James Bond event at Hofstra University

[LeiterCIA]

Originally Posted by Kara Milovy

How did you piss off Robert Davi?

Well, I don't think I did really, I'm just having fun. ;)

During the interview, Robert Davi made the comment that (paraphrasing) that Licence to Kill hasn't been given the proper credit for being the first, before Casino Royale, to go for a more serious, gritty tone. To which I chimed in, 'Well, I think critics might suggest that LTK started off in a gritty direction, but then seems to get cold feet. Q is brought in very out of character, there are too many sight gags...' And as the words are coming out my my mouth, the thought pops into my head, "Oh great, I'm handed a few seconds to chat one-on-one with Robert Davi, and here I am insulting his film."

In truth though, Davi and Lee Pfieffer took the comment very well. Pfieffer called the comment very astute (whew!), and Davi agreed and added that he didnt think Q was out of place because it was legitimate comic relief, but he thought the casting of Felix Leiter and Della was a mistake, that they didn't work to establish the deep relationship with Bond needed to convince you that Bond would sacrifice all to go after revenge.

It was a really interesting discussion.

[Kara Milovy]

Oh, yeah, I heard that. I didn't think you pissed him off.

But I disagree with his assessment of Leiter and Della. Going back to Fleming's Casino Royale, Leiter has always been a light-hearted guy. There's a sense that Bond longs to have Leiter around because it's the only way he can, himself, be "lighter." Leiter is a jokester, an optimist, and yet cynical about authority, independent and off-the-cuff. You get the feeling that Leiter is one of the few people who can make Bond really laugh.

So Heddison is the right guy for that role. I know you love Jack Lord, but Lord's Leiter and Bond are too much alike. Fleming saw contrast in their friendship.

But when Davi said that about LTK, my first thought was Hello? TLD anyone?

[Cooper]

I don't know what Davi's specific problems with LTK's Leiter was but I know I wasn't a fan of the Leiter cast in the film.

Re-using Heddison was a mistake. He looked too old for Dalton's Bond. Why didn't they just use TLD's Leiter.. .a much better fit.

Also... seeing Priscilla Barnes as Leiter's bride to be, all I could think of was Three's Company.

The miscastings (in my opinion) gave the movie, which has a cheap feel to it to begin with, an even cheaper feel.

[Kara Milovy]

I agree that the whole movie felt cheap, and a sit-com star adds to that; Davi's problem was that Heddison and Barnes were too light-hearted, too much at odds with the gritty feel of the rest of the film.

[Cooper]

...hmmmm... interesting criticism on Mr. Davi's part. And by "interesting", I mean wrong.

Bond and Leiter are friends. That's what friends do. ...act lighthearted together. That's what makes Sanchez's actions all the more tragic.

(side note: speaking of Bond and Leiter's friendship... I always found Bond's reaction to seeing Leiter in TLD was a little frosty. Almost antagonistic. never felt right)

[Kara Milovy]

I disagree with Davi as well. I thought John Terry was terrible in TLD as Leiter; very stiff, not light-hearted enough.

[Daltons Chin Dimple]

You are all spot on, which is probably why Terry was so completely forgettable in the film and role is so tiny in the final cut.

It was as if they were unwilling partners and competitive rather than good friends.

[LeiterCIA]

I'm in the camp that says Hedison is miscast in LTK.

For one thing, for an assortment of reasons, you never had two Leiters in a row -- and then suddenly there's a repeat of a Leiter, for the simple reason of 'he's been Leiter once before'. I wish they had agreed with this line of reasoning before in some of the other films.

I agree that Bond's reaction to Leiter is slightly off in TLD, but I think it makes sense if you consider that audiences haven't seen Felix Leiter since 1973. It's a new generation being introduced to Bond's CIA counterpart. So it LTK, you either have a brand new Leiter (for viewers who were unaware of Hedison's Leiter), or you have people saying "Hey, there's the guy who was in LALD 15 years ago." Either way I think it's a mismatch.

And putting the older Hedison with the much younger Three's Company gal... I mean you couldn't stop noticing that she was the girl from three's Company.

I have to agree with Davi. I think there was a world of better casting out there. Not to mention they could have done more to establish Bond and Leiter's off-screen friendship.

[Daltons Chin Dimple]

I had no idea what Three's Company was or, indeed, that she was even in it. So I never had that problem.

I imagine Hedison was trick casting considering most major set up parts of LTK are lifted lock, stock and iris gunbarrel from the LALD novel such as Felix and the shark, the mocking note from the protagonist, the "Night Amongst The Fishes" shoot out in Krest's lab and so on.

In fact, in the novelisation of LTK John Gardner refers directly to the events of LALD the novel, and states that Sanchez's shark only ripped off Felix's prosthetics.

[LeiterCIA]

There's a good example of the problems in keeping the novelizations in line with the Fleming novels. That had to be a pretty odd task for Gardener. Having Leiter fed to sharks twice?