Roger Moore: A Matter of Class

Roger Moore: A Matter of Class (1995)

*** (out of 4)

Michael Caine, Gregory Peck, Carroll Baker, Jackie Collins, Tony Curtis, Lewis Gilbert are on hand to discuss the life and work of British actor Roger Moore. As with most films in this series, Moore is also on hand to discuss his early life as well as his most famous movies including the Bond series.

This was originally a part of the "Hollywood Collection" documentary series but later appeared as part of the Biography series. For the most part this is an entertaining documentary that gives you a bit of details about Moore's childhood as well as information on how he got into acting. From here we learn about his various movie roles but of course a lot of attention is spent on the Bond series. The interviews with his friends and co-stars paint a good picture of the type of person Moore is. If you're a fan then you should be entertained by this.

It's a fantastic documentary introducing Roger Moore not only as a great actor but also as a UNICEF special representative. A very interesting journey through Moore's acting career begins in 1945 „Caesar and Cleopatra' where he was just an extra, but during the break in filming Brian Desmond Hurst, the second director of the movie, suggested him to join RADA. In 1953 Moore went to USA where he signed contract with MGM and played in several films and TV shows. Then he returned to Britain when he starred in his first TV series – „Ivanhoe' which brought him fame in UK. After that he was offered to return to USA and star opposite Carroll Baker in „The Miracle'. Moore was happy about that and soon did his first American TV series „The Alaskans'. Later, when James Gardner left the „Maverick' cast, the producers of the series invited Roger Moore to star in it as Beau Maverick, an English cousin. But it was 1962 when he returned to Britain to become famous Simon Templar, the role he has played for 7 years and the one which has brought him stardom all around the world. In early 1970s he did another series for ITC – „The Persuaders', which also featured Tony Curtis. But fortunately it wasn't as succesful in America as „The Saint' and so Roger Moore was able to follow Sean Connery's steps as James Bond in 1973 „Live and Let Die'.

Moore narrates the documentary, which helps it to be more real and enjoyable. Amongst the stars are Rog's good friends: Michael Caine, David Niven Jr, Gregory Peck, Tony Curtis, Jackie Collins, Lewis Gilbert, Jerry Pam and his son Geoffrey. Moore elaborates widely about his friendship with late David Niven (Moore met Niven in mid 40s when they both worked in animation studios) and Audrey Hepburn (She was his very good friend. They together worked as models in 1948 and played episodes in same movies in early 1950s. In 1991 she introduced him to UNICEF.). Also complains about his beauty and tells many funny anecdotes.

There are many clips from actor's films starting from 1954 „The Last Time I Saw Paris', through: „Diane', „The Miracle', „The Saint', „The Man who Haunted Himself' and the Bonds. There are also some good quality, rare photographs, like f.e. the one showing Roger as a baby. At the end there's some marvellous footage from Moore's journey to Africa, showing him from a very different side, as a man of a warm and big heart. It's really worth seeing.