The part may not appeal to students of Stanislavskis system, but theres more to being a Bond girl than the ability to pout on demand. Nobodys going to accuse Diana Rigg, Sophie Marceau or Eva Green of coasting on their looks, and its worth noting that neither actress made it to the end credits in their respective films. Action, romance and tragedy sounds like a good role. That said, there are also actresses who, for one reason or another, just didnt work out. They were appearing in a bad film, they didnt possess It or maybe their character was a joke that didnt come off. For instance, if you attempt to kid the audience that the buxom female lead, who wears shorts and a tight top, is also a nuclear physicist, you may be underestimating the intelligence of your audience a tad. Similarly, you can ask the audience to believe that Bonds love interest is a NASA pilot, but when the character has a silly name and is played by an actress half his age, youve hit rock bottom long before they go into space to stop a maniac with a giant henchman. Like the screams of all the men hes killed, the following ladies probably continue to give Bond sleepless nights.
Ian Watson is the author of 'Midnight Movie Madness', a 600+ page guide to "bad" movies from 'Reefer Madness' to 'Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead.'
