Diamonds Are Forever (1971) United Artists/Action-Adventure RT: 120 minutes Rated PG (language, violence, sexual situations) Director: Guy Hamilton Screenplay: Richard Maibaum and Tom Mankiewicz Music: John Barry Cinematography: Ted Moore Release date: December 17, 1971 (US) Cast: Sean Connery, Jill St. John, Charles Gray, Lana Wood, Jimmy Dean, Bruce Cabot, Lois Maxwell, Norman Burton, Joseph Furst, Bruce Glover, Putter Smith, Marc Lawrence, Laurence Naismith, David Bauer, Sig Haig, Desmond Llewelyn, Bernard Lee, Leonard Barr, Lola Larson (Mary Hiller), Trina Parks. Opening Song: “Diamonds Are Forever” by Shirley Bassey Box Office: $43.8M (US)
Rating: *** ½
After George Lazenby’s lackluster performance as James Bond in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Sean Connery returned to do the role one more time in Diamonds Are Forever. He aged a little during his four-year absence, but it’s still great to see the OG back in action. Welcome back, Sean! We really missed you.
Connery isn’t the only one returning to the fold for Diamonds Are Forever. Guy Hamilton, the chap who directed the highly entertaining Goldfinger, is back behind the camera for this sixth outing. I’m pleased to report he brings the fun back to the series. It’s a relatively light-hearted affair that has our hero taking on an international diamond smuggling ring. But first, he has some old business to take care of.
The movie opens with Bond looking for his archnemesis Blofeld (Gray, The Rocky Horror Picture Show). He made it personal when he murdered 007’s wife at the end of the previous film. He “interrogates” several of the villain’s criminal associates before finding him at a medical facility that specializes in creating lookalikes. Long story short, Bond drowns Blofeld in a pool of superheated mud…. or so he thinks. It’s not over, not by a long shot.
Now that Blofeld has been dealt with, M (Lee) gives Bond a new assignment. He’s to find out who’s behind the aforementioned diamond smuggling ring. It’s not going to be easy seeing as how everybody who comes into contact with the latest shipment ends up dead at the hands of hitmen Mr. Wint (Glover, Chinatown) and Mr. Kidd (jazz bassist Smith). Posing as smuggler Peter Franks, Bond goes to Amsterdam to meet his contact Tiffany Case (John, Tony Rome) for the handoff. Together, they smuggle the goods into the US where they’re to be passed off to another smuggler. Naturally, it doesn’t go down as smoothly as it should.
Somehow, the diamonds are connected to Willard Whyte (country singer Dean), a reclusive millionaire who lives atop a luxury Las Vegas hotel-casino. Nobody’s seen him in years. Take a guess what real life millionaire he’s modeled after. When Bond goes poking around, he gets the surprise of his life. Guess who else is involved in what’s going on? Yep, you guessed it, BLOFELD! Now would you like to guess what’s in his evil mind this time? Ah, you got it again, WORLD DOMINATION!
Diamonds Are Forever has some interesting characters including Bond’s CIA ally Felix Leiter (Burton, Bloodsport) on hand to assist his British counterpart in taking down the bad guy(s). But nobody is as interesting as Messrs. Wint and Kidd, the original ambiguously gay duo. They get off some of the best lines in the picture. While tailing Bond and Tiffany to the US, Kidd comments, “I must say Miss Case seems quite attractive [pause] for a lady.” He follows it up with a “Heh heh heh heh!” while his partner just glares at him unamused. You gotta hand it to these guys, they love their work. I’m also quite fond of the two female assassins, Bambi (gymnast Mary Hiller) and Thumper (dancer Trina Park), Bond encounters late in the game. These babes are true bad asses.
It just wouldn’t be a James Bond picture without the Talking Villain. You can always count on Blofeld to play the part which he does here. Gray does an excellent job as the supervillain although second to Donald Pleasance in You Only Live Twice. He has this air of quiet menace about him as he details his nefarious scheme to 007. Writers Richard Maibaum and Tom Mankiewicz, adapting Ian Fleming’s 1956 novel, up the stakes by giving us more than one Blofeld (body doubles) which makes it difficult for Bond to know who to shoot. It’s pure silliness, but that’s what makes these movies fun.
Connery does his usual great job as James Bond. At this point, I need to explain something. Diamonds Are Forever is the last official Bond movie he starred in. He would reprise the role one more time in 1983’s Never Say Never Again which is NOT part of the series proper. It’s the second of two Bond films not to be produced by Saltzman and Broccoli, the first being the 1967 spoof Casino Royale. As good as he is here, he looks ready to pass the torch. Jill St. John makes an okay Bond Girl. She’s not altogether trustworthy or all that bright, but she’s hot. I wanted to see more of Plenty O’Toole (Wood, Peyton Place), the girl 007 meets in a casino. Their hook-up is made brief by a thug throwing her out a hotel window right into the pool below. I just love her name!
Diamonds Are Forever has plenty o’action (see what I did there?) with the topper being a chase involving a moon buggy in the desert which leads into a second sequence where every cop in Vegas chases Bond through the Strip. All of it is extremely well executed.
I enjoyed Diamonds Are Forever very much. It’s what a James Bond movie should be, fun and entertaining and silly. It’s a great send-off for Connery who would be replaced by Roger Moore (The Saint) in the next movie Live and Let Die.
