S M G
S M G
The 70’s had gone out with a bang for Bond. Moonraker had broken box office records, and would go on to be the most financially successful Bond flick until Goldeneye. But the 80’s were dawning, and so were the winds of change for Bond. Driving the change of pace for Bond was a shift in politics in the world. Thatcher had come to power in ’79 in the UK, and in America Reagan had ensured a marked change to the political right, even as Russia was in expansionist mode and invading Afghanistan. In Iran, the hostage crisis in 1979 had shown that the real world was nothing like the fantasy world Bond had become. Political commentators were no longer talking about one side winning or one side losing – maintaining a balance of power was the new expression. And so, when the question came up of where to go with Bond next – the answer was twofold. Back down to Earth, and back to his Fleming roots.
The question was, who was going to do it? FYEO did not only mark a change in tone, it marked a changing of the guard in the production team, with production designer Ken Adams out, and more low key designs by the brilliant rising star Peter Lamont (who won an Oscar for Titanic, and worked his way up through the art department since Goldfinger), John Barry (still a tax exile) replaced by a contemporary soundtrack by Bill Conti (and OMG is it ever ‘contemporary’ – my least favourite, and I believe the most dated score which almost ruins the movie for me). But most noticeably, the director was no longer going to be Lewis Gilbert who had excelled in spectacle and outlandishness and promoted the humourous Bond that had worked so well for Moore – and in was John Glen, who was to become synonymous with Bond in the 80’s. he had risen through the ranks as editor and also second unit director. The second unit director in movies generally does the action (i.e. non character / acting bits) scenes.. and so, Glen had proved his mettle directing the opening scenes of the previous two movies and many other recognisable scenes besides, joining ex-Bond director Peter Hunt as editor on two Moore flicks in the 70’s.. ‘Shout at the Devil’ and ‘Gold’. To complicate things, Moore had announced, that with his contract run out, and having come back for one ‘additional movie’ to that contract in Moonraker, he was now bowing out. Of course, it was all part of the negotiating, but it led to multiple screen tests for other Bonds, including Julian Glover – who was cast in another role in the movie instead. It’s worth noting a minor role by Cassandra Harris as the Countess.. only because she was the wife of Pierce Brosnan who through that connection came to the set and met Broccoli – planting the seed of an idea that he might make a good Bond one day. Sadly, Bernard Lee who had played M from Dr No, passed away as filming began, so rather than recast, M is simply ‘on vacation’ and Chief of Staff Bill Tanner (a role recast several times in Bond movies) is running the 00’s. Defence Minister Freddie Gray returns again and took some of M’s lines from the original script, and Q got some of his other lines. Another key decision, was to return to the Bond movie’s spiritual home in Pinewood – the experiment of filming in France had been a costly one.
Richard Maibaum, writer of many of the original Bond movies before they took a more comic route, was brought on board for scripting duties, and was joined by Michael Wilson (Broccolis stepson), who was supplementing his executive producer duties as he was groomed to take over from Broccoli. The gadgets and gimmicks were stripped back, with the Lotus making an early exit in favour of a 2CV. That scene represented the first of many Bond movies using the talents of arguably the most famous and accomplished stunt driver of all time – Remy Julienne.
Fleming’s story ‘Risico’ was used as the core of the story, with elements from the short story ‘For Your Eyes Only’ and ‘The Hildebrand Rarity’ making a showing. Filmmakers in the late 70’s had realised they could not emulate Bond by creating another spy franchise. Instead, they were inventing franchises in other genres, such as ‘Star Wars’ or ‘Indiana Jones’. That left Bond free to be his own ‘thing’. Glen admired Peter Hunt’s style from On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, and that movie had been undergoing a re-evaluation as one of the best Bonds, thanks to a new generation finding it on television. This movie references that movie by showing Tracy’s grave, and the appearance of a bald chap who can only be Blofeld – still injured from OHMSS.. though due to the ongoing heated legal exchanges with Kevin McClory, could not be named as such. In fact, his brief moment in the movie seems almost to say – “See? We don’t need this character, he’s a throwaway gag for us.”. Incidentally, I am pretty good at trivia as you know, but I have no idea why Blofeld pleads with Bond to let him go by offering him a stainless steel delicatessen, as if that would make up for killing his wife. I can only assume some in joke on the part of the filmmakers. Glen was also inspired by Hitchcock using the classic Hitchcock device of the Maguffin.. in this case, the ATAC. and movies such as ‘Guns of Navarone’, which shares some elements with this movie – the climbing, the Greek setting, the tone of the action. A big difference from his predecessor Lewis Gilbert was that rather than just make generic action movies, he tried to imbue a tone, make the movie about something – in this case, growing older and revenge were recurring themes. Look out for his trademarks – in his movies, lots of people seem to die by falling from high places, and he likes to have pigeons suddenly jump out of walls / cliffs etc.
With the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympics, a ski chase became a necessity and Willy Bogner once again was on board to help storyboard and film those. Other ingredients came together - a beautiful Bond girl in the shape of Carole Bouquet (who later became the face of Chanel), decent actors playing the protagonists (Topol, Julian Glover), exciting action scenes, Fleming’s stories, memorable theme song with Maurice Binder so enthralled with the young Scottish lady he included her in his title scene, Moore playing a harder character at last, sending an assassin trapped in a car over a cliff in a signature scene of the movie, and a series of outstanding locations including Cortina, Meteora in Greece, and Bond’s first dip into the Cold War since early Connery – all adding up to a success which ensured Bond was back, in the 80’s.
Critics at the time were decidedly mixed – some finding it dull after its predecessors, and others praising it for its differences. One contemporary wag moaned about Moore’s "mannequin good looks and waxed-fruit insouciance".. but most critics over the years have come round to seeing this as one of his best performances in the role, despite the wrinkles. So looking at this movie fresh, does it deserve to be the movie people seem to forget? Or is it a refreshing reinvigoration of the series for the 80’s? Give it another watch and make up your own mind..
Trivia
The title song is the first in the Bond series in which we see the person who is singing, in this case Sheena Easton. The song was a Top 10 hit in both the UK charts (#8) and US charts (#4, 25 July 1981). It received an Academy Award nomination for Best Song. Starting with this film and the rise of the MTV Generation, all Bond films have had music video tie-ins.
Last EON Productions James Bond movie solely released by United Artists. They would merge with MGM before the release of the next Bond film, Octopussy.
Director John Glen has indicated that for a time it was considered bringing back the Jaws character for a third time but eventually the idea was rejected as it was believed that he did not fit the tone of this film.
The film saved United Artists from financial ruin. At the time of the film's release, the studio was still reeling from Michael Cimino's Heaven's Gate, a notorious $40,000,000 bomb that was about to force UA to file bankruptcy. When this film took in a worldwide gross of $194,900,000, the studio was saved and afterwards turned its focus toward blockbusters and less on personal films.
Charles Dance's first screen movie role was as the thug Claus in this film. Incidentally, he would later go on to play James Bond author Ian Fleming in Goldeneye.
The helicopter sequence in the pre-credits sequence involves Beckton Gas Works, which Stanley Kubrick converted to Vietnam in 1987 for Full Metal Jacket.
The Royal World Premiere of For Your Eyes Only was held on 24 June 1981 at London's Odeon Leicester Square Theatre in the presence of British Royals Prince Charles and the then Lady Diana Spencer [Princess Diana].
Roger Moore was not happy about the scene where he cold-bloodedly kills Locque by pushing his teetering car off a cliff. Although Moore acknowledged that this was a Bond thing to do, he didn't feel that it was a Roger Moore Bond thing to do.
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