After the huge success of Thunderball (1965) at the box-office, the Bond producers returned with the most elaborate Bond movie of the 1960’s. You Only Live Twice (1967) features space shuttles, volcanoes and ninjas, not to mention even more gadgets and an absurd plot that involves trying to disguise the 6’3 Sean Connery as a Japanese man.
You Only Live Twice – The Plot
An American space shuttle is hijacked by a much larger spaceship. The Americans blame the Soviets and threaten to retaliate. However the Brits are certain the shuttle ended up in Japan and send in James Bond (Sean Connery). First they fake 007’s death so his opponents in SPECTRE assume he is no longer a threat to them.
Bond meets up with MI6’s man in Japan, Mr Henderson (Charles Gray), who is certain the Soviets had nothing to do with the space shuttle disappearance. Before Henderson can elaborate further he gets a knife in his back. Bond teams up with ‘Tiger’ Tanaka (Tetsuro Tamba), a Japanese Secret Service agent and his beautiful assistant Aki (Akiko Wakabayashi) to investigate a Japanese company acting as a front for SPECTRE and Bond’s old rival Blofeld (Donald Pleasance).
Lewis Gilbert Directs You Only Live Twice
You Only Live Twice saw producers Albert ‘Cubby’ Broccoli and Harry Saltzman hiring A-list talent. Lewis Gilbert had won huge acclaim for directing the Michael Caine movie Alfie (1966). Gilbert would go on to direct two more Bond movies The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and Moonraker (1979). Freddie Young, the Oscar-winning cinematographer best known for his work on Lawrence of Arabia (David Lean 1962), became director of photography, while legendary children’s author Roald Dahl provided the screenplay.
Dahl’s screenplay provides some fantastical moments as well bringing a knowing adult sensibility to some of the dialogue, particularly in an exchange between Bond and Henderson which subtly outs the latter. Blofeld shows his face for the first time. Reliable Brit bad guy Donald Pleasance made a memorable nemesis for Bond, though Pleasance was only cast after original choice Jan Werich proved unsuitable. Karin Dor is sadistic and alluring as Helga Brandt.
You Only Live Twice is the first Bond film to be aware of audience expectations and to provide jokes at its own expense. “At least he died on the job,” quips a British officer who finds Bond apparently murdered in the bed of a beautiful young woman. Already the formula started in Dr No, perfected in Goldfinger and elaborated on in Thunderball shows signs of cliché. There is a hijack, a henchman is fed to a tank of carnivorous fish, Bond has a furniture-breaking fight sequence, and it all ends with a massive battle.
Sean Connery Quits as Bond
Sean Connery obviously felt he was repeating himself and announced his retirement from 00 duties halfway through filming. Oddly enough the producers had decided to film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service next; the best of Ian Fleming’s novels and the one which demanded the most out of the actor playing Bond. This was exactly the kind of challenge Connery was looking for, but the producers could not dissuade him and the search was on for a new James Bond. Connery went off to make Shalako (Edward Dmytryk 1968) with Brigitte Bardot instead.
Author Sunil S.
You Only Live Twice – The Plot
An American space shuttle is hijacked by a much larger spaceship. The Americans blame the Soviets and threaten to retaliate. However the Brits are certain the shuttle ended up in Japan and send in James Bond (Sean Connery). First they fake 007’s death so his opponents in SPECTRE assume he is no longer a threat to them.
Bond meets up with MI6’s man in Japan, Mr Henderson (Charles Gray), who is certain the Soviets had nothing to do with the space shuttle disappearance. Before Henderson can elaborate further he gets a knife in his back. Bond teams up with ‘Tiger’ Tanaka (Tetsuro Tamba), a Japanese Secret Service agent and his beautiful assistant Aki (Akiko Wakabayashi) to investigate a Japanese company acting as a front for SPECTRE and Bond’s old rival Blofeld (Donald Pleasance).
Lewis Gilbert Directs You Only Live Twice
You Only Live Twice saw producers Albert ‘Cubby’ Broccoli and Harry Saltzman hiring A-list talent. Lewis Gilbert had won huge acclaim for directing the Michael Caine movie Alfie (1966). Gilbert would go on to direct two more Bond movies The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and Moonraker (1979). Freddie Young, the Oscar-winning cinematographer best known for his work on Lawrence of Arabia (David Lean 1962), became director of photography, while legendary children’s author Roald Dahl provided the screenplay.
Dahl’s screenplay provides some fantastical moments as well bringing a knowing adult sensibility to some of the dialogue, particularly in an exchange between Bond and Henderson which subtly outs the latter. Blofeld shows his face for the first time. Reliable Brit bad guy Donald Pleasance made a memorable nemesis for Bond, though Pleasance was only cast after original choice Jan Werich proved unsuitable. Karin Dor is sadistic and alluring as Helga Brandt.
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You Only Live Twice is the first Bond film to be aware of audience expectations and to provide jokes at its own expense. “At least he died on the job,” quips a British officer who finds Bond apparently murdered in the bed of a beautiful young woman. Already the formula started in Dr No, perfected in Goldfinger and elaborated on in Thunderball shows signs of cliché. There is a hijack, a henchman is fed to a tank of carnivorous fish, Bond has a furniture-breaking fight sequence, and it all ends with a massive battle.
Sean Connery Quits as Bond
Sean Connery obviously felt he was repeating himself and announced his retirement from 00 duties halfway through filming. Oddly enough the producers had decided to film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service next; the best of Ian Fleming’s novels and the one which demanded the most out of the actor playing Bond. This was exactly the kind of challenge Connery was looking for, but the producers could not dissuade him and the search was on for a new James Bond. Connery went off to make Shalako (Edward Dmytryk 1968) with Brigitte Bardot instead.
Author Sunil S.
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