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Chemistry and M-Lee:Connery/Lazenby/Moore, Dench:Brosnan/Craig

LegateDamarLegateDamar
edited February 2014 in Actors Posts: 381
Do you think that Bernard Lee had the best on-screen chemistry with Connery, Lazenby or Moore? Did Judi Dench have a better on-screen chemistry with Brosnan or Craig? Discuss.

Comments

  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    edited February 2014 Posts: 17,816
    What of Moore/Dalton with Robert Brown as M, or are you discounting him? He was in four Bond films after all. I think he too should be included in this thread.
  • AgentJamesBond007AgentJamesBond007 Vesper’s grave
    Posts: 2,630
    Dalton and Brown :))
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 17,816
    AgentJamesBond007 wrote:
    Dalton and Brown :))

    Er, am I missing something here?
  • bigladiesmanbigladiesman
    Posts: 1,009
    AgentJamesBond007 wrote:
    Dalton and Brown :))

    =)) Of course

  • bigladiesmanbigladiesman
    Posts: 1,009
    Dragonpol wrote:
    AgentJamesBond007 wrote:
    Dalton and Brown :))

    Er, am I missing something here?

    I think that Dalton's Bond and Brown's M supposed chemistry is even more absent than Connery's and Edward Fox's In NSNA.
  • LegateDamarLegateDamar
    Posts: 381
    Dragonpol wrote:
    What of Moore/Dalton with Robert Brown as M, or are you discounting him? He was in four Bond films after all. I think he too should be included in this thread.

    Good point, I should have included that. Brown was an underrated M. I think that Dalton had a better chemistry with M, as there was real conflict in both of his films. Moore and Brown had a far more congenial, bland relationship.


  • AgentJamesBond007AgentJamesBond007 Vesper’s grave
    Posts: 2,630
    bigladiesman wrote:
    Dragonpol wrote:
    AgentJamesBond007 wrote:
    Dalton and Brown :))

    Er, am I missing something here?

    I think that Dalton's Bond and Brown's M supposed chemistry is even more absent than Connery's and Edward Fox's In NSNA.

    Exactly.
  • OHMSS69OHMSS69
    Posts: 2,341
    Bernard Lee M was never afraid to put Bond in his place and never took any crap from his 00. Note scenes in OHMSS as well as GF...Matter of fact he constantly was ready to remind Connery just where he stood in the scheme of things. Bond's frustration of being constantly "slapped" is evident in GF...

    Brown was just as good at handling Dalton (especially LTK). His relationship with Dalton mimics Lee's with Connery and Lazenby.

    Dench had that attitude in GE but seemed to have lost it in later films. M is not and never should be Bond's equal.

    It will be interesting to see how Fiennes and Craig's working/relationship develops
  • bigladiesmanbigladiesman
    edited February 2014 Posts: 1,009
    LegateDamar wrote:
    Dragonpol wrote:
    What of Moore/Dalton with Robert Brown as M, or are you discounting him? He was in four Bond films after all. I think he too should be included in this thread.

    Good point, I should have included that. Brown was an underrated M. I think that Dalton had a better chemistry with M, as there was real conflict in both of his films. Moore and Brown had a far more congenial, bland relationship.


    Well, they're shared starring roles in the Ivanhoe series, didn't them? No wonder they were congenial...

    However, if we are talking about their performances, Brown's work takes a huge leap on quality when working with Dalton. I would dare to say that Brown's M is a bad person. Not evil. It's just that he lacks empathy with some of his employees (his behavior is way more realistic than Bernard Lee's fatherly figure). If that was the screenwriters' and Brown's goal, hats off: They did it.
  • pachazopachazo Make Your Choice
    Posts: 7,314
    I think that Lee had the best chemistry with Connery although it certainly wasn't bad with Moore. I don't think that we got a large enough sample size with Lazenby to make a fair comparison. With Connery it just seemed that his Bond knew exactly how to push M's buttons and the results were always entertaining to watch.

    As far as Dench goes I would probably have to go with Brosnan. It was much more interesting to see how she handled an experienced agent versus a rookie agent with a mother/son subtext to it.
    LegateDamar wrote:
    Brown was an underrated M. I think that Dalton had a better chemistry with M, as there was real conflict in both of his films. Moore and Brown had a far more congenial, bland relationship.
    Congenial, yes, but I don't think it's bland. If we assume that this version of M was the former Admiral Hargreaves then it made sense these two were almost like old colleagues with a mutual respect for each other. With Dalton the relationship turned back into the more traditional tension filled version.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 17,816
    LegateDamar wrote:
    Dragonpol wrote:
    What of Moore/Dalton with Robert Brown as M, or are you discounting him? He was in four Bond films after all. I think he too should be included in this thread.

    Good point, I should have included that. Brown was an underrated M. I think that Dalton had a better chemistry with M, as there was real conflict in both of his films. Moore and Brown had a far more congenial, bland relationship.


    Very much agreed - especially in LTK where Brown's acting is at its best in my view.
  • LegateDamarLegateDamar
    Posts: 381
    pachazo wrote:
    I think that Lee had the best chemistry with Connery although it certainly wasn't bad with Moore. I don't think that we got a large enough sample size with Lazenby to make a fair comparison. With Connery it just seemed that his Bond knew exactly how to push M's buttons and the results were always entertaining to watch.

    As far as Dench goes I would probably have to go with Brosnan. It was much more interesting to see how she handled an experienced agent versus a rookie agent with a mother/son subtext to it.
    LegateDamar wrote:
    Brown was an underrated M. I think that Dalton had a better chemistry with M, as there was real conflict in both of his films. Moore and Brown had a far more congenial, bland relationship.
    Congenial, yes, but I don't think it's bland. If we assume that this version of M was the former Admiral Hargreaves then it made sense these two were almost like old colleagues with a mutual respect for each other. With Dalton the relationship turned back into the more traditional tension filled version.

    Agreed, and being "tension filled" made it more interesting, IMO.

  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    Posts: 12,459
    I think Craig and Dench were amazing, but even so I think it was just a tad better still with Brosnan and Dench. I am glad she to be with both as M. She is my favorite M, by far.

    I like Lee just fine.
    Brown was rather bland, but as noted by a few he upped his game with Dalton.
  • RogueAgentRogueAgent
    Posts: 12,506
    That's a good question!

    I will go with Lee was equally as good with Connery and Moore, but the humour was slightly more fun with Roger.

    For Dame Judi I will say her rapport with DC's Bond was slightly ahead of Brozza's Bond!
  • thelivingroyalethelivingroyale
    edited February 2014 Posts: 12,837
    Lee was great with all of them, I'm not sure who I prefer him with. Moore and Brown had a pretty bland relationship.

    I like Dalton/Brown because it's so different to the others. Their relationship was cold and professional, they argued a lot and M didn't seem to really like Bond at all. EG-LTK, he stops his guards from shooting Bond but only because there are people nearby. And later we find out that he wants Bond bought in, dead or alive. I think that shows that Brown's M didn't really trust Bond because of his attitude, it was clear that Dalton's Bond didn't like his job.

    My favourite combination was Brosnan/Dench. I liked how Bond was pretty much everything she hated but she couldn't help but admire and respect him, and I thought they played off each other well. She clearly cared about Bond, but she didn't like showing it. Craig and Dench have good chemistry too but I prefer the more straightforward relationship Brosnan had with her to the whole mother/son relationship Craig has.

    I'm looking forward to seeing Craig and Fiennes.
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