I agree...that is why Connery is my favorite Bond. He was the most well-rounded and fulfilled all aspects: toughness, humor, playboy demeanor, etc. Roger Moore was too goofy. Timothy Dalton and Daniel Craig were very tough, but at the expense of the humor and playboy aspects of the character. Pierce Brosnan was also very well-rounded, but maybe leaned a bit too far into the playboy side...a bit overly manicured and prissy compared to Connery's grittier portrayal.
@@johnsampson6387 For me Craig ion Casino Royale was still learning how to be Bond. He didn't get fancy gadgets, he got common-sense stuff. He complained when his suit was tailored, but straightened up when he saw himself in the mirror. He didn't get a fancy death trap, he got a knotted rope to the crotch. And only at the end did he wear a suit while carrying a silenced SMG.
@@johnsampson6387 Bit unfair to call Brosnan 'prissy'. He didnt have the animal magnetism of Connery but then very few actors have in the history of cinema.
Not a fan of brandy with a cigar. Brandy has 40% alcohol and tastes hot anyway, add it to a hot cigar and you have a confused palate. Better to smoke a ruby Port of maybe a tawny with a good Cuban.
@@murchuan8782 and equally M's look at Bond after the petty retaliation of "you'll draw it from Q Branch with the rest of your equipment in the morning..." This scene definitely is in my top 3 of all time, and possibly number one.
Miss these old British-style spy scenes. Old Brit officers from the SOE in WW2, classic RP British accents, upper class manners, no rude loudmouths. I wish they would make these films again (not necessarily Bond). So many good WW2 and postwar spy stories available.
Agreed - while the modern bond films with Daniel Craig have been (mostly) very enjoyable, the problem is that the modern world is no place for the gentleman spy. With computers and networks everywhere, modern bond has to resort to massively fantastical plotlines and overly complex villians to provide a thrilling adventure story. By contrast just look at this scene - the entire set up is simply that a man is obtaining gold, melting it down and recasting, and somehow getting it abroad to sell for profit. It's dead simple and quite feasible, especially at a time when the smallest computer weighed several tons and occupied the space of a small barn. Back then everything was physical. It wasn't about data and sensors and whatever else. It was about slipping things past the net by disguise, subversion, seduction, or whatever else worked. And of course there were all the gadgets too - a leftover from the war and a need to provide SOE troops (as well as the resistance) with inconspicuous weapons and demolition charges and such. Modern bond gets a pistol that can read his finger print, where old bond got an exploding pen and a briefcase that doubled as a radio jammer. The post war years were simply a better time, technologically speaking, for the idea of a top-agent in the field. Modern spies are just hackers for the most part, with exceptionally boring and short lifespans
@@daredemontriple6 your half right. things are more tech and online now. however people still need to go to places and do things. as q says in spyfall "every now and then a trigger needs to be pulled". i think a lot of people are disillusioned with the modern age and think we are further ahead than we are.
Well, Bond was the creation of Ian Fleming, who was himself from a background of wealth and privilege, and who definitely enjoyed the finer things in life. Fleming gave Bond a lot of his own personality traits, and being a _bon vivant_ with expensive tastes was one of them. This is why Bond is knowledgeable about things like brandy, sherry, fine cuisine, the finest tailors, and other such luxuries. M's reaction was "oh of course, he _would_ know about something like that."
@@Hibernicus1968 There's also the subtle implication that M was the one who brought it. So having his gift insulted by his guest, then dissected by his subordinate...
@@Kingfisher1215 Aside from the DC films (Specifically Skyfall and maybe Casino Royale), the best 4 Bonds are From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, You Only Live Twice and The Spy Who Loved Me
This M was superior in every way. He often couldn't decide whether Bond was an irresponsible womanizer or just an irritating know it all. But in the end he always had his back because he knew what mattered - an agent who got things done. I always hated the way they wrote Judy's M, and how far she ran with the whole man hater angle.
So glad that others love this scene as much as I do. It's as good as anything in the movie. Perfectly shot and perfectly acted. Also quite true to the novel, though naturally condensed. Lovely stuff. One of my all time favorite Bond moments.
The actor who played the banker in this scene is the same actor who years later played a British central banker in Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister.
It was Richard Vernon He had a part in many films and TV series - example is The Cedar Tree from the early 1980’s and I spotted him doing some travel programmes in the 60’s Oh those wonderful days in the 60’s and to some extent the 70’s when life was much simpler 🏴🏴🏴🏴🏴🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🏴🏴🏴🏴👍 👍 ❤️❤️
@@DrinkWater713 Bond is getting a lecture on smuggling and how the British Government believes that Goldfinger is moving gold from country to country, which is illegal. Then the Colonel offers bond what he calls "disappointing" brandy. M wants to know what's wrong with it, and Bond gives a cheeky reply about cognac regions (Fins, pronounced "Feen") and how the brandy has an "overdose of Bon Bois" (another reference to a cognac region). Basically he's showing rarified taste and obscure knowledge of cognac that makes M feel that he's showing off. So M says "Colonel Smithers is giving the lecture, 007". In other words, know your place.
This one scene perfectly explains the whole plot of the movie without going into too much detail & I also love the underlying tension between Bond & M - Bond showing off his superior knowledge of fine wines yet M masterfully puts him in his place with the quip about who is doing the lecture & telling Bond to requisition the gold bar from Q branch. After all Bond is a civil servant & M is superior. Goldfinger & Spectre are my two most favourite Bond movies.
@@runawayplane6166 My thoughts as well; Moore had the same savoir-fairewith a slightly more restrained showmanship/panache. Now you've got three subs :)
It had nothing to do with a Master dynamic, it has to do with his training in fine wares. He was trained to know the proper etiquette in drinking, such as ordering a separate glass of water to add a few drops to your scotch or whiskey to bring out the flavors yourself. It was his job to keep that charade up because he had to infiltrate these organizations as some pompous rich nobody who drinks expensive booze, and not a assassin with a license to kill. The British government made him like that and invested money into his training, he better know what is in the brandy since double 0's are the best. Christ man, read the books and watch all the movies.
@@Saintbow you’re aware Bond is a spoof I hope? Because you sound like you’re taking this far too seriously. But then the internet is a nice safe home for little bullies like you.
My dad was in army intelligence right at the end of WWII. When I was a little kid I always thought my dad did the same stuff as 007. Needless to say Sean Connery has always been my favorite actor. RIP Sean you are a legend. I've read every James Bond Novel that Fleming wrote. In college literature class 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service' was required reading.
@@maratonlegendelenemirei3352 I don't know about him, but I might if the weather was so bad that the postman was actually risking his life against weather that might kill him, was serving away from his family by hundreds or thousands of miles, was not going to sleep in his own bed that night, and if I'd seen any postmen in recent years actually doing their work on foot in the traditional manner in bad weather as opposed to little vans. That and I don't really need snail mail much except occasional parcels, and those tend to come with dudes in little vans. If the postman were to meet those conditions, I would definitely thank him if I was actually there to receive the mail. I might omit the "for your service" part, since we would have the advantage of an immediately obvious context, he's still just doing it for a wage, and it's not ultimately earth-shatteringly important to the future of my life or country that it happen every day. Of course, were we ever again to have the timely on-foot delivery daily and super fast inter city letter times of my youth, I'd be less surly.
@@randomobserver8168 Joining the military is a career choice that you get paid to do like in any other. Death and injury can occur in any chosen career or job.
billthestinker the excheqeur I saw in a Christopher Lee movie called Brides of Dracula. It combined elements of Bond and Hammer horror acvording to reviewers. But the same magic just wss not there. Altho the actor played a similar British Civil Servant it was just lost in direction that was not top notch like Goldfinger's. Even Guy Hamilton's directorial efforts paled in comparison to his own Bond work! There was just something about Cubby Broccoli that bought out the best in everyone through his production values.
"Colonel Smithers is giving the lecture 007... Damn, Bond just got sonned." Bond did embarrass "M" in front of a high ranking officer in the Military, even though I doubt that he even really knew what ***007*** said. Bond could be a bit overbearing at times. Both Bond and M could be a bit overbearing at times. Proud, Stubborn, and Condescending as Hell.
I did my eighth grade term paper on Ian Flemming. I'd seen all his movies to that point. My teacher - of course - thought I was touched in the head...😂
I absolutely love small detail, when M tries to figure out how Bond knows that's something wrong with "rather disappointing brandy". I absolutely love M face right there.
@@fifthof1795 Yeah, he is always so irritated when Bond pops off about something related to a high class lifestyle lived on the taxpayer's dime and knowing something about seemingly everything.
@@gordonbartlett1921 Eeeegad, my bad! I mean neither I think. I'd offer up instead 'aristocratic' (but endearingly so) to be more to the point?? All the same one of my all time favorite scenes of any Bond flick. Fun fact: the dinner conversation from Fleming's novel is almost an entire chapter! The movie does a pretty good job of digesting the gist of it from the book.
This scene is meant to be in the Bank of England in the evening when it's closed. The only other people around would have been a detachment of soldiers from one of the Guard's 5 infantry regiments. Terrific to think that while these elegant men were having their dinner and talk, that there would have had fully armed, elite soldiers on station and patrolling the premises - even in the vault down below. During the Gordon Riots in 1780 a detachment of the Foot Guards successfully defended the Bank of England from a violent mob. Thenceforth the Bank paid for a detachment of soldiers, usually provided by the Brigade of Guards to defend the Bank. From 1780 the detachment marched from their barracks, initially from the Tower of London, later Wellington or Chelsea Barracks though in bad weather the detachment would be sent by a normal train of the London Underground. Imagine that! With a Guard Mount at 3 pm, each guard consisted of one Officer, one Sergeant, one Corporal, one Lance Corporal, eight Guardsmen and a drummer; originally the guard had 30 Guardsmen. Once at the Bank there were two sentry posts, one outside the Counting House Parlour and another outside the bullion vaults. The officer was given half a bottle of port and the right to invite a friend or two to dinner in the Bank. The other ranks were a given pint of beer with their dinner and one brand new shilling, two for a sergeant, that they bought tea and a cake with in the Canteen. The Guard wore plimsolls in the bank in Modern times. From 1963 the Bank Picquet travelled by vehicle clad in service dress and armed with automatic weapons with the emphasis on security moving from ceremonial to tactical deployment. Faced with military manpower cuts, it was reluctantly decided that there was no longer a justification for this duty to continue with the duty ending on the evening of 31 July 1973 . Pity.
@@user-ck8ec7pj1l Cheers. I should say that the scene was filmed in Pinewood studios, so everything you see is a mock up - there wasn't even a ceiling! It's all in the commentary on the DVD. You'll notice that the waiter serves cigars from the left to all of them, ensuring that he slices the cigar end over the box, so the cut part drops into the box. It's details like this that made the Bond films of the 1960's - early 1980's so British and so classic Guy Hamilton, the director, was a WW2 Royal Navy Motor Torpedo Boat officer, ferrying secret agents into Occupied Europe. His mannerisms were copied by Connery for Bond. Hamilton gave Connery a crash course in the world of the English gentleman, as that was the world Hamilton lived in. Sean Connery was pretty rough and ready, having had a very hard life as a poor working class Scotsman. What your looking at in these films is Guy Hamilton, at 1 remove via Sean Connery, presented as 007.
Well, Venezuela was basically a satrap back then. As soon as it wasn't, the UK government decided to go ahead and steal a sizeable chunk of Venezuela's gold.
Way back when…my father explained to me that the Federal Reserve Bank in downtown NYC had more gold in its basement than all of the places mentioned above…combined. Many countries held their gold reserves in that same basement and paid each other by simply moving the gold around from room to room.
Gold at $30 an ounce at the time of this movie. Today it's $1950 an ounce. This gives us some idea about how massively devalued the Dollar and other paper currencies have become, and how much purchasing power we have lost using paper currencies.
Yes they are literally discussing how they run a global cartel to control the price and can't tolerate anyone trading gold outside their cartel monopoly system in this scene. It's shocking that this got made in retrospect.
The actor, Denis Cowles, who plays Brunskill, the valet, was born in 1889. Even though I was alive at the time the movie came out, I'd forgotten how many older folks still working in the Swinging Sixties in Britain, were born in the 19th century, in the Victorian Era.
@@mebsrea On a very tangential note, Bertrand Russell, who was alive when I was a boy, said that his grandfather met Napoleon, or glimpsed him at least. (Near enough to George Washington!) Sort of brings nearly a quarter of a millennium ago a lot closer, doesn't it?
To bring the 19th century closer for Americans, I read that the last widow claiming a pension as the spouse of a US Civil war veteran died this January! (she was 17 when she married a 93 yr old veteran in 1936)
Saw this movie last Saturday as part of the 60th Anniversary cinema re-release, absolutely amazing, even though I can tell you the entire script at this stage, to see this epic on a huge screen and booming sound was fantastic to say the least. Go see a classic Bond movie in the cinema please, you won't regret it
@@countalucard4226 she was.... until Bond came along. Which is why in Thunderball, Fiona points it out to him to which he replied "well, you can't win them all"
Also saw this rerelease for the 60th anniversary @Westfield VUE and seeing it on the big screen after watching it for decades on tv was a entirely different experience!
@@Tourist1967 Ah, yes. The great old days of the £.s.d., 12 pennies - 1 shilling,. 20 shillings - 1 Pound sterling system. Which I am told, mathematically speaking, was a more practical and sensible way of doing it than decimal - 100, as there are fewer ways to evenly divide 100, and several more ways to evenly divide 240. And though it pre - dated computers, as we know them, they could certainly be adapted to that counting system. But, 50 + years in, and mostly likely no signs of changing things now.
@@selfdoworse still their complete nativity of fiat currency and the beautiful slight of hand played in '71 by Central Bankers including our own scum bags.
That was a great film. James Bond at its peak. Connery was unbelievably good. The look M gives him after he smelled the bottle is really funny. The film is very entertaining. I like this movie. That's how Bond should always be. ✌
The thing about Bond was he was not concerned with other people's feelings. He was a psychopath, but he knew the difference between right and wrong. Women were disposable playthings. He really didn't care. Sean Connery was perfect for the role.
A standard US gold bar weighs just over 27 lb. I handled one once in the vault at the NY Federal Reserve, back before 2001 when they still did vault tours for Reserve Bank employees. You really needed two hands to heft it. It cracks me up when I see people in movies tossing them around one handed. That bar, if real gold, would have likely weighed 10 kilos, or 22 lb.
"His establishment here is down in Kent" "You mean where the werewolf ran amok?" "Precisely" "I understand his hair was perfect" "Get back to the subject at hand 007"
Loved how the Director chose to move the camera AWAY from them as they are talking. All the way to the back of the room. Causing them to look small. Usually you will see the camera going TOWARDS the actors in a scene like this. Very interesting. I liked it a lot. Then the Director cut in to them for closer shots. All great.
Moneypenny was the greatest catch Bond could have ever hoped for. A loyal servant of the Crown, she was smart, sophisticated, pretty, skilled and caring. I’m glad they never consummated their relationship. It was always perfect this way.
Agreed. YOLT was big budget but I've always felt Connery looked a tad disinterested in it somehow...and I think he looked positively lethargic in DAF.. just my opinion.
I wish On Her Majesty’s Secret Service had been produced earlier in the Connery era. I was an early teen when it was released and just couldn’t accept anyone else playing Bond. But having recently seen it, it was a great movie and Lazenby did very credible job, especially for a non-actor who bluffed his way into the role.
Guy Hamilton was responsible for setting that scene and having it come across the way it did. His direction helped to establish the James Bond look. Everyone gives Sean Connery so much credit. But it was Guy Hamilton who schooled Connery on how to look and how to act.
No, it was not Guy Hamilton, it was Terence Young, a true bonvivant and director of the first two Conery Bonds (Dr No and From Russia with Love), who schooled Connery and defined his look and style as well as so much of the feel of the early Bond films. He insisted on Champagne on set! Young took Connery to his tailor, and told him to sleep in his new suit so it would be comfortable and feel second nature. He took Connery to his club and so, so much more. There are docos on Young's influence on Connery and the series that are magic to watch.
It’s a lot more, as the price of gold has outpaced inflation since then. Let’s stick with the price Col. Smithers gave for gold, £30, and the value of the bar, £5000. That means that the bar is 166.7 ounces. Using today’s (7/10/2020) price of gold, £1430 , we get a value of about £240000. One can understand why M insisted Bond draw the bar from Q branch in the morning.
This scene is one of the reasons Sean Connery is the best James Bond. If you look at his tux compared to the others, it is obviously not up to snuff, but he wears it well. His style always came across as a blue collar guy in a white collar world, one of us, so we can always relate to him so well.
Note how M resents a member of the lower ranks having a better knowledge of brandy and blending that he should have. With a French mother, perhaps not surprising but again it establishes Bond as One Of Us
00-Agents aren't novice! They are above the regular agent after all, they take the juicist assignments (but also take the highest risks! - Hell, M prides himself on getting casualty numbers among 00-Personal down 40% in 'Dr. No' and he gives Bond the PPK (because his Beretta jamed on him during an assignment) "in order to keep it that way")
@dreamingflurry2729 If I recall, Bond had a pocket size Beretta .25acp that got caught, snag as he drew it. M told Q branch to get new Walther PPKs in the larger .380acp caliber for all 00 series agents.
I loved that special moment when as they are talking and after Bond made an analyzed study of that brandy, we see them slowly passing around that Crystal decanter. To where M gets it and he sniffs the brandy. Then looking over at 007 to give him that look that he may be right about the brandy. Great subtle moment.
The style....black tie dinner, majestic oak furnishings, bandy, cigars, Nazi gold... Connery looking sharp as ever, this is what Bond is all about.
This is wat Craig Brosnan fans dont get
@@Tabish29 Maybe because it was not our time?
As M put it in Goldeneye; "A relic of the Cold War."
Sharp as a tac. 007 from the early 60s.
Not oak, mahogany.
Amen!
Sean Connery made Bond so elegant, well rounded, worldly and intelligent. Great movies.
I agree...that is why Connery is my favorite Bond. He was the most well-rounded and fulfilled all aspects: toughness, humor, playboy demeanor, etc. Roger Moore was too goofy. Timothy Dalton and Daniel Craig were very tough, but at the expense of the humor and playboy aspects of the character. Pierce Brosnan was also very well-rounded, but maybe leaned a bit too far into the playboy side...a bit overly manicured and prissy compared to Connery's grittier portrayal.
All actors delivered very well in this scene. Beautifully shot , great dialogue. Connery was the tough but believable with just enough humanity
@@johnsampson6387 For me Craig ion Casino Royale was still learning how to be Bond. He didn't get fancy gadgets, he got common-sense stuff. He complained when his suit was tailored, but straightened up when he saw himself in the mirror. He didn't get a fancy death trap, he got a knotted rope to the crotch. And only at the end did he wear a suit while carrying a silenced SMG.
@@johnsampson6387 Bit unfair to call Brosnan 'prissy'. He didnt have the animal magnetism of Connery but then very few actors have in the history of cinema.
he owe it to Terence Young, the Director of the first two James Bond, he was the true well rounded
A really economical scene. Exposition. Humour. Wine-snobbery. Britishness. Nazi gold. Great stuff.
Brandy snobbery this time
Missed the cigar snobbery opportunity though.
Not a fan of brandy with a cigar. Brandy has 40% alcohol and tastes hot anyway, add it to a hot cigar and you have a confused palate. Better to smoke a ruby Port of maybe a tawny with a good Cuban.
@@jimmason8502 SNOBBERY!
@@jimmason8502 I respect your opinion.
I love when M takes a sniff of the bottle. I can just tell that he is thinking what the hell is this guy smelling that I can't!
More like "damn this guy knows everthing"!!! LOL
M is working class. Bond is upper crust
No. M is Sir Miles Meversy, Navy Admiral.
"Colonel Smithers is giving the lecture, 007."
Classic.
Yes and eye from connery after it... brilliant
@@murchuan8782 and equally M's look at Bond after the petty retaliation of "you'll draw it from Q Branch with the rest of your equipment in the morning..." This scene definitely is in my top 3 of all time, and possibly number one.
Miss these old British-style spy scenes. Old Brit officers from the SOE in WW2, classic RP British accents, upper class manners, no rude loudmouths. I wish they would make these films again (not necessarily Bond). So many good WW2 and postwar spy stories available.
Agreed - while the modern bond films with Daniel Craig have been (mostly) very enjoyable, the problem is that the modern world is no place for the gentleman spy. With computers and networks everywhere, modern bond has to resort to massively fantastical plotlines and overly complex villians to provide a thrilling adventure story. By contrast just look at this scene - the entire set up is simply that a man is obtaining gold, melting it down and recasting, and somehow getting it abroad to sell for profit. It's dead simple and quite feasible, especially at a time when the smallest computer weighed several tons and occupied the space of a small barn.
Back then everything was physical. It wasn't about data and sensors and whatever else. It was about slipping things past the net by disguise, subversion, seduction, or whatever else worked. And of course there were all the gadgets too - a leftover from the war and a need to provide SOE troops (as well as the resistance) with inconspicuous weapons and demolition charges and such. Modern bond gets a pistol that can read his finger print, where old bond got an exploding pen and a briefcase that doubled as a radio jammer.
The post war years were simply a better time, technologically speaking, for the idea of a top-agent in the field. Modern spies are just hackers for the most part, with exceptionally boring and short lifespans
@@daredemontriple6 your half right. things are more tech and online now. however people still need to go to places and do things. as q says in spyfall "every now and then a trigger needs to be pulled". i think a lot of people are disillusioned with the modern age and think we are further ahead than we are.
Ah, classic Bond where enemies were just a higher class of criminal and not contemporaries of Cobra Commander.
I always like the way Col. Smithers corrects himself when he said Goldfinger "poses" as a legitimate jeweler. Just to be fair to Mr. Goldfinger.
Giving some sympathy to the character, "Yeah, he's a smuggler," "But he is a legitimate International Jeweller."
To be fair, the British are nothing if not fair.
Richard Vernon who played Colonel Smithers in this scene was 39 years old at the time. THIRTY NINE!!!
I think he was also a banker in the TV series Yes Prime Minister , which was shot in the early 80s. He looks about the same LOL.
The butler, Graeme Crooks, serving the cigars was just 43.
everyone smoked back then, they were 18 going on 45 because of smoking
He was in the Beatles "Hard Day's Night"
@@wungabunga Nice try. :D
"Colonel Smithers is giving the lecture 007." 😆
This was the golden era of Bond.
And Bond was thinking " are you jealous of me because I know more than you, you British twit?" 😂
The exasperated look on M's face at another of Bond's "know it all" comments is priceless.
Well, Bond was the creation of Ian Fleming, who was himself from a background of wealth and privilege, and who definitely enjoyed the finer things in life. Fleming gave Bond a lot of his own personality traits, and being a _bon vivant_ with expensive tastes was one of them. This is why Bond is knowledgeable about things like brandy, sherry, fine cuisine, the finest tailors, and other such luxuries.
M's reaction was "oh of course, he _would_ know about something like that."
@@Hibernicus1968to be fair, in books it's M the "more gentleman" of the 2s...
@@Hibernicus1968 There's also the subtle implication that M was the one who brought it. So having his gift insulted by his guest, then dissected by his subordinate...
@@jessecarozza8134 I don't see that implication. I thought it was Col. Smithers apologizing to his guests for serving disappointing brandy.
😂
There is nothing in this world more relaxing or rewarding after a long work day than a good cigar and two fingers of aged brandy.
Montecristo. Right now as I type this.
Topped off by the the divine heaviness of a gold bar recovered from a Nazi hoard found at the bottom of Lake Toplitz.
I love how M takes a sniff of the brandy to try to figure out what the hell Bond was talking about. Far and away the best Bond film and the best Bond.
I prefer You Only Live Twice.
@@Kingfisher1215 Aside from the DC films (Specifically Skyfall and maybe Casino Royale), the best 4 Bonds are From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, You Only Live Twice and The Spy Who Loved Me
D Craig revitalize the franchise though. Sean was the man of his Era no doubt but for me it’s DC. Brosnan was too much of a lover for me
@@urbanwarrior3470 no time to die was an amazing outro
This M was superior in every way. He often couldn't decide whether Bond was an irresponsible womanizer or just an irritating know it all. But in the end he always had his back because he knew what mattered - an agent who got things done. I always hated the way they wrote Judy's M, and how far she ran with the whole man hater angle.
So glad that others love this scene as much as I do. It's as good as anything in the movie. Perfectly shot and perfectly acted. Also quite true to the novel, though naturally condensed. Lovely stuff. One of my all time favorite Bond moments.
It has a really good tempo. Dialogue concise and promptly delivered, no undue pauses.
Brilliant scene from start to finish. The Sherry scene from Diamonds are Forever complements this nicely.
I always loved that backward tracking shot all the way down the table and end up at the bowl of fruit
Another Ken Adam set?
I’ve seen this movie more times than I can count and never noticed this great shot before.
60s Bond: "I'd say it was a thirty-year-old fiend indifferently blended, sir, with an overdose of bombois".
Modern Bond: _feelings_
Bons Bois is a region in Cognac.
Hahaha.
Colonel Smithers is giving the lecture, 007!
If I may (given the whole point of this is pedantry) it's 'fine'; and 'bon bois' :)
Do pay attention !
When he grabbed the gold bar he looked like he was about to take it to the bookies 🤣
Have some of my terribly disappointing brandy [I keep the good stuff in my desk for myself and give this shit to guests].
- Very British
Smithers: “Oh Watson...bring me the box of Haitian cigars for these fine chaps while your putting the Cubans away...”
It was a b.o.g.o.f. from Waitrose. Lol
He was being faux modest.
Hip hip, Horray !!!
I think M was the one who brought it as a party gift. That's why he was so offended when Bond broke down why it sucked
I like the fact that Connery's Bond doesn't push his expertise over the limit. Later Bonds (Roger Moore) became a caricature.
Different actor, different angle.
So good. Gotta love the Brits. Impeccable style and use of language. Bond, James Bond.
The actor who played the banker in this scene is the same actor who years later played a British central banker in Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister.
I thought that was a jolly good wheeze
It was Richard Vernon
He had a part in many films and TV series - example is The Cedar Tree from the early 1980’s and I spotted him doing some travel programmes in the 60’s
Oh those wonderful days in the 60’s and to some extent the 70’s when life was much simpler
🏴🏴🏴🏴🏴🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🏴🏴🏴🏴👍 👍 ❤️❤️
Haha. M sniffing the brandy after 007 critiques it. Beautiful. Godspeed Sean. Thanks for these moments.
What does bond say ?
@@DrinkWater713 You should probably watch the video and hear for yourself
@@m_oakley1311 I tried. Several times.
@@DrinkWater713 Bond is getting a lecture on smuggling and how the British Government believes that Goldfinger is moving gold from country to country, which is illegal. Then the Colonel offers bond what he calls "disappointing" brandy. M wants to know what's wrong with it, and Bond gives a cheeky reply about cognac regions (Fins, pronounced "Feen") and how the brandy has an "overdose of Bon Bois" (another reference to a cognac region). Basically he's showing rarified taste and obscure knowledge of cognac that makes M feel that he's showing off. So M says "Colonel Smithers is giving the lecture, 007". In other words, know your place.
@@m_oakley1311 Thank you. Sometimes the accent makes it inaccessible for me. I'm still working on my listening skills.
This one scene perfectly explains the whole plot of the movie without going into too much detail & I also love the underlying tension between Bond & M - Bond showing off his superior knowledge of fine wines yet M masterfully puts him in his place with the quip about who is doing the lecture & telling Bond to requisition the gold bar from Q branch. After all Bond is a civil servant & M is superior. Goldfinger & Spectre are my two most favourite Bond movies.
Top 2 for me are From Russia With Love and Goldfinger
Skyfall comes in at a close 3rd
Fine wines 😂
@@latergator915......... and Belgian chocolates, for the ladies
M told bond to requisition the gold tomorrow, so Bond wouldn't take it gambling that night.
Well said.
Beautifully played scene by all 3 actors. Connery WAS Bond. And Bernard Lee WAS M.
Lazemby, Moore, Dalton, Brosnan and Craig were Bond too.
NottsKing Co, that is not what he is saying. He’s saying Connery is the definitive Bond.
@@runawayplane6166 My thoughts as well; Moore had the same savoir-fairewith a slightly more restrained showmanship/panache.
Now you've got three subs :)
Connery was good. When he could be bothered. As time went by he did lose interest.
And Richard Vernon WAS the bank of England ( he appeared again in the role in Yes Minister ).
Fabulous scene! Beautifuly filmed and staged.Atmospheric and stylish.
I liked the long tracking shot at the beginning of the meeting..
@@irish89055 Absolutely agree! Blessings.
Plus a nice Freemason floor.
"There is no way wine is better than Pepsi!" George Costanza
SNORT
Don't forget the Ring Dings ...
It’s a great touch when Bond is more of a Brandy connoisseur than Bernard Lee’s M . It puts a nice spin on the Master vs field agent relationship.
M was a cognac man , when judy dench became M he says "your predecessor kept a bottle cognac in the draw" but she preferred burbon
M is always in charge of, and superior to his adjutants in every respect and circumstance. Bond simply provides an amusing, brief distraction for M.
It had nothing to do with a Master dynamic, it has to do with his training in fine wares. He was trained to know the proper etiquette in drinking, such as ordering a separate glass of water to add a few drops to your scotch or whiskey to bring out the flavors yourself. It was his job to keep that charade up because he had to infiltrate these organizations as some pompous rich nobody who drinks expensive booze, and not a assassin with a license to kill. The British government made him like that and invested money into his training, he better know what is in the brandy since double 0's are the best. Christ man, read the books and watch all the movies.
@@Saintbow you’re aware Bond is a spoof I hope? Because you sound like you’re taking this far too seriously. But then the internet is a nice safe home for little bullies like you.
@@U2QuoZepplin Oh my! What a retort!
Beautifully photographed scene. I love how the camera pulls back to show the magnificent set.
it's a film not a photograph
@@sarcasticstartrek7719 Non sequitur
@@shastamccoy7777 learn what words mean, before you use them - you'll come off less stupid.
@@sarcasticstartrek7719 Given your UA-cam identifier, I thought you might recognize that line from the series.
The awesomeness can't be contained.
There is a certain something special about the stylishness of the older british culture on display in early bond movies.
I mean it's basically the aristocracy and ruling class culture. Not exactly the British people
My dad was in army intelligence right at the end of WWII. When I was a little kid I always thought my dad did the same stuff as 007. Needless to say Sean Connery has always been my favorite actor. RIP Sean you are a legend. I've read every James Bond Novel that Fleming wrote. In college literature class 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service' was required reading.
Thank your for the reply and your dad for his service. I'm sure he had some awesome stories! Yes Sean was a legend indeed RIP Sir.
@@user-ck8ec7pj1l Do you tell the postman when it's dark freezing and raining hard "Thank you for your service?"
@@maratonlegendelenemirei3352 I don't know about him, but I might if the weather was so bad that the postman was actually risking his life against weather that might kill him, was serving away from his family by hundreds or thousands of miles, was not going to sleep in his own bed that night, and if I'd seen any postmen in recent years actually doing their work on foot in the traditional manner in bad weather as opposed to little vans. That and I don't really need snail mail much except occasional parcels, and those tend to come with dudes in little vans. If the postman were to meet those conditions, I would definitely thank him if I was actually there to receive the mail. I might omit the "for your service" part, since we would have the advantage of an immediately obvious context, he's still just doing it for a wage, and it's not ultimately earth-shatteringly important to the future of my life or country that it happen every day.
Of course, were we ever again to have the timely on-foot delivery daily and super fast inter city letter times of my youth, I'd be less surly.
@@randomobserver8168 Joining the military is a career choice that you get paid to do like in any other. Death and injury can occur in any chosen career or job.
@@randomobserver8168 Postpersons still walk their route around here.
0:18 Glorious tracking shot to establish the scene. Love the subtle friction between Bond and M that adds humour to the exposition.
Yes, M's sniffing of "this rather disappointing brandy".
It's amazing that Richard Vernon (the actor playing Smithers) was only 39 when this was filmed. He looks like he's 60.
Maybe, but what a great acting!!! In this scene he is the best!!!
It is the worst 39 i have ever seen
Well I never. That’s incredible!
mind blown
in comparison, Connery is 34 and whilst he doesn't look young for his age, he looks damn good.
If only we could go back and buy gold at 30 an ounce.
$30 has lost a lot of its buying power since 1964
`💰´´👌
@@SmilingIbis Yep. When mortgage rates were 25% $30 was Jack. The 400 oz bar is now worth $720,000.00
@@caryboy2006 Mortgage rates were around 5-8% for most of the Sixties.
@@paulhollis8879 they were 25% in 1980s.
Butler pretends to cut the cigar 😂
I read the book and M and Bond was just like this..M a stiff upper lip and Bond a world traveler and gentlemen but also a tough guy.
Absolutely correct. Fleming imbued his characters with great style.
great scene! three excellent actors
billthestinker the excheqeur I saw in a Christopher Lee movie called Brides of Dracula. It combined elements of Bond and Hammer horror acvording to reviewers. But the same magic just wss not there. Altho the actor played a similar British Civil Servant it was just lost in direction that was not top notch like Goldfinger's. Even Guy Hamilton's directorial efforts paled in comparison to his own Bond work! There was just something about Cubby Broccoli that bought out the best in everyone through his production values.
This is probably my favourite scene in the movie, finesse, class, calmness and fine setting, something that's sadly almost gone today.
Well said. Just a good storyline and capable acting.
"Mr. Bond can make whatever use of it he sees fit. Providing he returns it, of course, it's worth £ 5000."
Bond: Immediately gambles with the gold.
£5000 in 1964, that's £105k today in 2021. Daniel Craig's wristwatch is probably more than that.
@@karlbassett8485 Nearer £250K. Gold was $35/oz in 1964...
@@karlbassett8485 Daniel Craig's maybe, not Bond's. Craig's Bond wears Omegas.
@@karlbassett8485
If the link between currency and gold remained. Gold at $30 an ounce in 1962 versus $2000 in 2022.
@@karlbassett8485 It’s an Omega I think. Sorry just noticed you said same thing. Was Sean’s Bond a Rolex?
It's Sir Desmond Glazebrook from Yes, Minister. "I'm a banker, what do I know about finance."
"Why are they all called Milton?"
'I carry the Financial Times but I don't read it...it's all economic theory'
@@marcokite It's part of the uniform.
@@socialistdemocrat7207 What a great line! From a great character in an even greater show.
@Lance Counihan Really, blimey, what an incredible triple crown.
Such old yet gold fashion formal manly dinner scene and discussion. Rest in peace Sir Sean Connery the first James Bond.
Colonel Smithers is giving the lecture 007... Damn, Bond just got sonned.
Of course! That damned figure skating. What a pity she ruined herself. Apart from that, she had everything a man could want.
@@tracywilliams7929 Fleming was a disturbing genius
"Colonel Smithers is giving the lecture 007... Damn, Bond just got sonned."
Bond did embarrass "M" in front of a high ranking officer in the Military, even though I doubt that he even really knew what ***007*** said. Bond could be a bit overbearing at times. Both Bond and M could be a bit overbearing at times. Proud, Stubborn, and Condescending as Hell.
M(Bernard Lee)pretty much is the closest thing he has to a father
"Thank you Brunskill, that will be all." Every line, every expression, every action every shot and pan is exquisitely delivered in a perfect scene.
"Here, you're my guest, have more of the disappointing brandy so I don't have to drink it".
Could watch that over and over. I bet it took 1 whole day to film that. I read all the Bond novels when I was in high school, they were all great.
I did my eighth grade term paper on Ian Flemming. I'd seen all his movies to that point. My teacher - of course - thought I was touched in the head...😂
@@markchasse8992sounds like the teacher was the one touched in the head.
gotta love Ms. "Money-Penny"♥️😜
"Colonel Smithers is giving the lecture, 007!!" That look! LOL!!
I love men who are both elegant and tough, and Sir Sean was the quintessential one
The art direction, script, performances are totally sublime.
When movies were worth watching. Richard Vernon was an excellent actor. Loved him in 'The Man in Room 17' TV series.
yup! they certainly arn't watching anymore
He was also great in Yes Minister.
Hard to believe he was only 39 when this was filmed.
And on the train scene in "A HARD DAYS NIGHT"
SEAN CONNERY WILL ALWAYS BE JAMES BOND😊
I absolutely love small detail, when M tries to figure out how Bond knows that's something wrong with "rather disappointing brandy". I absolutely love M face right there.
With an overdose of bon bois !
Bon Bois is a Cognac region which produces a potent lime clay brandy.
@@Lughnerson I read exactly the same thing online !
@@fifthof1795 That's where I got it because I did not know what he said or meant.
@@Lughnerson knew what bon bois meant, but not the context.The scene is so good and Bernard Lee's reaction shots are brilliant .
@@fifthof1795 Yeah, he is always so irritated when Bond pops off about something related to a high class lifestyle lived on the taxpayer's dime and knowing something about seemingly everything.
Dang, Moneypenny was hot back in the day!
Always underrated.
@@teller1290 But never knowingly undersold
I'd let those torpedos sink me
only 37 in this movie.
Scorching hot.
"...You'll draw it from Q Branch, with the rest of your equipment, in the morning!" M with exquisite pettiness, pulls rank on the know-it-all Bond.
Absolutely fantastic, subtle scene, esp M's admonishment of Bond's hilarious liquor critique.
Love it! Arguably one of the most "Britishy" scenes of all time. Smithers virtually needs a translator to bring his egalitarian lexicon down to earth.
I think you mean equestrian, rather than egalitarian.
@@gordonbartlett1921 Eeeegad, my bad! I mean neither I think. I'd offer up instead 'aristocratic' (but endearingly so) to be more to the point?? All the same one of my all time favorite scenes of any Bond flick. Fun fact: the dinner conversation from Fleming's novel is almost an entire chapter! The movie does a pretty good job of digesting the gist of it from the book.
Indeed. In Spanish for example, the world for gentleman is “caballero”, literally meaning equestrian .
Colonel Smithers is giving the lecture 007!
One of my all time favourite Bond/M moments!
This scene is meant to be in the Bank of England in the evening when it's closed. The only other people around would have been a detachment of soldiers from one of the Guard's 5 infantry regiments. Terrific to think that while these elegant men were having their dinner and talk, that there would have had fully armed, elite soldiers on station and patrolling the premises - even in the vault down below.
During the Gordon Riots in 1780 a detachment of the Foot Guards successfully defended the Bank of England from a violent mob. Thenceforth the Bank paid for a detachment of soldiers, usually provided by the Brigade of Guards to defend the Bank. From 1780 the detachment marched from their barracks, initially from the Tower of London, later Wellington or Chelsea Barracks though in bad weather the detachment would be sent by a normal train of the London Underground. Imagine that!
With a Guard Mount at 3 pm, each guard consisted of one Officer, one Sergeant, one Corporal, one Lance Corporal, eight Guardsmen and a drummer; originally the guard had 30 Guardsmen.
Once at the Bank there were two sentry posts, one outside the Counting House Parlour and another outside the bullion vaults. The officer was given half a bottle of port and the right to invite a friend or two to dinner in the Bank. The other ranks were a given pint of beer with their dinner and one brand new shilling, two for a sergeant, that they bought tea and a cake with in the Canteen. The Guard wore plimsolls in the bank in Modern times.
From 1963 the Bank Picquet travelled by vehicle clad in service dress and armed with automatic weapons with the emphasis on security moving from ceremonial to tactical deployment. Faced with military manpower cuts, it was reluctantly decided that there was no longer a justification for this duty to continue with the duty ending on the evening of 31 July 1973
. Pity.
Thank you for this comment!
@@user-ck8ec7pj1l Cheers. I should say that the scene was filmed in Pinewood studios, so everything you see is a mock up - there wasn't even a ceiling! It's all in the commentary on the DVD. You'll notice that the waiter serves cigars from the left to all of them, ensuring that he slices the cigar end over the box, so the cut part drops into the box. It's details like this that made the Bond films of the 1960's - early 1980's so British and so classic
Guy Hamilton, the director, was a WW2 Royal Navy Motor Torpedo Boat officer, ferrying secret agents into Occupied Europe. His mannerisms were copied by Connery for Bond. Hamilton gave Connery a crash course in the world of the English gentleman, as that was the world Hamilton lived in. Sean Connery was pretty rough and ready, having had a very hard life as a poor working class Scotsman. What your looking at in these films is Guy Hamilton, at 1 remove via Sean Connery, presented as 007.
@@martinidry6300 Fabulous info, Martini thank you. I have all the blu rays I really need to watch the additional features on them!
@@user-ck8ec7pj1l Delighted to oblige old son!
In this scene the acting is 110% PERFECT !!!!!!!!!!
Goldfinger stored some of his gold in Caracas, Venezuela. How times have changed; that country was fairly wealthy and respected back then.
Well, Venezuela was basically a satrap back then. As soon as it wasn't, the UK government decided to go ahead and steal a sizeable chunk of Venezuela's gold.
@@JuanDeSoCal yea the socialist taking over had nothing to do with things going down hill at all 🤔
At one time, if I recall correctly, Venezuela was the richest country in the world. So was Argentina, at another, I think. I'm not joking, btw.
@@RomanvonUngernSternbergnrmfvus yea the spiteful capitalist siege and embargo had nothing to do with things going down hill at all 🤔
@@JuanDeSoCal yea that embargo happened for no reason lol the “socialist” din do nothing
The entire movie is golden!
Way back when…my father explained to me that the Federal Reserve Bank in downtown NYC had more gold in its basement than all of the places mentioned above…combined. Many countries held their gold reserves in that same basement and paid each other by simply moving the gold around from room to room.
Gold at $30 an ounce at the time of this movie. Today it's $1950 an ounce. This gives us some idea about how massively devalued the Dollar and other paper currencies have become, and how much purchasing power we have lost using paper currencies.
Which makes that "£5,000" bar worth around £780,000....
Yes they are literally discussing how they run a global cartel to control the price and can't tolerate anyone trading gold outside their cartel monopoly system in this scene. It's shocking that this got made in retrospect.
The actor, Denis Cowles, who plays Brunskill, the valet, was born in 1889. Even though I was alive at the time the movie came out, I'd forgotten how many older folks still working in the Swinging Sixties in Britain, were born in the 19th century, in the Victorian Era.
I wonder who the oldest person captured on film was? That is, the person with the earliest birthdate of whom motion picture footage still exists?
@@mebsrea On a very tangential note, Bertrand Russell, who was alive when I was a boy, said that his grandfather met Napoleon, or glimpsed him at least. (Near enough to George Washington!)
Sort of brings nearly a quarter of a millennium ago a lot closer, doesn't it?
@@dixonpinfold2582 His grandfather was Lord John Russell, one of the leading Whig statesmen in the mid-Victorian era and twice prime minister
To bring the 19th century closer for Americans, I read that the last widow claiming a pension as the spouse of a US Civil war veteran died this January! (she was 17 when she married a 93 yr old veteran in 1936)
I watch old James Bond movies with Sean Connery to remember my teenage years at the movies, and see my favorite 007.agent. Awm
For a big man Connery moved so majestically.....The best Bond by far.
For a former body builder he could move like a cat.
I always thought he moved like a panther.
Saw this movie last Saturday as part of the 60th Anniversary cinema re-release, absolutely amazing, even though I can tell you the entire script at this stage, to see this epic on a huge screen and booming sound was fantastic to say the least. Go see a classic Bond movie in the cinema please, you won't regret it
I saw this one in cinema. I was 13 at the time and did not pick up on the fact that PG was a lesbian.
@@countalucard4226 she was.... until Bond came along. Which is why in Thunderball, Fiona points it out to him to which he replied "well, you can't win them all"
Also saw this rerelease for the 60th anniversary @Westfield VUE and seeing it on the big screen after watching it for decades on tv was a entirely different experience!
@@theman2017inc my point exactly
" Mr. Bond can make whatever use of it he sees fit. Providing he returns it, of course, it's worth £ 5000. " Fantastic.
That's a little over GBP90,000 today.
@@Tourist1967 Ah, yes. The great old days of the £.s.d., 12 pennies - 1 shilling,. 20 shillings - 1 Pound sterling system. Which I am told, mathematically speaking, was a more practical and sensible way of doing it than decimal - 100, as there are fewer ways to evenly divide 100, and several more ways to evenly divide 240. And though it pre - dated computers, as we know them, they could certainly be adapted to that counting system. But, 50 + years in, and mostly likely no signs of changing things now.
@@johnnyzeee5215 The concept of a factorable number is lost on the present generation of "woke" nitwits.
@@selfdoworse still their complete nativity of fiat currency and the beautiful slight of hand played in '71 by Central Bankers including our own scum bags.
@@johnnyzeee5215A system dating back to the days of Charlemagne, if I'm not mistaken.
This is what a dinner business meeting ought to be.
That was a great film. James Bond at its peak. Connery was unbelievably good. The look M gives him after he smelled the bottle is really funny. The film is very entertaining. I like this movie. That's how Bond should always be. ✌
Most scenes with Connery are masterpieces and could be looked at over and over agian.
The thing about Bond was he was not concerned with other people's feelings. He was a psychopath, but he knew the difference between right and wrong. Women were disposable playthings. He really didn't care. Sean Connery was perfect for the role.
A standard US gold bar weighs just over 27 lb. I handled one once in the vault at the NY Federal Reserve, back before 2001 when they still did vault tours for Reserve Bank employees. You really needed two hands to heft it. It cracks me up when I see people in movies tossing them around one handed. That bar, if real gold, would have likely weighed 10 kilos, or 22 lb.
Nice acting on Connerys side. The greed in his eyes when he reached out for the gold... well done... Even a James Bond can't resist the aura of gold.
The acting in this scene is not supposed to draw attention to itself, it's not supposed to be over the top - but damn, it's good
"His establishment here is down in Kent"
"You mean where the werewolf ran amok?"
"Precisely"
"I understand his hair was perfect"
"Get back to the subject at hand 007"
Love the back and forth with M a member of the established class and Bond who relied on charity to better himself from the working class
I just wanna live one day like James, the elegance, the beauty, the action, everything
These Bonds are so far ahead of the Craig Catastrophe, it is literally another planet❤️
Loved how the Director chose to move the camera AWAY from them as they are talking. All the way to the back of the room. Causing them to look small. Usually you will see the camera going TOWARDS the actors in a scene like this. Very interesting. I liked it a lot. Then the Director cut in to them for closer shots. All great.
Moneypenny was the greatest catch Bond could have ever hoped for. A loyal servant of the Crown, she was smart, sophisticated, pretty, skilled and caring. I’m glad they never consummated their relationship. It was always perfect this way.
That look she gives Bond as he leaves the office is, for my money, the sexiest moment in the entire Bond series.
Not to mention...Canadian
Dr No until Thunderball, was Connerys best Bond films. Tightly/sharply written and Presented ......saw the Budget on Screen.
Agreed. YOLT was big budget but I've always felt Connery looked a tad disinterested in it somehow...and I think he looked positively lethargic in DAF.. just my opinion.
Goldfinger was better than Dr.No
But both were better than diamonds are forever
But of course Thunderball was a notable success
I wish On Her Majesty’s Secret Service had been produced earlier in the Connery era. I was an early teen when it was released and just couldn’t accept anyone else playing Bond. But having recently seen it, it was a great movie and Lazenby did very credible job, especially for a non-actor who bluffed his way into the role.
@@Primus54I would have loved seeing Connery playing opposite Diana Rigg.
Guy Hamilton was responsible for setting that scene and having it come across the way it did. His direction helped to establish the James Bond look. Everyone gives Sean Connery so much credit. But it was Guy Hamilton who schooled Connery on how to look and how to act.
That could be said for anyone who has accomplished anything at any time. All success is a result of the team around you.
Absolutely! Absolutamente! Tout à fait !
No, it was not Guy Hamilton, it was Terence Young, a true bonvivant and director of the first two Conery Bonds (Dr No and From Russia with Love), who schooled Connery and defined his look and style as well as so much of the feel of the early Bond films. He insisted on Champagne on set! Young took Connery to his tailor, and told him to sleep in his new suit so it would be comfortable and feel second nature. He took Connery to his club and so, so much more. There are docos on Young's influence on Connery and the series that are magic to watch.
@@phiniusjwhippy I stand corrected!
Terence Young and Guy Hamilton were the two best Bond directors. I've since wondered how Basil Dearden might have got on. He was of the same stable.
5000 pounds from 1963 to 2017 = Current value almost 100,000 pounds in today's money.
Thanks saved me looking that up
leftcoaster67 I think the value of that gold bar is closer to £340,000 in today’s prices
And £20 million from 1964 is just less than £400 million today
It’s a lot more, as the price of gold has outpaced inflation since then. Let’s stick with the price Col. Smithers gave for gold, £30, and the value of the bar, £5000. That means that the bar is 166.7 ounces. Using today’s (7/10/2020) price of gold, £1430 , we get a value of about £240000.
One can understand why M insisted Bond draw the bar from Q branch in the morning.
In just 15 years from films release it would go from 35 dollars an ounce to over 800
This is a classic scene- this is what is missing from the modern versions of Bond. High stakes espionage requires high stakes clandestine meetings.
007: there's Connery, and then everyone else.
This scene is one of the reasons Sean Connery is the best James Bond. If you look at his tux compared to the others, it is obviously not up to snuff, but he wears it well. His style always came across as a blue collar guy in a white collar world, one of us, so we can always relate to him so well.
Obviously not up to" snuff" I enjoyed your comment
One of the rare occasions he weras a notch lapel tux. Does make it look a little low rent, an odd choice
Note how M resents a member of the lower ranks having a better knowledge of brandy and blending that he should have. With a French mother, perhaps not surprising but again it establishes Bond as One Of Us
M has strong political and military connections and this M is the best of the series. Bond is just the novice spy, trying to break in the game.
00-Agents aren't novice! They are above the regular agent after all, they take the juicist assignments (but also take the highest risks! - Hell, M prides himself on getting casualty numbers among 00-Personal down 40% in 'Dr. No' and he gives Bond the PPK (because his Beretta jamed on him during an assignment) "in order to keep it that way")
To put it into perspective, M was a Vice Admiral in the Royal Navy - in effect, the second highest rank available. Bond was a Commander.
@dreamingflurry2729 If I recall, Bond had a pocket size Beretta .25acp that got caught, snag as he drew it. M told Q branch to get new Walther PPKs in the larger .380acp caliber for all 00 series agents.
RIP Mr. Connery.
I loved that special moment when as they are talking and after Bond made an analyzed study of that brandy, we see them slowly passing around that Crystal decanter. To where M gets it and he sniffs the brandy. Then looking over at 007 to give him that look that he may be right about the brandy. Great subtle moment.
Always loved the lack of background noise and clarity of the dialogue in the early bond movies.
Clssic scene, Napoleon brandy,cigars,Nazi gold,stunning furnishings,Sean Connery sharp as a razor-he is the real James Bond!
Nobody has ever done it better....!
Smithers is handling that 30 pounds gold bar like it's nothing.
Still the best Bond movie ever made
Col. Smithers is played by British actor Richard Vernon.
He also played the stuffy guy on the train in "A Hard Days Night".
I wish Moneypenny had bigger roles in all Bond films. She was great
Years later she wrote a column for the Toronto Sun called Moneypenny for quite a long time. Lois Maxwell passed away in 2007. RiP
@@JohnSmith-vp4ft Not many people knew she was Canadian.
Richard Vernon was pure class 👍🇬🇧
Just awesome!