MovieChat Forums > Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) Discussion > NO, Alyson Doody WAS NOT a Bond girl

NO, Alyson Doody WAS NOT a Bond girl

posted 9 years ago by thylacine80
19 replies | jump to latest

I often read that Doody was a "Bond girl" before being in the Last Crusade.

It's not true.
Yep, she was in the 1985's Bond movie "A view to a kill", but the Bond girl was Tanya Roberts.
Alyson Doody played a "blink and you'll miss her" character with maybe 2 lines in the entire movie.

She can be briefly seen when Roger Moore arrives at the castle in Paris, and then at the San Francisco city hall setting the place on fire with the other villains.
But that's all.

Being briefly credited in a Bond movie doesn't mean you're a Bond girl.

[–] The_Ultimate_Hippo 9 years ago

I was very surprised to see that people actually called her a "Bond Girl", she wasn't, she was a minor henchwoman who was in 2 scenes. Honestly until I read IMDB I didn't even realize that she was in A View To A Kill and I am a HUGE James Bond fan. I guess if we are calling Jenny Flex a Bond girl then I guess that photographer at the club in Dr. No who took Bond's picture is a Bond Girl also, as is the Indian Girl who showed Bond his room in Octopussy.

Let's be honest, the only reason she ended up in Last Crusade was because Spielberg was on a mission to cast everyone who had ever been in a James Bond movie, she certainly didn't get the job because of her incredible acting skills.

"I really wish Gia and Claire had became Tanner" - Honeybeefine

[–] thylacine80 9 years ago

I'm not even saying she's a bad actress, nor that she didn't deserve her roles in these movies.

But as we both pointed out, being shown in a scene or two in a James Bond movie is not "being a Bond girl".
So we should call a "bond girl" even Olympe, Marc ange draco's mistress in On her majesty's secret service ?

[–] The_Ultimate_Hippo 9 years ago

I completely agree calling her a "Bond Girl" is one of the dumbest things I have ever heard. I however could not stand her performance in Last Crusade. Every time she opens her mouth I have to push the mute button.

"I really wish Gia and Claire had became Tanner" - Honeybeefine

[–] wwestar 9 years ago

Any pretty woman in any Bond film in any role is referred to as a BOND GIRL it doesn't mean the main female lead.

[–] The_Ultimate_Hippo 9 years ago

So then all of those pretty Arabian girls in the tent when Bond first arrives in Egypt in The Spy Who Loved Me were Bond girls?

"I really wish Gia and Claire had became Tanner" - Honeybeefine

[–] wwestar 9 years ago

Yes, but it mainly refers to speaking parts no matter how small.

[–] Benjatron_Gear_Solid 8 years ago

Would anyone consider May Day to be a Bond Girl, then...?

[–] The_Ultimate_Hippo 8 years ago

NO! She was a villain who changed sides the last 10 minutes of the film (kind of like Jaws).

Dr. Christmas Jones is a bond girl (despite being a very bad Bond girl), Elektra King is NOT she is a villain.

"I really wish Gia and Claire had became Tanner" - Honeybeefine

[–] HarveyManfredSinJohn 8 years ago

As another poster pointed out, 'Bond Girl' doesn't just apply to the female lead in a 007 film. Monica Bellucci barely appeared for more than five minutes in Spectre and she still counts as one; as does Gemma Atherton in Quantum of Solace, even though, once again, she was barely in the film.

Plus this publicity picture of Alison Doody, with her A View to a Kill co-stars, Tanya Roberts and Fiona Fullerton, proves she is a Bond Girl: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/39/39/1a/39391aa7644f4b97b3a9726743590cd2.jpg

As for the poster who complained about her performance in TLC, I don't know what he's smoking, but Alison Doody was not only one of the most beautiful women ever put on screen whilst playing 'Dr. Elsa Schneider', but her performance as a late-twentysomething Austrian scientist was remarkably convincing bearing in mind she was an Irish woman of only 21/22 when she made the film. I for one had no idea she was Irish when I first saw the film.

RIP:
David Bowie (1947-2016)
Alan Rickman (1946-2016)
Prince (Rogers Nelson) (1958-2016)

[–] The_Ultimate_Hippo 8 years ago

So because someone took a picture of her that proves she's a Bond girl? Is that seriously what you are saying? I hope you realize how dumb that sounds.

"I really wish Gia and Claire had became Tanner" - Honeybeefine

[–] The_Ultimate_Hippo 8 years ago

And by the way I will go on record and say that Denise Richards in The World is not Enough gave a better performance than Alison Doody.

"I really wish Gia and Claire had became Tanner" - Honeybeefine

[–] thylacine80 8 years ago

If Alyson Doody is a James Bond girl, then we have at least 150 Bond Girls !!!
That would mean that every female actress who appears in the series is a "James bond girl"... ☺

There is about 6 or 7 girls appearing in a Bond movie at one point or another.

As for the "she's in a picture so she's a Bond girl" thing, it is of course ridiculous. Every actor or actress, or even some extras from the bond movies can be seen on promotional pictures :-)))

[–] HarveyManfredSinJohn 8 years ago

As for the "she's in a picture so she's a Bond girl" thing, it is of course ridiculous. Every actor or actress, or even some extras from the bond movies can be seen on promotional pictures :-)))

And those women or 'girls' would be considered 'Bond Girls'.

Look, as sexist as it might seem, if they're there for the T&A factor, then they count as 'Bond Girls'. 'Rosa Klebb' isn't a Bond Girl, but the model/beauty queen Bond sleeps with in the pre-credit sequence, like Mary Stavin in A View to a Kill, counts.

RIP:
David Bowie (1947-2016)
Alan Rickman (1946-2016)
Prince (Rogers Nelson) (1958-2016)

[–] The_Ultimate_Hippo 8 years ago

You are completely out of your mind.

"I really wish Gia and Claire had became Tanner" - Honeybeefine

[–] ghostly_host 8 years ago

As much as I dislike doing so, I am forced to agree with Hippo on this one. Bond films are FULL of hot women but to say that they're ALL "Bond Girls" is quite a stretch. There is usually at least one main one and then one or a couple lesser/secondary ones in each film. I'd say it comes down to how much screen time, lines and interaction with Bond they have (especially when the interaction includes getting into bed with him).

[–] The_Ultimate_Hippo 8 years ago

Jenny Flex was a very minor henchwoman in A View To A Kill. She had one exchange of dialogue with Bond and it was all about horses and then she later tries to burn him in an elevator. They didn't have any meaningful exchanges, they never had sex, they never teamed up.

"I really wish Gia and Claire had became Tanner" - Honeybeefine

[–] thylacine80 8 years ago

And those women or 'girls' would be considered 'Bond Girls'

Mmmmmhhh...no.
The 18 girls in Moonraker are no Bond girls.
The girl from the opening of goldeneye is not a bond girl.

So alyson doody is still not a bond girl.

[–] The_Ultimate_Hippo 8 years ago

By the OP's logic the girl who checked Bond into the hotel in Dr. No was a Bond girl as was the girl who took his picture at that Jamaican club.

"I really wish Gia and Claire had became Tanner" - Honeybeefine

[–] ghostly_host 8 years ago

I don't really care about the Bond girl thing (I mostly just like the Connery Bonds), but she did make for a fairly convincing Austrian in Last Crusade. She is not the highlight of the film but she fills the role adequately.