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michael_gothard_archiveThe quotation is from Roger Moore's autobiography, "My Word is my Bond."
"… perhaps the most important henchman, as far as my portrayal of Bond is concerned, was Michael Gothard. He played Locque and his demise changed the way I played Bond.
In the story, Locque had killed my ally, Ferrara, leaving his calling card of a pin badge in the shape of a white dove. Bond later chased Locque’s car on foot, and after a few well-aimed shots from my faithful Walther PPK, forced the car off the road and into a cliff-top wall. There, delicately balanced on the edge of the cliff, Locque looked to Bond for help.
The script said Bond was to ‘toss the dove pin at Locque and then kick the car hard to force it over the cliff.’ I said that my Bond wouldn’t do that. It would be far better, I reasoned, if in tossing the badge in I caused Locque to move, thus unsettling the balance of the car, and sending him over that way.
John Glen was adamant that this man had killed my friend and now I should show my anger and a more ruthless side to my character. It didn’t sit happily with me, so we compromised – I tossed the badge in and gave the car a not-so-hard kick to topple it.
Many critics and Bond-experts have highlighted that scene as being an important one in the evolution of Bond on film. So maybe I was wrong?"
"… perhaps the most important henchman, as far as my portrayal of Bond is concerned, was Michael Gothard. He played Locque and his demise changed the way I played Bond.
In the story, Locque had killed my ally, Ferrara, leaving his calling card of a pin badge in the shape of a white dove. Bond later chased Locque’s car on foot, and after a few well-aimed shots from my faithful Walther PPK, forced the car off the road and into a cliff-top wall. There, delicately balanced on the edge of the cliff, Locque looked to Bond for help.
The script said Bond was to ‘toss the dove pin at Locque and then kick the car hard to force it over the cliff.’ I said that my Bond wouldn’t do that. It would be far better, I reasoned, if in tossing the badge in I caused Locque to move, thus unsettling the balance of the car, and sending him over that way.
John Glen was adamant that this man had killed my friend and now I should show my anger and a more ruthless side to my character. It didn’t sit happily with me, so we compromised – I tossed the badge in and gave the car a not-so-hard kick to topple it.
Many critics and Bond-experts have highlighted that scene as being an important one in the evolution of Bond on film. So maybe I was wrong?"
