Diamonds Are Forever is the only James Bond film not to have had a
premiere in London's West End. The film opened to the public on Friday
December 30, 1971 at the ODEON Leicester Square, and then went on to break
the box-office record at the cinema (then held by On Her
Majesty's Secret Service), taking almost £35,000 in its first week.
The ODEON showed the film five times each day (three times on Sundays)
starting at 10.45am, with late-night performances on Fridays and Saturdays
throughout its eleven week run. Despite the bitterly cold winter, hundreds
of cinemagoers queued around the block in Leicester Square waiting for
tickets for the sell-out performances. The final performance on Thursday
January 13, 1972 however got off to a slow start, reported the Daily Mail
the following day; advertised to start at 8.15pm after the short cartoon
support, Diamonds Are Forever eventually appeared at 9.00pm after
half-an-hour of vacant screen time. The audience expressed their
disapproval with a spontaneous display of slow-handclapping, a phenomenon
usually reserved for more boring evenings at the theatre, rather than a
West End cinema!
ABOVE: (left)
Diamonds Are Forever opened on Friday December 30, 1971
at the ODEON Leicester Square and is the only James Bond film not
to have a West End premiere. (right) Sean Connery did attend the
Gala Scottish Premiere at the ODEON Clerk Street, Edinburgh on
Friday January 14, 1972. (pictured above with his brother Neil
Connery [1938-2021] also sporting a moustache)
Diamonds Are
Forever ended its 13-week run at the ODEON Leicester Square on
Sunday March 26, 1972,
and then transferred to the London Pavilion on Piccadilly
Circus for a further nine weeks, going on general release across the
UK in early March.
Two weeks after its London opening Diamonds Are Forever had its
Gala Scottish Premiere at the ODEON Clerk Street in Edinburgh on Friday
January 14, 1972. The event was attended by Sean Connery and proceeds from
the evening went to the Scottish International Education Trust, the
charity he founded with the one-million dollar fee he received for
appearing in the film.
For many years it has been reported that
Diamonds Are Forever was beaten at the UK box-office in 1971 by the
popular Reg Varney comedy On The Buses, which became the
highest-grossing film in the UK of that year (£2.5 million). Although a
true fact, when examined, one realises that it is a highly misleading and
pointless statistic. On The Buses was a spin-off from the
highly popular ITV television series of the same name, and released across
the United Kingdom on August 1, 1971 - while Diamonds Are Forever was first
released in the UK on December 30, 1971 - and only played in one cinema,
the ODEON Leicester Square, for two days at the end of the year - hence,
there was no way any James Bond film could have beaten On The
Buses at the box-office over two days! Like many so-called ‘facts’
surrounding the James Bond series, this example needs viewing in
perspective.
ABOVE: (left)
The Moon Buggy featured in Diamonds Are Forever makes
an appearance at a press screening at theODEON Kensington
in February 1972. Inside the Buggy is Ray Potter - motoring
correspondent, ex-motor racer and proprietor of the Hackney
Gazette. (right)
Diamonds Are Forever was the final film to play at the ODEON
Chelsea before its closure on Saturday March 11, 1972.
Diamonds Are
Forever opened at the ODEON Kensington from Thursday February 3,
1972, and New
Victoria on Monday from February 7th. Even though Diamonds Are Forever
was hugely popular on its original London release, cinema attendance
in general was still in decline with many venues being converted into Bingo
Halls, or closing altogether. This was the case for the 2,500-seat
ODEON Chelsea located on the King's Road in South West London. Opened
in 1934 as the Gaumont Palace, the final film screened was Diamonds
Are Forever and the cinema closed after the last
performance on Saturday March 11, 1972. A new much smaller 739-seat
ODEON cinema was created from the old balcony area in 1973, and the
venue re-opened on September 9th with Live And Let Die as
the first film screened. The revival was short-lived however, and the
cinema closed again on November 21, 1981.
Diamonds Are Forever was showing in cinemas at a time when the Government had
just declared a state of emergency in the UK as a result of the first
national miners’ strike since 1926. The strike which lasted from January 9
- February 28 resulted in power shortages across the country, and many
homes and businesses had their electricity cut off for up to nine hours
per day in an attempt to conserve energy. Newspapers warned cinemagoers
that theatre heating was in operation as usual, but performance times may
have to be adjusted due to the power cuts.
On February 25, 1972, the
Kensington Post reported:
“If Goldfinger and Dr. No failed what
chance then had the miners to knock out mighty James Bond? While the whole
country sat meekly around its diminishing candles ‘Diamonds Are Forever’
provided a solitary glow in Kensington High Street. "Call it luck of call
it Divine Will, the power cuts have not knocked out James Bond - we've
only had two so far," said Mr. Roy Pearce, who manages the ODEON in
Kensington High Street.”
Diamonds Are Forever
was a very odd James Bond film when released in 1971, and remains a very
odd James Bond film 50 years later. Despite being hugely successful on
release, its strange mixture of styles and camp humour has dated it more
than many others in the series. Sub-standard special effects and several
continuity errors remain in the sloppy final edit; and despite its
substantial budget the film still looks cheap, exhibiting no sense of
scale worthy of a James Bond film. With sets designed by Ken Adam, only
one stands out as being worthy of the celebrated Production Designer;
Willard Whyte’s glass-floored penthouse apartment is clearly a Ken Adam
design, but nowhere near as expansive as his earlier constructions. Whilst
Tom Mankiewicz’ script is genuinely witty, he can be regarded as the one
who, along with director
Guy Hamilton, introduced the tongue-in-cheek
style that Roger Moore inherited and then ran with for the next decade.
The curious combination of humour and genuinely gratuitous graphic
violence was in keeping with the direction cinema in general was going in
1971, but seems oddly out of place in a James Bond film, a fact
highlighted by its re-classification for home entertainment. 50 years
later Diamonds Are Forever has gone gold, but its current ranking
in most fans’ list of best/favourite films of the series, will probably be
at the opposite end of the scale to Goldfinger; which although made
by pretty much the same team far exceeds Diamonds in almost every
department. As odd as Diamonds Are Forever is, it could have been
even odder. Several light-hearted scenes were wisely deleted from the
finished film, including a cameo appearance from entertainer Sammy Davis
Jr. These deleted scenes can be viewed on the DVD/Blu-ray of Diamonds
Are Forever. If the proposed American-based production starring
John
Gavin (who had his contract paid in full when Connery returned) had gone
ahead it is doubtful that the series would have lasted, even though he was
still being considered again by the producers before Roger Moore finally
took on the role of 007 in 1973. Unfortunately neither Gavin’s screen-test, nor any continuity photographs have ever surfaced, so one can only
speculate how he would have looked in the role. Diamonds Are Forever
saw the return and departure of Sean Connery from the official EON series,
and that we are still talking about it 50 years later is a testament to
the enduring popularity of the franchise, but as a standalone film it is
not really worthy of the James Bond character and its stock has
significantly depreciated when compared to its predecessor, OHMSS, the film which
ultimately brought about its production.
A
certification controversy
Since the late 1960s there had been an increase in the number of
films released with violent content. Although most of these were
awarded an ‘AA’ or ‘X’ certificate when released in the UK,
the
1960s Bond films had always been aimed squarely at the ‘A’
audience and sometimes slightly trimmed to achieve this rating.
When Diamonds Are Forever was submitted to the British
Board of Film Censors in early December 1971, the Board viewed the
film very carefully as it contained several scenes which caused
concern in their then current form.
Several small cuts
were made (particularly to the Amsterdam lift fight between Bond and
Peter Franks, and the later fight with Mr. Kidd who threatens Bond
with with flaming shish kebabs) and the film was released on December 30,
1971 with an ‘A’ certificate. Although Diamonds Are Forever is
played slightly more tongue-in-cheek than earlier Bond films, BBFC
examiner Stephen Murphy did have pause for thought and said in his
notes: “I have no doubt that if we give this film an ‘AA’ we will be
criticised because every child in the United Kingdom will see clips on
television”. The case notes go on to say: “I am worried by the
incidents of violence in the film, which although nowhere near the
intensity of some films, are still vulnerable to public criticism and
possibly even to imitation”. The Board recognised they were subjecting
themselves to the argument by precedent, meaning that if they passed
the film uncut they would then have to pass similar violent films ‘A’
certificate in future. That said, if they had awarded an ‘AA’ (a new
rating that was introduced in 1970 limiting entry to those below 14
years of age), this would have significantly reduced the audience, and
had a detrimental effect on the overall box-office for the film. The
‘AA’ certificate was the first BBFC rating specifically aimed at
teenagers, and acknowledged that while they might not be considered
mature enough to deal with strong sexual and violent images, they were
not so innocent as to require protection from everything that one
might not wish very young children to see. As a result, those films
awarded an ‘AA’ certificate could include mild sexual and violent
material, plus a moderate amount of swearing.
On its original
release Diamonds Are Forever played without much controversy,
although the BBFC did receive one letter of complaint calling their
‘A’ rating a disgrace. Subsequent re-releases on double-bills with
From Russia With Love in 1973, and On Her Majesty's Secret
Service in 1976 saw both films retain their original ‘A’
certificates [replaced in 1982 with ‘PG’]. However, local Government authorities in some locations
did choose to apply the ‘AA’ rating when the film was re-run
throughout the 1970s, although it was never formally classified as such by
the BBFC. In addition to the re-releases with another ‘A’ rated James Bond
films, Diamonds Are Forever was often double-billed with ‘AA’
rated films but was always the ‘main feature’, being the newer of the
two titles. In these instances no actual double-bill poster was
produced and cinemas would display just the Diamonds Are Forever
poster, even though entry to the overall programme would be
restricted to over 14's. This rating had also been applied to You
Only Live Twice when it was paired with the Burt Lancaster Western
Valdez Is Coming (1971) [already certified ‘AA’] on a provincial double-bill in 1972.
Diamonds Are Forever was therefore only re-rated locally, which
meant the
quad-crown poster supplied by the National Screen Service needed
changing, and many were overprinted (or hand lettered) with the new
certificate, or had a small pasted snipe covering the amended area.
These instances were rare, but as local authorities had the final say
on whether a film could be screened in a given town or city, Watch
Committees
sometimes exercised their power in order to be seen bowing to public
pressure in the wake of a larger number of films released in that
period with violent subject matter. The ‘AA’ rating was also locally
applied to late-night screenings of Diamonds Are Forever in
order to restrict the audience to older cinemagoers. Diamonds Are
Forever has also proved controversial since its UK television
premiere on Christmas Day in 1978, when it was subjected to further
slight cuts. However, its overall viewing figures were much smaller
than for those of other James Bond films transmitted on ITV, only
achieving 14.4-million viewers, a significantly lower audience than
usual for a James Bond premiere as the film was not completely networked. A
strike in the Yorkshire Television region meant that the channel was
completely off-air throughout the 1978 Christmas period, and
Diamonds Are Forever did not receive its YTV premiere until
Saturday January 27, 1979 after the channel had resumed broadcasting
in the first week of the New Year.
Diamonds Are
Forever was re-submitted to the BBFC in its original uncut format
for its 2012 Blu-ray and DVD release. It was evident that when viewed
with contemporary guidelines (which had not existed in 1971) the film
was now clearly unsuitable for the equivalent ‘PG’ rating, and was
re-classified as ‘12’ for home media. Interestingly, different scenes
of violence were targeted than those which had caused concern in 1971.
The sexual violence and misogynistic attitude of Bond as he ‘throttles’
a girl with her bikini top in the pre-credit sequence was not considered
‘PG’ material; nor was Bond calling Tiffany Case a ‘bitch’ near the end
of the film (even though this line is delivered semi-jokingly). Also,
the portrayal of the two killers Wint & Kidd as openly gay proved a
little too much for 2012 sensibilities, even though they could have
been considered quite progressive in 1971.
ABOVE:
(left) The
Majestic Cinema in Aberdeen displayed six out of the eight
front-of-house stills in their foyer display announcing
the upcoming screening of Diamonds Are Forever in
1972. Unusually the two missing stills were not
those depicting graphic violence. (right) One of the set of
eight UK front-of
house stills that depicted graphic
violence.
Three out of the
eight front-of-housestillsdisplayed in cinemas
during the original release had also showcased violent scenes.
An alternate black & white set with different images was also
available from the National Screen Service for reissue
screenings.
Diamonds Are Forever remains the only James Bond film to have
its classification increased for home media in the UK. Licence
To Kill had caused similar concerns for the BBFC in 1989, and
although it was subjected to numerous cuts in order to achieve its
‘15’ certificate, this did have a huge impact on the box-office
take at the time. Once again the original cuts have now been
re-instated for home media, but the ‘15’ rating still remains.
Minor cuts were also made to Le Chiffre's torture of Bond in
Casino Royale (2006) in order to achieve the original ‘12A’
rating, and have also been reinstated in subsequent home media
editions which are now classified ‘15’. However, the US and UK home media editions still have
different versions of the pre-credits bathroom fight and later
stairwell fight scenes, as the film was re-edited to achieve its
American ‘PG-13’ rating.
Original MPAA ‘GP’ rating with additional advisory
disclaimer applied to Diamonds
Are Forever for its US release in 1971
Diamonds
Are Forever was not cut for its original US release and
awarded a ‘GP’ certificate by the Motion Picture Association
of America. The voluntary ratings system had been in effect in
the USA since November 1968 as a response to the changing
attitudes across the nation, and more films being released for
an adult only audience. In 1970 the ratings were amended,
replacing the original ‘M’ rating (applied to On Her
Majesty's Secret Service in 1969) with ‘GP’: All ages
admitted – Parental guidance suggested; and in 1971 an
advisory disclaimer was introduced stating “This film
contains material which may not be suitable for pre-teenagers”.
Diamonds Are
Forever was one of the small number of films that carried the new
advisory rating. However, it was widely reported that neither
youngsters nor their parents paid any attention to the new ratings,
and on February 11, 1972, ‘GP’ was revised to ‘PG’: Parental
guidance suggested – Some material may not be suitable for
pre-teenagers. Diamonds Are Forever was one of the last
films to carry this short-lived rating, and it is a useful tool for
dating original release film posters. Attitudes changed again in more
recent years, and American TV screenings of Diamonds Are Forever
were usually trimmed for violent and sexual content, with some
versions digitally altered to cover up exposed female flesh.
