Roger Moore 1927 - 2017 R.I.P

[soulpope]

R.I.P ....

[JSngry]

Dug him as The Saint. RIP.

[sidewinder]

Saw him as James Bond on the TV just this weekend. He was a damn good Bond and a good guy from what I gather.

'Just keeping the British end up'. RIP

 

1 hour ago, JSngry said:

Dug him as The Saint. RIP.

One of my earliest TV memories.

Edited May 23, 2017 by sidewinder

[Big Beat Steve]

His presence on "The Persuaders" was priceless. Though, probably not least of all because of the ab-so-lutely congenial synchronization work for the German version that made both Moore and Curtis that much, much, much more lively (German speakers who've seen the series will know what I mean ). Impressed me much more than "The Saint" (which for its period flair isn't bad at all either) but compared to "The Persuaders" he is just a bit repetitive in his role and acting there IMO. An impression you could not fail to notice here when episodes from both series were rebroadcast one after another (The Saint first, The Persuaders directly afterwards) on Sunday evening on one of the TV chains here.

 

Edited May 23, 2017 by Big Beat Steve

[sidewinder]

Roger Moore as 'lively' brings to mind this classic..

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=spitting+image+roger+moore&rlz=1C9BKJA_enAU612AU612&oq=spitting+image+roger+moore&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l2.9084j0j7&hl=en-GB&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8

[GA Russell]

In 1980, the UHF station in Pittsburgh showed Maverick every weekday night.  This was the first time I had the opportunity to see it as an adult, and I was surprised to find that I thought he was very good as Beau Maverick.

In 1960, a Seattle TV station showed his syndicated Ivanhoe show every Friday night at 6:00 pm, and I never missed it!  I remember that it was sponsored by Rice-a-Roni, the San Francisco treat.

A couple of years ago I read his autobiography My Word is My Bond, which I can recommend.
https://www.amazon.com/My-Word-Bond-Autobiography/dp/1843173875/

RIP Roger Moore!

[Hardbopjazz]

RIP Roger.

[danasgoodstuff]

They should've named a spy novel/movie after him.

[mjzee]

There's a great story about Roger Moore that's now circulating on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MrKenShabby/status/867036448037511169/photo/1

[Tim McG]

My second favorite James Bond after Sean Connery.

I must confess that it took some time to get "used" to the change from Sean Connery's James Bond to Roger Moore's version, but I absolutely loved the intelligent wit and grace Moore brought to the character. His upper-crust like expressions and droll delivery were a perfect fit for the numerous stunts and gags as 007 defeated villain after endless seemingly inescapable challenge. Pure James Bond fun and a joy to watch. He will be missed.

[medjuck]

Glad to see people remembering him pre-Bond.  Heard a piece on KCRW about him where they never mentioned any of his earlier work. 

[Jazzmoose]

The Saint was great.  But I've got to say, I consider him the second worst Bond ever.  (Woody Allen is first, but that was Jimmy, not James, right?)  The first Bond I saw in a theater (okay, this is south Georgia, so actually a drive-in) was Live and Let Die, and it was such a disappointment.  He turned the role into a cheap joke.

Edited May 26, 2017 by Jazzmoose

[Guy Berger]

He made more bad Bond movies then anyone else - not his fault, though in his anti-defense he collected the paychecks

[ejp626]

I read a bit about Moore's take on the character, that the James Bond myth was so over-the-top, since everyone knew he was a spy (even the dealers and bartenders) that you might as well treat it all as a lark.  That makes sense to me, and I like most of the Bond films with Moore in them, though Moonraker is pretty terrible.  I have absolutely no interest in the gritty, "realistic" films of the Daniel Craig era.  That isn't Bond to me at all (it's basically just Jason Bourne), though of course many people lap them up.

[kinuta]

I'd say The Saint was his most definitive role. It's certainly the one that immediately springs to mind when I hear his name.

I'm afraid I thought his James Bond was a camp comedy joke.

His comedic, tongue in cheek talents were well utilized in FFolkes aka Noth Seas Hijack.

[Jazzmoose]

On 5/26/2017 at 7:11 PM, ejp626 said:

I read a bit about Moore's take on the character, that the James Bond myth was so over-the-top, since everyone knew he was a spy (even the dealers and bartenders) that you might as well treat it all as a lark.  That makes sense to me, and I like most of the Bond films with Moore in them, though Moonraker is pretty terrible.  I have absolutely no interest in the gritty, "realistic" films of the Daniel Craig era.  That isn't Bond to me at all (it's basically just Jason Bourne), though of course many people lap them up.

I don't deny that he has a valid position, and furthermore, he'd already done the straight spy role, so why bother if you're just going to do that.  It just didn't work for me.  But then I'm one of those guys who loves the Craig movies and thought Goldfinger was a big mistake...

Edited May 27, 2017 by Jazzmoose

[Brad]

As others have noted, he was great as the Saint but not as Bond. It's always been hard to fill Sean Connery's shoes.  

[Dan Gould]

Everybody's mileage varies. For many years he was, to me, Bond because he was the one in the theater on the big screen. Of course I later discovered Connery in the role and instantly preferred him. But there's a soft spot for what Moore brought to the role, and no one since ever did anything for me, though perhaps if Pierce Brosnan hadn't played Remington Steele before taking the role, he might have worked.

But what is this about dealers and bartenders knowing he was a spy? Did I consistently miss key bits of dialogue ("Bloody 'ell. Dude's got a license to kill and he doesn't know how a proper martini is made")?

I thought Moore treated it as a lark because the movies got progressively sillier and sillier with ludicrous stunts and sfx. Not because everyone knew what his job was.

[duaneiac]

A question for all those who did not like Roger Moore as James Bond.  Say you were Cubby Broccoli -- Sean Connery has made it clear he will not be doing any more Bond movies.  You tried casting an unknown in the role and that was resoundingly rejected by the public.  (It's been many years since I've seen OHMSS, but I recall thinking George Lazenby was not that bad at all.).  If not Roger Moore, then who would you have cast as James Bond in 1972?  Would you have tried to groom another unknown in the role?  What other "known" actors would have been available?  Michael Caine?  He'd already done three Harry Palmer movies and probably was not keen to be tied to another spy film series character?  Another British actor?  Oliver Reed?  Michael York?  Albert Finney?  An American actor affecting a British accent perhaps?  Maybe you could have persuaded Dick Van Dyke to take on the role and revive his British accent which was soooo beloved by film audiences.

But seriously, if not Roger Moore, then who?

(My own preference would have been for Christopher Lee to have been the original Bond instead of Sean Connery.  I think he would have been quite good in that role, but by 1972, he would have perhaps been a bit too old for it.)

[JSngry]

This guy http://obituaries.tylerpaper.com/obituaries/tylerpaper/obituary.aspx?pid=141402008

[Jazzmoose]

If you're asking me to review the actors available over forty years ago when I was fourteen, well, I'll admit to being at a loss.