A bit late in the day for posting this, but OHMSS premiered at the Odeon Cinema in London 53 years ago on December 18th, 1969.
With the recent release of "Hi, Hi, Hi" in 50th Anniversaryland, the next Bond theme is only two Wings singles away...
OHMSS’s cinematographer Michael Reed has died at the age of 93 https://twitter.com/lazenbyofficial/status/1605122365020463104?s=46&t=K4t7SEMN2KdH_Cxkilugsw
The cinematography on that film was the best in the Bond franchise until at bare minimum TSWLM and possibly well beyond. OHMSS is a deep, colorful and luxurious-looking movie with so many purples and pastels and nature colors that it's one of the easiest on the eyes. It just looks richer and more sumptuous than most in the series.
If it was arranged by Tiger Tanaka and the Japanese Secret Service then both might have gone into the ceremony knowing that it wasn't legally binding and just a way to more convincingly insert 007 into the rocket launch investigation and blend into the environment(Bond's appallingly bad "Japanese makeup" aside ). I can't imagine Tanaka as well as M back in London intended to seriously wed 007 to somebody just to become part of an undercover investigation.
Last week's 50th anniversary episode of Hawaii Five-O, "I'm a Family Crook--Don't Shoot!," has a guest cast headed by Andy Griffith playing a conman, which also includes Harold Sakata as a mobster's henchman.
Further to his passing, here’s an appreciation that included a tribute from Joanna Lumley https://jamesbond007.se/eng/memoriam/michael_reed_cinematographer_1929_2022
I’m not saying ATJ isn’t in the running but I’ve yet to see anything substantive behind any of the stories linking him to the role. They all same to originate with that original Sun scoop.
I was musing the other day that they might pull a Judi Dench with the rest of the cast. The killed off "old guard" Bond and Felix, but they keep the current M, Q, and Moneypenny playing the same characters, just in the new continuity. Just like Judy Dench's M on a larger scale.
Yeah, and there’s precedent pre-Dench, with various Qs, Ms and Moneypennies remaining in place while Bond(s) changed faces (though pre-Craig continuity was always much more vague between Connery and Brosnan than it has been since then). But IIRC, either Ralph Fiennes or Ben Wishaw said just before NTTD was released that they didn’t expect to return. Shame, as I liked that lineup, as well as Rory Kinnear’s Tanner.
I do wonder if he's the distraction candidate, the Kris Marshall of the Bond world shall we say Lucien Laviscount's name has been mentioned a fair bit recently as well. I know very little about him. ATJ I'm conflicted over. In some films I've felt he's a trifle bland, whereas in other roles I've liked him. I trust EON though, I wasn't sure about DC and he turned out to be bloody brilliant. I think the difference was that pre Craig you could argue that from a certain point of view all the Bonds were the same man* whereas DC was a definitive reboot, and clearly the next guy will have to be a definitive reboot as well. (* my own head cannon basically everything that happened to previous Bonds happened to the incumbent, just in a different time period. So Brosnan went up against Sanchez, Dalton fought Zorin, Moore was there when Tracy died and Lazenby tangled with Goldfinger). I think they should start with a clean slate. The only one I'd consider keeping is Fiennes as M (but even then it'd be weird) I think they should go back to casting more character actors in the roles as well. Someone like Wishaw was never going to want to be Q forever in the way Llewelyn did. Plus when you hire actors like that you feel beholden to give them something meaty to do, or you end up wasting them (see Harris in Skyfall vs Harris in Spectre/NTTD for details). Q's ridiculous trip to Austria in SP is a classic example of shoehorning him in. My one exception to the above is M. I think a certain gravitas is useful. If it were me, and if she was interested, I'd get someone like Gillian Anderson. Or being cheeky with the franchise get someone like Colin Salmon Alternatively I'd try something a little different. Film 1. Moneypenny is M's PA Film 2. Moneypenny has been promoted to be M's right hand, effectively becoming Tanner. Film 3. Moneypenny becomes M. I know Maxwell suggested this decades ago and it would have been an interesting shift in dynamic to have Moore suddenly answering to the woman he used to flirt with. Given her origins as a field agent this would have been an interesting route to take with Harris.
Yeah, as much criticism as Q has gotten in certain circles for helping rogue Bond get his revenge in LTK at least you could buy that Llewelyn's Q had spent more than 25 years working with Bond and despite their gruff, combative exchanges felt genuine affection for him as a fellow MI6 employee and even friend. He'd know James was in danger and that he felt abandoned and might disappear from London for a couple of weeks to provide help in the field. Whishaw, on the other hand, not so much.
I missed this until now but apparently the plastic surgeon who tells his team to keep the mud temperature at precisely 80 degrees (seen and heard from 1:32 to 2:04) is the same actor who dubbed Marc Ange Draco in OHMSS.
That's amazing! Can't believe I never noticed! Not one of my favourite PTS though I am always impressed with how that guys doesn't react much when Connery is squirting water in his face and Bond's combat roll always makes me laugh. I do wonder how Bond draws his gun without triggering the mousetrap?