Christopher Nolan’s Favorite Sean Connery Movie Has Nothing To Do With James Bond

Landing the role of James Bond turned out to be a double-edged sword for Sean Connery. While it launched his career and made him a household name, the actor was the first to experience what would become somewhat of a 007 curse: he felt he couldn’t escape the shadow of England’s greatest spy. Regardless of how the public viewed him, Connery was at various points seemingly tired of his association with the role, delivering multiple grumpy utterances on the matter throughout his early career, most famously saying (via The Hollywood Reporter) that he had “always hated that damn James Bond” and that he’d “like to kill him.”

Of course any fan of the actor will know that his range extended far beyond Commander Bond. In the years after “Dr. No” kick-started cinema’s most enduring franchise, Connery demonstrated that range in a slew of films designed to prove his talent. 1965’s “The Hill” is one of the most salient examples, in which the Scot teamed up with American director Sidney Lumet to tell the story of five inmates struggling under the harsh conditions of a North African military prison during World War II. Connery played one of the prisoners, delivering a tastefully restrained yet sharp performance that demonstrated his depth of talent beyond Bond.

As the decade drew to a close, Connery donned the tux twice more in “Thunderball” and “You Only Live Twice,” then left Bond behind. That is until 1971, when he was lured back for “Diamonds Are Forever.” But just because he returned to Bond doesn’t mean he had abandoned his attempt to branch out from the action franchise. In fact, one of the conditions of his return to the role was that United Artists would provide $2 million for Connery to produce two films of his own choosing. In 1973, the studio made good on that offer when the actor re-teamed with Lumet for what might be his darkest film, crime drama “The Offence.” Little did he know that this humble picture would inspire a young Brit who would one day become arguably the biggest director in the world.

Christopher Nolan and the Bond franchise have been circling one another for years now. Having made his name by rejuvenating the Batman franchise, Nolan went on to establish himself as one of those rare directors who reliably dominates the box office while also maintaining his artistic integrity. The fact that he’s a Brit with a thoughtful and incisive approach to filmmaking who has proven his ability to shepherd big name franchises would suggest he’s the ultimate choice to take on 007 — and yet, it still hasn’t happened, even though Nolan seems totally up for directing a Bond movie.

While everyone waits for Nolan and Bond custodians EON Productions to get their act together, the director hasn’t been shy about providing his takes on the franchise. Asked about his favorite James Bond movie and actor, Nolan revealed “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” and Timothy Dalton as his picks. What’s that? Not Connery? Well, it seems when it comes to the original Bond actor, Nolan actually appreciates Connery most for his other work — something that would no doubt have pleased ’60s and early ’70s-era Connery.

Not only does Nolan favor a non-Bond movie as his favorite Connery performance, the director is positively effusive in his praise of the late actor’s abilities outside of sleuthing for Queen and country. During an appearance on Dans le Vidéo Club, Nolan picked out Sidney Lumet’s “The Offence” as the best Connery film, saying, “Incredible, that’s Sean Connery — that’s his best performance. A level of craft from Sean Connery just you won’t have seen anywhere else […] that movie is absolutely stunning.”

As well as praising “The Offence,” Christopher Nolan added that it was also “very depressing.” Indeed, the movie is a pretty bleak entry in Sean Connery’s filmography. One of five collaborations between the actor and Sidney Lumet, “The Offence” sees Connery play British Detective Sergeant Johnson, a veteran of the force who has been slowly broken down over the years by the various disturbing cases to which he’s been assigned. The mental burden of his harrowing career ultimately causes Johnson to break during an interrogation of suspected rapist and murderer Kenneth Baxter (Ian Bannen), with the detective beating his suspect before having to be pulled out of the room. Baxter later dies in hospital and the rest of the film focuses on Johnson’s own interrogation as he reckons with his actions.

In all, then, “The Offence” is about as far from the James Bond movies of the time as you could imagine, at least in terms of tone. But it seems to have struck a chord with Nolan, who speaks so enthusiastically about Connery’s performance it will likely inspire you to watch the film immediately. Though the actor ultimately charted a career that stands as a testament to his diverse talent, the fact that Nolan loves one of the films he made to demonstrate that talent during a time he felt pigeonholed would surely sit well with the man himself were he still with us.

As much as he clearly loves “The Offence,” however, famous physical format advocate Christopher Nolan would no doubt be disappointed that Lumet championed the shift away from shooting movies on film.