Bond girls I admire

I didn't know what to blog about tonight, but fate or chance has chosen for me. So after blogging about my own republican feelings in French, I was reading about Republicanism in the UK on Wikipedia and I discovered that Honor Blackman is a republican. She even declined a CBE. Now that takes guts and principle. Honor Blackman, aka Pussy Galore in Goldfinger.  That made my evening.

Bond girls have often a bad reputation, but I always thought that the classic ones, the Fleming characters, were certainly well rounded, well defined female characters, with genuine depth. The early ones were certainly like this and played by admirable actresses. Diana Rigg is of course an amazing actress recognised as such who was already established when she became a Bond Girl (and what an entrance she had in the series, heck, what an exit too). I admire Diana Rigg as an actress (little side note: she is my dad's favourite actress because of her role of Emma Peel in The Avengers). I also admire Joanna Lumley, who had a much smaller role in On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Well, maybe not admire as much as really, really like her. She is a cat lover, which is good enough in my book. I know she did also an amazing work for the Gurkha veterans. But it is as a cat lover that I connect to her.

That said, I raise my hat to Honor Blackman tonight. She shows that one does not need a medal or a title to be someone. Honor Blackman is an underrated actress, she is also a great, great, great person.

Savez-vous ce qu'il faut au sapin de Noël?

J'ai déjà placé cette chanson sur le blogue dans un billet récent. Mais j'ai décidé d'y consacrer un autre billet en français car il y a une version française de Do You Know How Christmas Trees Are Grown, interprétée par Isabelle Aubret. C'est un peu quétaine (correction: c'est d'un quétaine absolu), mais c'est très mignon et ça met dans l'ambiance saisonnière. On retrouve la version allemande ici. Quand je l'écoute, j'ai toujours en tête la scène d'On Her Majesty's Secret Service où on l'entend pour la seule et unique fois. Elle est alors d'une redoutable efficacité pour établir l'ambiance et introduire la réapparition de Tracy Bond (interprétée par la grande Diana Rigg), ange sur patin venue sauver Bond. George Lazenby n'a jamais été un grand acteur, mais il joue admirablement bien ici. Alors je remets la chanson sur le blogue, histoire de passer le temps d'ici à Noël.

Cinderella drowning in the sea

This blog entry is inspired by this one and it is a sort of follow-up. As you all know (you, my very small number of readers), I am a big fan of James Bond. My wife has to put up with it a lot, but it makes it easier for her to buy me presents for my birthday and Christmas. One of Ian Fleming's best novels, and one of the least appreciated of the Bond films adapted from his work, is On Her Majesty's Secret Service. I have never been a big fan of George Lazenby who took over from Sean Connery, but he did have some qualities and in spite of all his flaws and the movie's short comings, On Her Majesty's Secret Service is still a very good Bond movie. I particularly love the first scene. Lazenby's Bond is introduced beautifully, and so is the leading lady, played by the great Diana Rigg. She has the role of Teresa di Vicenzo, who will become the one and only Tracy Bond before being gunned down by Blofeld. I hope I haven't spoiled everything for you here, but the ending of the movie is one of the many reasons that makes this scene works. There is also the fact that it is an echo of the introduction or Honey Ryder in Dr. No, except Tracy does the opposite movement: instead of rising from the sea, she goes in it, in a botched suicide attempt. Bond saves her life, but unknowingly he sets in motion a chain effect that will result in her death later on, leaving him heartbroken. Tragic irony: she will die only after she will have learned to appreciate life and abandon all thoughts of suicide. I think Fleming wanted to link both Bond girls introduction, as in the novel he gave Tracy the physical appearance of Ursula Andress (who is mentioned in the novel). But both Bond girls are very different. Honey Ryder is a survivor who had a rough life, Tracy lived in luxury but is self-destructive. While Honey Ryder was for Bond a flicking romance after he had gone through the dangers of Crab Key, Tracy will be a significant relationship to him. After Bond saves Tracy, he is assaulted by two men, whose involvment in the story is never made clear (are they Draco's men? Were they following Bond under Blofeld's orders?). In the novel, they are sent by Marc-Ange Draco to protect his daughter and bring Bond to him. Anyway, fight ensues, one of the most violent and exciting fight of the series and Tracy runs and then drives away, leaving her shoes behind her. Bond mutters "This never happened to the other fellow", which is a nod to Connery and a breaking the fourth wall moment I never cared about much. The important thing is that he picks up her shoes, like the prince would have done with Cinderella's. Like in the Cinderella story, it will ultimately lead to a wedding. Unlike the Cinderella story, wedding will quickly be followed by her death. Then there are the opening credits, with flashbacks of Bond's past missions, linking Lazenby's Bond to Connery's. I therefore give the pre-title opening sequence of On Her Majesty's Secret Service and the opening credits. I hope you appreciate them.