Yes, a female James Bond has been over a half-century in the making.
Before Lashana Lynch briefly donned the 007 title in “No Time to Die,” the film adaptation of “Dr. No,” a woman was in talks to lead the franchise 50 years prior.
In Nicholas Shakespeare’s upcoming biography of Bond author Ian Fleming, titled “Ian Fleming: The Complete Man,” it’s revealed that original “Casino Royale” producer Gregory Ratoff had imagined a woman in the titular lead role. In fact, Oscar-winning actress Susan Hayward was in Ratoff’s mind to take the part.
Prior to “Casino Royale,” the two Bond films had floundered with “Thunderball” and “Casino Royale” receiving poor reviews, hence the proposed gender-swap.
Shakespeare writes in the biography, “Since the mid-1950s, many well-known actors had been approached. Gregory Ratoff had the arresting idea of having Bond played by a woman, Susan Hayward. Ian had entertained several possibilities,...
Before Lashana Lynch briefly donned the 007 title in “No Time to Die,” the film adaptation of “Dr. No,” a woman was in talks to lead the franchise 50 years prior.
In Nicholas Shakespeare’s upcoming biography of Bond author Ian Fleming, titled “Ian Fleming: The Complete Man,” it’s revealed that original “Casino Royale” producer Gregory Ratoff had imagined a woman in the titular lead role. In fact, Oscar-winning actress Susan Hayward was in Ratoff’s mind to take the part.
Prior to “Casino Royale,” the two Bond films had floundered with “Thunderball” and “Casino Royale” receiving poor reviews, hence the proposed gender-swap.
Shakespeare writes in the biography, “Since the mid-1950s, many well-known actors had been approached. Gregory Ratoff had the arresting idea of having Bond played by a woman, Susan Hayward. Ian had entertained several possibilities,...
- 4/8/2024
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
“I’ve wondered for 26 years what this would feel like. Thank you for ending the suspense.” Shirley MacLaine made that declaration 35 years ago upon finally winning her well-deserved Academy Award for 1983’s “Terms of Endearment” (watch the video above with Rock Hudson and Liza Minnelli presenting). She finished up with a saucy admission of, “I deserve this!” And now, all these years later, not one but two actresses can relate to the anticipation captured in that acceptance speech.
There is much ado about Glenn Close’s seventh acting nomination this month, but Amy Adams is also attempting a victory on her sixth bid, placing her only one notch behind Close. Will this finally be the triumphant year for either close as Best Actress for “The Wife” or Adams in Best Supporting Actress for “Vice”? Why does it sometimes take Oscar voters so long to recognize some of its most talented members?...
There is much ado about Glenn Close’s seventh acting nomination this month, but Amy Adams is also attempting a victory on her sixth bid, placing her only one notch behind Close. Will this finally be the triumphant year for either close as Best Actress for “The Wife” or Adams in Best Supporting Actress for “Vice”? Why does it sometimes take Oscar voters so long to recognize some of its most talented members?...
- 2/12/2019
- by Susan Pennington
- Gold Derby
It’s a powerful plea against the death penalty, but also an Oscar bid for a fiery actress. And don’t forget the cool jazz music score. On top of this Robert Wise adds a formerly- taboo sequence, a realistic depiction of an execution in the gas chamber. Of such things were gritty, hard-hitting reputations made.
I Want to Live!
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1958 / B&W / 1:85 widescreen / 121 min. / Street Date November 15, 2016 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store 29.95
Starring Susan Hayward, Simon Oakland, Theodore Bikel, Virginia Vincent, Wesley Lau, Philip Coolidge.
Cinematography Lionel Lindon
Original Music Johnny Mandel
Written by Nelson Gidding, Don M. Mankiewicz
Produced by Walter Wanger (for Joseph Mankiewicz)
Directed by Robert Wise
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Robert Wise’s I Want to Live! from 1958 is a Can of Worms movie… start discussing its subject matter, and opinions immediately become a stumbling block. So I’ll...
I Want to Live!
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1958 / B&W / 1:85 widescreen / 121 min. / Street Date November 15, 2016 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store 29.95
Starring Susan Hayward, Simon Oakland, Theodore Bikel, Virginia Vincent, Wesley Lau, Philip Coolidge.
Cinematography Lionel Lindon
Original Music Johnny Mandel
Written by Nelson Gidding, Don M. Mankiewicz
Produced by Walter Wanger (for Joseph Mankiewicz)
Directed by Robert Wise
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Robert Wise’s I Want to Live! from 1958 is a Can of Worms movie… start discussing its subject matter, and opinions immediately become a stumbling block. So I’ll...
- 12/13/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
On Saturday night, Lynn Stalmaster will become the first casting director ever to receive an Academy Award as he’s presented an Honorary Oscar alongside documentarian Frederick Wiseman, editor Anne V. Coates, and Jackie Chan.
Stalmaster has cast countless classics (“The Graduate,” “West Side Story”) and helped launch the careers of actors like John Travolta and Jeff Bridges. Yet, for the Academy, and its relatively new casting director branch, honoring the casting veteran has a deeper meaning and potentially larger implications.
Casting directors remain the only job in the opening titles of a movie that doesn’t have its own Oscar category, but with Stalmaster receiving his award on Saturday many feel it is simply a matter of when, not if.
The job of casting director is one that Stalmaster invented with Marion Dougherty (she passed away in 2011) after the studio system crumbled in the 1950s. However, it’s only...
Stalmaster has cast countless classics (“The Graduate,” “West Side Story”) and helped launch the careers of actors like John Travolta and Jeff Bridges. Yet, for the Academy, and its relatively new casting director branch, honoring the casting veteran has a deeper meaning and potentially larger implications.
Casting directors remain the only job in the opening titles of a movie that doesn’t have its own Oscar category, but with Stalmaster receiving his award on Saturday many feel it is simply a matter of when, not if.
The job of casting director is one that Stalmaster invented with Marion Dougherty (she passed away in 2011) after the studio system crumbled in the 1950s. However, it’s only...
- 11/9/2016
- by Chris O'Falt
- Indiewire
Theodore Bikel. Theodore Bikel dead at 91: Oscar-nominated actor and folk singer best known for stage musicals 'The Sound of Music,' 'Fiddler on the Roof' Folk singer, social and union activist, and stage, film, and television actor Theodore Bikel, best remembered for starring in the Broadway musical The Sound of Music and, throughout the U.S., in Fiddler on the Roof, died Monday morning (July 20, '15) of "natural causes" at the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. The Austrian-born Bikel – as Theodore Meir Bikel on May 2, 1924, in Vienna, to Yiddish-speaking Eastern European parents – was 91. Fled Hitler Thanks to his well-connected Zionist father, six months after the German annexation of Austria in March 1938 ("they were greeted with jubilation by the local populace," he would recall in 2012), the 14-year-old Bikel and his family fled to Palestine, at the time a British protectorate. While there, the teenager began acting on stage,...
- 7/23/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Brad Pitt 'Glory Days' costar Nicholas Kallsen Brad Pitt 'Glory Days' costar Nicholas Kallsen dead at 48 Nicholas Kallsen, who was featured opposite Brad Pitt in the short-lived television series Glory Days, has died at age 48 in Thailand according to online reports. Their source is one of Rupert Murdoch's rags, citing a Facebook posting by one of the actor's friends. The cause of death was purportedly – no specific source was provided – a drug overdose.* Aired on Fox in July 1990, Glory Days told the story of four high-school friends whose paths take different directions after graduation. Besides Nicholas Kallsen and Brad Pitt, the show also featured Spike Alexander and Evan Mirand. Glory Days lasted a mere six episodes – two of which directed by former Happy Days actor Anson Williams – before its cancellation. Roommates Nicholas Kallsen and Brad Pitt vying for same 'Thelma & Louise' role? The Murdoch tabloid also...
- 5/1/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
With the road to the Academy Awards well and truly underway, the next few weeks of Top 10 Tuesdays will have a suitable Oscar theme, kicking off this week with the 10 Greatest Oscar winning Performances!
The past 83 years have unquestionably provided some exceptional performances – as well as some that have definitely been overlooked by the Academy – and below are the five best Oscar winning performances by an actor and the five best from an actress…in my opinion!
10. Susan Hayward – I Want To Live! (1958)
Barbara Graham (Susan Hayward) is a woman with a questionable moral fibre. Often found in seedy bars soliciting, she has previously been sentenced for a number of small, petty crimes. When two of Barbara’s sleazy male acquaintances murder an older woman it isn’t long before the police catch them. Falsely believing that Barbara has assisted the police in arresting them they claim that is in...
The past 83 years have unquestionably provided some exceptional performances – as well as some that have definitely been overlooked by the Academy – and below are the five best Oscar winning performances by an actor and the five best from an actress…in my opinion!
10. Susan Hayward – I Want To Live! (1958)
Barbara Graham (Susan Hayward) is a woman with a questionable moral fibre. Often found in seedy bars soliciting, she has previously been sentenced for a number of small, petty crimes. When two of Barbara’s sleazy male acquaintances murder an older woman it isn’t long before the police catch them. Falsely believing that Barbara has assisted the police in arresting them they claim that is in...
- 2/9/2011
- by Stuart Cummins
- Obsessed with Film
Jose here.
Today is the anniversary of Susan Hayward's birth (she would've turned 93). Browsing through her filmography it struck me how conflicted I am regarding her acting. Despite her extreme beauty (what did they feed these women back then?) I find her acting slightly hammy sometimes and rather inexpressive on different occasions.
Hayward was nominated for five Best Actress Oscars and perhaps the reason for my slight discontent with her is that in a way, she created the "easy way to an Oscar nod". Let's take a look at the characters that got her Oscar's attention and the reasons why AMPAS couldn't resist to nominate her:
1946 Angelica 'Angie'/'Angel' Evans Conway in Smash-Up, The Story of a Woman
Angelica is a club singer who marries a rising performer, gives up her career and becomes an alcoholic. The plot is loosely based on the life of Dixie Lee, Bing Crosby's first wife.
Today is the anniversary of Susan Hayward's birth (she would've turned 93). Browsing through her filmography it struck me how conflicted I am regarding her acting. Despite her extreme beauty (what did they feed these women back then?) I find her acting slightly hammy sometimes and rather inexpressive on different occasions.
Hayward was nominated for five Best Actress Oscars and perhaps the reason for my slight discontent with her is that in a way, she created the "easy way to an Oscar nod". Let's take a look at the characters that got her Oscar's attention and the reasons why AMPAS couldn't resist to nominate her:
1946 Angelica 'Angie'/'Angel' Evans Conway in Smash-Up, The Story of a Woman
Angelica is a club singer who marries a rising performer, gives up her career and becomes an alcoholic. The plot is loosely based on the life of Dixie Lee, Bing Crosby's first wife.
- 6/30/2010
- by Jose
- FilmExperience
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