Diamonds Are Forever

Diamonds Are Forever is the seventh James Bond film in the EON Productions Bond franchise. The book was written by Ian Fleming and was published in 1956, the movie was released in 1971. Diamonds are Forever hailed the return of Sean Connery as the British spy, James Bond.

Film plot summary

Diamonds are Forever follows Bond's pursuit of the head of S.P.E.C.T.R.E., Blofeld in revenge for the murder of his wife in On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Huge quantities of South African diamonds are being stolen but have not been sold on the market. Suspecting that the stones are being stockpiled to depress prices, the Government orders Bond to assume the identity of a professional diamond smuggler called Peter Franks to infiltrate the smuggling operation and find out who the stockpilers are. With the help of fellow smuggler Tiffany Case, and amidst the bright lights of Las Vegas, he uncovers a plot by Blofeld to create a laser satellite capable of destroying any target on Earth. He uses this weapon to selectively destroy nuclear installations in America, Russia, and China, holding the world to ransom in an international auction, with nuclear supremacy going to the highest bidder.

A notable part of the plot of the movie involves Blofeld's use of the industrial properties of a recluse Nevada multimillionaire (played by Jimmy Dean) by the name of Willard Whyte, the character being a thinly veiled version of Howard Hughes.

The film features a very unusual couple of henchmen for S.P.E.C.T.R.E.: Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd. There is a strong suggestion that they are involved in more than just a professional relationship. Throughout the film, they use several interesting ways of assassinating their victims, from the use of a scorpion to kill a South African dentist, tying the feet of Plenty O'Toole to a concrete boulder and drowning her in a swimming pool, and attempting to incinerate James Bond alive in a crematorium furnace.

Also memorable are the female guards placed by Blofeld over Willard Whyte, named Bambi and Thumper.

Very little of the original novel survives the adaptation to film, though many characters from the original book, plus the idea of Tiffany being a diamond smuggler, are retained, so it isn't a complete "rewrite." The villain Blofeld, however, is nowhere to be found in the original book.

Theme music

This movie was the second of three Bond movies to have the theme performed by Shirley Bassey. The other two movies were Goldfinger and Moonraker.

The original soundtrack was once again done by John Barry.

Vehicles & gadgets

• After escaping henchmen Bond is picked up by Tiffany Case in her 1971 Ford Mustang Mach 1
• Fake Fingerprint - Bond uses a fake fingerprint that clings to his thumb to trick Tiffany Case into believing he is Peter Franks.
• Slot Machine Ring - Q created a ring that when uses ensures a jackpot at the slot machines everytime.

Cast

• James Bond - Sean Connery
• M - Bernard Lee
• Miss Moneypenny - Lois Maxwell
• Q - Desmond Llewelyn
• Felix Leiter - Norman Burton
• Ernst Stavro Blofeld - Charles Gray
• Tiffany Case - Jill St. John
• Willard Whyte - Jimmy Dean
• Mr. Wint - Bruce Glover
• Mr. Kidd - Putter Smith

Director: Guy Hamilton

Producers: Albert R. Broccoli , Harry Saltzman

Written by: Ian Fleming

Cinematography: Ted Moore

Composed by: John Barry

Trivia

• John Gavin, an unknown American, was originally cast as Bond. However, the producers were unhappy with this decision due to their experience with the similarly-unknown George Lazenby in the previous film, and when Sean Connery made it known that he would be interested in returning, Gavin's contract was quietly bought out.

Novel publication order

Locations

• Japan
• Cairo, Egypt
• Las Vegas, Nevada
• Baja California
• Amsterdam

External links

• Diamonds Are Forever (1971) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066995/) at the Internet Movie Database
• MGM Official website (http://www.mgm.com/title_title.do?title_star=DIAMONDB)

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