tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7832669035610968182.post5413907324202103159..comments2024-03-20T14:16:23.634-07:00Comments on FROM DUNDEE'S DESK: HAPPY BIRTHDAY DR. NOwayne d. dundeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12468818760811792020noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7832669035610968182.post-15943777692436605522010-10-07T21:49:40.216-07:002010-10-07T21:49:40.216-07:00Chris - Sounds like we're totally in sync on t...Chris - Sounds like we're totally in sync on this. NO and RUSSIA were definitely the high water mark of the series. I liked GOLDFINGER (and a few others - for different reasons) but I quickly recognized that GF marked the start of the departure into more and more outlandish plots ... now I know why.<br />Connery's most significant role prior to DN was as a very nasty villain in TARZAN'S GREATEST ADVENTURE (which, coincidentally, was one of the two best Tarzan movies ever made - the other being TARZAN THE MAGNIFICENT - both of these were tough and tight and made for adults without the silly chimp hijinks of too many others). The producers wanted Connery to play another villain in MAGNIFICENT but he told them he was unavailable because "a couple guys have optioned me for some spy movie - but I'll be happy to appear in your next." Well, the spy movie was DR. NO and the rest, as they say, is history.<br />By the way, everybody, "CJ" is C.J. (Chris) Henderson, and old pal and a fine writer. You can learn more about him by visiting his web site at www.cjhenderson.com and then be sure to check out some of his work.wayne d. dundeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12468818760811792020noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7832669035610968182.post-31168434603749003152010-10-07T09:49:44.001-07:002010-10-07T09:49:44.001-07:00I agree wholeheartedly with your comments on Dr. N...I agree wholeheartedly with your comments on Dr. No. Sadly, Ian Flemming died shortly after the studio made From Russia With Love. Because of this, the studio found they only had the rights to the Bond titles, and not the novels themselves. For whatever reason (greedy heirs, greedy studio, who knows), at that point they decided to simply make things up for themselves, and the intensity, sophistication and brilliant understanding of storytelling to be found in the novels was lost, and the series got increasingly insipid over the decades to follow.<br /><br />But, Dr. No and From Russia With Love stand the test of time. They are two of the best spy movies ever made, and Connery certainly deserves the career he carved out for himself from them (it certainly didn't come from making Darby O'Gill and the Little People which he starred in at the same time).CJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07093575073710556069noreply@blogger.com