Barbara Broccoli
Barbara Broccoli, co-boss of Eon Productions, says Daniel Craig’s and Judi Dench’s performances as M in Skyfall have Oscar potential
THE TELEGRAPH CITING RADIO TIMES quotes Broccoli thusly:
“I am surprised there haven’t been acting nominations, if not for Bond then for the support.” Broccoli said she “wouldn’t be surprised if Judi was nominated for this one”.
A nomination for Daniel Craig as Bond should not be out of the question either, according to Broccoli, who described him as “that extraordinary combination of movie star and great actor”.
Broccoli also had this quote:
(Broccoli) admitted that Bond’s treatment of women in the middle years of the franchise were “distasteful”.
Ursula Andress in Dr No and Honor Blackman in Goldfinger were capable characters, Broccoli said. “Unfortunately, later in the series they got to be window dressing. [Bond] developed some rather distasteful pastimes but those have now receded into the past.
“Now it’s about the cocktail, the cars and the beautiful countries he gets to go to, [and] resourceful, strong women who give as much as they get.”
The article doesn’t provide specifics concerning which Bond women characters were distateful.
Barbara Bach’s Soviet Agent Triple-X in 1977’s The Spy Who Loved Me was the first “Bond’s equal.” Lois Chiles’s Holly Goodhead character, despite the risque name (presumably inspired by Blackman’s Pussy Galore character), was supposed to be along the same lines in 1979’s Moonraker, a woman who doubled as CIA agent and astronaut.
Broccoli and her half-brother Michael G. Wilson took over as producers of the Bond series starting with 1995’s GoldenEye. Their tenure included another “Bond’s equal” with Michelle Yeoh’s Wai Lin, a Chinese agent in 1997’s Tomorrow Never Dies. On the other hand, it also included Denise Richards portraying Dr. Christmas Jones, who some fans saw as an unlikely scientist, in 1999’s The World Is Not Enough.
Filed under: James Bond Books | Tagged: Barbara Bach, Barbara Broccoli, Bond 23, Daniel Craig, Denise Richards, Honor Blackman, James Bond and Oscar (R), James Bond Films, Judi Dench, Lois Chiles, Michael G. Wilson, Michelle Yeoh, Oscars, Skyfall, Ursula Andress |
The Spy Command 
Manuela from Moonraker comes to mind. She is supposed to be a field agent but allows Bond to undress her immediately. Later she is useless as a field agent against Jaws. Other window dressing Bond girls IMO is Chew Me (TMWTGG), Felicca (TSWLM), and Dink (GF).
I’d say that Tiffany, Solitaire and Goodnight all fell down as strong characters – they had so much potential but were basically weak and naive. Tiffany falling off an oil rig, Solitaire whimpering, Goodnight managing to turn on a laser with her backside – it’s all a bit embarrassing. And the less said about Plenty the better. Anya was a definite attempt to grab the girls and make them strong again, and it succeeded.
Didn’t like my response, eh?
@DRush76: please re-send.