The Living Daylights (1987)

The Living Daylights is a 1987 spy film, the fifteenth entry in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions, and the first of two to star Timothy Dalton as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Directed by John Glen, the film’s title is taken from Ian Fleming’s short story “The Living Daylights”, the plot of which also forms the basis of the first act of the film. It was the last film to use the title of an Ian Fleming story until the 2006 instalment Casino Royale. It is also the first film to have Caroline Bliss as Miss Moneypenny, replacing Lois Maxwell. The film was produced by Albert R. Broccoli, his stepson Michael G. Wilson, and co-produced by his daughter, Barbara Broccoli. The Living Daylights grossed $191.2 million worldwide, and received mixed reviews from critics.

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Plot

James Bond is assigned to help KGB General Georgi Koskov defect, covering his escape from a concert hall in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia. During the mission, Bond notices that a KGB sniper is a female cellist from the orchestra. Disobeying his orders to kill the sniper, he shoots the rifle from her hands, then uses the Trans-Siberian Pipeline to smuggle Koskov across the border to the West. In his post-defection debriefing, Koskov informs MI6 that the KGB’s old policy of “Smiert Spionam”, meaning “Death to Spies”, has been revived by General Leonid Pushkin, the new head of the KGB. Koskov is later abducted from the safe-house and assumed to have been taken back to Moscow.

Bond is directed to track down Pushkin in Tangier and kill him, to forestall further killings of agents and escalation of tensions between the Soviet Union and the West. Bond agrees to carry out the mission when he learns that the assassin who killed 004 in Gibraltar (as depicted in the pre-title sequence) left a note bearing the same message, “Smiert Spionam”. Bond returns to Bratislava to track down the cellist, Kara Milovy. He finds out that Koskov’s entire defection was staged, and that Kara is actually Koskov’s girlfriend. Bond convinces Kara that he is a friend of Koskov’s and persuades her to accompany him to Vienna, supposedly to be reunited with him.

They escape Bratislava while being pursued by the KGB, crossing over the border into Austria. Meanwhile, Pushkin meets with an arms dealer, Brad Whitaker, in Tangier, informing him that the KGB is cancelling an arms deal previously arranged between Koskov and Whitaker. During his brief tryst with Milovy in Vienna, Bond visits the Prater to meet his MI6 ally, Saunders, who discovers a history of financial dealings between Koskov and Whitaker. As he leaves their meeting, Saunders is killed by Koskov’s henchman Necros, who again leaves the message “Smiert Spionam”.

Casting

In autumn 1985, following the financial and critical disappointment of A View to a Kill, work began on scripts for the next Bond film, with the intention that Roger Moore would not reprise the role of James Bond. Moore, who by the time of the release of The Living Daylights would have been 59 years old, chose to retire from the role after 12 years and 7 films. Albert Broccoli, however, claimed that he let Moore go from the role. During an extensive search for a new actor to play Bond, a number of actors, including New Zealander Sam Neill, Irish-born Pierce Brosnan, and Welsh-born stage actor Timothy Dalton, auditioned for the role in 1986. Bond co-producer Michael G. Wilson, director John Glen, Dana and Barbara Broccoli “were impressed with Sam Neill and very much wanted to use him.” However, Albert Broccoli was not sold on the actor. Neill said that he never wanted the role. Meanwhile, financial backers at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer recommended Mel Gibson, but Broccoli was not interested. Other actors touted in the press included Bryan Brown, Michael Nader, Andrew Clarke, and Finlay Light.

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Filming

The film was shot at Pinewood Studios at its 007 Stage in the United Kingdom, as well as Weissensee in Austria. The pre-title sequence was filmed on the Rock of Gibraltar and although the sequence shows a hijacked Land Rover careering down various sections of road for several minutes before bursting through a wall towards the sea, the location mostly used the same short stretch of road at the very top of the Rock, shot from numerous different angles. The beach defences seen at the foot of the Rock in the initial shot were also added solely for the film, to an otherwise non-military area. The action involving the Land Rover switched from Gibraltar to Beachy Head in the UK for the shot showing the vehicle actually getting airborne.

Trial runs of the stunt with the Land Rover, during which Bond escapes by parachute from the tumbling vehicle, were filmed in the Mojave Desert in the southwestern United States, although the final cut of the film uses a shot achieved using a dummy. Bratislavan sequences were filmed in Vienna. The outside shots of the Bratislavan concert hall show the Volksoper, while the interior were shot in Sofiensäle. The tram scene was filmed in Währing, Vienna and the border chase was filmed in Carinthia, also in Austria. Other locations included Germany, the United States, and Italy, while the desert scenes were shot in Ouarzazate, Morocco. The conclusion of the film was shot at the Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna and Elveden Hall, Suffolk.

Release, Box office.

The Prince and Princess of Wales attended the film’s premiere on 29 June 1987 at the Odeon Leicester Square in London. In the three days following the premiere, the film grossed £52,656 in Leicester Square and £13,049 at the Odeon Marble Arch before expanding to 18 screens where it grossed £136,503 for the weekend, finishing third at the UK box office for the weekend and second for the week behind The Secret of My Success. The following week it expanded to 60 screens and grossed £252,940 for the weekend, finishing second to Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol. A week later it expanded to 116 screens but remained in second place for the weekend with a gross of £523,264 however finally reached number one for the week with a gross of £1,072,420 from 131 screens.

It went on to gross £8.2 million ($19 million) in the UK. On the film’s opening weekend in the US, it grossed $11 million, surpassing the $5.2 million grossed by The Lost Boys that was released on the same day, and setting a record 3-day opening for a Bond film, beating Octopussy’s (1983) $8.9 million. However, it did not beat the 4-day record of $13.3 million set by A View to a Kill (1985). It went on to grossed $51.2 million in the United States and Canada. The Living Daylights grossed the equivalent of $191.2 million worldwide. Other large international grosses include $19.5 million in Germany, $12.6 million in Japan and $11.4 million in France.