41 replies to this topic

[00Twelve]

I see your point. But somehow, I have a really hard time seeing Craig's Bond warming up to a boisterous 40-something Texan, even though he's as close to the personification of Fleming's Bond that I've personally ever seen. I guess Wright left a good impression on the team. (*cough* Ahem.)

[Major Tallon]

Obviously, he doesn't look like the character that Fleming created, but I liked Jeffrey Wright's portrayal quite a bit. I've got high hopes that his relationship with Craig's Bond will evolve into the same kind of friendship that Bond shares with Leiter.

[MarkA]

I suspect like all the Leiter's before him he will be forgotten about until they need Leiter again and will recast.
The public who go to Bond films have no perception of Leiter being a recurring character like Moneypenny or M etc. This is because of constant recasting of actors, whether through bad choices or scripts have just made no impression on the public. Jeffrey Wright was another victim in a long, long line. Believe me we are talking about this because we are fans, the public have all ready forgotten the character.
Leiter's various appearances are one of the many pleasures of the books. As far as the films are concerned he is one of the failures. Which is a pity.

[David Schofield]

I'm sorry I think Wright was wrong. No pun intended. He did nothing in Casino Royale that convinced me he was good or even right in the role. And yes I did think someone that has some resemblance to the character as written helps enormously. I think the whole reason Bond warms immediately to the Felix in the book is all about the Texan personality. This has never been captured in any of the films. I thought Wright was another waste of a perfect opportunity to finally get that warm Texan of the novels right. Hell, Craig got closer to Fleming's Bond. They should have made Jeffrey Wright a new character.

With you on that 100%. I tend to feel those who can see the remotest similarity between Fleming's Leiter and Wright's Leiter are perhaps taken up a little too much with the euphoria of the overall brilliance of CR (I think Craig benefits greatly from this too, IMO, v the other actors).

EON have never get close to Leiter, nor was Casey. Nutter got closest physically, I'm sure we'd all agree, and the Dalton-Hedison friendship hinted at a close relationship over time (though here the story helped greatly). Beyond those, forget it.

Of all the recurring characters - M, Q, Moneypenny - Leiter is the one EON have treated with the greatest disdain, including most recently the casting of Mr Wright. It is to the detrement of the series, consequently.

[Santa]

Indeed, but let's hope they have put that right in this case. Or Wright(sorry!). Much as I like the idea of sticking to Fleming, I think the Felix Leiter we got in CR worked well and has good potential chemistry for a Fleming-like Felix/Bond relationship. I'd like to see a lot more of him in the future and would not like to see a continuance of the revolving door policy as regards Leiter. He's a great character but has been devalued in the past by the casting treatment.

[dee-bee-five]

Indeed, but let's hope they have put that right in this case. Or Wright(sorry!). Much as I like the idea of sticking to Fleming, I think the Felix Leiter we got in CR worked well and has good potential chemistry for a Fleming-like Felix/Bond relationship. I'd like to see a lot more of him in the future and would not like to see a continuance of the revolving door policy as regards Leiter. He's a great character but has been devalued in the past by the casting treatment.

I agree. Getting the relationship right is fair more important than superficial considerations like hair/skin colour. One of the reasons I liked the Moore/Hedison relationship in LALD was because their offscreen friendship translated onto the screen.

[Brian Flagg]

I'll cast a descenting[sic] vote here and say that while I like Jack Lord as a screen personality, he couldn't act. Talk about stiff, oy, Laz and Al Gore are Mr. Yoga in comparison. Lord acted "cool" because he wasn't acting. He was standing there. When you don't talk much, people assume you're intelligent. When you don't act much, people assume you're cool.

I saw almost every ep of HAWAII 5-0 and loved it. But Jack Lord an actor? No way. He was lucky he found a little corner he could call his own.

As far as I'm concerned, we're all pals here at CBn, but your post a big-time generalization! The parrot talk of "Lord was stiff, Lord was wooden" is a comment that should only come from his wife, Marie! Seen "almost every ep"? How about season one? In the first season alone, Lord displays more dramatic range than most other TV actors of the time. For starters, much of McGarrett's "human" side is plainly evident in several first season episodes. "Tough Love" would probably be a more apt description, at least when it comes to his fellow Five-O colleagues. Good example: "And they painted daisies on his Coffin", when McGarrett gives that great speech to Danno about policemen using their weapon. Plus the absolutely wonderful scene at the end of the first part of "Once Upon a Time", when McGarrett is mourning. "The Ways of Love" shows McGarrett undercover as a con displaying a humorous side one might not expect, same with "Six Kilos", where McG is about as far removed from his typical demeanor as he's ever been in the show. I suggest you buy, rent, or liberate a copy of H5O's first season on DVD and enjoy what Lord provides. Jack Lord? More like Jack God!

[Daddy Bond]

Jack Lord was #1 for me, followed by Hedison. I actually liked Wright a lot, more than any of the others since Lord or Hedison and would indeed like to see him more (even if he does not seem to visually fit the role). The Felix of GE was the WORST!

Regards

[Bondfiend]

I think Wright did all right, except for the bad line "I'm bleeding chips", but I still like David Hedison the best. If Wright wasn't cast as Leiter, I'd love to see Gary Grubbs play the role. He might not be hawk-nosed but he's southern, tall, lanky, and fun to watch.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0344196/

[LadySylvia]

There have been some pretty good Felix Leiters - namely Lord, Hedison and Wright. And there have been some that were OK - Burton and Terry.

The problem has not been the casting. Even with the good Leiters, the character doesn't remain on-screen that long, with the exception of Rik Van Nutter, who was okay, but written as Bond's lap dog, instead of intelligence colleague.

[Blofeld's Cat]

[quote name='Mister Asterix' post='722390' date='4 April 2007 - 05:31'][mra]To me Leiter

[MHazard]

There have been some pretty good Felix Leiters - namely Lord, Hedison and Wright. And there have been some that were OK - Burton and Terry.

The problem has not been the casting. Even with the good Leiters, the character doesn't remain on-screen that long, with the exception of Rik Van Nutter, who was okay, but written as Bond's lap dog, instead of intelligence colleague.

There have been some pretty good Felix Leiters - namely Lord, Hedison and Wright. And there have been some that were OK - Burton and Terry.

The problem has not been the casting. Even with the good Leiters, the character doesn't remain on-screen that long, with the exception of Rik Van Nutter, who was okay, but written as Bond's lap dog, instead of intelligence colleague.

Pardon the technical glitch. What I was trying to say was that although I agree that the problem is in large part a script problem with badly written parts for Leiter which may have made it hard to get a good actor to do the part and perhaps made some good actors unable to do much with it, it doesn't account for the fact that some bad actors were cast. For example how to explain my personal bugaboo, the Leiter of GF. He actually had a fair amount of screen time (he actually had a more prominent role in the movie than in the novel), but he was a bad actor who looked and acted nothing like Leiter or anyone else you could imagine Bond voluntarily hanging out with.