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Report and
photographs by MARK MAWSTON
Sunday 19th October 2008 was a date set aside in many 007 fans
diaries as this was the most important (and still achievable) Bond
reunion of recent times. Hot on the heels of the wonderful
Goldfinger reunion earlier this year, Gareth Owen and Andrew
Boyle of ‘BondStars’ organized a day themed around what many see as
Sir Roger Moore’s best Bond film, The Spy Who Loved Me. The
lucky 150 guests (this event sold out as fast as most high-profile
pop concerts) arrived early and after coffee we were treated to a
tour around Pinewood Studios hosted by Gareth Owen and Dave Worrall.
This was then followed by a tasty buffet and a panel
discussion hosted by Dave Worrall’s fellow Cinema Retro guru,
Lee Pfeiffer. The cast assembled for the event was the best one
could hope for and included Richard Kiel, Caroline Munro,
Oscar-winning Bond production designer
Sir Ken Adam, Peter
Lamont, and screenwriter Christopher Wood. Also present were Valerie
Leon and stuntmen Martin Grace and Paul Weston, as well as the
vehicles they rode and drove as doubles for Sir Roger; the famous
Lotus Esprit and the Wetbike prototype. Caroline Munro kindly posed
next to the Stromberg helicopter her character Naomi piloted in the
film. We then made our way to see the new
digitally-restored print of The Spy Who Loved Me which was
simply stunning. The highlight of the day however was a
gala dinner with James Bond himself, Sir Roger Moore in the Pinewood
dining room, utilized in everything from the Carry On series
to Sir Roger's wonderful series with Tony Curtis, The Persuaders.
Sir Roger was on great form and regaled his audience with tales
from when Hollywood was actually home to real movie stars.
Hearing and seeing Sir Roger on such good form (he was 81 that week)
confirmed that although many fans have a preference for the harsher, more
Fleming-like portrayals of 007 by Connery and Craig, there will
always be a huge swell of affection for the actor without whom the
series would have floundered in the 70’s. That’s the key point here;
many see Roger as a national treasure, which he is, but we should
also remember that he’s turned in some wonderful performances over
the years. Remind yourself of this by watching The Man Who
Haunted Himself or those flashes of Bond in the post centrifuge
scene in Moonraker or the ‘disposal’ of the villain Locque in
For Your Eyes Only. It is for these moments that Lee Pfeiffer
and Dave Worrall presented the Cinema Retro award
for his outstanding achievements, not only in the cinema but as a
wonderful ambassador for UNICEF, which a portion of the proceeds
from
the event were donated. This was a real piece of Bond history and
reaffirmed many peoples’ mindset about why they love the series so
much, with The Spy Who Loved Me recognised as Moore’s
Goldfinger, in the fact that this is the movie during his tenure
as Bond when everything clicked in the right place and set the
standards by which successive films were measured. Even if Casino
Royale is more your style, it reminds you that seeing a Bond
film is supposed to be a positive experience, and fun is something
that will never (unlike Sir Roger’s flared tux in the Mojave Club)
go out of style. |
