Diamonds Are Forever (1971)

Director:

Guy Hamilton

Writers:

Richard Maibaum (screenplay) and
Tom Mankiewicz (screenplay)

Release Date:

17 December 1971 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

"Diamonds Are Forever"...forever...forever...forever...

Plot:

A diamond smuggling investigation leads James Bond to Las Vegas, where he uncovers an extortion plot headed by his nemesis, Ernst Stavro Blofeld.

Plot Keywords:

Mafia | Bond Girl | Henchman | Disguise | Casino Owner

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Sean Connery	...	James Bond
Jill St. John	...	Tiffany Case
Charles Gray	...	Ernst Stavro Blofeld
Lana Wood	...	Plenty O'Toole
Jimmy Dean	...	Willard Whyte
Bruce Cabot	...	Albert R. 'Bert' Saxby
Putter Smith	...	Mr. Kidd
Bruce Glover	...	Mr. Wint
Norman Burton	...	Felix Leiter
Joseph Fürst	...	Dr. Metz (as Joseph Furst)
Bernard Lee	...	'M'
Desmond Llewelyn	...	'Q'
Leonard Barr	...	Shady Tree
Lois Maxwell	...	Moneypenny
Margaret Lacey	...	Mrs. Whistler

Also Known As:

Ian Fleming's Diamonds Are Forever (UK) (complete title) (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

120 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | German

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:16 (nf) | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Brazil:12 | South Korea:15 | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Iceland:12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Norway:15 | Norway:16 (1971) | Peru:14 | Spain:T | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:GP (original rating) | USA:PG (re-rating) (1994) | UK:A (original rating) (cut)

Filming Locations:

3rd Floor, Reguliersgracht 36, Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands

Company:

Danjaq

Trivia:

During the filming of Plenty O'Toole's fall in the swimming pool, Lana Wood actually had her feet tied (albeit loosely) to a cement block on the bottom. Film crew members held a rope across the pool for her, with which she could lift her face out of the water to breathe between takes. Unfortunately, like most pools, this one had a sloping bottom, and the block was slipping into deeper water with each take. Eventually it reached a depth from which she could no longer get her face out of the water. Alert film crew members noticed this, and quickly jumped into the water to untie her feet, thus saving her from drowning for real. Wood, being a certified diver, remained calm during the ordeal, although she later admitted to a few "very uncomfortable moments" while she was unable to breathe.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: The man Bond attacks in the very first scene manages to scream "Cai-Cai-Cairo!" without moving his mouth.

Quotes:

[first lines]
James Bond: [tossing chinese man around] Where is he? I shan't ask you politely next time. Where is Blofeld?
Chinese Man: Ca-Ca-Cairo.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Zodiac Killer (2005)

Soundtrack:

DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER

Connery Is Back

In this thriller of a James Bond movie we get the return of Sean Connery after skipping a movie. This movie was action packed to an extreme. Usually Bond movies slow down a bit to build up the tension but we get none of that here. Bond is in Las Vegas and the location is used to its every advantage. The redhead that is Tiffany Case plays a good tough girl with that high maintenance touch. Connery delivers twice as many one-liners as before giving this movie a comedic touch. Blofed is a very powerful villain and he is one of the best Bond villains to date. This movie also gives us the somewhat legendary henchmen of Mr. Wynt and Mr. Kidd. They provide some classic moments when they face Bond and when they finish each others puns and old sayings. They truly made this film the comedic masterpiece that it is. This movie took a different turn with more comedy and more action while still keeping the plot together. That is what I find fun about this movie. Bambi and Thumper are 2 vixens who know how to put up a great action sequence. Connery sadly looks older in this movie than I expected. He looks like he is 45 and I was shocked to find out he was only 40. I also think Connery might have soiled his reputation by returning for an huge sum of money. Plenty O'Toole was a pointless character that didn't even deserve ANY screen time. Overall if you've always wanted to see Bond with a little more action then I think this is the Bond movie for you. 7/10