We Have All The Time In The World: OHMSS Turning 50

[MakeshiftPython]

What can I say about this movie/ It was amazing, had a human (and less macho) James Bond who's a human being and not a superman, as somebody else said

I never got this sentiment about Bond not being human in previous films. Perhaps the very over the top You Only Live Twice, but the other films didn’t portray him as a superman, especially considering most of them ended with Bond getting his ass saved by the female leads. He’s certainly more vulnerable in OHMSS, but that was always the heart of the story. One of the few times Bond let his guard down.

 

[cooleddie74]

John Terry is my all-time least-favorite Felix Leiter. I could never in any universe buy that this young, handsome guy who barely looked old enough to have seen a Sean Connery Bond movie was the same character in-continuity as Jack Lord, Cec Linder or David Hedison.

He was not an impressive Felix Leiter.

 

[MakeshiftPython]

John Terry had a pretty thankless role as Felix, which must have only been five seconds long. Besides, I took him being younger the same way both Bond and Moneypenny were de-aged for TLD. He’s supposed to be Bond’s American counterpart, not old enough to be his father.

 

[cooleddie74]

David Hedison was asked back to reprise his role as Felix to be a "Legacy" player of sorts and link Dalton's Bond to Moore's, letting audiences more easily believe that Bond would be the best man at Leiter's wedding and that they were not only the same characters but old and trusted friends by this point in the chronology. It was a good move and Hedison nailed it, cementing his status as one of if not the best Leiter in the entire franchise.

There was a genuine chemistry and affection between Moore and Hedison that feels repeated with Dalton, something a brand-new actor likely couldn't have replicated.

 

[MakeshiftPython]

That makes no sense given that Terry was the most recent Leiter by one film. My understanding is Hedison got the role again only because he had lunch with Cubby and it was a spur of the moment. Cubby tended to just cast people in parts like that.

 

[cardinal biggles]

Regardless of the why, John Terry's Felix was a boring non-entity, and Hedison's came pre-loaded with the history of being one of the better things about Live and Let Die (and also, as others have said, one of the better Felixes over the years). And considering how many times they recast Felix Leiter over 50+ years and 25 films, the fact that Hedison got to play him twice says something (Cubby's mercurial casting decisions aside).

I like this song ("Do You Know How Christmas Trees Are Grown?"), especially for how it's used in the film. The scene when Tracy appears on the ice just when James seems to believe all hope is gone is one of my favorites of the franchise.

I'll be honest, I've mocked this song mercilessly in the past for its nonsensical lyrics, but it certainly works in that one moment you're describing.

 

[MakeshiftPython]

I just think it’s unfair to judge Terry given how brief and useless the role ultimately was in TLD. He’s proven to be a capable actor in other works, so it’s too bad he never got a chance to strike an impression.

I always thought it was odd they didn’t stick to one actor for Leiter. I understand Jack Lord demanding too much for Goldfinger so they went with Cec Linder. You think they’d keep him in the part for Thunderball, but turns out Rik Van Nutter got the part with no audition because he was pals with Cubby.

What’s a pity is Leiter was never really nailed in any incarnation on screen. Jack Lord probably resembled him the most, but he lacked the warmth and jovial humor of the Leiter from the novels.

 

[cooleddie74]

 

[cardinal biggles]

I think after the Jack Lord experience, it's maybe been intentional to keep Leiter's role something of a nothingburger, at least during the years when Cubby (and Saltzman) were at the helm... you've had actors like Rick Van Nutter who were pretty good in it, and you had Hedison, who did great in part because he and Moore had great rapport on LALD, but if you keep it moving there's no chance of someone getting too big for their britches and trying to upstage 007.

 

[MakeshiftPython]

I felt they already did that anyway with the type of casting they went with after Jack Lord’s JFK look, going for character actors that looked older/chubbier/geeky.

 

[Captaindemotion]

I think it’s interesting that Jeffrey Wright is going to be playing James Gordon in addition to Leiter. Cornering the market on the hero’s trusts confidant and straight arrow.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Diana Rigg was probably the perfect actor at the time to be brought in.

The only other actress of similar age I can imagine, at the time, as Tracy is Helen Mirren, but she might have been slighty too young. She'd have been twenty-five when OHMSS released.

 

[MakeshiftPython]

I think it’s interesting that Jeffrey Wright is going to be playing James Gordon in addition to Leiter. Cornering the market on the hero’s trusts confidant and straight arrow.

And taking another character that was originally white.

I’m glad Wright is returning as Leiter for the new film, he was severely underused in QOS, so I hope whatever part Leiter plays in the new film is more substantial. One thing from the novels that the films never played with was how Bond and Leiter constantly go out for drinks to unwind when taking a break from an assignment. Given Leiter is supposed to meet up with Bond in Jamaica hopefully that means they’re getting shitfaced for once! The closest they had to getting drinks together was in QOS by having a beer but that was pretty short.

 

[Captaindemotion]

And taking another character that was originally white.

NSNA also had a black Felix, in the form of the immensely cool Bernie Casey.

 

[cooleddie74]

And Bernie Casey was one of the few good things about that movie.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I'll be honest, I've mocked this song mercilessly in the past for its nonsensical lyrics, but it certainly works in that one moment you're describing.

Yeah, it really does.

I water my Christmas cards to help them grow, so I don't understand why this song gets the bad rap that it frequently does.

 

[cooleddie74]

Good song and one that helped this movie stand out even more than it already does. Can you imagine a pop song about Christmas even being considered for one of the five preceding Connery films? We got sweeping pop theme songs for the movie titles but can you imagine Sean Connery running from Emile Largo's goons to the background strains of, say, the Beach Boys' "Little Saint Nick"?

I'll fight anyone who says this song sucks. It's a pretty song on it's own and even more beautiful in the context of this movie.

 

[MakeshiftPython]

Ever heard anyone slam that song.

 

[cardinal biggles]

I guess I'm a Nina-dissing party of one over here.

 

[cooleddie74]

Oh, some people don't like the song. I've seen them say it has no place in a Bond film and sounds terrible to hear being played.