Bond at his best

Roger Moore may have been famous for playing a secret agent with a licence to kill, but it did not require a film critic’s eye to detect that behind his Bond lay a man of selfdeprecation and wit. It is hard to think of two greater qualities for an Englishman to possess. Fans recounted his generosity and good nature, even when they asked him to reprise, for the umpteenth time, moments from his career as 007.

What was the secret of his success? Many famous actors rail against the confines of the parts they are allotted. They dislike being typecast. They chafe against the restrictions that directors and producers inevitably impose. Roger Moore, by contrast, made a positive virtue of these limitations – and his own. “When I was in The Saint,” he liked to say, “I had two ‘looks’. In the Bond films I progressed to four.” Yet while he was happy to lampoon his own performances, fans adored him, bathing in the actor’s uplifting insouciance. Many people considered him a great Bond, perhaps the best. The secret of his charm and popularity is easily explained by the fact that, on reflection, he rather disagreed.