I get the sense that Alfred Hitchcock's films had a strong influence on the early Bond films and how they were directed.
The opening sequence of Dr No with the abstract shapes, music and credits was very similar to Psycho.
And the helicopter attack in From Russia With Love was very much like the scene from North By Northwest when Cary Grant is being attacked by that small plane.
I've always thought the same thing. Also the extended scenes on trains, in both North by Northwest , and From Russia with Love three years later
shareI've always thought if alfred Hitchcock directed a james bond film it would be exactly like from Russia with love.
shareOne other item Hich always like to use blondes, the first three leads were blondes, plus the two sisters in GF
on location with SUPERMAN I,& OTHER STARS
http://www.vbphoto.biz/
It's more or less universally accepted that North By Northwest is THE proto-James Bond movie blueprint.
shareI think North by Northwest launched an entirely new kind of action film, of which the Bond movies are descendents.
shareI think North by Northwest launched an entirely new kind of action film, of which the Bond movies are descendents.
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Yes. Very much so. North by Northwest came out at the very end of the 50s (1959) and it was as if Hitchcock was anticipating that the 60's were going to need a more action-packed and sex-driven type of spy thriller. One year later, Hitchcock made the same moves on the horror side of the equation with Psycho.
That said, the Bond series really incorporated THREE Hitchcock movies, all of which starred Cary Grant:
North by Northwest(1959): Suave hero(but an innocent man, not a professional spy) versus elegant spy master (James Mason) with henchmen(including a knife throwing brute and a main aide) ; sexually available heroine playing both sides of the spy game(think: Pussy Galore.) More action than in any Hitchcock film before it, including a crop duster versus man chase that was indeed -- and rather sloppily -- copied with the helicopter chase in FRWL.
To Catch a Thief(1955) Grant's a retired jewel thief in this one, not a spy, but the Bond influence is clear : scenes of Cary Grant playing at the Cannes casino in a tuxedo and near a bosomy woman. Plug the casino scenes in To Catch a Thief into the overall structure of North by Northwest -- and you are ALMOST to Bond. One more to go:
Notorious (1946): Grant IS a spy in this -- an American agent versus postwar Nazis -- and he has the kind of toughness and cruelty (both to men and women) that would flavor Connery's version of Bond. There is no action in Notorious, nor casino scenes -- but Grant IS the Connery Bond here, meanness wise.
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More connections:
Hitchcock considered filming the first Bond book -- Casino Royale -- but passed. The property went away from the Broccoli owners to others and was made first as a spoof in 1967 and later as a Daniel Craig reboot.
Cary Grant WAS offered Dr. No -- even as he was too old for the role -- but they wanted him for a series, and he would only do one film. Deal off.
James Mason -- the villainous Vandamm in NXNW -- was offered Bond, too, but evidently declined. Possibly he was considered and rejected -- too old? (He' d had a heart attack right after making NXNW.)
AND THIS:
"Reversably," I believe that the Bond movies singled handedly killed of Hitchcock as a COMMERCIAL hit maker of "hip" films.
Away from horror and romances, Hitchcock made a LOT of spy movies. North by Northwest had the most action and the sexually suggestive come-ons of a fully clothed Eva Marie Saint. But soon the Bond series outdid Saint in the sex department -- bringing on bikini babes and lingerie wearing seductresses, with Bond bedding four women to a film sometimes. The first three Bonds were rather cheap and sloppy compared to the craftsmanship and polish of big budget Hitchcock productions but audiences didn't CARE -- they had fights and scantily clad babes and different missions and -- Hitchcock just couldn't compete.
In the 60's, HItchcock put out two spy pictures in a row -- Torn Curtain and Topaz -- in which he tried to avoid Bond type action, and he just looked passe (Bosley Crowther of the New York Times actually CITED James Bond movies in saying that Torn Curtain wasn't up to them in action or excitement.) Hitchcock played out his days away from spies and action entirely -- one psycho suspense film (Frenzy) and one final comedy thriller(Family Plot) and he was over. Bond pushed him there.
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That said, North by Northwest is better written, acted, and filmed that any of the Bond movies of the sixties. There is a precision to the crop duster scene in NXNW that the helicopter chase in FRWL simply couldn't match (and that helicopter scene had really lousy music.) But the Bond movies of the 60's and 70's proved that audiences did not NEED great writing and acting to show up for a Bond. Action and bikinis and kissing and suggested sex ruled out the need for good scripts or classic filmmaking.
Hitchcock created Bond...and Bond killed Hitchcock.