By the time I was old enough to clue in to who James Bond was on the big Screen, Roger Moore was licensed to kill as 007 working for Her Majesty’s Secret Service. Richard Kiel was Jaws and Miss Moneypenny was still Lois Maxwell, born in my hometown of Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. To the best of my knowledge, she’s the only actress of note to ever come out of our city. What’s my earliest memory of Connery? Hard to pinpoint looking back but probably as Bond on the Sunday night movie of the week I guess. Problem in my household was Dad didn’t go for these films so I never really saw any of them till I was in my teens.
Films that I know I saw him in that impressed me at an early age were titles like Robin and Marion, Man Who Would Be King and The Molly Maguires. First theatrical film I saw him in? His Oscar winner, The Untouchables in 1987.
On to the artwork.
Disney lucked out with Connery hitting the big time. It could rerelease this 1959 fantasy and highlight Sean on the posters.
“Let’s not get sentimental, shall we? “
And along came Hitchcock. “I’m fighting a powerful impulse to beat the hell out of you. “
A personal favorite of mine …… “Oh, you crazy bastard! You’d prop up dead men and inspect them if you was ordered to! “
“I’m thinking… you’d better be what we think you are. Cause if you’re not… there’s no hole deep enough to hide this time. “
Never thought much of this one though it has it’s fans so I’ll include it in here.
A John Huston classic and Connery gets the role John had intended for Clark Gable while Caine got Bogie’s. What might have been is anyone’s guess. “Now listen to me you benighted muckers. We’re going to teach you soldiering. The world’s noblest profession. When we’re done with you, you’ll be able to slaughter your enemies like civilized men. “
Love this one that allows a hero to grow old with dignity. “I’ve followed you for twenty years. I fought for you in the Crusades. I fought for you here in France. Show me a soldier and I’ll fight him now. But I won’t slaughter children for a piece of gold that never was! “
Another fun night at the movies if you haven’t seen it. “Find me a dead cat! “
“The rats love parchment even more than scholars do. “
Though he isn’t prominent on the poster, I needed to get this quote in here. “You wanna know how to get Capone? They pull a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue. *That’s* the *Chicago* way! And that’s how you get Capone. Now do you want to do that? Are you ready to do that? I’m offering you a deal. Do you want this deal? “
And making the third film so memorable …. “The quest for the grail is not archeology, it’s a race against evil. If it is captured by the Nazis the armies of darkness will march all over the face of the earth. Do you understand me? “
One from the vault? As is my custom I’m featuring an original one sheet. It’s one my favorite Connery flicks that sees him in a High Noon stand off in space. Wielding a shotgun no less!. For more on the movie and some nice trivia bits, head on over to see the Wolfman’s “take” on the film. As for Connery? I miss him on the big screen but am so glad I was around to see some of his films at the theater.
“Hey, Sheppard. Guess what I just found in a meat locker. 250 pounds of hamburger named Yario that works for you. I also found your shipment of PDE. So, I threw the hamburger in the jail, and the PDE in the toilet. Or was it the other way around? I can’t remember now. “
Mike's Take On the Movies 
Thought you were gonna leave the coolest poster out for a moment there! And two movies of Sean’s that are two of my favorites, and should be more popular: The Man Who Would Be King and The Great Train Robbery.
Those are both great efforts of Sean’s. Keep meaning to revisit them both. Maybe this is the year.
Nice. And yep, I saw Outland back in 1980 and liked it a lot. It has its flaws, but it’s still got it when one needs a reliable lift. Old review link: https://fanboydestroy.com/2012/09/02/random-film-of-the-week-outland/
I’m just about due for another rewatch. Always loved the western feel to it. Connery was perfectly cast in this one and like your review points out, deserves to be a much better known film in his filmography and beyond.
Oops. 1981, lol. Been re-watching a bunch of stuff from the 80’s of late, so my dates are all off by a year or so…
You really hit a good one! Molly McGuires was one we saw in college. Awesome-especially for the Irish of us in the group. Love Richard Harris as well. Great pairing.
Zardoz—what a bizarro film. Watched it one night when I was really ill. Not sure if my illness made it seem strange or it was just strange. I think it was both! Outland—loved it. Really need to see it again.
Love your comments, posters, picks, and memories!
Thanks for dropping in. Big fan of Outland and not likely to ever see Zardoz again. To bizarre and Sean’s outfit is a major putoff. lol. Big Harris fan so yes I too love Molly Maguires. Rugged film with a couple of bruisers. Gotta love it.
Good selection there that encompasses much of Connery’s non-Bond career. I never liked Zardoz a lot either – it’s OK in its hyper-stylized way but that’s about it.
One other I might have added, although I guess it’s not all that highly regarded and probably not that good a film in truth, is Cuba – I think Connery does well in it even if the whole is a bit flat.
Cuba I a real nice one sheet as well. Saw it years ago and yes it left me unimpressed overall. Nice cast if I recall and far better than the film he retired on.
He made a cameo appearance like many others in “The Longest Day.” I was too young to see this in the theatres when it was first released.
Sean along with most everyone else at the time it seems. Also was one of the many featured in A Bridge too Far.
That quote in The Untouchables is priceless, good to use that in any situation you possibly can, Supermarket, waiting to get served in a pub. You just change Capone with whatever you’re after. Finish on “That’s the Chicago way!” hehe
I haven’t seen The Molly Maguires nor Hitchcock’s Marnie (never knew he was in one!!!!)
The Hill, The Man Who Would Be King and Robin and Marian are excellent.
Damn man you got the Outland poster, haha well you were going to weren’t you 🙂 Big respects.
Can I throw in “The Offence” in the pot. Superb Connery in a dark twisted power house performance that really whollops you round the head with a big trout.
https://wolfmanscultfilmclub.wordpress.com/2017/02/03/the-offence-1973/
I looked at the poster to that but it wasn’t all that colorful so I passed on it. Have a blu ray of the film and need to get to it. May have scene it years ago but I’m a bit hazy on that. I should work on that quote and unleash it on some poor unsuspecting soul. lol.
YEP, “THE OFFENCE”…………….ONE OF THE GREAT NON-HERALDED FILMS OF CONNERY’S CAREER AND A GREAT FILM IN IT’S OWN RIGHT!
Yes and I keep eyeing up my recently acquired blu ray to have another go at it. Been a while.