Classic Bond Forum

NO.

First of all, I never liked him in North By Northwest (the most "Bond-like" movie before the series ever began) because he came off as a smug, self-satisfied git which made me not care at all about his plight of being hunted down for no other reason than to be a decoy for the Real agent in whatever that story was all about except to surround that cool Plane sequence.

Second, he was way too old to have STARTED playing James Bond when he was first suggested (at age 58!) and would only have done it once anyway (according the the oft-repeated legend, at least).

And three, well I just don't like him period because said age made him so Oldest School that he'd be so completely uncool and have undermined the Bond Movies' timeless standards of Awesomeness by his Square, Out-of-Date presence alone. Let's just accept that Sean Connery was (or rather IS) the Coolest James Bond ever and not get too carried away with these increasingly silly "what if's?", OK?.

What if Cr-egg was Renfield in Dracula? That's a better question, don't you think? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQ7fPsSiq_8

Barry Niven wrote:NO.

First of all, I never liked him in North By Northwest (the most "Bond-like" movie before the series ever began) because he came off as a smug, self-satisfied git which made me not care at all about his plight of being hunted down for no other reason than to be a decoy for the Real agent in whatever that story was all about except to surround that cool Plane sequence.

Second, he was way too old to have STARTED playing James Bond when he was first suggested (at age 58!) and would only have done it once anyway (according the the oft-repeated legend, at least).

And three, well I just don't like him period because said age made him so Oldest School that he'd be so completely uncool and have undermined the Bond Movies' timeless standards of Awesomeness by his Square, Out-of-Date presence alone. Let's just accept that Sean Connery was (or rather IS) the Coolest James Bond ever and not get too carried away with these increasingly silly "what if's?", OK?.

Oh, whether a post is 'increasingly silly' or not is OK with me. I welcome different ideas from all angles. It's called F.U.N. Of course, I understand that sometimes when we're in the crusty 'M' mode, the world is a bleak place! But there are some Double-Ohs who enjoy trips in different dimensions.... after all, that's where Bond lives.

As for Cary Grant as Bond.... the best case scenario would be a young Cary Grant. I agree that in the last analysis that he's just not cool, and overly smug. I've always maintained that Humphrey Bogart captured the essence of Bond in his white tux in Casablanca . No, he wasn't six feet two, so he really couldn't have played Bond, but he had the Fleming Bond's humanity and cool, which Cary Grant lacked in his film personality. It's much like Angelina Jolie in her Tombraider and other films -- she has the physical qualities, but not the likability. Contrast that with Bogart who was both a fine actor but someone who could always entertain, no matter the role. That's why he was named by the American Film Institute as #1.

commander0077again wrote: I've always maintained that Humphrey Bogart captured the essence of Bond in his white tux in Casablanca . No, he wasn't six feet two, so he really couldn't have played Bond, but he had the Fleming Bond's humanity and cool, which Cary Grant lacked in his film personality. It's much like Angelina Jolie in her Tombraider and other films -- she has the physical qualities, but not the likability. Contrast that with Bogart who was both a fine actor but someone who could always entertain, no matter the role. That's why he was named by the American Film Institute as #1.

Well, of course Fleming cited Sam Spade as an influence on Bond, and Bogie was the definitive Spade, but that doesn't make him Bond. He's a bit too blue-collar, plus we know that he couldn't do a British accent, that's why his character in The African Queen was rewritten from a cockney to a Canadian.