My Word Is My Bond

Of all the actors to play James Bond, you have to admit that only Roger Moore seems completely happy with having done the part. He's the only Bond to do audio commentaries for his movies (OK, Brosnan did one, but you get the feeling he was contractually obliged to) and the only one who seems to have enjoyed his time on the series with no regrets. Connery hates it, Lazenby regrets what happened, Dalton is reclusive about it, Brosnan regrets it. You may think he can't act, you may think he is too soft, but Roger Moore is an English gentleman. He is self-effacing, occasionally modest, tremendously witty and a real movie star.

His autobiography, consequently, reflects all of these things. Moore spends the entire book recounting mostly happy tales about his life which was predominantly good. He hardly ever has nasty things to say about people and when he does he leaves the identity of the person a secret (with the exception of David Niven's wife about whom he hardly has anything nice to say). His stories start from an interesting childhood (with some bizarre stories about circumcision) and continue to today, including his recent battle with prostate cancer.

Bond fans will have to wait til about half way through the book before he gets to the seminal character, but it's easy to forget that Moore had done so much more before those movies, including appearing in Ivanhoe, Maverick, The Persuaders and, of course, becoming the definitive Saint. Throughout this time we learn about his contracts with Warner and MGM, and with his hobnobbing with such names as Elvis Presley, David Niven, Tony Curtis, Audrey Hepburn, Joan Collins, Moore comes across as a true old-fashioned movie star. He was Hollywood glitz and glamour, and yet has such a down-to-Earth English attitude, he can draw you into that world and make you feel part of it.

It's hard to review an autobiography because at the end of the day all you can gush about is how well written and engaging the actual story is, but you have to be interested in Roger Moore to start with if you want to actually enjoy the book. If you enjoy Roger Moore, or are curious about some background details of his work, then this book will definitely give you what you are looking for. If not, you probably won't even consider buying it in the first place.