Rank the main James Bond allies (films)

Films
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Continuing with a new James Bond list, this week we will be giving our rankings for the 007 main allies. Again, Never Say Never Again is eligible to be included with the EON series.

So, rank Bond’s main allies according to your personal preference.

Here’s my rankings:

  1. Kerim Bey – (Pedro Armendariz) – FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE

  2. Milos Columbo – (Topol) – FOR YOUR EYES ONLY

  3. René Mathis – (Giancarlo Giannini) – CASINO ROYALE

  4. René Mathis – (Giancarlo Giannini) – QUANTUM OF SOLACE

  5. Carter – (Shane Rimmer) – THE SPY WHO LOVED ME

  6. Marc-Ange Draco – (Gabriele Ferzetti) – ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE

  7. Tiger Tanaka – (Tetsuro Tanba) – YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE

  8. Godfrey Tibbett – (Patrick Macnee) – A VIEW TO A KILL

  9. Valentin Zukovsky – (Robbie Coltrane) – THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH

  10. Jack Wade – (Joe Don Baker) – GOLDENEYE

  11. Willard Whyte – (Jimmy Dean) – DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER

  12. Hip – (Soon-Tek Oh) – THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN

  13. Quarrel – (John Kitzmiller) – DR. NO

  14. Raoul – (Emilio Echevarría) – DIE ANOTHER DAY

  15. Saunders – (Thomas Wheatley) – THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS

  16. Sharky – (Frank McRae) – LICENCE TO KILL

  17. Vijay – (Vijay Amritraj) – OCTOPUSSY

  18. Quarrel, Jr. – (Roy Stewart) – LIVE AND LET DIE

  19. Kincaid – (Albert Finney) – SKYFALL

  20. Pinder Romania – (Earl Cameron) – THUNDERBALL

  21. Nomi – (Lashana Lynch) – NO TIME TO DIE

  22. “The Pale King” White – (Jesper Christensen) – SPECTRE

  23. Nigel Small-Fawcett – (Rowan Atkinson) – NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN

  24. Smithers – (Richard Vernon) – GOLDFINGER

  25. Dave Greenwalt – (Colin Stinton) – TOMORROW NEVER DIES

  26. Scott – (Michael Marshall) – MOONRAKER

The top of my list is probably not too surprising except that I have TSWLM’s Carter rated so highly. I don’t know what it is, but I like him and he has a good rapport with Roger Moore’s 007.

For me, #s 1-10 are really strong allies, #11-20 are solid yet unspectacular, and #21-26 are missing quite a bit from being really good allies.

Goldfinger probably has the hardest to find main ally. I suppose if you want to be technical it would be Felix Leiter, but the character is in so many films that I consider him a semi-regular so I don’t put him down as the main ally. Smithers isn’t a traditional ally either, but the pickings are slim–Johnny doesn’t really do anything other than hang out with Leiter so I wouldn’t really consider him either. But if any of you would rather have Felix than Smithers, I understand.

I look forward to your lists.

2 Likes
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  • Kerim Bey – (Pedro Armendariz) – FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE - the most fun and effective one, despite the sacrificial ending
  • René Mathis – (Giancarlo Giannini) – QUANTUM OF SOLACE - the most tragic one, because of the sacrificial ending
  • Saunders – (Thomas Wheatley) – THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS - the most annoying one before the sacrificial ending
  • Marc-Ange Draco – (Gabriele Ferzetti) – ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE - kind of Beyishly fun despite his treatment of women, but very effective in launching the attack on Blofeld
  • Tiger Tanaka – (Tetsuro Tanba) – YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE - Bey meets Draco in Japan
  • Godfrey Tibbett – (Patrick Macnee) – A VIEW TO A KILL - a true Avenger to be avenged
  • Valentin Zukovsky – (Robbie Coltrane) – THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH - funny fake Russian
  • Hip – (Soon-Tek Oh) – THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN - very relaxed before he kind of disappears
  • Quarrel – (John Kitzmiller) – DR. NO / LIVE AND LET DIE - in LALD he is allowed to be a friend who actually sets the explosives Bond needs to win
  • Milos Columbo – (Topol) – FOR YOUR EYES ONLY - kind of nice for a smuggler
  • René Mathis – (Giancarlo Giannini) – CASINO ROYALE - not a lot do do
  • Carter – (Shane Rimmer) – THE SPY WHO LOVED ME - has seen a commander in a shower
  • Jack Wade – (Joe Don Baker) – GOLDENEYE - calls him Jimbo and gets away with it?
  • Willard Whyte – (Jimmy Dean) – DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER - good hostage
  • Raoul – (Emilio Echevarría) – DIE ANOTHER DAY - forgot about him
6 Likes
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  1. Kerim Bey FRWL
  2. Columbo FYEO
  3. Draco OHMSS
  4. Tanaka (Tiger) YOLT
  5. Vijay OP
  6. Mathis QOS
  7. Quarrel DN
  8. Tibbet AVTAK
  9. Zukovsky TWINE
  10. Leiter TB Maybe the best Leiter from the classic Bond films.
  11. Paloma NTTD Honestly is there anyone who doesn’t want her on his/her site?
  12. Leiter LALD You can feel the friendship between Moore and Hedison
  13. Leiter LTK Hedison returns great.
  14. Leiter GF More a sugardad, but a nice guy.
  15. Mathis CR
  16. Leiter DAF
  17. Wade GE
  18. Wade TND
  19. Raoul DAD Could have been one of the best, but to little screen time
  20. Carter TSWLM Ryder is always good as an allie
  21. Manuela Moonraker
  22. Saunders TLD
  23. Hip TMWTGG
  24. Estrella SP Too little screen time
  25. Kincaid SF Unfortunately only in the last part of the movie
  26. Small-Fawcett NSNA Atkinson is funny, but not realy a big help for Bond.
4 Likes
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Kerim is still the king of the allies. Watching FRWL again not long ago confirmed that in my mind. Pedro had charisma and likability that perhaps no one else has managed to express in quite the same way. He has the warmth of a genuine friend and the fact he was in pain while filming makes it all the more admirable.

5 Likes
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Yes, he is the best! It always makes me sad though when I’m watching him, because I always have to think that he was already very ill here and must have been in a lot of pain while he was acting, which makes his performance even more outstanding.

4 Likes