Roger Moore (1927-2017) has died. I saw my first James Bond movie in 1977, Roger Moore's best outing as the character in The Spy Who Loved Me. I became a Bond fanatic and Moore was instantly my favorite Bond. In fact, he was probably my favorite actor at the time, which is funny when you consider his very narrow range. While he was Bond, he was a hot commodity and had plenty of work. When video stores arose with VHS, I always kept an eye out for Roger Moore movies. Shout at the Devil, Sherlock Holmes in New York, The Naked Face, The Sea Wolves, ffolkes, The Wild Geese, and more. I watched reruns of The Saint, his British TV series that was the basis of the disappointing Val Kilmer version which featured the saddest excuse ever for a cameo for Moore. When I became more discerning, my preferences changed but Moore remains the first Bond to me despite following Connery in the role. After he left the Bond franchise, at least 2 films too late, he vanished. The last movie I saw of his in the theaters was The Quest, a Jean-Claude Van Damme stinker in which Moore played a dodgy aristocrat.
As Bond, Moore was the most humorous of the bunch and brought a tongue in cheek quality to the series. My favorite of his Bond films is For Your Eyes Only. It played like a Cold War thriller rather than a fantasy spy movie. It was a nice return to earth after Moonraker.
RIP
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