It's been a long time since I last wrote about a favourite film director. Though I have a fair-sized list of faves, today it somehow felt like a no-brainer that I'd talk about Terence Young of James Bond fame. Young's contribution to the 007 franchise was no small feat. He was on board right from the start, at the helm for half of the fledgling series' seminal 1960's releases.
Terence Young, having a proper spot of tea on set, with a
couple of hack actors looking on
Young, of Irish descent, was born in Shanghai, China, then returned with his family to the UK, where he studied in London and Cambridge. He began movie screenwriting in the late 1930's. His first credit as a director was for Corridor of Mirrors (1948), which happened to be Christopher Lee's first film appearance. Young directed a variety of movies (none of which I've seen) throughout the 50's, and it was his 1962 adaptation of Ian Fleming's novel Dr. No that would make him a much sought after craftsman in the industry.
Dr. No the film, while slightly altered from Fleming's 1958 story, presents relative newcomer Sean Connery as the true James Bond, as he should be on screen. Terence Young took the small budget allotted to the project and expertly spun it into a highly influential spy thriller. Unlike subsequent Bond movies, this one centred around a single exotic location, Jamaica. That saved the studio money on airfare. Dr. No introduced many elements that would become part of the Bond formula in the subsequent films: Bond first seen through the gun barrel in the intro, the stylized main title sequence, the theme music, and the overall visual style that would be retained throughout the series.
The casting of Connery was a stroke of genius, of course, but the faces of actors Ursula Andress, Jack Lord, and Bernard Lee ensured Dr. No would be a hit. Terence Young gave Connery a fatherly education in how to conduct himself in the Bond role, resulting in the cultivated, commanding, charismatic, sometimes brutal master agent that we all came to know and love.
Dr. No was a hit, so Young was offered the chair yet again for the follow-up From Russia With Love. This met with even greater success, especially considering the super tight schedule... it was rushed and released the next year, in '63. From Russia involved more air travel than Dr. No, shooting in Turkey, Scotland, Switzerland, Venice, Spain, and Pinewood Studios, resulting in production going over budget and schedule. Most of the crew from Dr. No returned for From Russia With Love. One notable addition was John Barry to compose the film's music. Barry remained on the 007 staff until 1987, scoring eleven of the films in the series. His work remains the gold standard in the history of the franchise, and in spy movies in general.
From Russia introduced even more key components to the world of cinematic James Bond: the pre-title sequence, the villainous character Blofeld, the gadget-master character Q as played by Desmond Llewelyn (who remained for all but one Bond movie until his death in 1999), fun yet deadly gadgets for Bond, a helicopter sequence, a theme song with lyrics, and more, more, more. Heaven for a Bond fan. Young co-ordinated this magical time of invention that would define the 007 adventures and those of imitators. The movie received awards from BAFTA and BSC for its cinematography, and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Song.
Young was offered the third Bond installment, Goldfinger, but he passed, opting to work on an historical comedy instead. He did return for the massive 1965 hit Thunderball, which even today stands as the second most financially successfull entry of the entire series. It won an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. Though Thunderball was plagued by legal disputes, those were headaches reserved for the executives, not Young. He again engineered a hit, with most filming done in the Bahamas, and a bit in France. A variety of complex and dangerous stunts and effects gave the film a realism that was at times hair-raising for the actors and crew. As reward for their trials, the team (the film) received many award nominations, plus a couple of wins, including another Academy Award for Visual Effects.
During the rest of the 60's and into the 70's, Young directed mostly European films, scoring another hit with 1967 thriller Wait Until Dark, which impressed me. The long-time Bond production team offered Young the director postion again in the early 80's, but he declined. He continued directing until the late 80's, and passed away in '94.
It's clear I've seen precious few of Young's three dozen-plus movies, but his impact on the world of my beloved James Bond remains untouched. He brought an eye for detail, ingenuity, dedication, perseverence - all manner of directorial talents really, plus his screenwriting skills to his duties on the earliest James Bond classics.
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For more discussion about my favourite directors, have a look at my introductory post here, then its follow-up posts at: The Director's Chair - Part I - Robert Wise, and The Director's Chair - Part II - Denis Villeneuve.
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This is post #496... the big 500 is looming.
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