The Knickerbocker Theatre at Hope College will show three James Bond films during its “Super Spy” series every Friday from August 5 to August 19 at 7:30 p.m. In addition, each film will be preceded with commentary and poetry from Bond aficionado Michelle Disler.
The series will open with “Goldfinger” on Friday, Aug. 5. The 1965 action thriller
stars Sean Connery as Agent 007, who comes face to face with one of the most notorious
villains of all time, Auric Goldfinger. Bond must outwit and outgun the powerful tycoon
to prevent him from cashing in on his devious scheme to raid Fort Knox and obliterate
the world’s economy. The film is rated PG.
“On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” will show next on Friday, Aug. 12. George Lazenby stars as Bond alongside Diana Rigg as Tracy Di Vicenzo in this 1969 action thriller. The duo joins forces to battle the evil SPECTRE organization and investigate the true reason for its powerful leader’s allergy research in the treacherous Swiss Alps. Undercover as a College of Arms genealogist, Agent 007 uncovers SPECTRE’s true plan to launch a germ warfare that would kill millions. The film is rated PG.
The series will finish with “The Spy Who Loved Me” on Friday, Aug. 19. Roger Moore stars as Agent 007, who unites with Russian agent Anya Amasova to defeat megalomaniac shipping magnate Karl Stromberg. Bond and Amasova investigate the hijacking of British and Russian submarines carrying nuclear warheads and uncover Stromberg’s plan to destroy New York City. As they fend off Jaws, a seven-foot giant with steel teeth, they must find a way to save the city from nuclear destruction. The film is rated PG.
Beginning 15 minutes prior the start of each film, Michelle Disler will provide commentary on the film of the night, read from her collection of poetry based on James Bond and even challenge the audience with a couple of Bond questions with signed copies of her book as a prize for the first person to answer correctly. Disler is an assistant professor of creative writing at Ohio Wesleyan University. In addition to her poetry about Bond, she has taught about the Bond films at the college level. Her work has appeared in The Laurel Review, Seneca Review, Lake Effect, Gulf Coast, Painted Bride Quarterly, Witness, Southern Humanities Review, North Dakota Review, Fugue, Hotel Amerika, Fact-Simile and Columbia, where her essay received the Essay Prize. She is also an AWP Intro Award and Pushcart Prize nominee, the latter for her multigenre work on Ian Fleming’s James Bond. Her book, “[Bond, James]: alphabet, anatomy, [auto]biography,” published in 2012, will be on sale after each film.
Tickets are $5. Tickets will be sold at the door but are also available in advance at the Events and Conferences Office located downtown in the Anderson-Werkman Financial Center (100 E. Eighth St.). The office is open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and can be called at (616) 395-7890.
The Knickerbocker Theatre is located in downtown Holland at 86 E. Eighth St.