Bit of a crossover one this...
OK, so Moonraker is going to be adapted straight, as is... and you have the job of casting it...
Given the way the characters are described (and the film will be true to those characters)...
Who do you pick?
Don't be limited by dates - the book was published in 1955, it's now 2004. Anyone alive between those times (even if now deceased) is a candidate...
Moonraker
Started by
Jim
, Apr 30 2004 07:59 AM
16 replies to this topic
#1
Jim
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Posted 30 April 2004 - 07:59 AM
#2
_JW_
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Posted 03 May 2004 - 03:45 AM
I've thought about it for awhile. It's almost mind-boggling to think of all the actors for the roles if there's no limitations on the time period, so I'm only using actors that are active. However, it would still be a period piece. Perhaps even done in black and white. And hey, he wants to direct one, Quentin Tarantino would be a great director for it... it's a period piece and it's character driven, I think he'd do an exellent job with his unique style. Yes, he does tend to gravitate towards gore and violence, but I feel he would stick true to the book without a whole bunch of unnecessary violence and obscenities... the film just needs that 'spin' that only Tarantino could really deliver.
Cast:
James Bond - Jack Davenport
Try not to think too much about Coupling here.... Bond is a little bit younger during the course of this novel, so I went with an actor that reflects that. He would be considered too young to play Bond now, but if we're making Moonraker 'straight', he's got just the right looks, screen presence, and there's no denying he's got some good acting chops. His natural accent already sounds slightly 'Bond-ish'.
Gala Brand - Julie Dreyfus
Based on looks, I think she's pretty close to Gala's description. Then I realized that she's been in a Tarantino movie already. This was unintended, but hey... he likes to pick actors/actresses that have appeared in his previous pictures, so it doesn't seem like too much of a stretch here.
Hugo Drax - Stephen Fry
Don't laugh dammit - if you get some great makeup people in to do a wig and some facial hair (in addition to making his eye as horrendous looking as possible), you've got a great villan. And if you consider that my version of the film is in black and white, that makes it the task a little easier on the makeup people. Stephen Fry is already a little whacky to begin with, and we know he can do plenty of different accents, so it would be no problem when he has to go all German on Bond.
M - Terence Stamp
He would be my choice for the new M in the real series if Judi Dench stepped down, but I feel he could do a good job playing as Sir Miles in this version of Moonraker.
Dr. Walters - Pete Postlethwaite
His description in the book matches the look of Pete Postlethwaite. Pete also has experience playing those shady villanous characters AND he can do accents.
Krebs - Abraham Benrubi
I saw him in Open Range. If we give him a haircut he has the look of the character Krebs. The only thing I'm not certain of is the accent, but anybody can get a coach to help them out with that. And although he's not a big name or anything, you probably need at least one American playing one of the main characters in any given film, or it would be deemed illegal (cough).
And what the hell -
Blatant cameo:
Quentin Tarantino as The Instructor
Cast:
James Bond - Jack Davenport
Try not to think too much about Coupling here.... Bond is a little bit younger during the course of this novel, so I went with an actor that reflects that. He would be considered too young to play Bond now, but if we're making Moonraker 'straight', he's got just the right looks, screen presence, and there's no denying he's got some good acting chops. His natural accent already sounds slightly 'Bond-ish'.
Gala Brand - Julie Dreyfus
Based on looks, I think she's pretty close to Gala's description. Then I realized that she's been in a Tarantino movie already. This was unintended, but hey... he likes to pick actors/actresses that have appeared in his previous pictures, so it doesn't seem like too much of a stretch here.
Hugo Drax - Stephen Fry
Don't laugh dammit - if you get some great makeup people in to do a wig and some facial hair (in addition to making his eye as horrendous looking as possible), you've got a great villan. And if you consider that my version of the film is in black and white, that makes it the task a little easier on the makeup people. Stephen Fry is already a little whacky to begin with, and we know he can do plenty of different accents, so it would be no problem when he has to go all German on Bond.
M - Terence Stamp
He would be my choice for the new M in the real series if Judi Dench stepped down, but I feel he could do a good job playing as Sir Miles in this version of Moonraker.
Dr. Walters - Pete Postlethwaite
His description in the book matches the look of Pete Postlethwaite. Pete also has experience playing those shady villanous characters AND he can do accents.
Krebs - Abraham Benrubi
I saw him in Open Range. If we give him a haircut he has the look of the character Krebs. The only thing I'm not certain of is the accent, but anybody can get a coach to help them out with that. And although he's not a big name or anything, you probably need at least one American playing one of the main characters in any given film, or it would be deemed illegal (cough).
And what the hell -
Blatant cameo:
Quentin Tarantino as The Instructor
Edited by _JW_, 03 May 2004 - 03:47 AM.
#3
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Posted 12 May 2004 - 12:17 AM
Ha! I like your idea of the instructor cameo, JW. I first read Moonraker back when I was 14 and this is me re-reading it 5 years later. I can't really remember the ending so don't give it away.
Having just put the novel down only fifteen minutes previous to this post I sat in the bathroom and reflected on how I wish they would translate novel to screen. Moonraker has so much potential to make a great James Bond movie although I fear you would have to add in a few extra locales to give the story some variation and excitment.
For example, the whole Blades scene could be done in London then Bond moves to Dover. I had the idea that the Eden Project would make a great 'facility' for the Moonraker rocket, although I do realise it was featured in Die Another Day. However, a third location would be needed. Perhaps there could be an assault on Hugo Drax's German Schloss in the Alps after the Moonraker firing is foiled?
Anyway, I speculate idly as it would be a waste of my brain cells to even think of considering that Babs and Mike would pick up on such a smart idea. Onto the casting for 'Hell Is Here'
JAMES BOND - The casting of James Bond is a difficult task for the producers and so, hellish for me. Given all the stars in the history and present of film-making that are known to me, I can't find a suitable candidate for James Bond. When I read through the novel, I don't see an actor, I see Fleming's description of the man. However, if you are going to push me to be visual on this issue then my avatar seems to me to be the best image of what I see in my head whilst reading.
GALA BRAND - Due to my rather horrid Scottish slack-jaw I always have to remind myself when reading that it's pronounced G-ahh-l-ahh. If I were to suddenly utter the name in conversation, most people would assume I was talking about a fruit. As Gala was supposed to be Miranda Frost, I keep imagining Rosamund Pike in the role, despite being blonde. She's got the coldness that Gala first displays when she meets Bond, but I'm sure she could easily warm up to him in the later stages of the film.
HUGO DRAX - Assuming for a moment that I could be as reckless with time as Electronic Arts are, I would automatically cast Orson Welles. Physically he once could have resembled Drax but now I fear that because I have set the film in the present, he would only have a bit part at Drax's funeral playing the deceased. Who could play the arrogant, irritating, brash Hugo Drax? Antony Hopkins has the ability to keep a calm exterior then release short outburts of violence and rage when required to do so. He's the right shape and age and of a calm yet volatile disposition to play a modern-day Hugo Drax and the make-up department would surely do a good job of disfiguring his face. However, I would not have them change his hair colour for fear of making him look ridiculous. Stick with the grey.
M - Could I see Judi Dench working her way through a cheroot whilst contemplating one bastard of a game of patience in Blades? Could I even see her playing a competative game of bridge for big money and not match sticks like old biddies do on a Sunday afternoon? No. I need an actor who can play the grumpy old![[censored]](https://debrief.commanderbond.net/topic/15926-moonraker/style_emoticons/default/censored.gif)
M should be. Fine, the whole 'female authority' theme has been overdone now lets move back to the Bondian world of sexism and cigar smoke. Bernard Hill of King Theoden fame would fit this role. He's grumpy, English, old and probably enjoys bridge plus he has that faint exasperated rasp that M would have. In Lord of the Rings he gives that fatherly performance which is what M is to Bond, albeit a rather professional one.
I've cast the main roles but I would look to European actors to play the Germans as I'm slightly fraught at how many fake accents there are in the Bond films now, Robbie.
Having just put the novel down only fifteen minutes previous to this post I sat in the bathroom and reflected on how I wish they would translate novel to screen. Moonraker has so much potential to make a great James Bond movie although I fear you would have to add in a few extra locales to give the story some variation and excitment.
For example, the whole Blades scene could be done in London then Bond moves to Dover. I had the idea that the Eden Project would make a great 'facility' for the Moonraker rocket, although I do realise it was featured in Die Another Day. However, a third location would be needed. Perhaps there could be an assault on Hugo Drax's German Schloss in the Alps after the Moonraker firing is foiled?
Anyway, I speculate idly as it would be a waste of my brain cells to even think of considering that Babs and Mike would pick up on such a smart idea. Onto the casting for 'Hell Is Here'
JAMES BOND - The casting of James Bond is a difficult task for the producers and so, hellish for me. Given all the stars in the history and present of film-making that are known to me, I can't find a suitable candidate for James Bond. When I read through the novel, I don't see an actor, I see Fleming's description of the man. However, if you are going to push me to be visual on this issue then my avatar seems to me to be the best image of what I see in my head whilst reading.
GALA BRAND - Due to my rather horrid Scottish slack-jaw I always have to remind myself when reading that it's pronounced G-ahh-l-ahh. If I were to suddenly utter the name in conversation, most people would assume I was talking about a fruit. As Gala was supposed to be Miranda Frost, I keep imagining Rosamund Pike in the role, despite being blonde. She's got the coldness that Gala first displays when she meets Bond, but I'm sure she could easily warm up to him in the later stages of the film.
HUGO DRAX - Assuming for a moment that I could be as reckless with time as Electronic Arts are, I would automatically cast Orson Welles. Physically he once could have resembled Drax but now I fear that because I have set the film in the present, he would only have a bit part at Drax's funeral playing the deceased. Who could play the arrogant, irritating, brash Hugo Drax? Antony Hopkins has the ability to keep a calm exterior then release short outburts of violence and rage when required to do so. He's the right shape and age and of a calm yet volatile disposition to play a modern-day Hugo Drax and the make-up department would surely do a good job of disfiguring his face. However, I would not have them change his hair colour for fear of making him look ridiculous. Stick with the grey.
M - Could I see Judi Dench working her way through a cheroot whilst contemplating one bastard of a game of patience in Blades? Could I even see her playing a competative game of bridge for big money and not match sticks like old biddies do on a Sunday afternoon? No. I need an actor who can play the grumpy old
M should be. Fine, the whole 'female authority' theme has been overdone now lets move back to the Bondian world of sexism and cigar smoke. Bernard Hill of King Theoden fame would fit this role. He's grumpy, English, old and probably enjoys bridge plus he has that faint exasperated rasp that M would have. In Lord of the Rings he gives that fatherly performance which is what M is to Bond, albeit a rather professional one.I've cast the main roles but I would look to European actors to play the Germans as I'm slightly fraught at how many fake accents there are in the Bond films now, Robbie.
#4
Jim
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Posted 12 May 2004 - 07:35 AM
My immediate thoughts on Drax is someone who could play the quasi-avuncular role/hero of the nation idea that Drax represents for most of the novel and then go bonkers Nazi at the end.
Physically inappropriate, but isn't that Mr Dalton in The Rocketeer?
I could see Gert Frobe doing it - but the English accent might be a problem. For some very odd reason, I keep thinking about Boris Becker (yeah, that Boris Becker). Don't ask. Don't ask either why I keep picking Germans. Oh, I dunno - Christopher Biggins, maybe.
Or that Richard Griffiths bloke. Uncle Monty as Drax... the more I think about it...
Actually, Brian Blessed. Oh, that's damned clear. Would also scare the living poo-poo out of everyone.
Bond - the Horak Bond. This is the Bond I've always seen in the novels anyway, or as close to it.
Gala Brand - for whatever reason, Ingrid Bergman. If only for the purposes of seeing Ingrid Bergman in a swimming costume get covered in a load of chalk rock. A perversion of mine, perhaps.
M - oh, just bung that one over to bloke what played the Nazi commander in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (Vogel?) - think he was also at the end of Tomorrow Never Dies - Michael Byrne(?); would make a damned hard M, and something closer to the mutual understanding and appreciation M and Bond bounce off each other in this book. Actually, I say him for the next M - and then we can have - is he Admiral Messervy or Hargreaves or whatever he was in TND?The idea of M and Bond as naval contemporaries, only separated by age, something the films have rarely dwelt on.
Also, can't see him trading quips with Bond about "shagging"; can't see him treating MI6 as some sort of posh ladies' finishing school; can't see him treating Moneypenny as his bezzie (rhymes with "lezzie", oddly enough) mate. Can see him matter-of-factly sending Bond out to "kill people", which is what M was meant to be.
The agent who gets shot in the pub - I'd have this happen onscreen, and I'd have it happen to Sir Michael Redgrave, because I've always thought he was a rotten actor. People point at me in the street and say "Look, there goes the man who hates Sir Michael Redgrave. That's the Sir Michael Redgrave hater." Also, because he's very 50s. (Not a particularly lucid explanation, I know).
Krebs - Bloke what played Cliff Barnes in Dallas, Ken Thing. Not for any reason other than keeping up the Bond films' glorious tradition of casting not because of suitability or aptitude, but just general availability (this extends to the lead role, now and again).
A gaggle of bizarrely moustachioed Germans in Kent. Probably asylum seekers. Continuing the stunt casting ideas of late, I would have the Ipswich Town side of the early 1980s appear... no, wait, that's a stupid idea.
NB: is "gaggle" the collective noun for "bizarrely moustachioed Germans in Kent" anyway?
Physically inappropriate, but isn't that Mr Dalton in The Rocketeer?
I could see Gert Frobe doing it - but the English accent might be a problem. For some very odd reason, I keep thinking about Boris Becker (yeah, that Boris Becker). Don't ask. Don't ask either why I keep picking Germans. Oh, I dunno - Christopher Biggins, maybe.
Or that Richard Griffiths bloke. Uncle Monty as Drax... the more I think about it...
Actually, Brian Blessed. Oh, that's damned clear. Would also scare the living poo-poo out of everyone.
Bond - the Horak Bond. This is the Bond I've always seen in the novels anyway, or as close to it.
Gala Brand - for whatever reason, Ingrid Bergman. If only for the purposes of seeing Ingrid Bergman in a swimming costume get covered in a load of chalk rock. A perversion of mine, perhaps.
M - oh, just bung that one over to bloke what played the Nazi commander in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (Vogel?) - think he was also at the end of Tomorrow Never Dies - Michael Byrne(?); would make a damned hard M, and something closer to the mutual understanding and appreciation M and Bond bounce off each other in this book. Actually, I say him for the next M - and then we can have - is he Admiral Messervy or Hargreaves or whatever he was in TND?The idea of M and Bond as naval contemporaries, only separated by age, something the films have rarely dwelt on.
Also, can't see him trading quips with Bond about "shagging"; can't see him treating MI6 as some sort of posh ladies' finishing school; can't see him treating Moneypenny as his bezzie (rhymes with "lezzie", oddly enough) mate. Can see him matter-of-factly sending Bond out to "kill people", which is what M was meant to be.
The agent who gets shot in the pub - I'd have this happen onscreen, and I'd have it happen to Sir Michael Redgrave, because I've always thought he was a rotten actor. People point at me in the street and say "Look, there goes the man who hates Sir Michael Redgrave. That's the Sir Michael Redgrave hater." Also, because he's very 50s. (Not a particularly lucid explanation, I know).
Krebs - Bloke what played Cliff Barnes in Dallas, Ken Thing. Not for any reason other than keeping up the Bond films' glorious tradition of casting not because of suitability or aptitude, but just general availability (this extends to the lead role, now and again).
A gaggle of bizarrely moustachioed Germans in Kent. Probably asylum seekers. Continuing the stunt casting ideas of late, I would have the Ipswich Town side of the early 1980s appear... no, wait, that's a stupid idea.
NB: is "gaggle" the collective noun for "bizarrely moustachioed Germans in Kent" anyway?
#5
stromberg
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Posted 12 May 2004 - 08:16 AM
Great one as usual, Jim.
I supose you did see the picture I posted some time ago with Fr
I supose you did see the picture I posted some time ago with Fr
#6
Station Domino
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Posted 16 May 2004 - 01:13 AM
Clive Owen as James Bond
Sir Anthony Hopkins as M
Brian Cox as Hugo Drax
Monica Bellucci as Gala Brand
Sir Anthony Hopkins as M
Brian Cox as Hugo Drax
Monica Bellucci as Gala Brand
#7
Willie Garvin
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Posted 23 May 2004 - 02:57 PM
To be shot in black and white and on as many of the actual locations Ian Fleming mentions in the novel as possible.
~~~The Cast of Moonraker~~~
Laurence Harvey as James Bond--and with the facial scar.
Jack Hawkins as Admiral Sir Miles Messervy-"M".
Samantha Eggar as Miss Moneypenny
Julie Christie as Loelia Ponsonby.
Patrick McGoohan as Chief of Staff Bill Tanner.
Suzy Kendall as Galetea Brand.
and
James Mason as Sir Hugo Drax.
Screenplay by Richard Maibaum, from the novel by Ian Fleming.
Musical score by Bernard Herrmann with incidental music by The John Barry Seven.
Directed by John Frankenheimer.
* * * * *
Here's another possibilty assuming that Moonraker is a one-off and to be made in an alternate universe lacking the James Bond series.This version to be filmed in Technicolor.
__Moonraker__
Stanley Baker as James Bond.
Trevor Howard as Sir Miles Messervy-"M".
Virginia McKenna as Miss Moneypenny.
Juliet Stevenson as Loelia Ponsonby.
Maureen O'Hara as Galetea Brand.
Keiron Moore as Chief of Staff Bill Tanner.
and
Peter Wyngarde as Sir Hugo Drax.
Screenplay by Howard Koch and Charles Lederer, from the novel by Ian Fleming.
Music by Lalo Shiffrin.
Directed by Carol Reed.
* * * * * *
Tossed into a time machine and taken to the early 1940s.
===Moonraker===
Errol Flynn as James Bond(clean shaven with scar).
Claude Rains as Admiral Sir Miles Messervy-"M".
Olivia DeHavilland as Miss Moneypenny.
Patric Knowles as Chief of Staff Bill Tanner.
Patricia Morrison as Loelia Ponsonby.
Linda Darnell as Galetea Brand.
and
Charles Laughton as Sir Hugo Drax.
Screenplay by John Huston,based on the novel by Ian Fleming.
Music by Dimitri Tiomkin.
Directed by John Huston.
~~~The Cast of Moonraker~~~
Laurence Harvey as James Bond--and with the facial scar.
Jack Hawkins as Admiral Sir Miles Messervy-"M".
Samantha Eggar as Miss Moneypenny
Julie Christie as Loelia Ponsonby.
Patrick McGoohan as Chief of Staff Bill Tanner.
Suzy Kendall as Galetea Brand.
and
James Mason as Sir Hugo Drax.
Screenplay by Richard Maibaum, from the novel by Ian Fleming.
Musical score by Bernard Herrmann with incidental music by The John Barry Seven.
Directed by John Frankenheimer.
* * * * *
Here's another possibilty assuming that Moonraker is a one-off and to be made in an alternate universe lacking the James Bond series.This version to be filmed in Technicolor.
__Moonraker__
Stanley Baker as James Bond.
Trevor Howard as Sir Miles Messervy-"M".
Virginia McKenna as Miss Moneypenny.
Juliet Stevenson as Loelia Ponsonby.
Maureen O'Hara as Galetea Brand.
Keiron Moore as Chief of Staff Bill Tanner.
and
Peter Wyngarde as Sir Hugo Drax.
Screenplay by Howard Koch and Charles Lederer, from the novel by Ian Fleming.
Music by Lalo Shiffrin.
Directed by Carol Reed.
* * * * * *
Tossed into a time machine and taken to the early 1940s.
===Moonraker===
Errol Flynn as James Bond(clean shaven with scar).
Claude Rains as Admiral Sir Miles Messervy-"M".
Olivia DeHavilland as Miss Moneypenny.
Patric Knowles as Chief of Staff Bill Tanner.
Patricia Morrison as Loelia Ponsonby.
Linda Darnell as Galetea Brand.
and
Charles Laughton as Sir Hugo Drax.
Screenplay by John Huston,based on the novel by Ian Fleming.
Music by Dimitri Tiomkin.
Directed by John Huston.
Edited by Willie Garvin, 25 May 2004 - 08:50 PM.
#8
Blofeld's Cat
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Posted 24 May 2004 - 08:24 AM
While reading the book I was visualising Gert Frobe as Drax.
#9
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Posted 15 June 2004 - 08:56 PM
I am going to be boring and mix the contempory with the older:
Pierce Brosnan as James Bond (first and always)
Sir Richard Harris as M (taken from his performances in Harry Potter
Samantha Bond as Miss Moneypenny.
Ben Kingsley as Chief of Staff Bill Tanner.
Maggie Glyndhaal as Loelia Ponsonby.
Grace Kelly as Gala Brand.
John Rhys-Davies as Sir Hugo Drax.
Peter Lorrie as Krebs
Claude Rains as Dr. Walters
-- Xenobia
Pierce Brosnan as James Bond (first and always)
Sir Richard Harris as M (taken from his performances in Harry Potter
Samantha Bond as Miss Moneypenny.
Ben Kingsley as Chief of Staff Bill Tanner.
Maggie Glyndhaal as Loelia Ponsonby.
Grace Kelly as Gala Brand.
John Rhys-Davies as Sir Hugo Drax.
Peter Lorrie as Krebs
Claude Rains as Dr. Walters
-- Xenobia
#10
B007GLE
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Posted 09 July 2004 - 04:29 PM
Here's my casting which is how I pictured the character while reading:
Bond: Connery (always is when I read the books)
M: Bernard Lee always perfect as M both in film and in my imagination.
Drax: Terry Thomas.
Krebs: Peter Lorre
Gala: Eunice Gayson
Bond: Connery (always is when I read the books)
M: Bernard Lee always perfect as M both in film and in my imagination.
Drax: Terry Thomas.
Krebs: Peter Lorre
Gala: Eunice Gayson
#11
Qwerty
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Posted 10 July 2004 - 12:19 AM
James Bond: Sean Connery
Gala Brand: Raquel Welch
Hugo Drax: Jeremy Irons (A completely odd choice)
Willy Krebs: Peter Lorre
Gala Brand: Raquel Welch
Hugo Drax: Jeremy Irons (A completely odd choice)
Willy Krebs: Peter Lorre
#12
PrinceKamalKhan
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Posted 11 July 2004 - 04:01 AM
Cool "alternate universe" casting ideas, W.G.!To be shot in black and white and on as many of the actual locations Ian Fleming mentions in the novel as possible.
~~~The Cast of Moonraker~~~
Laurence Harvey as James Bond--and with the facial scar.
Jack Hawkins as Admiral Sir Miles Messervy-"M".
Samantha Eggar as Miss Moneypenny
Julie Christie as Loelia Ponsonby.
Patrick McGoohan as Chief of Staff Bill Tanner.
Suzy Kendall as Galetea Brand.
and
James Mason as Sir Hugo Drax.
Screenplay by Richard Maibaum, from the novel by Ian Fleming.
Musical score by Bernard Herrmann with incidental music by The John Barry Seven.
Directed by John Frankenheimer.
* * * * *
Here's another possibilty assuming that Moonraker is a one-off and to be made in an alternate universe lacking the James Bond series.This version to be filmed in Technicolor.
__Moonraker__
Stanley Baker as James Bond.
Trevor Howard as Sir Miles Messervy-"M".
Virginia McKenna as Miss Moneypenny.
Juliet Stevenson as Loelia Ponsonby.
Maureen O'Hara as Galetea Brand.
Keiron Moore as Chief of Staff Bill Tanner.
and
Peter Wyngarde as Sir Hugo Drax.
Screenplay by Howard Koch and Charles Lederer, from the novel by Ian Fleming.
Music by Lalo Shiffrin.
Directed by Carol Reed.
* * * * * *
Tossed into a time machine and taken to the early 1940s.
===Moonraker===
Errol Flynn as James Bond(clean shaven with scar).
Claude Rains as Admiral Sir Miles Messervy-"M".
Olivia DeHavilland as Miss Moneypenny.
Patric Knowles as Chief of Staff Bill Tanner.
Patricia Morrison as Loelia Ponsonby.
Linda Darnell as Galetea Brand.
and
Charles Laughton as Sir Hugo Drax.
Screenplay by John Huston,based on the novel by Ian Fleming.
Music by Dimitri Tiomkin.
Directed by John Huston.
Here are mine-
If MR were shot in 1956:
Cary Grant as James Bond
Jean Simmons as Gala Brand
Curt Jurgens as Sir Hugo Drax
Joan Collins as Loelia Ponsonby
Peter Lorre as Willy Krebs
Dana Wynter as Miss Moneypenny
Trevor Howard as M
William Holden as Felix Leiter(Yes, I know Leiter isn't in the MR novel but he wasn't in the DN novel either and EON used him in that film)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Screenplay by Ernest Lehman(North By Northwest) and John Michael Hayes(Rear Window, To Catch A Thief)
Music by Bernard Hermann
*******************************************************
In 1963, as the second Bond film:
Sean Connery as James Bond
Julie Christie as Gala Brand
Gert Frobe as Sir Hugo Drax
Susannah York as Loelia Ponsonby
Vladek Sheybal as Willy Krebs
Lois Maxwell as Miss Moneypenny
Bernard Lee as M
James Garner as Felix Leiter
Directed by Terence Young
Screenplay by Richard Maibaum and Paul Dehn
Music by John Barry
****************************************************
In the 1980s, as a debut for the new Bond-
Timothy Dalton as James Bond
Caroline Munro pulling a Maud Adams-type return as Gala Brand
Alan Rickman as Sir Hugo Drax
Fiona Fullerton as Loelia Ponsonby
Carl Rigg as Willy Krebs
Caroline Bliss as Miss Moneypenny
Robert Brown as M
Lee Horsley, fresh from Matt Houston, as Felix Leiter
Directed by John McTiernan
Screenplay by George MacDonald Fraser and Richard Maibaum
Music by John Barry
#13
Qwerty
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Posted 11 July 2004 - 05:42 AM
I love that idea Prince Kamal Khan! Can you imagine a James Bond score by Hermann?!? I'd love to hear it.If MR were shot in 1956:
Cary Grant as James Bond
Jean Simmons as Gala Brand
Curt Jurgens as Sir Hugo Drax
Joan Collins as Loelia Ponsonby
Peter Lorre as Willy Krebs
Dana Wynter as Miss Moneypenny
Trevor Howard as M
William Holden as Felix Leiter(Yes, I know Leiter isn't in the MR novel but he wasn't in the DN novel either and EON used him in that film)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Screenplay by Ernest Lehman(North By Northwest) and John Michael Hayes(Rear Window, To Catch A Thief)
Music by Bernard Hermann
And Hayes and Lehman were two of Hitchcock's best.
#14
PrinceKamalKhan
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Posted 11 July 2004 - 09:22 PM
Thanks, Qwerty. I would like to read what Lehman and Hayes would have done with a Bond script. I don't know if Hitchcock would have picked British brunette Jean Simmons, who I picture in my mind as the perfect Gala as Fleming wrote her, since he favored blondes. Grace Kelly or Eva Marie Saint probably would have gotten the role in reality. Also, I'm sure Hitch would've ditched Fleming's ending and had Gala fall in love with Bond and marry him at the end(like in North By Northwest). Another good choice for the role of Bond in the 1950s would have been Stewart Granger(The Prisoner of Zenda, Scaramouche, North to Alaska) who was married in real life to Miss Simmons.I love that idea Prince Kamal Khan! Can you imagine a James Bond score by Hermann?!? I'd love to hear it.If MR were shot in 1956:
Cary Grant as James Bond
Jean Simmons as Gala Brand
Curt Jurgens as Sir Hugo Drax
Joan Collins as Loelia Ponsonby
Peter Lorre as Willy Krebs
Dana Wynter as Miss Moneypenny
Trevor Howard as M
William Holden as Felix Leiter(Yes, I know Leiter isn't in the MR novel but he wasn't in the DN novel either and EON used him in that film)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Screenplay by Ernest Lehman(North By Northwest) and John Michael Hayes(Rear Window, To Catch A Thief)
Music by Bernard Hermann
And Hayes and Lehman were two of Hitchcock's best.
#15
Qwerty
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Posted 12 July 2004 - 12:53 AM
Either of those two would have been okay with me. I just watched North By Northwest not two days ago, and I love the flow of that specific screenplay. A Bond film would have been a hit with those same people attached, possibly.Thanks, Qwerty. I would like to read what Lehman and Hayes would have done with a Bond script. I don't know if Hitchcock would have picked British brunette Jean Simmons, who I picture in my mind as the perfect Gala as Fleming wrote her, since he favored blondes. Grace Kelly or Eva Marie Saint probably would have gotten the role in reality.
#16
Moonraker
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Posted 28 July 2004 - 11:50 PM
James Bond___Pierce Brosnan
Gala Brand___ Bridget Moynahan
Hugo Drax___ Gary Oldman
Krebs___Charlie Hunnam
Walter___ Leonard Nimoy
Gala Brand___ Bridget Moynahan
Hugo Drax___ Gary Oldman
Krebs___Charlie Hunnam
Walter___ Leonard Nimoy
#17
terminus
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Posted 06 August 2004 - 09:57 AM
Well - the novel isn't one of my favourites, but it's always fun to imagine the what and why and wherefore of the movies.
We have to assume that the names and title would have to be changed.
So without further ado we see -
HUNTERKILLER (2005)
Bond: Eric Bana - as someone said the novel has a younger character so we have a younger actor playing the role. Bana has the acting skills to play the role but it's all down to whether we can accept another Australian playing a quintessentially British character ! I personally think he would be a fantastic choice.
Gala Brand: Sophia Myles - she's young and she can pull of the role of a demure secretary or a sexy secret agent. Plus she'd probably jump at a Bond role.
We have to assume that the names and title would have to be changed.
So without further ado we see -
HUNTERKILLER (2005)
Bond: Eric Bana - as someone said the novel has a younger character so we have a younger actor playing the role. Bana has the acting skills to play the role but it's all down to whether we can accept another Australian playing a quintessentially British character ! I personally think he would be a fantastic choice.
Gala Brand: Sophia Myles - she's young and she can pull of the role of a demure secretary or a sexy secret agent. Plus she'd probably jump at a Bond role.