James Bond didn't just save the free world in this 1981 film. He also saved United Artists, a studio teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. This was the 12th official Bond film and the fifth starring Roger Moore. It was also the last Bond film released solely by United Artists, which merged with MGM after its release. The film's success helped make the company's acquisition more attractive. John Glen, who had previously worked as editor and second unit director on On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and Moonraker (1979), made his directing debut with this film. He would go on to direct the next four films in the series.
This was the first Bond film to be based on Ian Fleming's short stories rather than one of his novels. Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson took their plot from two stories in For Your Eyes Only, the title story and "Risico." They also borrowed plot elements from the novels Live and Let Die, Goldfinger and On Her Majesty's Secret Service. After the sci-fi antics of Moonraker, Glen urged the producers to return to the earlier films' more earthbound plots. As a result, the writers sent Bond on a mission to recapture a set of nuclear codes lost when a British ship sank in the Mediterranean. When the husband-and-wife archaeologists who've tracked down the wreck are murdered, Bond teams up with their vengeful daughter, Melina Havelock (Carole Bouquet), in order to beat the Soviets to the code. Because of international interest in the Lake Placid Winter Olympics of 1980, the screenwriters featured a variety of winter sports, including ice-skating, downhill and cross-country skiing and tobogganing.
The pre-credits sequence features an unnamed character with all the attributes of the classic Bond villain Blofeld, including his usual Nehru jacket and white cat. Producer Albert Broccoli was in a rights dispute with filmmaker Kevin McClory, who owned the rights to the novel Thunderball and claimed exclusive rights to the Blofeld character. Killing off the Blofeld-like character before the credits rolled, was Broccoli's way of showing McClory he didn't need him. Although McClory would use Blofeld in his unofficial Bond film Never Say Never Again (1983), the character would not return to the official series until Spectre (2015), by which point the rights dispute had been settled.
This is the only Bond movie without M. Bernard Lee, who had played the role since Dr. No (1962), passed away during pre-production. Rather than re-cast, the producer's had Desmond Llewelyn's role as Q expanded, and lines were added to say that M was on leave. Robert Brown would take over as M in the next film, Octopussy (1983).
Moore had expressed his desire to leave the series, so the film was written to open with Bond visiting his wife's grave as a way of giving the new Bond a link to the rest of the series. Broccoli scouted actor Timothy Dalton for the role by watching the film Flash Gordon (1980), which also included Topol. When Moore decided to make For Your Eyes Only after all, Broccoli cast Topol (whom his wife had met at a charity function) as the Greek smuggler, Milos. Sylvia Kristel was originally cast as Melina, but production on Lady Chatterley's Lover (1981) ran over schedule. A United Artists publicist suggested Broccoli look at Carole Bouquet, who had previously auditioned for the female lead in Moonraker. After seeing her in That Obscure Object of Desire (1977), they cast her. Because of her French accent, the role was dubbed by another actress, though Bouquet recorded her lines for the French-language release.
Because Bouquet had a sinus condition, she couldn't film underwater, so stunt doubles were used for the diving scenes. For close-ups during the scene in which she and Moore are keelhauled, the actors were shot on a dry sound stage with a wind machine making their hair and faces move as though they were being dragged underwater. The shots were done in slow motion and sped up in the final print, with water and Alka Seltzer bubbles super-imposed over the image to complete the illusion.
The rock climbing sequences posed special problems for Moore, who suffered from vertigo. Although a stuntman did the most dangerous portions of the scene, Moore still had to shoot close-ups on the cliff face, which he did fortified by Valium and a glass of beer. An even bigger problem arose on that location when the monks at the mountaintop monastery took offense at the series' violence and put plastic over the building's roofs and hung sheets and other laundry from their windows in an attempt to prevent filming. Even a personal appeal from Moore didn't help. The case wound up in the Greek Supreme Court, where the judges determined the monks only controlled the monastery's interior. The exterior belonged to the people. With continued resistance, however, the production team built a fake monastery on a nearby peak. Interior monastery scenes were filmed back at Pinewood Studios.
For Your Eyes Only opened to mixed reviews. The most positive critics focused on the action scenes like Time magazine's Richard Corliss, who thought it was terrific entertainment. Others, however, carped that the scenes between the stunts were "too long...and pretty boring" (Derek Malcolm in The Guardian). Critics were also beginning to complain about Moore's advancing age, with Time Out saying "Moore really is old enough to be the uncle of those girls." Despite those complaints, the film was another huge hit. It's $195 million international gross saved United Artists from bankruptcy after the box-office failure of Heaven's Gate (1980). The contrast between the two films turned UA away from personal projects and switched its focus to blockbusters for years to come.
Bill Conti and Michael Leeson's title song, performed by Sheena Easton, was the first Bond theme for which a music video was created. Easton was also the first title singer to be included in the film, mainly because art director Maurice Binder thought she was too striking not to be shown on screen. When the song was nominated for the Oscar for Best Song, Easton sang it at the ceremonies in an elaborate musical number featuring Harold Sakata as Oddjob from Goldfinger (1964) and Richard Kiel as Jaws from The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker. After the performance, Moore came on stage to present the Irving Thalberg Memorial Award to Broccoli.
Director: John Glen
Producer: Albert R. Broccoli
Screenplay: Richard Maibaum & Michael G. Wilson
Cinematography: Alan Hume
Score: Bill Conti
Cast: Roger Moore (Ian Fleming's James Bond 007), Carole Bouquet (Melina Havelock), Topol (Milos Columbo), Lynn-Holly Johnson (Bibi Dahl), Julian Glover (Kristatos), Cassandra Harris (Lisl), Jill Bennett (Jacoba Brink), Michael Gothard (Locque), Lois Maxwell (Miss Moneypenny), Desmond Llewelyn (Q), Geoffrey Keen (Minister of Defense), James Villiers (Tanner), Charles Dance (Claus), Sheena Easton (Herself), Michael G. Wilson (Greek Priest at Wedding)
By Frank Miller
