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Diamonds Are Forever is the seventh James Bond film in the franchise. The book was written by Ian Fleming and was published in 1956, the movie was released in 1971. Diamonds are Forever hailed the return of Sean Connery as the British spy, James Bond.
Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details follow.
Diamonds are Forever follows Bond's pursuit of the head of S.P.E.C.T.R.E., Blofeld. Huge quantities of South African diamonds are being stolen but have not been sold on the market. Suspecting that the stones are being stockpiled to depress prices, the Government orders Bond to assume the identity of a professional diamond smuggler called Peter Franks to infiltrate the smuggling operation and find out who the stockpilers are. With the help of fellow smuggler Tiffany Case, and amidst the bright lights of Las Vegas, he uncovers a plot by Blofeld to create a laser satellite capable of destroying any target on Earth. He uses this weapon to selectively destroy nuclear installations in America, Russia, and China, holding the world to ransom in an international auction, with nuclear supremacy going to the highest bidder.
A notable part of the plot of the movie involves Blofeld's use of the industrial properties of a recluse Nevada multimillionaire (played by Jimmy Dean) by the name of Willard Whyte, the character being a thinly veiled version of Howard Hughes.
The film features a very unusual couple of henchmen for S.P.E.C.T.R.E.: Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd. There is a strong suggestion that they are involved in more than just a professional relationship. Throughout the film, they use several interesting ways of assassinating their victims, from the use of a scorpion to kill a South African dentist, tying the feet of Plenty O'Toole to a concrete boulder and drowning her in a swimming pool, and attempting to incinerate James Bond alive in a crematorium furnace.
Also memorable are the female guards placed by Blofeld over Willard Whyte, named Bambi and Thumper.
Very little of the original novel survives the adaptation to film, though many characters from the original book, plus the idea of Tiffany being a diamond smuggler, are retained, so it isn't a complete "rewrite." The villain Blofeld, however, is nowhere to be found in the original book.
This movie was the second of three Bond movies to have the theme performed by Shirley Bassey. The other two movies were Goldfinger and Moonraker.
The original soundtrack was once again done by John Barry.
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