleagues think he's crazy. Berkoff delivers a fine performance which is both intense and engaging. But the entire Russian security council is depicted, for the most part, as a bunch of buffoons.

M is portrayed by a new actor, Robert Brown, a fine British character player and a contemporary of the late Bernard Lee. Brown is an adequate replacement in the role. But in
Octopussy
, M is once again underwritten, and Brown is not allowed the opportunity to
explore and reveal his character traits. For example, none of M's testiness, crabiness, or even his persona of uncontestable authority is seen here. We see only his fatherly side. The character is altogether too nice. M's disagreeable qualities appear to have been inherited by the Minister of Defense (Geoffrey Keen), who sits in the office with M during the scene with Bond and grunts his approval and/or disapproval.

The series' other regulars all return: Desmond Llewelyn does a bit more than usual as Q (he participates in the climactic battle at Khan's fortress); Walter Gotell as General Gogol exhibits the "good" qualities of a Soviet officer (he despises the antics of General Orlov); and Lois Maxwell displays her usual charms as Miss Moneypenny. An addition to the Bond/Moneypenny scene is the introduction of a new secretarial assistant, Penelope Smailbone (Michaela Clavell). In this amusing scene, Bond enters the office with a bouquet of flowers, prepared to hand it to Moneypenny. After seeing the pretty new secretary, Bond gives one flower to Moneypenny, but the bouquet to Penelope, saying, "Welcome to the office."

OTHER ASPECTS

O
ctopussy
is less gadgety than usual, but the film features one particular item in the pre-credits sequence that practically steals the entire picture. This is the AcroStar Bede Jet, one of only two such planes in existence. The AcroStar is a one-man "portable" jet, only twelve feet in length and five feet eight inches high. As the world's smallest jet, it can soar at a top speed of 310 m.p.h., a cruising speed of 160 m.p.h., and can reach 30,000 feet with a climbing rate of 2,800 feet per minute. The AcroStar is powered by a single jet engine, a Micro-turbo TRS-18. The jet is owned and piloted by "Corkey" Fornof of Louisiana.

The pre-credits sequence takes place in a country resembling Cuba. Bond arrives at an airbase with the intention of blowing up a particular hangar containing some kind of spy plane. Equestrian activities are taking place nearby, allowing Bond to drive a horse trailer onto the premises. With the help of a beautiful Latin contact named Bianca, Bond boards the AcroStar, which is hidden inside the horse trailer. Bond takes off in the jet, and the audience is treated to some magnificent aerial stuntwork as the aircraft dodges a heat-seeking missile in pursuit. Bond cleverly leads the missile into the target hangar and manages to fly out sideways through the small open space of the quickly closing hangar doors. Of course, the missile doesn't make it out of the hangar and Bond's mission is accomplished. After his escape, the jet runs out of gas. Bond pulls the AcroStar up to a gas station, just like a car (the wings fold up), smiles and says, "Fill 'er up."

Other gadgets include a combination wristwatch/fountain pen/homing device and the usual assortment of gag gadgets at India's Q Branch including a coiled rope which rises like a pole up which a man may climb. Unfortunately, it bends in the middle. Bond taunts, "Having trouble keeping it up, Q?"

Peter Lamont must be credited with exotic settings and a colorful production design. Octopussy's boudoir and her bed, in particular, are magnificent. The bed, a huge circular monstrosity surrounded by what look like gold-plated tentacles, gets a big laugh from the audience. Alan Hume returns as cinematographer and gives the film the same slick look he gave to
For Your Eyes Only.
Costume designer Emma Porteous has created some gorgeous exotic Indian outfits, especially for the women.

The film abounds with stuntwork (the Bond films must surely prevent any unemployment in the stunt industry). Bob Simmons is back as supervisor. One breathtaking sequence involves the aerial team from
Moonraker,
directed by Philip Wrestler: Bond and Gobinda fight with knives on the outside of a small airplane—while it's flying!

John Barry returns to the series with a moderately successful score. The title song, "All Time High," with lyrics by Tim Rice, contains an elusive melody, and Rita Coolidge's rendition of it grows on one only after repeated listenings. Considering the subject of the lyrics, the song might have been more successful had it been transposed to a higher key for a soprano voice. Although a very fine singer with lovely alto voice, Miss Coolidge seems to have been the wrong choice. The rest of the score is quite reminiscent of the early Bond soundtracks, in particular
From Russia With Love
and
Thunderball.

Most critics tended to favor
Octopussy
over
For Your Eyes Only,
probably because they were more accustomed to the style and flavor of the later Bond films.
Octopussy
fits more easily with the other Roger Moore pictures than does
Eyes Only,
despite the intentions of the filmmakers to inject more of the early films' style. The reliance on sight gags and outlandish humor categorizes
Octopussy
as another "James Bond action comedy" rather than a "James Bond thriller." The film is entertaining and fun, to be sure, but ultimately mediocre. Nevertheless, James Bond
will
return in
A View to a Kill
in 1985.

As mentioned earlier, Ian Fleming sold the film rights of his first novel to producer Gregory Ratoff in 1955. Ratoff sat on the property until his death, after which his widow sold the rights to Charles K. Feldman in 1960. Therefore, Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman were unable to obtain the rights to CASINO ROYALE when they bought the remaining Fleming titles.

Feldman sat on the property a long time, too. He became interested again when the Eon Productions James Bond series became a phenomenon. At first, Feldman considered making a serious Bond film; but he wanted Sean Connery to play the role. The only solution was to approach Broccoli and Saltzman with a deal. After considering the offer, the producers refused. Feldman then decided to make a different kind of James Bond film. He made a Bond spoof.

What might have begun as a great idea ends up a total mess. The film,
Casino Royale
, is a confused mixture of styles, plots, characters, designs; all with little humor and not much Bond.

The film had a budget of almost $8,000,000 (
You Only Live Twice
, released the same year, had a budget of roughly $6,000,000), which made it the most expensive "James Bond film" at the time. And although it made an enormous amount of money, it was not the box-office winner Charles K. Feldman had hoped it would be. Feldman had just had a commercial success with
What's New, Pussycat?
, and he patterned
Casino Royale
after that "mod comedy." Peter Sellers and Woody Allen, stars of the former film, were brought in to work on the project. More international stars were persuaded to join the cast at one time or another during the lengthy shooting period. Sometimes new scenes were written into the script simply because a new star had been signed.

Three scriptwriters are credited with the screenplay: Wolf Mankowitz, John Law, and Michael Sayers. But several other writers worked on the script uncredited, including Ben Hecht, Terry Southern, Billy Wilder, and Woody Allen. With so many writers having a hand in the project, no wonder the film is such a jumble. In addition, there are five directors credited: John Huston, Ken Hughes, Val Guest, Robert Parrish, and Joe McGrath, and thus, as many styles in the film. It is obvious that producer Charles K. Feldman didn't know what he wanted.

This doesn't mean that
Casino Royale
isn't funny. Some of it is, primarily the scenes with Woody Allen. Peter Sellers also contributes some good comedic bits. But most of the jokes in the film fall flat and are simply too bizarre. For instance, when Sir James, Mata Bond, James "Cooper" Bond, and Miss Moneypenny are searching for the exit of FANG headquarters, they run into Frankenstein's monster. "Do you know the way out?" they ask him. The monster points, and they thank him and run off. Where did that come from?

There are, surprisingly, a few references to the Ian Fleming novel. There is a scene in which Evelyn "James Bond" Tremble (Sellers) plays a game of baccarat with Orson Welles' Le Chiffre. Le Chiffre wears dark glasses which reveal the faces of the cards. This invisible ink device was used by the Roumanian team at the casino in Monte Carlo, where James Bond's first assignment with the Service took place. He discovered the Roumanians' method of cheating, and proceeded to beat them at their game. Later in the film, Tremble is kidnapped by Le Chiffre and strapped into a chair with a hole in the seat. This is precisely what happens to Bond in the novel, except that Peter Sellers is clothed. There is even a carpet beater hanging behind the chair. But the prop isn't used, for Le Chiffre proceeds to torture Bond with hypnosis—"torture of the mind," he calls it. And finally, Le Chiffre is liquidated by SMERSH, as in the novel. But here the assassin speaks to Le Chiffre from a TV screen, warning him that SMERSH is unhappy. Then, as if he were inside the TV set, the assassin breaks through the screen and shoots Le Chiffre. This is one of the funnier jokes in the film. The remainder of the picture has nothing to do with the novel.

Even the characters are confused. Sir James Bond, the "real" James Bond, is played by David Niven, which is intelligent casting. But a "Sir" James Bond is a contradiction in terms. At the end of the novel THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN, James Bond refuses a knighthood on the grounds that he cannot stomach the social responsibilities such an honor prescribes.

Sir James lives in a huge country mansion with lions and other wild animals on the grounds. He seems to have acquired a bit more culture in his old age—he now adores Debussy and plays the piano daily. (The Fleming James Bond would never be able to play piano.)

When M is killed by a bomb blast at Sir James' home, Bond decides to emerge from retirement and replace his old chief. M, we learn, had a wife and many, many daughters, all of whom try to seduce Bond. Sir
James teams up with Miss Moneypenny's daughter, also called Miss Moneypenny (portrayed by Barbara Bouchet), and proceeds to create several new "James Bond 007" agents to confuse the enemy (and the audience). He enlists the help of that beautiful spy, Vesper Lynd (name sound familiar?—well, the character isn't!), played by Ursula Andress. The casting of Miss Andress, in itself, is a joke, since she was the first Bond-girl of the official series. Sir James dubs Vesper "Agent 007" and begins to look for additional potential James Bonds. Peter Sellers, as a card shark named Evelyn Tremble, is recruited by Vesper and renamed James Bond. An agent known as "Cooper," (played by Terence Cooper), is personally picked by Miss Moneypenny (through a selection process solely involving kissing). He, in turn, recruits the new "secret weapon": a beautiful female agent known as the Detainer. Also renamed "007," the Detainer is played by Daliah Lavi. Sir James' daughter (?), Mata Bond, was the result of his love affair with the famous spy, Mata Hari (??). She is persuaded to join the force as well (Joanna Pettet gives a fine performance in this role). The seventh and final James Bond in the film is the villain, Dr. Noah, who is revealed to be none other than little "Jimmy" Bond (Sir James' nephew). Jimmy Bond is played by Woody Allen, who steals the movie. (This was Allen's second film as an actor.) Jimmy Bond's evil scheme is to unleash a virus that will make all the women in the world beautiful and all the men shorter than he.