To Absent Friends - Monty Norman

Monty Norman

1928 - 2022

Monty Norman died this past Monday at the age of 94, and if you are like me, and I'm guessing that at least 80% of you reading this are, you had no idea who Monty Norman was until you read of his death in the news obituaries.  However, I am guessing that at least 99.9% of you are familiar, very familiar with his most well known work, and THAT is why I read the news obits and write about Absent Friends.

Let me turn it over to the brilliant obituary writer Harrison Smith of the Washington Post  and the first paragraphs of his obit for Mr. Norman. 

"Enlisted to write the theme song for “Dr. No,” the 1962 spy movie that brought James Bond to the big screen, composer Monty Norman struggled to capture 007 in music. The song needed to be menacing but also a little sexy, like the pistol-wielding, martini-drinking secret agent himself.

"Searching for inspiration, he found it right under his nose, in an unused song in the bottom drawer of his desk."

That right there is some great writing, and, yes, Norman is the guy who wrote the James Bond Theme (here it is), music that has been heard in all twenty-four Bond films and with six different actors playing 007.  In offering him the gig, producers Albert Broccoli and Harry Saltzman offered to fly Norman and his wife to Jamaica where "Dr. No" was being filmed.  Norman accepted, figuring that even if the movie bombed "at least we'd have sun, sea, and sand to show for it."  And in an interview years and years later, Norman said that one of the associate producers told him to try and do a good theme because "we're hoping to get two films and maybe a television series out of this."

Another composer, John Barry, was involved in the Bond films.  Barry did the orchestrations for Norman's theme as well as writing some of the theme songs over the course of the franchise. Over time, he was also credited with the ubiquitous theme, always a sore spot, rightfully, for Norman.  When an article on Barry in the London Times in 1997 credited Barry for the Theme, Norman sued the Times for libel and was awarded 30,000 pounds.

Norman did other things in his career, of course.  Played with English big bands, and did music for British TV variety shows for, among others, Peter Sellers and Benny Hill, but when you are responsible for the Theme for James Bond?  I'm guessing the Monty Norman pretty much knew what would be the lead paragraph in his obituary.

RIP Monty Norman.

"No Time To Die" (NO SPOILERS!!)

I took in the newest James Bond movie, "No Time To Die", yesterday.  As anyone with even the slightest interest in such things knows, this is Daniel Craig's final appearance as 007 in this most lucrative of film franchises.  I have liked Craig in the role, but good for him for choosing to move on.

So how was this one, and what was it about?

It was about a villain who has somehow brought about the destruction of the evil organization, SPECTRE.  And he might be somehow related to Bond arch villain Blofeld?  He also has developed some type of microbots that when they get on your skin does....something irreparable and terrible?  Why is he doing this?  Who knows and who cares?  Sensible plots are about the last thing that are important or even necessary in a James Bond movie, but "No Time To Die" checks all of the other boxes and delivers another solid Bond thriller:

• A handsome and dashing Bond who looks good in a tux and still drinks his martinis "Shaken, not stirred."
• Beautiful women.
• Gorgeous costumes.
• Spectacular scenery.
• A loathsome villain in Rami Malek.  His character's name is Lyutsifer, pronounced "Lucifer."  Subtle.
• Chase scenes.  Numerous spectacular case scenes.  In cars, on motorcycles, and even on foot.  Some amazing stuff.

Did I mention beautiful women?  The main "Bond Girl" in this one is French actress Lea Seydoux....

...and Cuban actress Ana de Armas....

Miss de Armas played Paloma, an agent for either the CIA or MI5, I wasn't too clear on that point, who assisted Bond in an operation in some scuzzy bar in Cuba.  I think it was in Cuba.  She had just completed "three weeks in training school" which caused 007 to shudder a bit, but she proceded in totally kicking the asses of a battalion of Bad Guys along with James Bond, and doing so while wearing a low cut, backless, slit-up-both-sides evening dress that was spectacular, to say the least, while drinking those shaken and not stirred martinis.  Her character only got about ten or so minutes of screen time, but I think I could take an entire movie based on Paloma's adventures.

My only quibble with NTTD is that it lasted for two hours and forty-five minutes.  Way too long.  That takes at least a half-star off of my rating.

Also, and again, if you have listened to some of the talk surrounding this movie, you know that there is a development in this movie of major importance to the entire Bond Film Franchise.   Makes it hard to write really extensively about the movie without giving it away, but I think that I pulled it off here.   I will look forward to talking with others who have seen it and be able to discuss what happens next.

Two and One-Half Stars from The Grandstander (would have been Three if it was about 20-30 minutes shorter.)

Old Movie Review - "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" (1969)

 

When I did my Absent Friends tribute to Dianna Rigg last month, I made mention that while she was a Bond Girl, she did it in 1969's "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", the Bond movie that starred George Lazenby, which probably made it the least viewed film in the entire Bond Franchise. This comment caused one of my movie maven pals, Bob Cassinelli, to comment that OHMSS gets a bad rap because Lazenby had the nerve to not be Sean Connery.  This was the first Bond movie made without Connery, and the Aussie Lazenby was relatively - completely? -  unknown to American audiences.  Bob told me that the the production values were high, Telly Savalas was great as the villain Blofeld, and that Rigg's performance was spectacular.  Also, in light of the fact that several actors have now played the role, Lazenby's performance deserves a second look and a re-evaluation.

George Lazenby

as

"Bond. James Bond"

I got around to getting hold of a DVD of the movie, watched it last night, and Bob was right on all counts.

The plot.....an evil villain has a plot that will destroy humans' ability to procreate....unless his demands are met, he will unleash it...Bond has to stop him...Bond falls in love....you pretty much get the idea.  In the end, though, who cares about PLOT in a James Bond movie?  The people are handsome and beautiful, the wardrobes are extravagant, the scenery is gorgeous.  There are explosions, fights, lovemaking, and chase scenes.  What more do you need?  There was even one perfectly meta moment, before anyone even know that "meta" would one day become a thing, when Bond/Lazenby looks into the camera and says "This never happened to the other guy."

Did I mention chase scenes?  The movie opens with a mini-chase between two cars that ends on a beach.  Throughout the rest of the movie we see a chase scene on skis going down the Alps (pretty spectacular), a chase on a stock car race track, a chase between two bobsleds, and, just because that wasn't enough, we get another chase scene on skis with an avalanche thrown into the mix.

As for Diana Rigg, she was indeed terrific in the role, and absolutely gorgeous.

Diana Rigg as Tracy

See what I mean?

As an aside, in some of the stuff I read after Rigg's death, some speculated that, in another era, Diana Rigg would have been absolutely perfect to be the first woman to play "James Bond."  Couldn't agree more.

She also pulls off what no other Bond Girl before or since ever managed to do.  She married James Bond......

Mr. and Mrs . James Bond

We all know that that didn't last, but why didn't it?  Well, even in a 51 year old movie, The Grandstander is not about to give any spoilers, but he will give "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" Three Stars.  Well worth tracking down and watching.

Movie Review: "SPECTRE" (contains no spoilers)

Yep, we were there for the first showing on opening day for "SPECTRE", the 24th James Bond movie, and Daniel Craig's fourth go-round as the world's most famous double-naught spy.  It is great to be retired!  And, as one of the characters says in the movie, "It's good to have you back Double-O Seven."  Indeed.

You want to know what the movie is about? Well, I am not sure that I could tell you, but, after all, are comprehensible plot lines what you really go to James Bond movies to see?  Well, I suppose that one plot point could be the danger of a world of computer and digital networks more terrifying than anything that George Orwell ever imagined, but, C'MON MAN, that is not, as I said, why we go to see Bond, James Bond.  You just have to go to this movie, sit back and let it flow over you.  You will see some amazing location shots: Mexico City, the Austrian mountains, the Tunisian dessert, Rome, and, of course, London. You will see amazing chase sequences, four by my count, five by the count of Mrs. Grandstander, depends on how you define "chase", I guess, lots of explosions, and the requisite number of pretty women.  

The Bond villain is played with great evil gusto by two time Academy Award winner Christoph Waltz, and the "Bond girl" is thirty year old French actress Lea Seydoux, who has just the slightest gap between her two front teeth that I found to be quite attractive and sexy, but that's just me.

It is non-stop action, and a whole lot of fun, and if you wait until the very end of the interminable credits, which I did because I wanted to see this, you will see that standard tag line....JAMES BOND WILL RETURN.  From what I have read, though, SPECTRE may have been Craig's last turn as Bond.  If that is to be the case, I think that most will agree that he has played the role well, but as Mrs Grandstander said when we left the theater, "He's no Sean Connery."

Movie Review: "Skyfall" (Contains No Spoilers)

2012 marks the 50th anniversary of the James Bond movie franchise, "Skyfall" is the 23rd movie in the series, and Daniel Craig is on board for the third time as 007, and this movie is really a wild ride.

The "MacGuffin" in this movie is a computer hard drive that contains the names of over fifty MI6 agents who are embedded in the field.  The bad guys threatens to keep releasing the names of these agents, which would not only put their lives in danger, but would severely compromise British national security world wide.  Who to turn to?  Well, "Bond, James Bond" is the obvious answer, but too many people in high places are questioning whether Bond's and MI6's old ways of doing things are outdated.  As one young MI6 whippersnapper puts it, "I can do more damage at a laptop in my pajamas before my morning tea than you can with your way of doing things".  However, later in the movie, one character says "Sometimes, the old ways are still the best", and that is exactly what Bond and his boss, M, set out to prove.

Along the way, we see a spectacular chase scene to open the movie, Bond engaging the bad guys in skyscraper, in an Asian casino, a London subway tunnel, a Parliamentary hearing room, and on the Scottish moors.   All of these scenes are wildly implausible, of course, but they make for great fun and terrific movie viewing.  This movie is a great improvement over the last one, "Quantum of Solace".  Craig makes a very good James Bond, and I have to mention that the villain in this one is played by Javier Bardem with the same maniacal intensity as he showed in his Oscar winning role in "No Country For Old Men" a few years back. Evil incarnate.   And as is typical of this series, when the movie ends, the credits begin with the message - "James Bond Will Return."  Good news for all of us.

In a completely silly train of thought, about halfway through the movie I began thinking of Bond as a "double-naught spy".   Daniel Craig may be no Sean Connery (as Mrs. Grandstander always points out), but he does have it all over Max Baer, Jr.

Next week: "Lincoln".