One of the pleasures of watching the James Bond films is finding out what devious plans the latest arch-villain has, and how 007 will find resourceful ways to thwart those evil ambitions before it is too late.
In Roger Moore’s third Bond adventure The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), the main villain was, of course, the megalomaniacal Swedish marine biologist and shipping magnate Karl Stromberg, who lives in Atlantis, an undersea base just off Sardinia. A remarkable piece of design, Atlantis is capable of supporting life both above and below the surface, and Stromberg envisages himself as leader of a new world order in the depths of the ocean.
As with Ernst Stavro Blofeld before him, Stromberg thus has global ambitions: he planned to bring about the start of World War Three between East and West, so that he can destroy much of humanity and live in peace in his marine world. He was kidnapping Allied and Soviet nuclear submarines using his gigantic cargo ship, the Liparus, and – using his own crews – he planned to employ those same submarines to launch their nuclear missiles against the superpowers, leading to Armageddon.
Needless to say, top MI6 agent 007 is on hand to prevent this mad scheme from being carried out, and James Bond works together with top Soviet agent Major Anya Amasova (‘Triple X’) (played by Barbara Bach) to bring about Stromberg’s demise.
Bond Baddie
The man chosen to play Karl Stromberg was veteran German actor Curd Jurgens (1915-1982), who was billed as Curt for the movie. Jurgens was a silver-haired, tall and highly-respected star of films in both Europe and the USA. His breakthrough English-language film had been The Enemy Below (1957), where he had played a U-boat commander trying to save his damaged vessel from a U.S. destroyer in the North Atlantic. The role he played, the war-weary Captain von Stolberg, who is devoted to saving his crew, had won praise from critics for its nuanced portrayal of a disillusioned Nazi.
Interestingly, a recent edition of The European newspaper (issue no.392), in its ‘Great European Lives’ series, offered a profile of Jurgens. The profile noted that, in the mid-1970s, the future of the EON Bond series had come under pressure after The Man With The Golden Gun (1974) had not performed as well as United Artists had hoped at the box office. Bond producer Albert ‘Cubby’ Broccoli, in his first film as solo producer after his partnership with Harry Saltzman had come to an end, was determined to demonstrate that there was still huge mileage in the franchise. Cubby pulled out all the stops to re-energize the series and put a lot of effort into finding the right kind of screenplay.
Early versions of the screenplay for The Spy Who Loved Me had included the return of SP.E.C.T.R.E. and Ernst Stavro Blofeld, but producer Kevin McClory, who was hoping to bring an ‘alternative’ Bond film to the screen, took legal action to stop this, claiming he had ownership ‘rights’ to Blofeld and SPECTRE. Prevented from using Blofeld, the screenwriters for Broccoli’s 007 movie came up with Karl Stromberg instead. Moreover, seeking to repeat the successes of ‘epic’ Bond movies of the past, the storyline for Spy was very similar to You Only Live Twice (1967), but with the sea replacing space.
The profile of Jurgens in The European noted that the German actor relished the role of Stromberg. Although he had played villains in the past, he had also played a series of decent men trying to do the right thing. The opportunity to play an unreconstructed bad guy in a James Bond film was too good to miss: ‘Villains are more interesting than heroes’, he said. ‘Nobody wants to play Faust but everyone wants to be Mephisto’. According to the newspaper profile, Jurgens’ assured charismatic malevolence was ‘key in making The Spy Who Loved Me a box office success’, helping to secure the franchise and ensuring that the actor’s own cinematic legacy would be more than a conflicted Nazi U-boat Captain with a heart.
Roger Moore’s third Bond adventure was indeed a huge hit, and the actor often singled out the movie as his own personal favourite of his seven Bond films. With great sets by Ken Adam, a new car, some wonderful locations, amazing stunts, and a highly memorable henchman in the shape of the steel-teethed Jaws (Richard Kiel), not to mention the hit title song Nobody Does It Better, the tenth EON Bond epic had everything a Bond fan could wish for, and more. Although some critics commented that Jurgens’ villain was low-key and rather flat compared to previous Bond baddies, the German actor was still able to capture the hint of menace that is so key to being a ‘good’ villain. Stromberg is cultured, loves classical music, and has built up a huge business empire, but is also a psychopath who loves to blow business associates out of the sky or feed women to his sharks, and watch this on monitor-screens.
The first meeting between Roger Moore’s ‘marine biologist’ and Stromberg, where the villain tests Bond’s knowledge of undersea species, illustrates this sense of brooding menace well. Moreover, Stromberg’s cold-hearted and almost casual approach to ordering or bringing about the killing of others is typically ‘Bondian’ in its approach to villainy. James Bond, as the movie’s story evolves, comes to loathe Stromberg and his megalomania.
Jurgens the man
Roger Moore, looking back on Curd Jurgens, said they became ‘great friends’. Married five times, Jurgens lived between six luxury homes, and – with an eye for good property investments and a fondness for whisky and good food – he was known for throwing some legendary parties. On the set of The Spy Who Loved Me, his descriptions of his lifestyle in Gstaad apparently convinced Roger Moore to consider moving there himself. Jurgens suggested that Roger and his wife Luisa stay in his chalet in Gstaadt for a couple of weeks while he was away, so that the Moores could consider Switzerland as a possible place to relocate to. Moore liked the area so much he indeed moved there.
Jurgens, in his own understated way, had undoubtedly helped the Bond franchise renew itself. Any claims that the James Bond series had somehow lost its way were rapidly dispelled by the major box-office performance of The Spy Who Loved Me. The cinemagoing public gave the film a massive vote of confidence. Bond was well and truly back.
One of the first publicity photos released during production of the movie.