The Guy Who Saved James Bond

Guy Hamilton  September 16, 1922 - April 20, 2016

"The Devil's Disciple" (1959), set during the American Revolutionary War and based on George Bernard Shaw's play, featured Laurence Olivier as British commander General Burgoyne (inspired by a historical figure nicknamed "Gentleman Johnny"), Burt Lancaster as a colonial pastor who takes up arms against the Redcoats, and Kirk Douglas as a family outcast and scornful rebel.

George Bernard Shaw made no secret of his dislike for his play. He refused to stage the play in Britain, and it eventually premiered in the U.S. In the play's preface, he wrote, "'The Devil's Disciple' does not contain even a single passably novel incident." Nevertheless, the screen version is an entertaining romp, although it is perhaps a discomfitting experience witnessing the veddy British, stage-trained aplomb of Olivier played against the all-American, rough-and-tumble swashbuckling of Lancaster and Douglas.

In fact, during the production, Laurence Olivier was miserable, not so much professionally as personally, as his marriage to Vivien Leigh (who garnered Oscars for her roles in "Gone with the Wind" and "A Streetcar Named Desire") was deteriorating as was her mind from bipolar disorder.

The film was a joint project of both Burt Lancaster's and Kirk Douglas' production companies. Unhappy with the pacing of director Alexander Mackendrick ("The Ladykillers," "Sweet Smell of Success"), Lancaster and Douglas replaced him with 36-year-old Guy Hamilton, an untried filmmaker who would soon singlehandedly re-invent the James Bond movie.

It is one of the longest running franchises in movie history, second only to 60 years (and running) of Godzilla stomping overseas metropolises underfoot in 30 (and counting) films. (Just what kind of dinosaur is Godzilla supposed to be anyway?)

The difference between Godzilla and James Bond is that the 24 Bond pictures since 1962 (not counting the two renegade Bond movies, 1967's "Casino Royale" and 1983's "Never Say Never Again") have consistently been produced by members of the same family. After original co-producer Albert "Cubby" Broccoli passed away in 1996, the legacy was carried on by his daughter, Barbara Broccoli, and his stepson, Michael G. Wilson.

Prior to World War II, Ian Fleming (pictured above) was a dissatisfied banker and stockbroker. During the war, he mentioned to his mates his desire to write a spy novel. In 1952, shortly before his wedding to his pregnant girlfriend, he started work on his first book, Casino Royale, at his Goldeneye estate in Jamaica to distract himself from the upcoming nupitals. Fleming based his main character on a number of individuals he met during his service in the Naval Intelligence Division during World War II, explaining the character "was a compendium of all the secret agents and commando types I met during the war."

When it came to naming his protagonist, Fleming, who was an avid bird watcher in his Jamaican home, was very familiar with the definitive book about Caribbean birds titled Birds of the West Indies by American ornithologist James Bond (pictured below). Fleming wanted a name for the hero of Casino Royale that sounded "as ordinary as possible." He commented, "It struck me that this brief, unromantic Anglo-Saxon and yet very masculine name was just what I needed."

Ian Fleming contacted James Bond about using his name in the 007 books, and Bond replied, "Fine with it." Fleming would say, "Now the dullest name in the world has become an exciting one." Fleming met Bond in 1964, six months before Fleming's fatal heart attack. Fleming gave Bond a copy of You Only Live Twice and inscribed it, "To the real James Bond, from the thief of his identity, Ian Fleming."

This was Ian Fleming's personal
concept of what Bond looks like.

When he was writing Casino Royale, Fleming envisioned Bond resembling himself and - of all people - multitalented American singer-songwriter-pianist Hoagy Carmichael (pictured below). In Casino Royale, double agent Vesper Lynd says, "Bond reminds me rather of Hoagy Carmichael, but there is something cold and ruthless." In Moonraker, Special Branch Officer Gala Brand describes Bond as good-looking, "rather like Hoagy Carmichael in a way...But there was something a bit cruel in the mouth, and the eyes were cold."

One individual whom Ian Fleming could not picture as James Bond was Scottish-born actor Sean Connery. Fleming deemed him unrefined and dismissed him as an "overgrown stuntman."

Ian Fleming changed his mind about Sean Connery after
the premiere of "Dr. No." In fact, the writer was so
impressed by Connery that he created a half-Scottish
heritage for Bond in later novels.

Guy Hamilton, who died April 20, 2016, age 93, served in the Royal Navy during World War II. In January 1944, as part of the 15th Motor Gunboat Flotilla - a secret unit tasked with ferrying agents to France and returning downed pilots to England - Hamilton and his crew mates missed a rendezvous and spent a month on the run in northwestern France.

After the war, Hamilton worked with British filmmaker Carol Reed as assistant director on, among other productions, the 1949 noir favorite "The Third Man," starring Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles. Hamilton was John Huston's assistant director on the 1951 adventure classic "The African Queen," starring Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn.

After Hamilton made the hit POW escape movie "The Colditz Story" (1955), with John Mills (pictured above), producers Albert "Cubby" Broccoli and Harry Saltzman asked him to direct the first James Bond picture, "Dr. No." Unable to leave Britain for the film's Jamaican locations, Hamilton turned down the job, and the directing assignment went to Terence Young.

In the Irish Guards during World War II, Young served as a tank commander and participated in the failed Allied advance, Operation Market Garden, in Arnhem, Netherlands. Young began his film career as a screenwriter in British films in the 1940s. Before "Dr. No," Young had directed Sean Connery in the cast of a 1957 picture called "Action of the Tiger."

For the production of "Dr. No," according to Lois Maxwell (Miss Moneypenny in the first 14 Bond films), Terence Young took Sean Connery under his wing to personally tutor him in the finer points of sophistication. Maxwell said Young "took him to dinner, showed him how to walk, how to talk, even how to eat."

Director Terence Young goes over the script for "Dr. No"
with Ursula Andress and Sean Connery.

The studio doubled the budget from "Dr. No" for the second 007 film, "From Russia with Love," which proved to be a bigger box-office success than its predecessor.

Daniela Bianchi and Sean Connery share a smile with
director Terence Young on the set of "From Russia with Love."

When plans for the third Bond movie, "Goldfinger," were underway, Terence Young had a pay dispute over being denied a percentage of the profits and opted instead to direct the period comedy "The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders," with Kim Novak and Angela Lansbury. Producers Albert "Cubby" Broccoli and Harry Saltzman again approached Guy Hamilton.

Director Guy Hamilton keeps an eye on Sean Connery
and his "Goldfinger" costar, Honor Blackman.

Hamilton brought fast pacing and witty repartee, not to mention a more relaxed and wryly humorous Sean Connery, to the 007 films. "Goldfinger" became a bona fide blockbuster and turned James Bond into an international phenomenon. 

In a 2003 interview, Guy Hamilton said that the original script for "Goldfinger" was good but too "Americanized" and that he had to work on making the villain more believable. "I liked the idea of an intellectual villain," Hamilton remarked. "A Bond villain has to be (the) intellectual equal and a worthy opponent of Bond." German actor Gert Frobe (pictured above) was cast as Auric Goldfinger (even the name Auric means "golden") after producers saw his performance as a loathsome child molester in the 1958 German film "It Happened in Broad Daylight" (pictured below).

Hamilton told an interviewer in 2009, "Everyone understands what is 'Bondian.' If it was a cigarette lighter, it couldn't just be a Zippo. It had to be the latest exclusive toy...We were creating a dream world, definitely what was 'Bondian.'"

It was Guy Hamilton who told actor Desmond Llewellyn (whose
character, gadget guru Q, appeared in 17 Bond films, beginning
with "From Russia with Love") that the key to Q's relationship
with 007 is the fact that Q can't stand him.

When The Guardian of London reconsidered the virtues of "Goldfinger" in 2010, the writer noted, "Where to start? The card game that opens the movie or the epic golf match in the middle? The gold-obsessed villain or the Korean hardman? The near-castration with the laser beam or the gangster compacted in his Continental? And who could forget the sexually ambiguous Pussy Galore, as essayed by husky-voiced, karate-chopping 40-year-old bombshell Honor Blackman? It's a compendium of everything one loves about 007."

Honor Blackman: "My name is Pussy Galore."
Sean Connery: "I must be dreaming."

In 1999, Roger Ebert wrote that Sean Connery "had something else that none of the others...could muster: Steely toughness. When his eyes narrowed and his body tensed up, you knew the playing was over and the bloodshed was about to begin."

"Do you expect me to talk?" "No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die."

"Goldfinger" set the tone for the ensuing Bond films - a mixture of seriousness and fun set in exotic locations among beautiful people. Ebert commented,  "Of all the Bonds, 'Goldfinger' is the best...after this one, producers Albert 'Cubby' Broccoli and Harry Saltzman could be certain that 007 was good for the long run."

Joan Collins claimed she turned down Shirley Eaton's iconic role of
Jill Masters, the victim of (fallacious) "skin suffocation," in "Goldfinger."
"I was pregnant at the time with my son Sacha," Collins explained. "Who
knows? It could have altered my whole career, and I sometimes wonder
what would have happened if I had done it. I have never talked about it
before...because I didn't want to be bitchy to Shirley."

When producers asked Guy Hamilton to direct the fourth 007 movie, "Thunderball," he believed he had run out of ideas for another Bond and felt a need to recharge his batteries, then come back if he had anything to say. "I felt I didn't have that and to do Bond justice, you have to arrive with a huge amount of enthusiasm." Apparently, with his previous issues resolved, Terence Young returned to the fold to direct "Thunderball."

Terence Young relaxes on the beach with Sean Connery
and Luciana Paluzzi between takes on "Thunderball."

"Thunderball" was Terence Young's last Bond film. In the early 1970s, Young worked with Charles Bronson on "The Valachi Papers," "Red Sun," and "Cold Sweat."

In the East-meets-West western "Red Sun," Charles Bronson forms an
uneasy alliance with Alain Delon, Ursula Andress, and Toshiro Mifune.

"You Only Live Twice" (1967) was directed by franchise newcomer Lewis Gilbert (best known for directing the 1966 bittersweet comedy "Alfie," starring Michael Caine), who was initially reluctant to accept the task until producer Albert "Cubby" Broccoli told him, "You can't give up this job. It's the largest audience in the world." He subsequently directed Roger Moore in the 007 pictures "The Spy Who Loved Me" and "Moonraker." In the 1980s, Gilbert turned to small-scale dramas like "Educating Rita" (featuring Academy Award-winning performances by Michael Caine and Julie Walters) and "Shirley Valentine" (starring Oscar-nominated Pauline Collins).

Sean Connery confers with director Lewis Gilbert
on the set of "You Only Live Twice."

After "You Only Live Twice," when Sean Connery announced his retirement from the role of James Bond, Australian model George Lazenby got his one-and-only shot at playing 007 in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" (1969). Connery was lured back to the role for "Diamonds Are Forever" (1971), as was Guy Hamilton to the director's chair.

Sean Connery keeps a close eye on "Diamonds Are Forever"
costar Jill St. John's wardrobe.

In The New York Times, critic Vincent Canby recommended "Diamonds Are Forever" as "great, absurd fun...a movie to play hookey for," while Roger Ebert noted, "'Diamonds Are Forever' is great at doing the things we see a James Bond movie for." 

According to Guy Hamilton (pictured above, with Sean Connery ), "After 'Diamonds Are Forever,' I said, 'Bye bye and thank you!' But they said, 'Oh, no, wait a minute.'" Hamilton ushered in the Roger Moore Era of 007 films with "Live and Let Die" (1973) and "The Man with the Golden Gun" (1974).

Roger Moore and Jane Seymour face peril in "Live and Let Die."

Hamilton recalled telling Moore, "Whatever you do, don't try to play Sean Connery. You've got to create your own Bond, and I will try and help you...I know the things you're good at and the things you're not so good at."

Britt Ekland faces peril in "The Man with the Golden Gun."

Guy Hamilton may have set the tone for the Bond films in "Goldfinger," but couldn't carry it through, as "Live and Let Die" and "The Man with the Golden Gun" are considered the worst entries in the Roger Moore era. Even Hamilton regretted making "The Man with the Golden Gun." In a 2015 interview, he admitted, "But I was quite intrigued with the Bond franchise."

Apart from his Bond movies, Guy Hamilton's résumé includes a number of diverse and entertaining, if not always successful, projects. In 1966, he directed "Funeral in Berlin," a sequel to "The Ipcress File" (1965), both starring Michael Caine as Harry Palmer. Intended as a gritty, downbeat alternative to the glamorous world of espionage depicted in the 007 films, "The Ipcress File" cast Caine as a bespectacled, Cockney ex-army corporal in what one writer described as a "decidedly non-swinging London." (Ironically, the gloomy Harry Palmer films were co-produced by Bond franchise co-producer Harry Saltzman.)

Michael Caine recalled that director Guy Hamilton would make on-set
improvisations to the script for "Funeral in Berlin," based on his personal
experiences working for British military intelligence during World War II,

In 1969, Guy Hamilton directed "Battle of Britain," a (British) star-studded reenactment of the spectacular air defense of the United Kingdom by the Royal Air Force against the German Luftwaffe in 1940. The primary objective of Germany was to coerce England into agreeing to a negotiated peace settlement. The battle was the first major defeat of Hitler's forces, and the decisive victory inspired Churchill's famous phrase, "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."

Despite a budget of $12 million (over $78 million in today's dollars) and performances by such formidable Anglo thespians as Laurence Olivier, Michael Caine, Robert Shaw, Christopher Plummer, Ralph Richardson, Michael Redgrave, Susannah York, Edward Fox, Trevor Howard, Ian McShane, and Kenneth More, "Battle of Britain" was generally dismissed by critics and ignored at the box office. Deemed by Roger Ebert "a throwback to those phony war movies of the 1940s," the film suffered from anti-war sentiment and cynicism about combat heroics stirred by Vietnam.

Hamilton was initially selected to direct "Superman" (1978), starring Christopher Reeve, but due to his status as a tax exile, he was allowed only 30 days in England, where production had moved to London's Pinewood Studios. Although Richard Donner took over as director, Guy Hamilton insisted he be paid in full.

Next up for Hamilton was "Force 10 from Navarone," the long-delayed sequel (by 17 years) to the rousing war adventure "The Guns of Navarone," starring Gregory Peck, David Niven, and Anthony Quinn. A sequel was originally announced in 1967, with Peck and Niven reprising their roles, but the script got bogged down in proverbial development hell. By 1978, the two actors (pictured below) were considered too old for the sequel.

...Speaking of aging action movie stars, "Force 10 from Navarone"
cast Edward Fox (left) in the David Niven role of Miller and Robert
Shaw (right) in the Gregory Peck role of Mallory.

"Force 10 from Navarone" gave Harrison Ford his first starring role following his breakout performance as Han Solo in "Star Wars: A New Hope." (The name of Ford's character, Barnsby, was the name of a character Richard Harris played in a cameo in "The Guns of Navarone.") The supporting cast of the sequel featured Franco Nero, Carl Weathers, and familiar Bond film faces Barbara Bach and Richard Kiel.

Director Guy Hamilton (left) perches above the Tara River in
Montenegro on-location for "Force 10 from Navarone."

In the early 1980s, Guy Hamilton directed a pair of glossy adaptations of Agatha Christie mysteries. "The Mirror Crack'd" (1980) featured Angela Lansbury (a few years before she started solving murders in Cabot Cove on "Murder, She Wrote") as Miss Marple in a cast that included Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, Tony Curtis, Kim Novak, Geraldine Chaplin, with (in his film debut) Pierce Brosnan.

The incomparable Kim Novak costars in "The Mirror Crack'd."

In 1982, "Evil Under the Sun" cast Peter Ustinov as the irascible Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot, costarring Maggie Smith, Diana Rigg, Roddy McDowall, and James Mason. Roger Ebert called "Evil Under the Sun" "the best of the recent group of (Agatha) Christie retreads."

The incomparable Diana Rigg costars in "Evil Under the Sun."

Guy Hamilton's penultimate assignment as director was the unmistakably "Bondian" escapade "Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins," starring Fred Ward (a Moviehouse favorite as Earl Bassett, the errant high desert handyman in 1990's "Tremors") as an officially deceased cop resurrected as a superhuman assassin in the service of the President of the United States.

"Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins" features Wilford Brimley,
Wilford Brimley's push-broom mustache, and a scene-sealing Joel
Grey (pictured above, right, with Fred Ward) as Remo's ancient
Korean martial arts guru.

A critical and financial disappointment, "Remo Williams" failed to initiate the anticipated film franchise, although it has since attracted a loyal cult following.

"Remo Williams" boasts a high-flying, Hithcockian sequence atop
the Statue of Liberty (in reality a mock-up).

After Guy Hamilton passed away on April 20 of this year at the age of 93, Roger Moore tweeted, "Incredibly, incredibly saddened to hear the wonderful director Guy Hamilton has gone to the great cutting room in the sky. 2016 is horrid."

Guy Hamilton was once asked what he thought of the more recent James Bond movies. He was not impressed. "Now we see nothing but explosions and bang bangs," he said, "and the stunts are not really very interesting..."

Honor Blackman enjoys a break on the set
of "Goldfinger" with director Guy Hamilton.