My Word is My Bond
by Roger Moore with Gareth Owen
Michael O'Mara, HK$224
This cheerful autobiography by the third official James Bond, Roger Moore, reads like it was dictated from a bar stool after a number of vodka martinis. That's no problem though, because the copious anecdotes that make up the book are generally hilarious.
This is a good-natured look back at the British and American film scenes of the 1960s and 70s, followed by some more serious reflections on Moore's work as goodwill ambassador for Unicef.
It is satisfying to discover that Moore, who was knighted in 2003, isn't too different from his on-screen persona. He is genial, with a well-developed sense of camp humour. He likes a drink and a laugh, but his antics - at least those he is prepared to tell us about - are no more dangerous than schoolboy pranks.
Moore was born into a working-class family in South London in 1927. His mother was a cashier in a restaurant and his father a policeman whose job was to draw the dynamics of crime scenes. After losing a job as an animator, the young Moore took some work as a movie extra, playing a Roman legionnaire. In a vague episode, he somehow parlayed this into a place at Britain's prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts.