Harry Saltzman: Showman (2000 Video) User Reviews

If the original James Bond producer "didn't have a head for business" . . .

[tadpole-596-918256 · 8/10 · 22 October 2014]

. . . what does that say about the series itself? The Greek and Roman religions with Zeus, Mars, Diana, etc. were pretty big in their day, but they did not stand the test of time (no world leaders consult "the Oracles" nowadays, and Hollywood has proved that you can cartoon and lampoon Zeus and his Mount Olympus cronies to your heart's contest, and no one will cut off your head). In other words, nobody takes these cults seriously in the 21st Century, though you could not get away from them awhile back. By the same token, at one time Mr. Saltzman's "James Bond Agent 007" movie series was the most successful of all time, just as "Fatty" Arbuckle was once the cream of the crop when it came to comedy on the Silver Screen. But few folks born since the mid-1900s have heard of Fatty, and probably few born after the mid-2000s will ever hear of Bond. Harry Potter already has trounced the combined box office of 23 Eon Production Bond flicks in just 8 outings, and right this minute savvy businesswoman J.K. Rowling is busy scribbling away on three more film scripts. The son of that other Harry, Steven Saltzman, says during HARRY SALTZMAN: SHOWMAN that "my father had no business acumen." Whereas Daniel Radcliffe played Master Potter in all 8 movies, fickle Mr. Saltzman kept changing 007 actors at the drop of a hat (I think his company is up to about 6 Bonds-of-the-Month now). Just as Marlon Brando laments "I Coulda been a Contender" in ON THE WATERFRONT, Agent 007 might have been a candidate for cultural immortality like Luke Skywalker or Charles Xavier if Mr. Saltzman had had a "head for business," as opposed to becoming an ancient joke like the Greek and Roman gods.

An interesting and illuminating documentary on a great producer

[Woodyanders · 9/10 · 16 September 2009]

Harry Saltzman achieved his greatest fame and success as one of the key producers of the first nine James Bond movies. Stemming from humble origins (his mother died when he was young), Saltzman ran away from home at age fifteen and was a field officer in France at age seventeen. He produced his first film "The Iron Petticoat" in 1956 and helped create the kitchen sink movie. But it wasn't until he became partners with the radically different fellow producer Albert "Cubby" Broccoli and made the first 007 feature "Dr. No" that Harry really hit his stride. This documentary gathers up a neat assortment of folks -- Cubby's outspoken wife Dana Broccoli, his son Steven and daughter Hilary, composer John Barry, James Bond actors George Lazenby and Roger Moore, actresses Ursula Andress and Honor Blackman, special effects expert John Stears, and so on -- to tell lots of fun, amusing, always compelling, and even occasionally quite touching stories about the colorful and larger-than-life Saltzman. With his legendary volatile temper, penchant for flamboyant clothes, picky eating habits, tremendous talent for selling ideas, restless nature, and an ambition that alas ultimately exceeded his grasp, Harry certainly lived life to the fullest and then some. This documentary pulls no punches in depicting Saltzman both at his best and at his worst: Blackman notes that he was a tough guy with a dry sense of humor, Andress describes him as a nice man who she truly liked, and Dana Broccoli candidly discusses how Saltzman and her husband's contrasting personalities eventually caused their partnership to fall apart. As someone points out in an interview, Harry's gift of gab and ability to get people to believe anything was both his biggest strength and greatest weakness. A neat warts'n'all portrait.