James Bond Meets James West

"Wrong is Right" is the penultimate film of noted writer-producer-director Richard Brooks; in other words "two from the end."

As happened with older directors "back in the day," Brooks total command of his script and his direction rather revealed a certain "out of touchness" that Tarantino keeps warning us about. "The final four of any old director are usually not too good," Tarantino has said, and "Wrong is Right" is within that parameter.

Writing his own scripts led to some overripe dialogue on Brooks' part, or here -- a certain sense of being "20 years too late to the party." New York Times critic took note that Wrong is Right used the phrase "a Ford in Your Future," which "sets the era for the film"(it was an ad phrase during the FORTIES.)

Still the movie tries pretty hard to be Dr. Strangelove and while it misses that mark, it is comfortably within the zone of Mars Attacks! of 1996. Robert Conrad's "General Wombat" wants to nuke, nuke, nuke the opposition just like General Rod Steiger in Mars Attacks!. and President George Grizzard keeps resisting as President Jack Nicholson would in Mars Attacks! too. Still, its pretty much the same script, the same lines, the same characters....maybe somebody could sue the makers of Mars Attacks for this "steal" from Wrong is Right.

But...it wouldn't much be worth it.

Sean Connery took the lead and...tried hard. The movie is a doomsday comedy and Connery is playing an ace television reporter/muckraker/media star...he's never really sure of where the movie is going, but he does what a big star DOES...center the movie. (Watching Connery in the part I figured it likely was considered also for Burt Reynolds or Gene Hackman or even Paul Newman at the time...but Connery got it.)

Leslie Nielsen is in it as a Presidential opponent to President Grizzard...its two years after "Airplane" and Nielsen is starting to find his comedy chops(though 5 years LATER, he would play things dead serious as hooker Barbra Streisand's john victim in "Nuts" -- so he wasn't TOTALLY surrendered to comedy yet.

There are prescient predictions of 9/11 and the Iraq War in the film, just a reminder that the risks were ALWAYS there in the Middle East, it was just a matter of on what day or days the risks would come do.

But its not really a very good movie except...if...

one is a fan of two of the Greatest Spies of the 60s:

James Bond -- on the big screen, as played (first and best) by SEAN CONNERY.

James West -- on the TV screen, as played (first and best) by ROBERT CONRAD.

Its sort of funny to see Robert Conrad -- third billed -- in Wrong is Right. Its like somebody FINALLY gave him a shot at a role in a major Hollywood movie after decades in the TV trenches.

Conrad had "Black Sheep Squadron" as hit TV show and plenty of non-hit "tries," but its his Secret Agent of the 1880's old west -- James West (so rightfully close to James Bond) for which he was famous. The CBS series of course, was "The Wild Wild West" (1965-1969.)

And one watches "Wrong is Right," for a long, long, LONG time waiting to see if Bond and West will ever cross paths.

Well, sort of..

For much of the movie, Connery and Conrad are in different parts of the world -- Connery globe trotting through the deserts of North Africa and the Middle East; Conrad with the President in the War Room ("Nuke em!)

But eventually, near the end of the movie, James Bond and James West ate in the same ROOM -- "HQ" and one watches carefully to see them share the same SHOT, or the same FRAME.

No such luck for a long, long, LONG time...but then Conrad crosses in front of Connery and at least its proof they were on the same soundstage at the time.

Later it gets better: James Bond and James West share the back of a Presidential golf cart and a intoxicated West offers Bond a swig of whiskey that the latter declines.

And then, finally at the very end, there they are: James Bond and James West together , parachutes on their backs, in the back of a military jumping plane, preparing to leap into battle below...together. Connery prepares for battle by pulling off the dubious hairpiece he has worn for the whole movie(the bald Connery had to do a few movies on the 70's/80's cusp in a hairpiece: Cuba, Outland, Wrong is Wright...and as BOND in Never Say Never Again.

Macho James Bond(the original) and macho James West(the original) goad each other into jumping out of the plane and West gets the final line: "Let's kick some ass!"

For a 60's survivor, its almost worth the whole movie of "Wrong is Right" to see James Bond and James West bond together to kick ass -- so what if Bond is about a foot taller than the scrappy West and somewhat more movie starrish in eyebrows, smile, and strapping body.

Its James and James.

Its Movie/TV history.

Its Wrong is Right!