Sean Connery (l.) and Michael Caine in The Man Who Would Be King
Sean Connery, who had a long and varied movie career although he'll probably always be best remembered for having played James Bond as the film franchise took off, has died at the age of 90. Among the many iconic moments in the early Bond movies is of Bond being strapped to a gold slab as a laser is heading toward his crotch in Goldfinger. He asks Goldfinger, "You expect me to talk?" to which Goldfinger sardonically responds, "No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!" If one had a morbid sense of humor, one could say Gert Frobe up in heaven is no longer expecting Mr. Bond to die. Goldfinger was the third of seven times Connery would play the role, in the first five Albert Broccoli-produced Bon films, a one-film break before returning for Diamonds Are Forever, and then a dozen years later in Never Say Never Again, which some Bond fans don't consider an official Bond movie.
Connery first quit playing Bond after You Only Live Twice in part because he didn't want to be typecast; indeed, he took roles in other movies even while he was doing the Bond pictures, such as Alfred Hitchcock's Marnie in 1964, where he was teamed with Tippi Hedren (pictured above). Whatever problems the movie has (and it definitely has problems) are not Connery's fault. Another non-Bond movie Connery made in this period is The Hill, a gritty World War II POW drama.
After quitting the Bond franchise, Connery played in some quite good 1970s movies, including The Man Who Would Be King which I've pictured above. There are also films like The Anderson Tapes, The Wind and the Lion, and The Great Train Robbery. There's also the cult classic Zardoz, although how good a movie Zardoz is is left to the viewer. Connery would finally win an Oscar for his role in The Untouchables.
I haven't seen whether TCM has a TCM Remembers piece up yet, or whether they're going to run a programming tribute to him at some point.
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