20 Things You Didn’t Know About The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
18. “Then We Must Hope, Captain, That You Will Suffer No Further Mishap.”
Sydney Tafler worked with director, Lewis Gilbert numerous times. His role as the captain of Stromberg’s submarine-swallowing supertanker, The Liparus was their final collaboration and his last film performance; he sadly passed away in 1979.
Tafler was known for playing thieves, conmen, and gangsters in the 1950s, but fortunately, he was also Gilbert’s brother-in-law. The director frequently tried to help him to overcome his typecasting.
The Spy Who Loved Me was their fifteenth collaboration after The Little Ballerina (1947), Once a Sinner (1950), Scarlet Thread (1951), Emergency Call (1952), Time, Gentlemen, Please! (1952), Johnny on the Run (1953), The Sea Shall Not Have Them (1954), Reach for the Sky (1956), Carve Her Name with Pride (1958), Sink the Bismarck! (1960), Light Up The Sky! (1960), The 7th Dawn (1964), Alfie (1966), and The Adventurers (1970).
Tafler used a subtle accent whilst portraying the captain, but his actual voice can be heard onboard Stromberg’s lair, Atlantis, announcing the departure of the helicopter carrying Dr. Bechmann (Cyril Shaps) and Professor Markovitz (Milo Sperber) on their ill-fated flight home.