James Bond Director Guy Hamilton Dies at 93

Director Guy Hamilton (left) with Sean Connery on the set of ‘Diamonds Are Forever’ in 1971 (Photo: Everett)

By Leo Barraclough, Variety

Guy Hamilton, the director of four James Bond films, has died on the Mediterranean island of Majorca at the age of 93.

Hamilton was at the helm of iconic 007 movies Goldfinger in 1964 and Diamonds Are Forever in 1971, both starring Sean Connery, as well as 1973’s Live and Let Die and 1974’s The Man with the Golden Gun, both with Roger Moore as Bond.

Related: Remembering 007 Director Guy Hamilton By Revisiting ‘Goldfinger’

Hamilton’s career started when he was 17 in the accounts department of a film studio in Nice, France, but he soon gravitated to a lowly production role. He later said he “discovered how a studio worked the hard way.” This was interrupted by the start of World War II, when he served in a covert unit of the British navy.

After the war, Hamilton worked as British director Carol Reed’s assistant on several movies, from The Fallen Idol in 1948 through to Outcast of the Islands in 1951, and including The Third Man in 1949. “Carol was basically my father,” Hamilton said. “He taught me everything I know. I adored him.” Hamilton also worked as an assistant director on John Huston’s The African Queen in 1951.

Early films as a director included 1954’s An Inspector Calls, starring Alastair Sim, 1955’s The Colditz Story, starring John Mills, and 1961’s The Best of Enemies, with David Niven.

Related: Tribute to ‘Goldfinger’ Production Designer Sir Ken Adams

He went on to direct movies like Funeral in Berlin in 1966, starring Michael Caine, 1969’s Battle of Britain, with Caine and Trevor Howard, 1978’s Force 10 From Navarone, with Harrison Ford, and two Agatha Christie adaptations, 1980’s The Mirror Crack’d, with Angela Lansbury, Tony Curtis. and Rock Hudson, and 1982’s Evil Under the Sun, with Peter Ustinov, James Mason, and Maggie Smith. Hamilton said that to be a director demanded “a hide like a rhinoceros.”

Hamilton remains best known for his four Bond films, and he played a major part in developing the franchise’s distinctive style, including the glamour. “Don’t take a train when you can take a plane, and if you’re going to take a plane, take the newest one around,” Hamilton said. “And if you give Bond a car, don’t show what’s been seen — show what’s not out yet.”

Roger Moore remembers late director Guy Hamilton on Twitter:

His Bond movies, in common with his other pics, were marked by a wry humor, rooted in his war-time experience. “Everybody was a bit facetious, and the typical English thing is to make jokes in order to pretend you’re not frightened,” he said.

Hamilton was married twice, first to actress Naomi Chance, and later to another actress, Kerima.

‘Goldfinger’ Classic Clip: ‘Do You Expect Me to Talk?’: