Mission Summary

When the British government is becoming concerned that someone is smuggling diamonds out of South Africa, James Bond (Connery) is called upon to investigate. He is sent to Amsterdam, where he meets Tiffany Case (Jill St. John) who is the final link in the pipeline. He pretends to be Peter Franks, her mule to take the diamonds into America. After traveling to Las Vegas to make the exchange, Bond realizes that this assignment has more to it than meets the eye; it isn't about some small-time thieves smuggling diamonds, but his old nemesis Blofeld (Charles Grey) trying to force disarmament on the world's superpowers.

Analysis

Rank: 14

Despite being one of the best in the series, "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" was a bust at the box office and the producers wanted to bring Connery back, regardless of the price. They got their wish, and it cost them $1 million, an unheard of sum in 1971. Was it worth it? "Diamonds are Forever" did well financially, but is only a passable Bond adventure. This film lacked the usual action of a Bond film, and save one car chase and the finale, it was pretty dull. However, this film does has some interesting characters but aren't necessarily memorable.

I liked the plot twist in the film, although I knew it was coming. The audience doesn't believe this film is just about diamond smuggling, but it does take some interesting turns along the way, including some not mentioned above. At times there is almost too much going on, as numerous side characters pop up along the way then are irrelevant five minutes later.

As I said, there isn't too much action in the film. Much of the action is carried out by various henchmen along the way and Bond benefits from the behind-the-scenes heavy-lifting. I was shocked that there wasn't some high-stakes casino game in the movie (what a waste of the Vegas setting) and had potential to be a classic scene. The sequence where Bond steals the moon buggy is laughably bad.

I did like the car chase through the streets of Vegas at night; the neon signs really make a great backdrop. The one thing that always bothered me was the mother of all continuity errors during that driving sequence. Bond makes his Mustang drive on two wheels to go through a narrow alley, but when he emerges, the car is on the wrong wheels! The producers added a cut-scene in between the car entering and the car leaving, but no one should believe that a car and switch wheels in an alley, even in a Bond film.

I can appreciate the star power Connery generates, but it looked like he aged fifteen years since "You Only Live Twice" as opposed to just four in reality. He delivers his usually gritty performance combined with a sense of panache when flirting with women. Tiffany Case probably the first Bond woman to be mostly independent, as she was a criminal before Bond came along and stood up for herself in difficult situations with one-liners of her own. The most interesting characters are the henchmen in this movie, the homosexual couple of Mr. Wint (Bruce Glover) and Mr. Kidd (Putter Smith). Despite being goofy-looking and delivering some deadpan lines, they are quite ruthless, killing several people in cold blood. Also, Bambi (Lola Larson) and Thumper (Trina Parks) are two athletic body guards, who easily subdue Bond with a few nifty moves. Lastly, casino mogul Willard Whyte is a mystery throughout most of the film, and when you see who he really is, the producers made an interesting casting choice from the breakfast table.

The previous Bond film failed financially due to a weak leading man despite a strong story. "Diamonds" was almost the opposite, where Connery returns with a mediocre plot. While any film with Connery playing James Bond is watchable, it is the supporting cast that you take away from this film. Diamonds may be forever, but this film doesn't quite have that same resonance.