Mainly Millicent (TV Series) Episode dated 17 July 1964 (1964) User Reviews

Bond before his time . . .

[pixrox1 · 7/10 · 20 May 2014]

. . . according to Guy Hamilton, who directed many of the early James Bond theatrical releases. Hamilton contends that Bond's Eon Production Company producers Albert R. "Cubby" Broccoli and Harry Saltzman's first choice to play Agent 007 in BOTH 1962 for DR. NO and for 1969's ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE (when George Lazenby filled in as one of filmdom's most notorious Mis-castings ever because Sean Connery, Bond for the first five Eon 007 films, essentially left Eon in the lurch over money and type-casting concerns) was--Ta Da!--Roger Moore (despite the wishes of Bond creator Ian Fleming, who wrote with David Niven in mind, though Mr. Niven only played Agent 007 once, in the non-Eon CASINO ROYALE of 1967). According to second-generation Eon Bond producer Michael Wilson, who introduces this 1964 TV Bond spoof sketch comedy snippet from MAINLY MILLICENT as part of the "Ultimate Edition" LIVE AND LET DIE 2-disc DVD set for the movie in which Moore made his big screen debut as Bond, Moore could not become Bond in 1962 or Bond AGAIN in 1969 because of television commitments. Since Bond was a drinking buddy of Broccoli and Saltzman, being in their income bracket, he got a third (or fourth) bite at the Bond apple in 1973, with LIVE AND LET DIE. His Bond in 1973 is NOT that much different than this straight-faced Spoofer James nine years earlier. Millicent plays Russian agent Sophia something (this piece is NOT close-captioned) to Moore's trial Bond. Both spies are on vacation. They are surrounded by "extras" dining in non-speaking roles. There is a "fake" waiter out to assassinate Bond and a subsequent "real" waiter (who has several bits in which Moore pulls his hair to "test" authenticity, as the "fake" waiter was disguised by a wig). The waiter parts are played by some combination of the actors Leslie Crawford, Peter Diamond, and Len Lowe, with the odd man out most likely being the guy who hands Millicent a phone to KGB headquarters toward the end of the skit. The other main piece of business is a series of toasts in which the mutually suspicious Bond and Sophia toss glass after glass of drink over their shoulders. This most likely did NOT happen when Moore, Broccoli, and Saltzman were imbibing together.