My three favorite BOND Films

    One of my favorite BOND movies ever has to be ``On Her Majesty's Secret Service,'' for personal reasons which I will explain.  Diana Rigg, who has to be one of the best British Actresses ever born, starred as TRACY.  She brought out a human side of BOND who was played by George Lazenby for the first and only time. The plot and acting held together quite well. Especially TRACY's father { DRACO } played by Mr. Gabriele Ferzetti was believable and stern, like anyone would like there Dad to be.  TV star Telly Savalas was also a ruthless Blofeld. But seeing BOND with His wife, killed at the end of the movie, and seeing His human side  -- not womanizing and sexist -- was a departure all it's own.

     I like seeing women in roles where they have a personality all their own.  Like the fact that now people say Nancy Reagan actually ran the White House for President Ronald Reagan.  If you watch Her funeral on You Tube, and listen carefully to what the commentators are saying, you will see what I mean.
     Plus the female star has my own God & parent - Given name -- TRACY -- a nice personal tribute to me and women, even though I'm a man. I always LOVed Diana Rigg is the Avengers on Television. I personally liked her playing a role of a woman with the same name as I have.


      ``Goldfinger,'' is one of many people's favorites among the BOND films. It was derived from the book written by Ian Fleming. My Mother used to actually read the books, according to my sister Claudia. {Many of the films utilized newly invented characters and plots, having little to do with the original books. } Fourteen books were actually penned by Fleming { two published after His death }. The reason I like God Finger was the special effects were, bright shining armor the first time one sees the bullet-proof Austin Martin with all the defense mechanisms for the first time. The Asian Odd Job with the nifty bladed hat and the plot to steal from Fort Knox by destroying all the GOLD  { I have to admit I re-watched the film to get the gist of the plot fully } are very stuck in one's mind as a young child.   Originality is on one's breath thinking about this film adaptation from the Fleming novel.


     There is something else I have to admit again. I like strong women and strong roles for women in film.  { Being a BIG supporter of  Meryl Streep, Katherine & Audrey Hepburn,  Jane Fonda, Angela Bassett, Ruby Dee, Beah Richards, Vonetta McGee,  Diahann Carroll, & Faye Dunaway }   and noting that the flyers in this film were all women and if I may be so blunt, Pussy Galore was one of the main characters. Galore {Played by  Honor Blackman,} almost gets the best of BOND in a fight scene that lasts in memory for years and years.  I have often wondered why there are no public agencies to advocate for more constructive & powerful women's roles in film. {At least that I knew of until this writing} .  There could be, but I don't know of any and have never heard of any. Abominably, when I look under agencies that advocate for better roles for women in  films nothing like that at all shows up. Strangely the name  Sylvester Stallone was there about 10 inputs down Sylvester Stallone? Hugh? I looked further and found Women in Film and Women at Sundance, thank GOD!  For Black women: There's a project by Proctor & Gamble called  `My BLACK is Beautiful,''  & ``BLACK Girls Rock.''  Look under Tribeca Films for more information.


Another BOND film I thought should have won awards for originality was ``From Russia with LOVe.'' { Interesting isn't it that we call them BOND films in our era of quickness and short attention spans we focus on the fast-paced and flashy star BOND and not the person who originated the character, Ian Fleming }.


     In ``From Russia with LOVe,'' BOND is given the opportunity to intercept a secret decoding gizmo from the Russians called a ``lectern.''  Apparently the world will be safer with the Brits having stolen this device than it would be with the Russians have it, if my memory serves me correctly.  Of course there is a beautiful Russian spy who JAMES gets to sleep with, mole & all, and a scene involving fast-moving sea vassals, explosives and JAMES of course out maneuvering the Russians.  The scene with the Dashing BOND { MY mother often called Sean Connery Dashing, I remember this well} fighting on a train with a well-built and expertly trained Russian male agent is distinct & unforgettable as is that brief case with the secret gold coins, secret knives & secret self exploding mechanism.  One to be remembered until the end of time.