Classic James Bond big-screen marathon tomorrow in Rhode Island, USA

For a certain segment of the moviegoing public, those who came of age in the 1960s, there’s only one James Bond — Sean Connery.

Most of the others have their strong points, save perhaps for Niven’s James Bond in the loony overblown 1967 spoof of Casino Royale. Yet none had quite mastered the elusive combination of suave, devil-may-care sophisticated charm coupled with glinty-eyed mischief and the ability to convincingly play the action scenes, whether they involved skiing off a mountainside or blowing up an island. Compared to Connery’s 007, to many of us the others always seemed a collection of piffling impostors, second tier at best - reports ProJo.

Four of Connery’s best as Ian Fleming’s famous British spy — Dr. No, From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball — hit the screen tomorrow beginning at noon at Cinemaworld in the Lincoln Mall. It’s the theater’s latest movie marathon, which in the past has presented the three Lord of the Rings movies, the three Indiana Jones films and three gangster epics, led by The Godfather.

Theater manager John Derderian said that with the upcoming Nov. 17 release of the unspoofy version of Fleming’s Casino Royal starring new James Bond Daniel Craig, he thought it time to revive the Connery series, which had gotten a boost when then-President John F. Kennedy declared Fleming his favorite author. The films will be presented in the order in which they were released, starting with 1962’s Dr. No at noon. Dr. No, played by Joseph Wiseman, is a mad scientist who has been sabotaging rocket launchings from his Jamaica hideout. The film isn’t as filled with gadgets and special effects as were the later films, something that became series hallmarks. But it does have Ursula Andress, making her entrance by rising Venus-like out of the surf in a white bikini and assuring her stardom.

There wasn’t an over-reliance on gadgetry in the second Bond film, 1963’s From Russia With Love, either. Yet some consider this film the best in the series. In the Cold War era, 007 becomes involved with a beautiful Russian spy, played by Daniela Bianchi, while being chased across Istanbul by dastardly SPECTRE agents. Everyone was after a super-secret coding machine in the film. Lotte Lenya plays arch villainess Rosa Klebb wearing a pair of shoes to die for. Robert Shaw, who later chased the man-eating shark in Jaws, here is Rosa’s dangerous henchman. From Russia With Love goes on screen at 2:30 p.m.

By 1964, James Bond had proved his box office worth and was given a bigger budget, grander adventures and spiffier gadgets in Goldfinger, which became one of the most popular films in the series. The plot revolves around a plan to rob Fort Knox by a gold-hoarding villain. It includes the Asian henchman Oddjob and his deadly bowler hat, a woman who is painted gold, Shirley Bassey singing the throbbing theme song, and Honor Blackman as Pussy Galore. It goes on screen at 5 p.m.

Finally, there’s 1965’s undersea adventure Thunderball, which marks the return of SPECTRE. The nefarious gang has threatened to detonate an atomic bomb over Miami unless a 100-million-pound ransom is paid. Thunderball goes on screen at 7:30 p.m. The film was such a huge box office success that it was remade in 1983 as Never Say Never Again, with Connery returning as 007 following a 12-year absence from the series.

Tickets for the James Bond marathon are $12.50 for all four films and are available at the box office or on line at www.cinemaworldonline.com. Patrons will be able to win prizes during the intermissions between films.

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