New Bond Film

Here is your opportunity to take part. So lets hear from you.

Is that a Sean Connery cameo in the New Bond Film?
by Patrick B. McGuigan,

In the new film, "Quantum of Solace," there is a brief scene involving British secret agent 007 in the lobby of a cheap hotel in Haiti. It is a half hour or so into the story. Daniel Craig, as James Bond, has a brief exchange with the receptionist at the desk, before retrieving a brief case that belongs to someone else (a crucial moment in development of the plot).

Before and after this chat between the girl at the desk and Bond, the camera provides brief glimpses of a fellow sitting in an easy chair near the front desk, reading a newspaper. The second sighting seemed to last a bit longer than the first. I whispered to my wife, with me at the film's showing on a big screen here in Oklahoma City, "I think that is Sean Connery" -- who created the first cinematic interpretation of Ian Fleming's enduring character.

As has been the case after initial release of many films in the series, critics are having fun with the recurring debate about whose Bond is best. A strong case can be made for Craig, who has performed stunningly in both of his appearances as Bond. But Connery deserves praise for his magnificent combination of grit and grace as the original.

For me, the moment sketched above was a "Hitchcock"-like moment (Alfred Hitchcock repeatedly did uncredited cameos in his own films).

If a Connery cameo has been reported already somewhere in print on the Internet, I've missed it completely (that's certainly possible). I have thus far one other person who concurs with my Connery sighting, and two brief online references to the lobby scene, but I've not seen anything in the advance publicity to indicate the director/producers incorporated Connery into an uncredited moment in the film.

I'll be doing my own favorable review of the film shortly, perhaps after a second viewing. Meanwhile, I invite readers to share their assessments: Is that Sean Connery, or merely a remarkable look-alike? Email me your answer at: pmcguigan@cox.net.

About the Author: Patrick B. McGuigan is managing editor of The City Sentinel in Oklahoma City, and a lifelong fan of Ian Fleming's books and the James Bond film series.