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Campaign 86: The Race For Bond


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#1 ThomasCrown76

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Posted 22 August 2002 - 06:42 PM

Despite a few tears shed following the departure of Roger Moore in 1895 after a record 12 yrs in the part of James Bond, it was ultimately decided that a newer, younger, hunkier James Bond would have to be set for the big screen for his next adventure. Not unlike the great casting call of 1968 following the initial departure of Sean Connery, the studios of MGM were again flooded by prospective secret agents who would like to call themselves James Bond. The candidates back then were:

1. Christopher Reeve has stated in recent interviews he was approached for the part. If Adam West could be mentioned as a possible Bond to succeed Connery in 1968, why not go the extra mile and go for the Man of Steele to replace Moore?

2. Bryan Brown. Fresh off of FX, he was from Austrailia and regarded well for his acting talent (FX, Breaker Morant) and rugged good looks. The man is married to Rachel Ward, too, which helps his likeability.

3. Finley Light..Australian Model who wants to follow in Bond #2's footsteps--up to a point.

4. Pierce Brosnan. You know him from Remington Steele. He's been on the covers of a lot of magazines and women just love him. Recently he was on David Letterman where the conversation went:
Dave badgered Brosnan. "Aren't you going to be the new James Bond?" Pierce at first responded, "No comment," but then asserted that this was just a rumor begun by the supermarket tabloids. Dave countered with "You'd be good as James Bond," and Brosnan said he "would have a crack at it" if offered. Dave then asked if he would like to do "8, 9 pictures" or just one. Brosnan again tried to affirm that the whole story was just a "fabrication by the press," concluding, "I haven't even thought about playing James Bond."

5. Timothy Dalton has been considered for the part on many occasions. His first mention was for 1969's On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Following Connery's final departure from the Eon series, he was considered for Live and Let Die and then 1981's For Your Eyes Only. Could this be his break?

Pretend this were 1986. Not knowing what we know now, who would you have picked out of these leading candidates? Cast your votes, people, and let's see if history will still follow the same course it eventually did. You can only vote once...and please if you're named Chad, and you're dimpled, definitely only vote once.

#2 14 20 02

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Posted 22 August 2002 - 07:06 PM

Pierce Brosnan without a doubt!

#3 zencat

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Posted 22 August 2002 - 07:09 PM

I hadn't heard the Christopher Reeve rumor before...

I remember the race of '86. In fact, I have a whole file full of clippings that follow it rumor by rumor. My choice, and I'm not just saying this, was Pierce Brosnan. Not because I particularly liked him back then (I thought he was a little slight in build), but because I felt he was the clear natural successor to Moore and he was clearly the publics #1 choice. (Pierce was even chosen as "the next Bond" in an Us magazine poll in 1983.) I thought it was important for the continued health of the series for Eon to give the people what they wanted and not tell them what they should want (i.e.;

#4 zencat

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Posted 22 August 2002 - 07:22 PM

Originally posted by zencat
In fact, I have a whole file full of clippings that follow it rumor by rumor.

It's interesting that in NONE of these clipping is Timothy Dalton ever mentioned as a candidate. I remember he came completely out of the blue. The first time I had ever heard of him was when he was annonced as the new Bond. Was this true in the UK?

After the fact, I did notice Dalton's name mentioned as "new candidate" at the end of a People magazine article about how Brosnan lost the gig (It was a cover article called: "Take the job and shove it!"). Obviously the mag had been tipped off.

#5 ThomasCrown76

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Posted 22 August 2002 - 07:29 PM

Check this out: Excerpt from article on Kimberly Last's Bond's site.

"On August 6, 1986, Timothy Dalton, whose name had never been publicly mentioned as a contender prior to late July, was publicly named as the 4th James Bond. That very week every newsstand in America featured an annoyed-looking Pierce Brosnan on the cover of People Magazine with the headline, "Take This Job and Shove It," referring to Steele's "uncancellation." Dalton's publicist requested a cover story for his client the following week, but the magazine declined. In many people's minds, this action typified Dalton why never gained widespread acceptance in the role - he was a "second-choice" Bond to many, considering the momentum and raised expectations Brosnan had been building for the past 4 years."

Also...

"Filming of The Living Daylights with Dalton as Bond began in late September 1986. But within 6 months, before the film was even released, a story was printed in a British newspaper that said Pierce Brosnan would be 007 in the next Bond film after The Living Daylights. These continual rumors were to haunt Dalton throughout his whole tenure as Bond."

#6 zencat

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Posted 22 August 2002 - 08:04 PM

The memory of Pierce dogged Dalton all during his time as Bond. I remember watching those Pepsi commercials with Pierce and thinking they're where more Bond-like than either Dalton film. Also, I remember when the animated show The Critic did a Bond parody clip

#7 Mourning Becomes Electra

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Posted 22 August 2002 - 08:31 PM

People Weekly, August 25, 1986 v26 p61(1).

Title: Timothy Dalton tamed Vanessa Redgrave and gets named the
next James Bond.


Full Text COPYRIGHT 1986 Time, Inc.

Like a lot of James Bond adventures, the climax was played out in a
Secret location while the world directed its attention elsewhere. As
Speculation swirled that Pierce Brosnan would replace Roger Moore as the next James Bond, a seldom-mentioned substitute was taking a screen test in London. On August 6 Timothy Dalton received his license to thrill. Next month the well- Respected but low-profile actor starts shooting The Living Daylights, the new Bond film. Joked Sean Connery, ''Tim Dalton is a very good choice. He's the right age -- about 38, just like me.''

Actually, he's been reported as 41, and apart from a dimpled chin,
Dalton's credentials might make Bond blanch. He's Welsh, not English. Instead of hopping from bed to bod, he has maintained a stormy decade-long relationship with actress-activist Vanessa Redgrave, 49, who is nobody's notion of Pussy Galore. In fact, Dalton won the role after impressing producer Cubby Broccoli with his portrayal of Petruchio opposite Red grave's Kate in a recent production of The Taming of the Shrew on the London stage. Still, Dalton is no stranger to 007. Broccoli had talked with him six years ago, when Moore threatened to relinquish the role. After Moore relented, Dalton's name was filed for the future.

Throughout his career, Dalton has mixed crass with class. Though his
Stage credits include Royal Shakespeare Company productions of Romeo and Juliet and Love's Labour's Lost, his screen appearances have been mostly B-list: a Parade of historical dramas from Mary Queen of Scots to The Doctor and the Devils. Dalton has embraced American TV too. He co-starred in Joan Collins' Sins, and while filming Mistral's Daughter, briefly squired around Stefanie Powers. Currently, he is trading Shrew with Redgrave for Brenda Starr with Brooke Shields: Dalton is playing the male lead in the Shields movie, shooting In Florida and Puerto Rico.

When the casting announcement was finally made, Brosnan was back in
England to finish another film. ''It just wasn't meant to be,'' he told a London newspaper. ''Certain things in life are meant to happen -- this obviously wasn't one of them.'' Dalton, meanwhile, is intent on proving himself Bros nan's equal. When PEOPLE asked for an interview, his studio
Representative insisted on a four-page cover story -- ''like you gave Pierce Brosnan.''

PEOPLE declined.

============================================

OUCH!

#8 Mourning Becomes Electra

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Posted 22 August 2002 - 08:35 PM

Other stuff from Mr Peabody's way back machine:

BROSNAN ON BOND, from Starlog magazine, June 1986 [interviewed March 1986]

"I've *never* actually been asked to play James Bond. And the next question is, Would I *like* to play James Bond? I suppose I would like o have a crack at it. It hasn't been a lifetime ambition to play James Bond, but I wish they would make up their minds one way or the other by offering it to me or giving it to someone else. Not a day goes by now without people saying, `You're going to make a great James Bond.' But no one has ever come to me and said, `Pierce, my dear boy, we would like you to play Jimmy Bond.' That may knock the rumor on the head, but I have been saying that now for quite a while, and the rumor is still around."

If he were offered the role, does he think he could make his portrayal different than those of Sean Connery and Roger Moore? "I don't think different, because there are certain guidelines to playing Bond. Whatever the difference is, it would be hard for me to define. This is nothing against Roger and his interpretation, which is very valid--but for me, Sean Connery *was* James Bond. He had a killer instinct. Bond was a Commander and there was a certain ruthlessness, an edge to the character which has been lacking, mixed in with humor and getting the woman. I think the element of danger would have to be brought back with less of a focus on gimmicks, maybe more of a character study. They have to go right back to the beginning and redefine what Ian Fleming put down on paper. They also should take into consideration what's happening musically now, and modern techniques of editing. They need fresh blood, as far as directors go, too.

"Anyway," he laughs, "they'll probably get some Aussie."
--

#9 zencat

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Posted 22 August 2002 - 08:36 PM

The press didn't treat Dalton very well from the get go. At the press conference announcing him as Bond he asked, very politely, that they respect his private life and allow it to remain private. He was toast from that point on. That was like telling a dog not sniff his own ****.

#10 Mourning Becomes Electra

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Posted 22 August 2002 - 08:41 PM

Zencat yep, taking the role is tantamount to agreeing to live your life in a fishbowl, no matter how polite and reasonable (and right) Dalton was in his request, after that he didn't stand of chance of the press making nice with him.

#11 zencat

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Posted 22 August 2002 - 08:42 PM

I am NOT a fan of the tabloid press--which is now pretty much all press these days (well, maybe not ALL press, but I'm in the mood to make sweeping generalizations today, if you haven't noticed :)).

#12 Mourning Becomes Electra

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Posted 22 August 2002 - 08:47 PM

LOL!!! But really I agree, sweeping generalization included. (well almost) :)

#13 zencat

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Posted 22 August 2002 - 08:49 PM

Thank you MBE. Love your avatar, BTW.

#14 Mourning Becomes Electra

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Posted 22 August 2002 - 08:52 PM

I like it too, I'm just curious as to why I still have it (but not so curious that I'm willing to lose it, so forget I mentioned it :))

#15 Bondpurist

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Posted 22 August 2002 - 08:55 PM

Dalton. Every time.

#16 zencat

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Posted 22 August 2002 - 08:56 PM

Careful what you say about Dalton everyone, Bondpurist is here. :)

#17 Mourning Becomes Electra

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Posted 22 August 2002 - 08:57 PM

Oh that reminds me, I forgot to vote: Brosnan (yes I know, shocking, postively shocking!)

#18 JimmyBond

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Posted 22 August 2002 - 09:03 PM

With all those choices up there, I would pick Brosnan. Why? Well, at the time, Brosnan was the #1 choice, and when so many people think a certain person should be Bond, well, you dont go with the other guy.

#19 zencat

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Posted 22 August 2002 - 10:26 PM

Originally posted by Mourning Becomes Electra
I like it too, I'm just curious as to why I still have it (but not so curious  that I'm willing to lose it, so forget I mentioned it :))

I believe that image of our lovely Famkee is from a magazine spread and not from any official MGM GoldenEye publicity, so you

#20 Mourning Becomes Electra

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Posted 22 August 2002 - 10:47 PM

Ah... that explains it, thanks Zencat.

#21 ThomasCrown76

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Posted 23 August 2002 - 01:27 PM

I'd give a hearty 'screw you' to NBC for their Remington Steele plans and buy Pierce out of his contract and get him in that movie, pronto. The man was born to play James Bond.

#22 007.5

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Posted 24 August 2002 - 07:47 PM

Having seen Pierce in TWINE when I thought he was excellent, I just don't think he would have been that good in 1986 to act Bond-too suity, not enough of action hero. Timothy Dalton was the right choice to replace Roger. And what if Brosnan had got the Walther PPK in 1986, he have made 2 films and then there'd have been all that litigation and chances are he would never ever have gotten the chance to prove himself. Things happen for a reason. Pierce was the right Bond in 1994 when he would have several films to grow into the role, not in 1986. Dalton was unfortunate to take the role when Bond was in doubt but he acquitted himself well in his films and is my favourite Bond. Casual fans seem to equate quantity of films with quality of actor.

#23 IrishCrown

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Posted 29 August 2002 - 07:34 PM

In my little Bond fantasy world, Brosnan would have got it, and we could see him like he was in The 4th Protocol, which he did in 87. But, then again, we wouldn't have him now...we'd have someone like Charlie Sheen as Bond, and we'd be all bummed out.