Sean Connery films

 

The late Sir Sean Connery will likely be most remembered as the original James Bond but his work goes far beyond that and any examination of his career should account for his other roles.  Starting in 1962, Connery starred in five Bond films in six years, got tired of the role and all the scrutiny that came with it (and of being underpaid for it), started to develop his career with other roles, but returned to Bond twice, in 1971 and 1983.  After his last Bond Connery did a lot of films which were either ensemble pieces or films in which he was paired with a younger current star often as a mentor.  I will note, I have seen most of Connery’s work in the 1980s and 1990s (except for the Highlander films which never interested me).  The only films of Connery’s that I have seen from the 1970s are The Man Who Would Be King, The Offence and Robin and Marian.  I still want to see The Andersen Tapes, Wind and the Lion, Murder on the Orient Express, and Cuba. 

Another disclaimer here.  I have not seen many of these films that I will be discussing in several years so in most cases I am working off a distant memory so I may get some details wrong. 

I have a lot of individual entries devoted to Bond films and here I want to focus more on Connery’s other work.  However, since Connery owed his success to Bond, and vice versa due to the template he laid out and I thought he was spectacular in the role here are a few brief thoughts:

My favorite Connery Bond film is From Russia With Love and I think he did his best work as Bond in that film and Thunderball, both directed by Terence Young.  Those two films show Connery’s Bond at his most ruthless, forced to think on the fly, scared, a panther always on the move, with a touch of humor and insouciance.  Connery’s Bond always seems dangerous in Young’s three films whereas in Guy Hamilton’s and Irvin Kershner’s films (Goldfinger, Diamonds Are Forever, and Never Say Never Again) he is more stylishly cool, though still very much the same character.  I would guess that Connery would give his directors several options in his approach and Young probably used the tougher takes and Hamilton would select the more humorous.  In You Only Live Twice, directed by Lewis Gilbert, Connery’s performance is closer to that of the Young films, but he seems less engaged as a whole.   Interestingly Connery last played Bond in 2005 in the videogame version of From Russia With Love.  The timber of his voice had changed a lot, but he still had the same presence

Top Five Connery Films

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

Connery first appears at the beginning of the second act of this spectacularly entertaining film, which is my favorite of the three Indiana Jones adventures, in which the characters try to beat the Nazis to the Holy Grail.  By this point Ford’s Indy has been firmly established and bringing in the character’s father gives the film both humor and drama.  Each Indy film at its core depends on the relationship between him and other characters (Marion in Raiders, Short Round in Temple of Doom, Dad in this film and with Mutt and Marion in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) and this one has the best.  The dynamic of the two men who have the same passion and career but pursue it in wildly different ways is a lot of fun to watch.  Connery plays Henry Jones as a dedicated professor but out of his depth in chases and gunfights.  Indy’s impatience at having to lead his father in these situations but also needing to defer to him in others lead to a respect between the men.  The female lead in the film, Elsa, played by Allison Doody, works with the Nazis to obtain the Grail but because she really wants it for herself.  In another film their relationship would be at the center, but it is secondary in this film.  Director Steven Spielberg provides several standout action scenes but the highlight for me is tank chase in the desert which has one of the most poignant scenes of Connery’s career at the end.  Notably at the end of the film Indy finally accepts his identity as Henry Jones Jr. soon after Henry first calls him Indiana.  Spielberg, whose protagonists often had absent fathers, tells a story about a reconciliation between a father and son. *****

The Untouchables (1987)

Brian DePalma is a stylish director whose films are often watchable but for me this is his only classic (sorry I didn’t like Scarface at all).  This David Mamet scripted film is about how Elliott Ness and his team brought Al Capone to justice.  DePalma recreates Chicago during Prohibition while hinting at its eventual end.  The cast includes Kevin Costner as Ness, Robert DeNiro as Capone and Connery as Jimmy Malone, an Irish street cop who Ness recruits into his team.  Untouchables is very violent, and we often see a lot of flowing blood after people are shot and beaten.  DePalma delivers on three terrific sequences.  There is a moment in which the Untouchables intercept a shipment of liquor at the Canadian border and Malone uses a creative way to interrogate a prisoner.  The stalking of Malone in his apartment by an assassin is shown primarily in one extended shot, a DePalma specialty, and the much-discussed steps sequence at the train station is extremely suspenseful and well edited though some of the baby’s expressions seem a little fake.  Throughout the story Malone teaches Ness to be more tough but notably saves his life when Ness approaches Capone in a rage (the only moment Connery and De Niro are onscreen together).  I am not sure about the morals since Ness pushes an unarmed man off a roof at one point with no consequence either to his soul or his profession but this type of action was common in R rated 80s films.  Malone, who also has a strong opening scene, gives the film its heart as a late middle-aged man who lives alone and is weary but whose experience guides the team through this dangerous task.  I think he is the warning of what Ness could become if he does not take care of his personal relationships better.  Connery’s accent sounds more Irish American here, one of the few times he adjusted it.  Connery won a much-deserved Oscar for this film.  ****

The Man Who Would Be King (1975)

Power is an illusion in this allegory in which a man is mistaken for a king and foolishly lets it get to his head.  Connery and Michael Caine star as Danny Dravot and Peachy Carnehan, two mischievous English  soldiers in India who travel to Kafiristan hoping to use their military experience to loot the place from local rulers but when Dravot is unhurt after being struck by an arrow in battle (due to a bandolier over his chest but under his clothing) the local people start to deify Dravot to the point that his greed allows to him to believe it, to devastating results.

Caine and Connery are a fantastic pair and have a memorable march and the deterioration of their relationship in the second half of the film as Dravot starts to believe his own press, makes for some of the best scenes.  Director John Huston delivers one of his finest films, showing a part of the world that has received less attention onscreen, even though it was filmed in the more accessible Morrocco.  ****

The Hunt for Red October (1990)

Connery plays Marko Ramius, a Soviet submarine commander who takes his boat to the U.S. coastline during the cold war against orders but his intentions are unclear in this adaptation of Tom Clancy’s first novel, directed by action veteran John McTiernan.  Although Jack Ryan is the ongoing hero of Clancy’s stories (and has been played as of 2021 by five different actors) Ramius is the true protagonist here.  Connery looks like a submarine caption with his white beard, naval suit, and strong posture and it is  believably that the sailors respect him.  As in many other films, it is best to ignore Connery’s heavy Scottish accent, though it is interesting to hear him speak Russian.  Alec Baldwin is probably the most fitting Jack Ryan based on the Irish American character from the books.  James Earl Jones, Scott Glenn, Sam Neill, and Courtney B. Vance round out a strong cast.  McTiernan and scriptwriters Larry Ferguson and Donald E. Stewart manage to make Clancy’s technojargon and submarine tactics understandable to the audience.

As a sidenote, the producers approached Harrison Ford at one point to play Ryan here.  Ford stated he would be more interested in playing Ramius, though he later replaced Baldwin as Ryan.  When I first read that I thought the idea of Harrison Ford as a Soviet submarine captain was ridiculous.  I was proved wrong when I saw him play one very effectively in K-19 The Widowmaker about 12 years later.  ****

The Rock (1996) 

Connery plays John Mason, a former British agent who is now a U.S prisoner who helps the FBI solve a hostage situation (and threat of nerve gas) at Alcatraz.  Nicholas Cage plays a chemical expert who has to partner with him.  This is the only Michael Bay film that I like and to everyone’s credit, it is a great time, helped a lot by Hans Zimmer’s exciting score.  Ed Harris is appropriately conflicted as the general imposing the threat. Vanessa Marcil should have been given more to do as Cage’s girlfriend since they feel like a couple who has been together for a long time.  William Forsythe adds some welcome characterization as one of the FBI agents who looks after Cage.  The film has a strong military motif and the reason for Harris’ plan is honorable although the plan itself is dangerous.  The film has plenty of chases and fights  and although there are a few more F-Bombs than are needed you will have a good time.  ****

 

Honorable Mentions:

 The Offence (1971)

Connery gives his bravest performance in this low budget Sidney Lumet film about a Scotland Yard detective who violently interrogates a suspect (Ian Bannan) accused of sexually assaulting a young girl.  The reason for the detective’s anger is more disturbing than the act itself.  Lumet stages this adaptation of a play as a series of one on one scenes as the film cuts between the detective and the suspect and the superintendent (Trevor Howard) interrogating the detective after the fact.  Connery looks different with a bushy moustache and thick coat for the outdoor scenes and while his screen presence is as strong as ever, this character has no charisma. 

The subject matter is unpleasant, but I commend Connery for playing such an unlikeable lead, though this type of film was common in the 1970s in which actors and directors took more chances.  It fits pretty comfortably within Lumet’s oeuvre of police stories and like in 12 Angry Men, he manages to make a film which is largely set in one room interesting.  I wish Connery had done more roles of this type as he more than lives up to it.  Connery’s deal for Diamonds Are Forever included this film and another which was to be a version of MacBeth.  I would have loved to see Connery as MacBeth but it was never made (perhaps due to the low box office of this film).  My only knock would be the extended scene in which he is very cruel to his wife, blaming her for his repressed sexuality.  It is notable for being only one of two roles that I can think of in which Connery played a longtime husband (Playing by Heart) is the other.  Most of his characters are either widowed or never married.  ***

Entrapment (1999)

Connery plays a longtime cat burglar in this caper directed by Jon Amiel, which is a little reminiscent in tone of Hitchcock’s film To Catch A Thief though I don’t recall Cary Grant threatening to drown Grace Kelley in it.  Catherine Zeta Jones is an insurance investigator who tries to lure Connery’s character into stealing a valuable mask in Kuala Lampur on the eve of the millennium.  The film has an international flair with scenes in London, Scotland and Malaysia, and there are some clever twists though I found the ending perhaps too much of a stretch.  The age difference is a little too big to really believe the romance between the two leads, but otherwise they make a fun pair.  ***

Rising Sun (1993)

Connery plays a detective named John Connor, which is an interesting choice of name given it is also the name of one of the main characters in the blockbuster Terminator 2: Judgment Day, released just two years before, who assists Wesley Snipes’ Lieutenant Web Smith investigate a murder of a young woman at the headquarters of a Japanese owned company in Los Angeles in this adaptation of Michael Critchton’s novel (which was also released after T2).  Director Phillip Kaufman is pretty adept with Critchton’s high tech twists and the film softens some of the anti-Japanese sentiments in the novel by expressing them through Harvey Keitel’s obviously bigoted cop.  Connor is an expert on Japanese culture, particularly in dealing with businessmen which comes in handy in this situation.  Connor’s hair is cut in a Japanese style and he wears all black outfits, even when playing golf.  The dialogue is sharp, and the film has a glossy production design.  ***

Finding Forrester (2000)

Connery plays a recluse writer similar to J.D. Salinger in this film about a gifted African American student named Jamal (played by Rob Brown) from the Bronx trying to make his way in a private school.  William Forrester connects with Jamal through his writings and becomes a mentor to him on the condition that Jamal not reveal that he is working with Forrester. 

Finding Forrester allows Connery to play a different type of mentor in director Gus Van Sant’s story and it is inspiring to see Connery onscreen with someone so young.  The scene in which Forrester appears at the school is reminiscent of the climax of Scent of a Woman but it works fairly well.  F. Murray Abraham does his best to give wounded pride to Jamal’s antagonist professor but he plays so many villains I instinctively did not trust him.  Overall though it is a nice story.  ***   

The Hill (1965)

Connery plays a British soldier in Libya during World War II in this military prison drama, which was his first film of many with Sidney Lumet.  Soldiers who have been convicted of minor offenses are sent to this desert prison where they are forced to march up a steep hill in the desert.  Connery’s soldier, Roberts, is the most rebellious of his group which leads to struggles between the prison authorities and the prisoners.  The film is tense and unforgiving but the ensemble work is memorable.  ***

I recommend skipping:

Just Cause (1995)

A thriller with Connery investigating an old murder in the Everglades.  Connery is about twenty years too old for the part and while Ed Harris and Laurence Fishburne are ok as an imprisoned serial killer and ruthless cop, the film is unpleasant **

Marnie (1964)

One of Hitchcock’s few poor films, which ends a strong streak of his best films (Vertigo, North by Northwest, Psycho, and The Bird).  Connery plays a manipulative publisher who becomes fascinated with a troubled woman, Marnie (Tippi Hedren) and blackmails her into marrying him.  Connery’s character Mark treats Marnie so poorly throughout the film that I spent the film hoping something bad would happen to him.  The film is overplotted and despite Hitchcock’s flair is not a fun viewing experience. *