After a one movie break, Sean Connery came back to the role of James Bond in 1971's DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER. This was the first Bond movie to be shot mostly in the USA and the first with co-screenwriter Tom Mankiewicz, who brought a lot more humor to the screenplay than past Bonds. OO7 is in good form here, with lots of classic moments including the Dune Buggy chase, the Mustang Mach 1 chase through Las Vegas, Bond scaling the outside of the Whyte House and Jill St. John as Tiffany Case. As a Bond fan, I'll always have trouble with Blofeld in drag, the small scale of the climax aboard the oil rig and some of the lame special effects, but they're outweighed by the thrill of seeing Connery back in action, Shirley Bassey's great theme song, John Barry's excellent score and Lana Wood as Plenty O'Toole. (named after her father perhaps?) Did you know that John Gavin (Sam from Psycho) was already cast as the new James Bond when Connery agreed to come back one more time, so Gavin walked away with his paycheck? This would be Connery's last time as Bond in the official 007 series, with Roger Moore taking over in 1973's Live and Let Die. Diamonds is Connery in the prime of 1970's cool, licensed to thrill in his last performance as Bond. Until Craig, there would be no equal in the role. Diamonds sparkles with a B.
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