The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) Director: Lewis Gilbert
“Well, well… a British agent in love with a Russian agent. Détente, indeed.”
★★★★★
A relaunch of sorts for the James Bond franchise after the disappointing release of The Man With The Golden Gun, The Spy Who Loved Me marks the tenth official Eon James Bond film, as well as the third and by far the best of the Roger Moore era in my humble opinion. The title for this film is derived from Ian Fleming’s tenth Bond book –a story which was so controversial and divisive that Fleming attempted to prevent it from being made into a film, so studio executives at Eon simply created a whole new plot but kept the title the same (they also borrowed some concepts for one of the henchmen in the novel to create the memorable character Jaws in the film). At the time, Eon was still ensconced in ongoing legal issues with copyright holder Kevin McClory over the use of SPECTRE and Blofeld, which forced them to create new villains outside the Fleming Bond literary universe. The Spy Who Loved Me is also unique in that it was the first James Bond film made solely by producer Albert “Cubby” Broccoli after his unfortunate falling out with Harry Saltzman.
The Spy Who Loved Me opens with the mysterious disappearance of two submarines: one British (the H.M.S. Ranger) and the other Soviet (The Potemkin). The Soviets call up their best agent, Major Anya Amasova (a.k.a. Agent XXX, played by Barbara Bach –wife of Ringo Starr), who is in bed with another Soviet agent named Sergei Barsov (Michael Billington who was himself a contender for the role of James Bond at one point) and the British call up their best agent, James Bond (a.k.a. 007), who is predictably in bed with a woman in Austria (Sue Vanner), but when he gets the call from MI6, Bond sports a vibrant yellow suit and starts skiing downhill to a ’70s disco track while tailed by a group of Soviet agents until he plunges off a massive cliff and opens a parachute revealing the “Union Jack.” He kills one of the rival agents, Sergei Barsov, Amasova’s lover at the beginning of the film. Bond then travels to Egypt to seek out recently stolen microfilm with plans for a highly advanced submarine tracking system, where he meets up with Amasova. The two reluctantly join forces, realizing that in this instance, they have mutually shared objectives. Bond also encounters a massive henchman who is seemingly indestructible with steel teeth named Jaws (played by Richard Kiel –a 7 foot 2 inch tall man who struggled with gigantism all his life until his death in 2014. He also reprised the role of Jaws in Moonraker). Bond and Amasova encounter Jaws in a train scene that contains strong echoes of From Russia with Love.
Both agents learn that the man behind the submarine attacks is a megalomaniacal billionaire named Karl Stromberg (played by Curd Jürgens). Stromberg brings the two scientists who developed the submarine tracking system down to his submerged vessel “Atlantis” to thank them, but instead he maniacally demonstrates his power by shockingly plunging his secretary into the shark tank where she is killed for stealing information from Stromberg. He then allows the two scientists to escape but he curiously blows up their helicopter shortly thereafter anyway. 007 and XXX travel to Sardinia to investigate Stromberg’s secret base. Posing as a married couple, they infiltrate the base “Atlantis” and learn all about Stromberg before being captured, and Amasova learns that Bond has killed her lover –she vows to kill Bond after the mission. Stromberg reveals his plan to use the two captured Soviet and British submarines to launch nuclear warheads at each, thus spawning a massive nuclear holocaust, while Stromberg remains secluded in his underwater lair. He hopes to create a new civilization under the sea (he is more of a misanthrope or a terrorist, and less of a typical money-grubbing criminal who holds the world ransom). Stromberg takes Amasova as his prisoner down to the Atlantis, meanwhile Bond escapes his captivity and frees the trapped British and Soviet submariners aboard Stromberg’s giant tanker known as the Liparus, and they reprogram the submarines to fire the nuclear warheads upon one another. Next, Bond goes to Atlantis to rescue Amasova –he quickly shoots and kills Stromberg– but Jaws again pops up and throws Bond into Stromberg’s lethal shark tank, but instead Jaws kills the shark and survives. Bond and Amasova leave in an “escape chamber” together and Amasova decides against killing Bond. They are rescued by the British Royal Navy. Meanwhile, Jaws escapes the destroyed Atlantis and we see him swimming off into the ocean at the end.
The Spy Who Loved Me is one of my all-time favorite Bond films. It is gorgeously shot on location by Claude Renior, Barbara Bach plays one of the best Bond girls as Anya Amasova (a.k.a. Agent XXX), Carly Simon’s theme song stands among the best, and the campiness that dominates much of the Roger Moore films is more subdued here. Don’t get me wrong, The Spy Who Loved Me has plenty of moments to make you smile (cue the scene of Roger Moore brandishing a fish as the submersible Lotus Esprit surfaces on a public beach), but it offers a nice blend between winks at the audience and serious tension for a spy thriller. There are elements of From Russia with Love here in the rival agents who become lovers, and the lead villain Stromberg –despite being slightly goofy– is reminiscent of Captain Nemo in 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea. The mystery and intrigue surrounding a villain who desires to build a submerged, deep-sea civilization is amusing and compelling all at once. Also, the introduction of Bond working together with an enemy, albeit reluctantly, and then falling in love with a rival Soviet spy is a new twist. The Spy Who Loved Me is a welcome departure from Live and Let Die and The Man With The Golden Gun and thankfully Richard Maibaum and Christopher Wood crafted a script that contains almost none of the brutality of the original Fleming novel.
Click here to return to my survey of the James Bond saga.
Book Review: The Spy Who Loved Me (1962) by Ian Fleming
- James Bond actor: Roger Moore
- Director: Lewis Gilbert
- Producers: Albert R. “Cubby” Broccoli
- Screenplay: Richard Maibaum and Christopher Wood (uncredited: Tom Mankiewicz), inspired by the novel of the same name by Ian Fleming, though prohibited from using its controversial contents
- Cinematography: Claude Renoir, nephew of the legendary filmmaker Jean Renoir, and grandson of the Impressionist painter, Pierre-Auguste Renoir
- Editor: John Glen
- Gun Barrel Sequence: completed by Roger Moore in a tuxedo unlike his prior two films (a newly shot sequence for The Spy Who Loved Me). This gun barrel sequence was also used in all of his future Bond films.
- Villain(s): Karl Stromberg (Curt Jurgens), the vampiric Jaws (Richard Kiel), Sandor (stuntman Milton Reid), and Naomi (Caroline Munro). Caroline Munro’s voice was dubbed by an uncredited Barbara Jefford, who had previously dubbed Daniela Bianchi in From Russia with Love.
- Bond Girl(s): Major Anya Amasova/Agent Triple X (Barbara Bach)
- MI6: M (Bernard Lee), Miss Moneypenny (Lois Maxwell), Q (Desmond Llewelyn), Sir Frederick Gray (Geoffrey Keen)
- Bond Gadgets: “Ski pole gun,” submersible Lotus Esprit, “wet bike” jet ski, Handheld Microfilm Reader (a variety of other Q-Branch gadgets can be seen in Q’s lab in Egypt)
- Allies: General Gogol (Walter Gotell), who previously played Morzeny in From Russia with Love, and reprised this role of General Gogol for five more Bond films, Vice-Admiral Hargreaves (Robert Brown), Captain Benson (George Baker), Commander Carter (Shane Rimmer), and Sheikh Hosein (Edward de Souza), an Arab sheikh and old friend of Bond when they were students together at Cambridge University
- Score: Marvin Hamlisch
- Theme Song: “Nobody Does It Better” by Carly Simon (music by Marvin Hamlisch, lyrics by Carole Bayer Sager)
- Locales: Norwegian Sea, London (England), Moscow (Russia), Berngarten (Austria), Faslane (Scotland), Cairo and Luxor (Egypt), Porto Cervo (Sardinia)
- Other Facts:
- There are a few musical inside jokes in this film, such as Anya Amasova’s music box which plays a Dr. Zhivago song, as well as the Lawrence of Arabia theme song which plays during the desert scene in Egypt. Musical jokes will continue in Moonraker.
- Close inspection of several scenes reveals that Stromberg actually has webbed fingers, hence why he refuses to shake hands.
- Jeremy Bulloch plays a small role in this film as an HMS Ranger crewman. He later played Boba Fett in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.
- Valerie Leon, the hotel clerk, also reappears in Never Say Never Again.
- Nadim Sawalha plays Aziz Fekkesh, a middle-man on the road to the microfilm. Sawalha also appeared in The Living Daylights.
- Robert Brown, who plays British Royal Navy Admiral Hargraves, Brown later plays M in four films from Octopussy to Licence to Kill.
- Bond’s deceased wife Tracy from On Her Majesty’s Secret Service is briefly mentioned by Anya Amasova.
- Stuntman Bob Simmons makes a brief cameo as a henchman attacking Bond in this film.