The Director's Chair - Lewis Gilbert

Lewis Gilbert became the third director to helm a James Bond film in 1967, when he directed You Only Live Twice - the fifth James Bond adventure.

Gilbert began his filmmaking career by making wartime documentaries during World War II. This theme continued into his feature film output as well, as he directed many succesful war films in the 1950s, such as Reach For The Sky(a personal favourite), Carve Her Name With Pride and Sink The Bismark!.

One of Gilbert's most famous films was the 1966 film starring Michael Caine, Alfie, which received five Academy Award nominations. The following year, Gilbert entered the world of Bond. The film was the most over-the-top, large-scale, fantastical Bond film to date. It featured predatory spacecraft, a villain's lair inside a hollow volcano and the first appearance of the so-far faceless Ernst Stavro Blofeld. The volcano set required an enormous construction to be built on the lot at Pinewood studios, which cost as much as the first Bond film, Dr. No.

It would be another ten years until Gilbert returned to Bond, and he did so in The Spy Who Loved Me. The film was the first made after the disappointing The Man With The Golden Gun and the breakup of the Broccoli-Saltzman producing partnership. Therefore, the stakes were high, and the film needed to deliver. Once again, Gilbert brought an over-the-top, large-scale epic to the screen. As before, the showpiece set required an enormous construction, and this time it was decided to build it on a stage, but no stage existed that was big enough - so one was built. The huge 007 Stage was built around the set - which was the interior of a supertanker. And like the spacecraft of You Only Live Twice, this vehicle swallowed others - in this case, nuclear submarines. In many ways, Spy is a reworking of the plot from Gilbert's first Bond film.

Gilbert was back again for Moonraker in 1979. This film went beyond all the others in terms of size and fantasy. It involved spacecraft once again, and involved a lot of humour, often slapstick, silly humour. However, the film performed well at the box office, despite often being held in low regard by Bond fans. It exemplifies the over-the-top style of Lewis Gilbert's Bond films.

Lewis Gilbert's legacy in the Bond films is that his three are perhaps the three biggest Bond films, and although they are not my personal favourites they are enjoyable spectacles. Lewis Gilbert himself said that his claim to fame was that he filmed in the three largest sets ever constructed for the Bond series.

The Director's Chair - Guy Hamilton

The second director of the James Bond film series was Guy Hamilton, who took over from Terence Young to direct the third Bond film, Goldfinger. Hamilton later returned to direct three more Bond films.

Guy Hamilton is one of my personal favourite Bond directors, not only for his 007 films, but also for his non-Bond work. Goldfinger is considered by many to be the definitive Bond film. It marks the first time in which gadgetry plays a major role in a Bond film, which the introduction of Bond’s gadget-laden Aston Martin DB5. The film was also more light-hearted in tone than the previous two films.

At the end of Goldfinger, Hamilton said that he felt drained of ideas and elected not to return as director of the next film. However, for the 7th Bond film, Diamonds Are Forever, Hamilton returned. He felt that he had had a sufficient break from Bond to come back refreshed. Diamonds Are Forever saw the return of Connery after a one-film hiatus, as well as a return to the tone of Goldfinger after the more serious On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. In fact, at one point, the villain was going to be Goldfinger’s twin brother which illustrates how the producer’s wanted to do another Goldfinger style film. The next film, Live And Let Die, saw the introduction of Roger Moore as James Bond. Hamilton returned to helm Moore’s debut, and increased the humour to another level in order to suit Moore’s lighter portrayal of Bond. The film was potentially controversial, featuring entirely black villains, as well as numerous racial caricatures, although on the whole these are handled well by Hamilton and the film is extremely enjoyable. Hamilton’s last Bond film was The Man With The Golden Gun, which was made in a similar tone to the previous film, although the production as a whole seems a little uninspired, although the villain is a true classic.

Beyond Bond, Hamilton directed many films which are amongst my favourites. Before he started directing his own films, he worked as an assistant director on such classics as The Third Man and The African Queen. His early films as director include An Inspector Calls and the classic prisoner of war drama, The Colditz Story. After directing Goldfinger, Hamilton was hired to direct another Harry Saltzman spy film, Funeral In Berlin, the sequel to the great The Ipcress File, starring Michael Caine as the working class cockney spy, Harry Palmer. Michael Caine described the experience as playing Harry Palmer while being directed by James Bond. He directed for Saltzman once again in 1969 with the World War II epic, Battle of Britain. He continued to show an aptitude for action-adventure films into the 1970s with Force 10 From Navarone, a film which I feel is vastly underrated. His last film was Try This One For Size, released in 1989.

Guy Hamilton’s body of work is very impressive, and includes some of my all-time favourites. His Bond movies were exciting and fast-paced, if a little over the top and silly at times. He will remain one of the most highly respected Bond directors.

The Director's Chair - Terence Young

The first director to helm a James Bond film was Terence Young in Dr. No. Young is widely acknowledged as the man who gave James Bond his style. Dr. No’s editor, Peter Hunt claimed that Young could even have played 007 himself! In total he directed three James Bond films, including the first two: Dr. No and From Russia With Love. After a one-film break, he returned to direct Thunderball.

Terence Young’s life was almost as interesting as that of Bond himself. He was born in Shanghai and went to Cambridge before taking part in Operation Market-Garden as a tank commander during World War II. He later co-directed a film about this very battle. His first solo directing credit was in 1948. Young first worked with Cubby Broccoli in 1953 with The Red Beret – a film produced by Broccoli and Irving Allen. This partnership continued for several films, and when Broccoli and Harry Saltzman were planning the first Bond film, Young was hired to direct. Young had a scare while filming the second 007 film, From Russia With Love as the helicopter in which he was flying plunged into the sea while filming. Young, however was back in the director’s chair in a matter of minutes, proving that he was almost as indestructible as Bond himself.

Young passed away in 1994 at the age of 79 after suffering a heart attack. His contribution to the series is immense – without the sense of style and direction given to the early films by Terence Young the series might not have had the lasting impact that it has. Robert Cotton remarked that “Terence Young was James Bond”. How lucky then, that the first 007 films were directed by a man so well suited to the character.