• • [58] According to Danny Peary, Diamonds are Forever is “one of the most forgettable movies of the entire Bond series” and that “until Blofeld’s reappearance we must watch
    what is no better than a mundane diamond-smuggling melodrama, without the spectacle we associate with James Bond: the Las Vegas setting isn’t exotic enough, there’s little humour, assassins Mr. Kidd and Mr. Wint are similar to characters you’d
    find on The Avengers, but not nearly as amusing – and the trouble Bond gets into, even Maxwell Smart could escape.

  • [19] David Picker, then-president of United Artists, had seen the stage musical Georgy written by Mankiewicz, and recommended him; he was hired on a two-week trial and kept
    on for the rest of the movie.

  • [10] Peter R. Hunt, who had directed On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and worked in all previous Bond films as editor, was invited before Hamilton, but due to involvement with
    another project could only work on the film if the production date was postponed, which the producers declined to do.

  • A lot of things have changed since You Only Live Twice (1967), the last real Bond adventure, but 007 has remained a steadfast agent for the military-industrial complex, a
    friend to the C.I.A.

  • “[59] IGN chose it as the third worst James Bond film, behind only The Man with the Golden Gun and Die Another Day.

  • To entice the actor to play Bond once more, United Artists offered two back-to-back films of his choice.

  • [10] Jill St. John had originally been offered the part of Plenty O’Toole but landed the female lead after Sidney Korshak, who assisted the producers in filming in Las Vegas
    locations, recommended his client St. John,[25] who became the first American Bond girl.

  • • Directed by: Guy Hamilton; Screenplay by: Richard Maibaum, Tom Mankiewicz; Based on: Diamonds Are Forever by Ian Fleming; Produced by: Harry Saltzman, Albert R. Broccoli;
    Starring: Sean Connery, Jill St. John, Charles Gray, Lana Wood, Jimmy Dean, Bruce Cabot; Cinematography: Ted Moore; Edited by: Bert Bates, John Holmes; Music by: John Barry; Production company: Eon Productions; Distributed by: United Artists;
    Release dates: 14 December 1971 (West Germany), 17 December 1971 (USA), 30 December 1971 (UK, premiere); Running time: 120 minutes; Countries: United Kingdom[1], United States[2]; ; Language: English; Budget: $7.2 million[3] ; Box office:
    $116 million[3] Plot James Bond—agent 007—pursues Ernst Stavro Blofeld and eventually finds him at a facility where Blofeld look-alikes are being created through surgery.

  • Apparently Messrs. Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, who have made a fortune producing these Ian Fleming-inspired mellers, have reached that point where a sustained story
    means little in prepping an 007 picture.

  • [29] Initially, the character of Miss Moneypenny did not feature in the movie, partly because Lois Maxwell had held out for a pay increase, but it was decided during production
    to add the scene where, disguised as a customs officer, Moneypenny gives Bond his travel documents at the port of Dover.

  • Some time later, Broccoli told Thorson she was never cast in a Bond film because she didn’t have long hair.

  • [18] Mankiewicz says he was hired because Broccoli wanted an American writer to work on the script, since so much of it was set in Las Vegas “and the Brits write really lousy
    American gangsters” – but it had to be someone who also understood the British idiom, since it had British characters.

  • Since John Gavin was no longer in the running for the role, his contract was paid in full by United Artists.

  • After George Lazenby left the series, producers Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Broccoli tested other actors, but studio United Artists wanted Connery back, paying a then-record
    $1.25 million salary for him to return.

  • [10] Bruce Cabot, who played the part of Bert Saxby, died the following year; Diamonds turned out to be his final film role.

  • [15] Mankiewicz later estimated the novel provided around 45 minutes of the film’s final running time.

  • [18] Casting[edit] George Lazenby was originally offered a contract for seven Bond films but declined and left after just one, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, on the advice
    of his agent Ronan O’Rahilly.

  • The film is based on Ian Fleming’s 1956 novel of the same name and is the second of four James Bond films directed by Guy Hamilton.

  • [26] Linda Thorson met with Cubby Broccoli, hoping to be considered for the part of Case, but he never considered her for the role, although he did briefly list her as a possibility
    for the part of Plenty O’Toole.

  • The stunt team had only one automobile left so they called Bill Hickman, who drove for hours to the location, jumped into the Mustang, and did the stunt in one take.

  • Glover said he was surprised at being chosen, because at first producers said he was too normal and that they wanted a deformed, Peter Lorre-like actor.

  • [40] Hamilton had the idea of making a fight scene inside a lift, which was choreographed and performed by Sean Connery and stuntman Joe Robinson.

  • “[53] Peter Schjeldahl of The New York Times described Diamonds Are Forever as “a pretty good movie—not great art, but fantastic packaging.

  • [17] The plot was later changed after Broccoli had a dream, where his close friend Howard Hughes was replaced by an imposter.

  • [35] The Las Vegas Hilton doubled for the Whyte House, and since the owner of the Circus Circus was a Bond fan, he allowed the Circus to be used on film and even made a cameo.

  • [57] Christopher Null called St. John “one of the least effective Bond girls – beautiful, but shrill and helpless”.

  • [61] Far Out Magazine were more critical, stating that Connery’s finished performance made it hard to justify his portrayal, particularly in the light of some of his more
    accomplished successors:”Seemingly happy with his lot by Goldfinger, Connery was making it harder to justify his existence, especially evident in Diamonds Are Forever, the film that was responsible for the comical and misjudged decisions the
    series would take in the 1970s.

  • Production The producers originally intended to have Diamonds Are Forever re-create commercially successful aspects of Goldfinger, including hiring its director, Guy Hamilton.

  • [12] Writing[edit] While On Her Majesty’s Secret Service was in post-production, Richard Maibaum wrote several drafts about Bond avenging the death of his wife Tracy.

  • It is the sixth and final Eon film to star Sean Connery, who returned to the role as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond, having declined to reprise the role in On Her Majesty’s
    Secret Service (1969).

  • [12] Picker was unhappy with this decision and made it clear that Connery was to be enticed back to the role and that money was no object.

  • [11] As a condition for Hamilton directing after his difficulties with trade unions during the filming of Battle of Britain, Diamonds Are Forever was the first Bond production
    to be primarily based in the United States rather than the United Kingdom.

  • [51] Jay Cocks, reviewing for Time magazine, felt Diamonds Are Forever was “in some ways the best of the lot.

  • He is capable of doing better things, but whether he likes it or not, he is the perfect, the only James Bond.

  • [50] Vincent Canby of The New York Times enthusiastically praised the film as: a nostalgic journey down memory lane—by jet, by helicopter, by hearse, by moon machine, and
    by bare foot across deep-pile rugs to king-sized beds in hotel rooms as big as Nevada.

  • We shot every night, I caught all the shows and played golf all day.

  • [48][49] Contemporary reviews[edit] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times noted, in a positive review, the irrelevance of the plot and “moments of silliness”, such as Bond
    finding himself driving a moon buggy with antennae revolving and robot arms flapping.

  • [56] Retrospective reviews[edit] Twenty-five years after its release, James Berardinelli criticised the concept of a laser-shooting satellite, and the performances of Jill
    St. John, Norman Burton and Jimmy Dean.

  • [18] Moon Buggy from Diamonds Are Forever Since the car chase in Las Vegas would have many car crashes, the filmmakers had a product placement arrangement with Ford to use
    their vehicles.

  • The real Franks shows up on the way, but Bond intercepts and kills him, then switches IDs to make it seem like Franks is Bond.

  • Bond and Tiffany then head for Britain on a cruise ship, where Wint and Kidd pose as room-service stewards and attempt to kill them with a hidden bomb.

  • • Joe Robinson as Peter Franks: A diamond smuggler whose identity is taken by Bond.

  • “[62] The film was more positively received by Xan Brooks of The Guardian, who said it was “oddly brilliant, the best of the bunch: the perfect bleary Bond film for an imperfect
    bleary western world.

  • With Connery back in the lead role, the “James Bond Theme” was played by an electric guitar in the somewhat unusual, blued gun barrel sequence accompanied with prismatic ripples
    of light, in the pre-credits sequence, and in a full orchestral version during a hovercraft sequence in Amsterdam.

  • Film crew members held a rope across the pool for her, with which she could lift her face out of the water to breathe between takes.

  • Gray had previously appeared in the series when he played Dikko Henderson in 1967’s You Only Live Twice.

  • He is instead met by two identical Blofelds, who use an electronic device to sound like Whyte.

  • It grossed $2,242,557 in its opening six days worldwide, including $1,569,249 in its opening weekend in the United States and Canada, where it finished number one at the box
    office for the week.

  • “[43] Music[edit] Main article: Diamonds Are Forever (soundtrack) The original soundtrack was once again composed by John Barry, his sixth time composing for a Bond film.

  • Wood, being a certified diver, took some water but remained calm during the ordeal, although she later admitted to a few “very uncomfortable moments and quite some struggling
    until they pulled me out.

  • Bond has to battle his enemy for one last time to stop the smuggling and stall Blofeld’s plan of destroying Washington, D.C. and extorting the world with nuclear supremacy.

  • The additional scene was a last-minute rewrite, as the producers felt it important to incorporate Maxwell after her issue was resolved.

  • The website’s consensus states “Diamonds are Forever is a largely derivative affair, but it’s still pretty entertaining nonetheless, thanks to great stunts, witty dialogue,
    and the presence of Sean Connery.

  • Bond kills one of the Blofelds, which turns out to be a look-alike.

  • [42] A continuity mistake during the same car chase made it into the film’s final cut: when Bond drives the Mustang on two wheels through a narrow alley, the car enters the
    alley on its right side tires and exits driving on its left side.

  • [34] Filming in Las Vegas took place mostly in hotels owned by Howard Hughes, for he was a friend of Cubby Broccoli’s.

  • The pool was steeped in a way that made the block move deeper with each take.

  • [14] When George Lazenby departed from the role prior to the film’s release, a complete rewrite was requested, in addition to Maibaum’s script failing to impress Albert R.
    Broccoli and Saltzman.

  • [60] Total Film listed Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd, and Bambi and Thumper, as the first and second worst villains in the Bond series (respectively).

  • The first film made under Connery’s deal was The Offence, directed by his friend Sidney Lumet.

 

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