A c t o r s

      On this rare picture all "Bonds" are resting... As for us, we don't keep your (our readers) nose to the grindstone, because we are going to publish there the good articles about those, who agreed to assume responsibility for the destiny of the hero number one in twentieth century.

      We open this Page with the story about an interview with Roger Moore, which was done not without a touch of guile by ITAR_TASS correspondent, probably, in winter 2001. This article gives the point of view, very popular in Russia on the subject of Bond movies and answers the question, who is the best James Bond. Certainly here you will find a portrait of actor, who worked Bond during 12 years.

      For those Timothy Dalton admirers, who is thinking, that a web-site, dedicated Timothy Dalton's creativity shouldn't have another information, especially - good information about his colleagues, we report, that you will find some good words about Dalton too and even his photo! For those, who is in haste, we used special red and large type to show the text, which everyone, who is Timothy's fan or admirer, ought to read!

      The melody from film "The Spy Who Loved Me" sounds here, because Roger Moore believes, that it was not only his best Bond movie, but one of the best Bond cinema-stories at all.

60 Minutes with the Agent 007

      Our ways met unexpectedly in a five-star hotel on the "pearl of Mediterranean Region" - the island Rhodes, where Roger Moore had flown as an ambassador of Goodwill from United Nations Children's Foundation - UNICEF, - to make a report to the Interpol conference and to acquaint the participants with the different aspects of the problem of exploitation of children by adults.

      Retired 15 years ago ex-agent 007 immediately charmed and made interest with the policemen - and, certainly, their wifes, who escorted them. Addressing to a meeting, Roger Moore said, that he feels a special simpathy to the audience from his very childhood, because his father was an officer of London Policy. It was very fun to watch, how the supernal policemen, the generals, the chiefs of special services - Europeans, Americans, Africans, Indians, Japaneses - with their "best halfs" were veritably laying siege to the popular cinema hero and were happy, when they could make a photo with James Bond, who charitably permitted them do it. All these people know each other well and for a long time, after the conference they will exchange photoes, but I was the only journalist in the company and this is why I decided do not use their achievements in this field - I decided to try to get the Bond's interview anywise.

      It seemed this venture will fail to start with. But then a very good idea came to my head. To make Moore to look at me among the other people with the interest I had to resort to subterfuge. When the two gentlmen, who had made themelves known to him as the officers of American and British secret services, came to him for getting a common photo, I tried to keep a stright face and said, that can't lose my chance and immediately will make a photo of the three of them for KGB. The American was so surprised, that opened his mouth and made a fatuous smile on his face. The Englishman showed an insincere and contrived one, but Bond-Moore approved himself as a man with a keen sense of humour - he had become interested to know about the "agent" (from the word agency) ITAR-TASS and agreed to give me the interview, when the programme of the conference will over, changing his minutely developed schedule.

      However I had to wait the promised interview for a long time. So I had a time to think of the questions to my best-loved (certainly, after Sean Connery) James Bond actor, to go back to his career. Looking at the clean-cut, handsome, charming man, you will never think of him, that the hero of the seven Bond movies is older, than 70, is down with canser of prostate, as it was written in the British yellow press. Recently he had divorced his third wife, Italian Louise, who lived with him during 25 years (isn't it a record for so popular actor?). Roger bought off her 10 millions of pounds and is now getting married for the fourth time - now it is Swede Christina Tolstrup. Only some wrinkles you can see on the photo can tell you about Moore's age - in the real life you will give it no thought.

      It seems unthinkable that Moore began his career as a cinema actor in… 1954 (in the film "Last time, when I saw Paris"), he was Bond during 12 years and personated his last Bond role in 1984. However today he is still filmimg in TV performances, shows and even in films, he takes part in the different UNICEF programmes to raise funds, he is the EC deputy on African countries. He spends one half of his life in the airplans, attending the most exotic countries and hot spots on all continents, but another half of life he spends being surrounded by the same big names as he is - in Europe and in USA, including the glamourous select watering-places, like his legendary hero in the movies "The Spy, Who Loved Me", "For Your Eyes Only", "The Man With the Golden Gun", "Octopussy", "Moonracker".

      When some hours had passed and it was seemed to me, that Her Magesty's agent had simply forgotten about ITAR_TASS "agent", his helper had found me in agreed place and said, that Bond was waiting for me. And here we are face to face in a huge size half empty room. In the distance - close-lipped and amiable Christina Tolstrup. Our life is a very unpredictable thing: some time later they both will fortunately escape the death in a tremendous auto-catastrophe in Sweden, but Bond, it seems, is very lucky in the real life too…


      During the interview, which lasted about an hour, I had heard a lot of surprising things from the agent 007 and got an unique chance to watch him nearly in a homishness. I had found, that he seldom answers directly to my questions, that he speaks the same fantastic language, full of typical bright English humour, which he used in the Bond films, that he is very sensitive and a little bit sophisticated to himself and the others. When I said directly to my interlocutor, that although Sean Connery is equal to him as an actor (honestly speaking, Sean Connery even excels him, like Timothy Dalton, but certainly it's impossible to say the same about another Bonds - George Lazenby and Pierce Brosnan), but many people I know and I myself think, that "the real Bond" is Roger Moore, I had heard his typical English answer, where you feel much more sence, than words: "R-r-r-r-r-real-l-ly? Sean told me it was him".


      The readers of newspaper "Nikitskie Vorota", who have met Bond on the screen, will be certain surprised to know, that the agent 007 in the real form of Roger Moore appreciates private life, Russian culture, hates restaurants and violence and never took his adventures on the screen as a superspy seriously.

      His opinion is, that the cinema is " dupery" and "illusion". "And it's an illusion, that I am a hero", - told the agent 007 and then added: "I am looking like a hero, I always played the roles of heroes". Roger Moore said, that he "likes to work, to be in filming and enjoy to become another man on the screen", but all his personages have a strong impress of his personality. He blesses the cinema for his world-wide popularity and he is sure, that the people from his environment are the main reason of his success - directors, whizzbang technicians, cameramen. He compared himself with "a piece of glass, enchased in gold". Roger Moore considers "The Spy Who Loved Me" his best Bond film. "There were all the elements, I think, would be presented in the Bond movie", - he says.

      Roger Moore is not an egocentric. He really admires the actor's scills of his predecessor in the part of Bond - Sean Connery. According to his version, for those times Connery "was absolutely right man for the role and had all the features for his hero, that Jan Fleming supposed to be required - the animal magnetism, the manners of a villian". This is why Moore tried " to introduce an element of comedy into the Bond movies", because according to him "he didn't look like a man, who can kill someone".

      The agent 007 made a clean breast of his relation to the last Bond movies - he didn't watch them at all and supposes that this genre "has become the object of imitation" and this is why it degenerates now. Because James Bond originally - is a satire on Secret Service, "but it's impossible - to make satire on satire ". "With the years - he explained , - producers decided to show a violence, like in the films of "Rambo" type, but it's a thing we would ever avoid".

      He diplomatically ducked my question, could Americans play a Bond role, if they adore cult of power only, but James Bond is a gentleman and a smoothy from the definition of the character… But Roger Moore gave me the wink that he didn't think so.

      The fact, that Roger Moore, who many times opposed Russians on the screen - not only beautiful girls, but guileful agents too, - devoutly admired Russian culture, was completely unexpected for me. He told me about the great impression he had got visiting The Boshoi Theatre and Hermitage, "where you can walk during some years", the Saint-Petersburg summer palaces. He appeared in Russia some times - the last one - about a year ago - and every time he went away with the more pleasant impressions.

      The actor is sure, all the changes that have happened in Russia are "determined and complicated ones, but they are only to the better, because the communist system, which at last became a prey to corruption, didn't work. It seemed, it worked, if you did believe in it, although those, who lived inside this system, - he added, - didn't have a choice and they had to believe in it". "Every transition is hard, especially, if you are moving to democracy. But it will not be continued for a long time. The world is changing and fast enough", - noted Moore philosophically.

      Having been known, that the films with his participation are often aired in Russia today and he has a lot of admirers there, especially among women, Moore said, that he is "much obliged and feels himself highly honoured".

      Having been watched him from a short distance, I, it seems, had understood, why does he so very much successful with women. This is due to his manner, his movements, his ability to be always in good form, to be always dressed with elegance and to the place, the efficient affectation of the man features of his nature, attractive for women, in conjunction with the irreproachable training and innate debonair, coming near to hurtable emotionality, and at last, in conjunction with his penetrant throaty-trilled voice.

      And it seems, that having read these lines, Roger Moore would repeat his unequalled: "r-r-r-r-real-l-ly?".

      ATHENS-RHODES, Sergey Latyshev

COPYRIGHT - "Nikitskie Vorota", "60 minutes with the agent", by Sergey Latyshev, 2001

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