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But that's what the writing called for. And, to be fair to him, his performance is only really allowed to be focused on in the last act. It's a missed opportunity for sure, but I don't put the things I dislike about the interpretation down to him. Waltz is an immense presence for such a small fellow.
The more I think about this question, the more I conclude that all of portrayals of Blofeld generally “fit” within the context of their particular. For example, while I generally dislike DAF, Charles Gray’s performance works given the campy nature of what surrounds him (and of course, he adds to the camp fest that is that film!). I’m not sure that Pleasance or Savalas would work here.
My two cents anyway…. soon to be taken from me by Donald “extortion is my business” Pleasance.
:))
And now dear academy members we have been given some funds for a special award. Our good friend Willard Whyte has graciously donated the funds for us to create a lifetime achievement award. This prestigious award will be given to a person whose achievement in the series had an impact that lasted long after the person left the series.
Willard has provided us with a short list of 5 potential award nominees. The nominees for the Willard Whyte award for Outstanding Contributions to the Bond Series are:
You will notice that Willard has decided to make his award for behind the scenes contributions to the series. He had a falling out with Albert and Harry after they destroyed his oil rig near Baja! So they didn't make his list.
My dear academy members. Who should be awarded the first Willard Whyte lifetime achievement award? Please feel free to elaborate on why you chose your selected nominee.
Okay, wow, that's really hard to pick.
I'll say Terence Young. He pretty much put together something that would permeate throughout the entire series, from the depiction of cinematic Bond to the visual aesthetic of Bond's world. Heavily assisted by Maibaum, Barry, and Adam, without a doubt. Heck, even M's office is still as Adam laid out in Craig's run. Wilson is the longest serving producer of Bond, overseeing four Bond eras in his time. Not too shabby. However, he also made Blofeld the foster brother of Bond, so I guess that's his biggest ding.
John Barry
I'll go with John Barry. Because whenever the Bond films were great or not that great, his scores stood out....almost like another character.
I used to make cardboard models of his sets out of breakfast cereal boxes when I was a kid.
The films that lack his sets (or sets in that Adamesque style) seem to be missing something, IMO, like a pop song without a bass line.
I always felt that out of everyone who has worked on Bond, from behind the scenes staff to actors on screen, he is the one who has best "understood" what Bond is, and has consistently realised this, through 25 years of contribution to the series.
When we think of Bond... where does your mind go to. Mine immediately goes to the music and the lush orchestrations that he gave the series. I could listen to a five second snippet of a track from any of Barry's 007 scores and instantly be able to identify which film it is from. He created a individualistic sound for each film whilst remaining firmly within the overall sound and style of Bond.
There is no "bad" Barry Bond soundtracks. Only "great" to "outstanding". Even weaker films (looking at you DAF, TMWTGG, MR, AVTAK) have an excellent Barry soundtrack with them. DAF in particular I feel, is one of his best. An epic three film streak - YOLT, OHMSS and DAF, no other composer could even come close.
He has provided an interpretation of the character of Bond that stands alongside the actors who have portrayed him. He is, in many ways, an unrecongised 007. A true legend of the series and of the film industry, his mark on Bond will cast a large shadow over every Bond movie made, until the end of time itself.
You'll have to do everything right of course. Directors, actors, writers, editors, cameramen, etc. But the music is the finishing touch. It's like the correct wine choice that makes your excellent dish even better. It's that last little piece that takes great filmmaking and makes it legendary.
What would Sergio Leone's spaghetti westerns have been like without Ennio Morricone's phenomenal music? Imagine George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead without Goblin's haunting electrorock? Didn't Stanley Kubrick perfect 2001 by inserting classical compositions?
So what would 007 be without the James Bond Theme? Still that refined gentleman spy, surely, but with John Barry's ageless tune he has become a refined gentleman spy for the ages.
Music maestro and just recently bought a Best of compilation of his work, no one compares!
Ken Adam for his fantastic sets! With John Barry as an honourable second.
Exactly what I was thinking when I read that! :P For that reason I'll mirror @marc's vote.
For me, it comes down to Maibaum and Young. Adam's sets are like another character, but his absence didn't harm FRWL and OHMSS. The films wouldn't be the same without Barry's contribution, so he's a not-too-distant third. MGW was more of a collaborator without a clear area to call his very own, so he'll fall to the bottom.
I would actually substitute Peter Hunt in there instead of Wilson as a nominee. He helped create a new style of editing that helped these films move and promoted a prominent film scholar or critic to claim that someday all films would be made this way. To top it off, Hunt also would go on to direct one of the series' most beloved entries.
Young set the tone and style for the series. Had it not been for his direction and influence, the series could've easily ended up being just like any other film of the era and Bond could've easily faded into obscurity. Against him is that it was Guy Hamilton's work on GF that elevated the series to next level.
So I select Maibaum since he was able to blend Fleming with the demands of adding material that would work on the screen. Yes, he had collaborators, but I look at 2 factors that really help his case: 1. His absence from YOLT, where Roald Dahl was the sole writer, was really felt as the film is primarily spectacle while tossing out a lot of worthy Fleming material. 2. OHMSS which he was pretty much solely responsible for. It seems post-OHMSS that his work was often rewritten or had more influence from other writers, but his contributions still showed.
Cubby once said in his Oscar speech that film is a collaborative effort, and he would know best from how the 60s films turned out, with each member of the crew that added to the film. The only reason I selected Terence Young was because he was the guy that worked with all these amazing filmmakers like Maibaum, Adam, and John Barry to make Bond what it is. Every time I showed DR. NO to people who hadn't watched it before they're ALWAYS surprised to see all the major elements that make Bond are already in play, despite not yet having a pre-title sequence, full Barry score, gadgets, etc. There's enough in that first film to really kick off the franchise in a way that is still recognizable to this day.
I may bring back the lifetime achievement award for a future category. I was never making this as an MVP award. I was curious if there was a person the academy felt should be honoured for their contributions to the series.
Seconded
I honestly think creating the perfect score requires more cognitive focus. The rest of the crew require that as well, but they're more like artistic artisans, compared to the composer whose thoughts aren't entirely from the script. A composer needs to have ethereal thoughts when composing a film's score, which makes it more difficult. That's why Marvel, with all its excellence don't have consistently good scores....and that makes most of their films somewhat forgettable, coz once you've gotten the narrative and visuals, there's no striking cue stuck in the head to remind you to revisit that film.
Even if we don't work on Bond films, I think in this community, we can find guys who can create sets, write scripts, direct and produce. For example, there aren't many of us who can successfully cover an instrumental version of The Cranberries' Animal Instinct on guitar or piano....before thinking about doing an original composition. So I think a score is that delicate.
The other nominees received the following:
Now back to our awards and it's time for a Klebbie to be handed out. Our man Bond is a gentleman spy, but on a few occasions he hasn't always been gentlemanly. So here is a Klebbie for worst gentleman behaviour by our man!
Since we have already had a few awards where his overall treatment of women have been discussed so for these moments they are other un-gentlemanly moments in the films.
So which moment deserves a kick to the shins. What is the least gentlemanly moment from the series. Time for the academy to decide.