“Who’s your favourite Bond?”
When I was a kid, the choice was between Sean Connery and Roger Moore. As far as I’m concerned, it still is.
Connery was my TV Bond. I was too young to go see the first wave of 007s at the cinema, but they were always on the box, and being allowed to stay up late to watch one was a very special treat.
Roger was my Big Screen Bond. The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) was the first film of his that I saw at the cinema and, to paraphrase sweet Sandy Olsson, I was hopelessly devoted to Mr Moore from that moment on.
When pressed by my schoolmates to pick a favourite, I’d refuse. Why pick one side of the same shiny coin over the other? Sean was confident, charismatic and authentically tough. Roger was suave with style and a sparkling wit. Both had a hand in raising me, so I refused to be Sophie's Choiced into favouring one over the other.
Except... Over the years, when given the choice, as much as I love Goldfinger (1964) and Diamonds Are Forever (1971), nine time out of ten when I get the urge to watch a Bond, I settle on either Live and Let Die (1973) or The Spy Who Loved Me. What's more, when I wrote a chapter of Bond questions for my 2019 quiz book, Vintage Geek, I focused entirely on the films of Sir Roger.
So I suppose the truth is, though once I couldn't choose between the two, ask me today and I'll say Moore. Moore all day. Moore all night. Moore, Moore, Moore.
Much like the man himself, Moore’s Bond loved his work. There was a lightness and a joy to him, an infectious levity that was uniquely Roger.
A film and TV icon beloved by 007 fans worldwide, a tireless campaigner for children’s charity UNICEF, which he described as “…the most worthwhile thing I’ve ever done,” and a man who knew more than most about living well, Moore reckoned he even had Bond beaten, joking “…he never lived this well!”
I interviewed him once and treasure the memory. Moore relished his role as an elder statesman of the franchise and was more than happy to chat about days gone by. Here, then, is my original feature, largely unchanged:
Sir Roger first casts his mind back to the days when, having flirted with the notion of becoming a bus driver, an architect or a cartoonist, he found work as an extra to help pay the bills.
“It never occurred to me it could lead to anything,” he admits. “It was just a way of earning 30 bob a day.” Discovered on the set and shipped off to RADA, “I got an equity card and said I was an actor.”
Like every other young thesp, Moore did rep around the country, and a fair bit of live television from Ally Pally too. “I wasn’t nervous though. Really, it was just like any other live performance, only with a smaller audience. Back in 1948 there were only about seven televisions in the country!”
Signed by MGM at the tail end of the studio system and cast in a handful of stodgy costumers, Moore soon returned to television, scoring hits with historical adventure Ivanhoe (1958-1959), and then, thanks to The Prisoner (1967-1968) star Patrick McGoohan refusing the role, seven successful years as The Saint (1962-1969).
“He passed on it because he didn’t want to kiss girls,” insists Sir Roger. “Patrick had a whole thing about kissing girls.” Not a problem for Mr Moore the Merrier. “I draw the line at boys, but girls are very nice.”
When Moore finally returned to the big screen in the Seventies, it was as a star. But it was Bond that made him an icon. “It was the perfect job,” he says with great affection. “You get paid - well paid - for kissing lovely ladies and winning every time.
“The Bond series owed its success, I think, to the fact that the audiences weren’t cheated. The producers always put all the money up on the screen. Years ago, there was a theatre impresario called Pinky Beaumont, and he always had the ladies in his productions wear silk underwear. Not that they’d show it, but it made them feel right. And I think that’s what Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzman did. No detail was overlooked, and they always went out of their way to make everyone happy.”
It wasn’t all smooth sailing though. “Two years after National Service you had to go back for a two-week refresher course. I had a bit of an accident when I did mine. A gun blew up in my hands, which deafened me for a few days, and caused me to blink before I squeezed the trigger of any gun.” Even a prop gun. “Anything that went bang would make me blink.” Which can’t have been easy, what with Bond’s trusty Walther PPK brandished in every other scene. “I used an old Gary Cooper trick, which was to clench my eyes.” That explains Bond’s steely stare. “Yes, though I call that look, ‘Please don’t let me blink!’”
Blinking hassles aside, Moore insists he never worried about following in his pal Sean Connery’s footsteps, or really ever stressed about anything at all. Only once did the butterflies strike, for all of 15 minutes. “The only time I felt any trepidation was about an hour before the first press showing of my first Bond film, Live and Let Die. I was worried what they’d think. But after about a quarter of an hour I began to think of the whole experience like having a baby. Your wife’s in labour and you’re on your way to the delivery room. The baby’s coming out and there’s bugger all you can do about it.” You might as well relax. “Exactly. Lie back and enjoy it.” Spoken like a true Bond.
A notorious on-set joker, Moore’s playful ways extended to members of Her Majesty’s Press. “There were always so many journalists on the set, I wondered if I was there to make a film or do interviews. Bond has to do both. You become rather bored saying the same things over and over though, so you start to make up stories. You invent different things. Actors are good at that. I’ve forgotten what I said, but occasionally something comes back to haunt me.”
Something like having a Bond-like background in military intelligence. “When I did my National Service,” he explains, “after six week’s basic training, I was approached by my sergeant, who invited me to join the I-Core. I remember thinking, ‘that’s odd, why do they want me to be an optician?’ I didn’t know anything about eyes, but of course he meant intelligence. Which shows you how intelligent I was!”
Self-deprecating to the last, Moore has nothing but praise for others, particularly sixth Bond Daniel Craig. “He’s a great actor,” clarifies Sir Roger. It can’t be easy though, following in Moore’s, Connery’s and, to a lesser extent, Brosnan’s footsteps. “It doesn’t matter how many people play Bond,” insists Sir Roger, signing off. “40,000 actors have played bloody Hamlet. You just get on and do your business. Shut your eyes and think of England!”
Oh James…
What’s your take on Moore’s Bond, and what’s your favourite film of his?
Moore, Moore, Moore!