Moore brought humour to Bond
When it comes to James Bond films, there is the Sean Connery camp, those who like his serious, uber-masculine, hyper-violent, patriarchal and suave take on the spy, and then there is the Roger Moore camp, those who enjoy pure fun, campy style, silly hijinks and sarcastic quips. Moore’s version was a lot like the Hugh Hefner of James Bonds, bedding 3-4 women per film and spending lots of time drinking cocktails in silk pajamas.
Moore’s James Bond, one got the sense, was a lover not a fighter. An agent who would only kill reluctantly when he had no other choice, or out of revenge when one of his fellow agents got murdered in the line of duty. Whereas Connery’s Bond was a no-nonsense, ruthless, killing machine who got the job done no matter what, Moore’s Bond was a gentleman who you could feel comfortable sitting around having a drink with, someone who enjoyed a collegial relationship even with his enemies. While there are many who disliked Moore’s take on the iconic character, there is no doubt his seven-movie run was probably the most successful in the history of the franchise, especially considering how many films the actor did and their cumulative box office take. His movies made more money than Connery’s, even adjusted for inflation from a 1960s audience to a 1980s one. His movies made more money than Pierce Brosnan’s, adjusted for inflation. Only Daniel Craig’s take on the superspy has made more at the box office than Moore’s version. In real life, just like in his onscreen persona, Roger Moore was a sophisticated jet-setter and social butterfly who had all the most exclusive clubs, hotels and casinos in the world open to him. He had class. He embodied a certain old-Europe, sophisticated charm, and led a life which included yachting on the Riviera, skiing in St.Moritz and gambling in the high stakes casinos of Monte Carlo. He lived large and well. Not bad for a policeman’s son from Stockwell, England, and a former art school drop out.
Much has been said about Roger Moore’s personal charm, handsome looks and good humour, but Moore, who was a victim of sexual molestation as a child, later, post-Bond, became one of UNICEF’s strongest goodwill ambassadors. He has been praised as one of most forceful advocates for children’s rights and protections in the world. Not exactly a role many would think of for the most camp of all the Bond actors.
And as for that campy charm, no one did it better than Roger Moore. There is a scene in “Moonraker,” Moore’s most absurdist Bond outing, where he gets in a fight with a few bad guys on an airplane, who eventually jump out in parachutes leaving him to crash after disabling the craft. Moore jumps out after them, grabs a hold of one, and after a mid-air tussle steals the man’s parachute and barely opens it in time before hitting the ground roughly. When someone runs up to him and asks him what happened, Moore says with perfect timing, Oxford accent, dry tone and his trademark smirk: “I fell out of an airplane without a parachute.”
The words by themselves convey only what occurred, in Moore’s tone and voice they make you laugh out loud. That was Roger Moore in a nutshell: A handsome action star by default, who was actually a greatly talented comedian underneath it.