Diamonds Are Forever (1971)

Directed by: Guy Hamilton | 120 minutes | action, adventure, science fiction, thriller | Actors: Sean Connery, Jill St. John, Charles Gray, Lana Wood, Jimmy Dean, Bruce Cabot, Putter Smith, Bruce Glover, Norman Burton, Joseph Fürst, Bernard Lee, Desmond Llewelyn, Leonard Barr, Lois Maxwell, Margaret Lacey, Joe Robinson, David de Keyser, Laurence Naismith, David Bauer, Sid Haig

With ‘Diamonds Are Forever’ Sean Connery returns to his role as secret agent 007. In the previous Bond film ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’ Australian George Lazenby played this coveted role once and this film was in many ways different from other Bond films. movies. James truly fell in love and married in this film, but at the end of the film his new wife Tracy Di Vicenzo (Diana Rigg) tragically died: she was murdered by Bond’s nemesis, SPECTRE’s main man Ernst Blofeld and his accomplice Irma. Bunt (Telly Savalas and Ilse Steppat). Connery got a phenomenal amount at the time to return to the old, actually hated, nest, ($1,250,000 plus a percentage of the profit) and became the highest paid actor of the time. He donated all of the money to the Scottish International Educational Trust.

‘Diamonds Are Forever’ opens with a scene where Bond avenges his wife’s murder by killing Blofeld, making a nice link to ‘OHMSS’. Then 007 takes on a new assignment: large quantities of diamonds disappear from the international black market. Bond’s task is to find out who the thieves are and why the diamonds are not for sale. Bond poses as a Dutch diamond smuggler, Peter Franks, and leaves for the Netherlands, yielding some nice shots of Amsterdam in the early 1970s. In Amsterdam he meets Tiffany Case, who plays an important key role in the diamond world. She is played by Jill St John and unfortunately it has to be said that she is not a strong Bond woman. At first she is still secretive, strong and independent, but as the story progresses she changes into a less intelligent, weak character. That’s too bad. Bond girl Plenty O’Toole (“Hi, I’m Plenty,” she introduces herself to our hero, whose response is “But of course you are.”, looking at her shapely bosom as you go), is more impressive, despite the fact that that she appears in at most three scenes, one of which is even dead. Plenty is played by Lana Wood, Natalie’s younger sister. Also briefly on screen, but long enough to nearly overpower James, are Bambi and Thumper, and it’s very funny that Bond gets a few punches from these ladies, although it feels a bit like a Bond parody made them feel better came. Also bizarre are the two gay killers Mr. Kidd (Putter Smith) and Mr. Wins (Bruce Glover), who leave each murder scene hand in hand.

The plot in this Bond is harder to follow than in others, so it’s all too absurd for words. Blofeld turns out to be still alive (could his cat have lent him a few lives?) and has kidnapped billionaire Willard Whyte and assumed his identity. He has launched a satellite made up of the infamous diamonds, which in this way can shoot deadly laser beams from the universe at the earth. Blofeld has demanded ransom from the United Nations or else Washington DC will be destroyed. There is not much tension in the story, although the scene in which Bond is rolled alive but unconscious in a coffin in a cremation oven is still quite exciting. But in a way like you look at a magician: you know he will get out of it, but how? Some interesting chase sequences include 007 moving in a lunar chariot (!) and a Vegas chase where Bond and Tiffany go down a narrow alley on two wheels. The denouement surrounding a cassette tape change is again so ridiculous that it becomes funny.

The strength of this film lies in Sean Connery. He is still ultra cool and knows how to draw viewers in with his confident smile (but never more than a smile). He produces a number of memorable one-liners, which remain enjoyable even after repeated viewing. ‘Diamonds’ is less serious than its predecessor and you can imagine that the ‘Austin Powers’ series is based on this. It’s by no means the best Bond, not even Connery’s, but still worth a look.