The Many Lives of James Bond

by Mark Edlitz

  One more thing. He would call me [imitating Connery] “Schofield.” But when he says “Schofield” it sounds like he’s saying “Blofeld.”

  That’s what I was thinking.

  Yeah, yeah, it was great. I loved it.

  Did you ask him Bond questions?

  Sean told us stories about making the movie From Russia with Love. He talked about [Pedro Armendáriz who played Kerim Bay] and who was very sick while filming it. He died shortly after [his work on] the film was complete. Sean said he was a great guy; it was a big loss. He said that he had a really good time making that one. It was his second Bond film. It was a lot of fun because it was brand new, and it was just starting to get big. It was an exciting time for him. I remember him calling my house a few times and leaving messages like, “Glen Schofield, please. This is Sean Connery.” Like he had to say his name. Like I wouldn’t have recognized his voice. My wife used to save those messages.

  What do you remember about the recording session?

  There were a number of them and they were all done in a well-known studio in the Bahamas [Compass Point Studios]. A lot of important musicians recorded there including Bob Marley, AC/DC, and the Rolling Stones. There were gold records all over the walls. Sean has used that studio for twenty years to record lines for his movies.

  We tried to get him to match his voice from the film. But he was [more than forty years] older, so trying to get him to be the same voice was tough. He would get a little gravely at times, but what a trouper.

  What kind of direction did you give him?

  His digital agent, which was a new thing at the time, kept telling me, “You have to bring a director down. You have to have a director.” I said, “Well, I’ve directed these sessions many times.” But he insisted, “You have to bring a director down, Glen. A professional director.” So we fly a director down. This director was this sycophant. “Oh, Sean, that was wonderful.” But I’m also in the booth and I know I need it to be a certain way. So, I’m changing things. I said, “Sean, we need you to do this.” At the end of the day, Sean comes up to me and says, “Glen, you have to fire the director and do it yourself.” So I did. I directed the rest of the sessions myself. It was a little daunting to tell Sean Connery, “You need another take.” But he was really professional. He would just say, “Okay,” and then he’d do another take. I knew when it was fine to ask for another one. But I didn’t have to do a heck of a lot of them. I would say, “I need it a little bit this way.” He was easy to direct.

  Do you recall any specific direction you gave him?

  There were times when I would say, “Oh, Sean, in this scene, there is supposed to be a helicopter in the background, so you’ll need to yell it out a little bit more” or, “When you’re saying a line, you just need to have an emphasis on a different word.”

  We would discuss the scene before recording it and he would say, “Oh, I should probably do it this way.” He added a little flavor to it, too, and it was great. A couple of times he’d say, “Bond wouldn’t say that.”

  Well, he knows the character.

  He also said, “Well, here Bond would not be so forceful. He’s more of a matter-of-fact kind of guy.” He just knew Bond.

  What do you remember about Sean doing the classic line, “Bond, James Bond?”

  I don’t think we had to do too many takes on that one. Most of the time he nailed it right away. The biggest issue was not performance but that his voice would give out because we were working for hours and hours. He hadn’t done this sort of thing in a long time.

  What’s your strongest memory of Connery in the booth?

  I remember sitting there and saying to myself, “Wow, I’m just an artist from New Jersey, and I’m sitting here directing Sean Connery as 007.” I remember thinking that this is a time I will remember my whole life. Instead of having us stay at a hotel he said, “Stay in my friend’s bed and breakfast.”

  In the recording booth, did he physicalize the role and embody Bond a little bit?

  A little bit, but it was mostly his voice. He would sit and drink his tea. But it was his special tea. I said, “Sean, can I try it?” He replied, “Oh, sure.” He made me some tea and said, “I got this tea from Michael Stipe of R.E.M. Are you familiar with them?” [Laughs.] The next day Sean comes in and he hands me a canister of that tea.

  I wonder if his gesture was a small thank-you for helping him reprise his role.

  As I mentioned, his agent at the time said he was a tough guy. Sean is a tough guy but I’m also a fairly big guy. I lift weights. We kinda hit it off on the tough guy thing. Mind you, I’m not really a tough guy.

  I’m a little surprised that he was so easygoing. I would have thought that given his mixed feelings about playing Bond he might have been a little prickly.

  Not at all. Let me tell you another story. We finished the recording session on Friday. The guy who ran the place checks the tapes and he goes, “Oh, my god. I don’t have the recording session.”

  Something happened to Connery’s recording?

  He said, “For the first time in my career, something happened. I don’t have it. Glen, I don’t have it.” My heart just fell. I didn’t have any more money in the budget to re-record the entire session. I didn’t know what to do. He said, “Let me call Sean. I’ve known him for twenty years.”

  He calls me back and says, “Sean said he’ll come in tomorrow, no problem.” It was just amazing, to have Sean say he’d do that. I called Sean and said, “We’ll pick you up in a limo.” He said, “Oh, I’ll drive myself, Schofield.” That day he drove up in this modest little truck. He didn’t have the trappings of fame. Sean came back in that Saturday, and we recorded for four hours. Four more hours of him and we got everything we needed. Any other actor I know would’ve charged us for that day.

  Here’s a little anecdote. In the Bahamas, there’s a ritzy billion-dollar casino. Of course, there’s no parking immediately in front of the casino. Instead, a valet takes your car. There is one exception. When we got to the casino we saw that right up front is Sean Connery’s little truck. It’s just sitting there. You knew the respect that this man got.

  Why do you think he agreed to do a video game?

  He said he had grandkids. His grandkids were more excited about video games than they were about his movie career. So we gave him a bunch of free video games. We gave him a console so he could bring it back to them. For him, it was about them.

  He normally tries to distance himself from Bond, so it’s surprising he came back. He didn’t need the money.

  No, no. It was all about his grandkids.

  Marlon Brando did voice work for the Godfather video game, which came out a year later. Does it pay well or is it a chance to try something new?

  For the number of days they work, it is good money. But it is also a chance to do something they haven’t done before.

  In addition to capturing Connery’s look, the Bond in your game also moves like him.

  We spent a lot of time trying to get that right. We studied the way he moved. He moves in a unique way, right? Back then, we didn’t have motion capture, so it was all hand animation. But the entire experience was fairly smooth. I remember my boss at the time saying, “This is the smoothest Bond game we’ve ever done, without a doubt.”

  Working with the Broccolis and all those people can be tricky, because they’re particular about their brand, and they should be. But my main contact there—I can’t remember his name—said, “This has been the best Bond game I’ve ever worked on.” We all had a good time.

  The Broccolis know Bond better than almost anyone but I can understand why you might want to put your own creative stamp on it. What discussion did you have about what’s good for the game versus what’s good for the Bond franchise?

  I wanted it to be authentic. I wasn’t worried about putting my stamp on it. I wanted to make it a true Bond game and bring back the feel of 1963. Those were my personal goals. I also wanted to make sure the Bond people
were happy with the game, and they were.

  What were some interesting creative differences on the other games?

  We wanted Bond to carry two guns. But the licensor said, “Bond doesn’t carry two guns.” So there was no way to get around that.

  That’s true. Bond wouldn’t normally carry two guns.16

  But they did offer a compromise. They said, “If you want, Bond could pick up the gun of an enemy and use that gun. But then he’d throw it down in that scene. If you want to do that, we’re okay with that.”There were a few other creative disagreements here and there. I don’t remember the circumstances, but I said I wanted to do something and they said no. I argued for it. But they were concerned with the integrity of the brand.

  Do you remember what that disagreement was about?

  I don’t remember the particulars but they were saying, “Look, Bond doesn’t do that. We’re telling you, that’s not what he does, and you’re not going to do it.” And we’d say, “Well, this is fun,” but they’d respond, “You have to find something else because Bond wouldn’t do that. We’re not going to allow that.” I was told that they would rather not do the game than do it in a way that goes against their idea of Bond.

  Glen Schofield’s memorabilia display showcases Sean Connery’s digital likeness, a baseball signed by the actor, and the photo of Schofield’s dinner with Connery. Cate Latchford, producer, far right.

  PERSONAL COLLECTION OF GLEN SCHOFIELD

  Why do you think the Broccolis allowed the Bond video games?

  The games make a lot of money. They really do. But they also keep Bond relevant when they’re between films. The video games also help introduce Bond to a younger demographic.

  Why did you choose From Russia with Love and not another film from the Connery era?

  We went through all the titles. From Russia with Love seemed to be one that would make a good video game. Especially from a game-play point of view.

  You broke continuity from that film by including touchstones from other Bond films, such as the jetpack from Thunderball.

  We had to talk to the license holder to get them approved. I don’t know why, but that one seemed to go over pretty well.

  In that particular case, they didn’t have any objections?

  I don’t know why. They have their own set of rules, and I remember that one wasn’t that hard to get through.

  What about people’s reaction to the game?

  The game did okay but it wasn’t a critical darling. It’s funny because I talk to people later, and they’re like, “Yeah, I loved that game.” The critics at the time didn’t necessarily love it, but they loved Sean.

  Was there talk of doing another Bond game after that?

  They did want me to make another Bond game right after that, but there wasn’t enough time. It took a year to do this one, and they wanted the next one in about nine months. Nine months would’ve killed me. They wanted me to direct it. But with the amount of time they wanted to give me, it would have failed. So I turned it down.

  I’m a huge Bond fan but I wasn’t aware of the game when it was first released in 2005.

  I was a little disappointed in EA for not doing more to promote the game. I’m not there anymore, but I love EA. I was disappointed that they didn’t use Connery in in-store standees and other display items. I would’ve loved to have seen him on a late-night talk show. Of course, there might’ve been financial reasons why they couldn’t do that. I remember they were also a little worried about what he might say. I thought that it doesn’t matter what he says because he’s still Sean Connery and he’d still be talking about your game. We should’ve done more at the time to promote the game. We could’ve sold more. We had this great opportunity. But like you said, we brought Sean Connery back. I was quite proud of that. I still am.

  Baseball autographed by Sean Connery. Connery told Glen Schofield that it “was the first baseball I ever signed. And probably my last.”

  PERSONAL COLLECTION OF GLEN SCHOFIELD

  Do you have any keepsakes from your time with Connery?

  I got him to sign all sorts of things, too, which was nice of him. We created a digital Sean, and he signed that for me. I’m also a big baseball fan and I have this weird collection in which I get celebrities to sign baseballs for me. Anyway, I said, “Sean, would you sign this for me?” He looks at it and he goes, “Is this a baseball?” I said, “Yeah, would you sign it?” He said, “Sure, never signed one of these before.” It’s now one of my prized possessions.

  Working with Connery was just a wonderful, wonderful time. It’s a time I’ll always cherish. The whole experience was something to behold.

  LANA WOOD

  There’s a memorable exchange between Sean Connery and Lana Wood in Diamonds Are Forever that seems to appear in every television special about James Bond. In it, Connery’s Bond is about to play craps when Lana Wood, wearing a low cut dress that emphasizes her plentiful décolletage, introduces herself, “Hi, I’m Plenty.” Bond dryly observes, “But of course you are.” She continues, “Plenty O’Toole.” Bond opines, “Named after your father perhaps.” The brief interplay encapsulates some of the appeal of the series—an übercool ladies’ man, a breathtaking woman, and the perfect risqué line.

  How were you cast as Plenty O’Toole in Diamonds Are Forever?

  I got a call from my agent who said that Cubby Broccoli and [director] Guy Hamilton wanted to meet with me for the new Bond film that they were casting and I said, “Wow.” They also said, “Try to look tall.” I said, “Tall? Great.” I’m five-foot-two so for me to look tall or even pretend to be tall is going to be rather difficult. I bought an outfit specifically for my interview and wore pink hot pants, which were in style at the time. I wore a matching top and tall-heeled shoes that looked like gladiator boots. They went all the way up to my knee. I went out to the studio and had a long chat with them and [screenwriter] Tom Mankiewicz, who was also there. Tom was an old family friend. Tom said that he suggested me and that they were really interested. I said that I was thrilled. I hadn’t seen all the films but I was an avid Ian Fleming fan and had read all the books, which I thought were fabulous.

  I had a relaxed nice chat with them. We didn’t talk about anything in particular; they wanted to get a feeling for my personality. They said they had seen a couple of the television shows that I’d done and they thanked me and I left. About a week or two later I got another call from my agent who said that they liked me and they wanted me to be in the film but that due to problems related to shooting in Las Vegas, they could not off er me the lead role, but they asked if I would consider playing the smaller role of Plenty O’Toole. I said I don’t even need to think about it. I said absolutely—I just want to be a part of it. I’m just delighted and absolutely I would and that was it.

  I traveled to Las Vegas with two cats, always have. They were on the plane with me and one of them was meowing and uncomfortable so I stuck my finger in one of the little round breathing holes and my finger got stuck. I got to the hotel and my finger was still stuck in the cage. I was standing at the desk and they said that my room was not ready. Here I am with suitcases and two cats, and Sean Connery, who was walking through the lobby, saw me. He said, “Lana, what’s the problem?” I said that my room’s not ready and so he told the desk, “Have her use my suite. I’m going to be at work all day long.” They took me up to Sean’s suite. They got butter from room service and put it around my finger and we finally worked my finger out of the cat cage. Then my room was ready I moved into my own place with my two kitties.

  You didn’t have to do a screen test?

  No, nothing.

  How did Guy Hamilton and Mankiewicz describe Plenty O’Toole to you?

  They didn’t describe the character at all. Tom did say that he came up with the name and that he thought it suited me perfectly and that was about it. I didn’t care who the character was; I was happy to do it.

  Tell me what you remember about the scene where you and
Bond meet.

  It was literally the first scene that I shot, so I was a little bit nervous and I didn’t know what to expect. They were concerned about the size difference between Sean and me. They had me stand on an apple box to make the size difference a little bit less obvious. Even though I had heels on, it was not working. I think our size difference was part of was the problem we had with Sean and I walking to have dinner.

  By then, I had cornered Guy Hamilton and said that I’d been thinking about the character, and I did not want to portray a hooker with a heart of gold. It’s such a cliché. I wanted to make Plenty not stupid and without cunning. Her motives are clear-cut; she’s doing a job the same as if she were working in a department store. That’s her attitude about her work. She’s very matter-of-fact, “Hi, how are you? What do you do for a living? I’m a shill.” There isn’t any embarrassment for her. I wanted her to be straightforward and without filters. I went on and on. Guy sat there and listened to me and then he said, “Lana, anything you want to do is just fine.” I said, “Are you serious?” And he said, “Yes, we want you to do this part. So do whatever you want to do.”

  For the voice, I thought of Minnie Mouse, Leigh Taylor-Young [the high-pitched actress from the soap opera Peyton Place], and a Betty Boopish voice. Years later, people have said that someone else dubbed me, but it’s my voice. Normally, I have a deep voice but I just thought she would come off too much of a sexpot. If I used a deep, melodious kind of a voice she might have seemed like a little sexpot shill who isn’t likable. So that’s what I chose to do. To this day I’ve wondered if I made the right decision.