James Bond, AKA Dr. Henry Jones Retires - A Look at the Career of Sean Connery

Amidst repeated inquiries regarding a possible role in the upcoming fourth installment of the Indiana Jones series, Sean Connery has come out and announced that he will not be appearing in the film and plans on staying fully retired.

Of course this is bad news for fans of the 77 year old actor who has been entertaining movie fans for almost 50 years. Connery stated that if anyone could bring him out of retirement it would be George Lucas and Steven Spielberg but in the end he decided that "retirement is just too much damn fun." So ends a career of over fifty movies and an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Since we will no longer have a new Sean Connery film to look forward to I thought it would be fun to examine his career filled with many highs and many lows and a role for which he will always be identified.

1950's - Connery made a few undistinguished and long forgotten films starting in 1957 and finally got his first role of recognition in the Walt Disney film "Darby O'Gill And The Little People."

1960's - The decade began with small roles in a few forgettable films and then his career took off in 1962. First up was a small role in the acclaimed war epic "The Longest Day," which would be nominated for Best Picture. Later that year he cemented his career with his first appearance as Agent James Bond, 007, in "Dr. No," which was a smash hit. The next year he came back as 007 in the even more popular "From Russia With Love." 1964 was an important year as Connery decided to branch out from 007 but didn't stray too far away. First up was a thriller with Gina Lollobrigida called "Woman Of Straw" which brought critical acclaim to Connery despite the film's failure. His next film, Alfred Hitchcock's "Marnie," was an even bigger flop for Connery and the first in many years for Hitchcock. Just in the nick of time Connery returned to the role of 007 for the blockbuster hit "Goldfinger." 1965 was Connery's best year yet starting with the drama "The Hill," in which Connery gave his best performance to date as a war camp prisoner. He ended the year with his fourth outing as Bond in "Thunderball," which was an even bigger hit then its predecessor. By this time Connery had publicly begun to distance himself from the role that made him famous. In 1966 he appeared in the critically acclaimed comedy "A Fine Madness," but once again the film failed to find an audience. In 1967 Connery reluctantly put on the Bond costume once more for "You Only Live Twice" and, despite it being the biggest hit of his career, Connery announced he would never play the role again citing wanting to expand his career portfolio. Connery's first attempt at moving on was a Western co-starring Bridget Bardot called "Shalako," that bombed both financially and critically. Connery ended the decade with "The Red Tent," another dud.

1970's - The new decade began the same way the last one ended, with another flop. "The Molly Maguires," the story of Irish mineworkers in the 1800's failed to draw an audience. 1971 brought Connery back into the limelight in a big way starting the exciting caper film "The Anderson Tapes," Connery's first hit in four years. Then Connery fans rejoiced when he accepted an offer he couldn't refuse - $1.25 million to reprise his role as Bond in "Diamonds Are Forever." Upon its release that Christmas the film became the highest grossing film in an opening weekend up to that point. Despite its enormous success Connery once again announced he was forever leaving the role behind. In 1972 he began to change his image by playing a disturbed detective who beats a man to death in "The Offense." Audiences apparently were not prepared to see their favorite spy as a bad guy and, despite strong reviews, the film failed. Connery then turned down another substantial payday to play Bond in "Live And Let Die," thus crushing his legion of fans. In 1974 Connery came back to the big screen in two completely different outings. The first was John (Deliverance) Boorman's "Zardoz," a futuristic sci-fi adventure film that was an incomprehensible mess. Sensing this the studio heavily advertised that Connery wears a barely there loin cloth and the film was a mild success. He then appeared with an all-star cast in the film version of Agatha Christie's novel "Murder on the Orient Express," which was a critical and box office success. 1975 was a busy year for Connery who appeared in three movies. The first, a political thriller called "The Terrorists" was so bad it barely received theatrical release in the United States. His next film, arguably his best, was John Huston's film version of Rudyard Kipling's story "The Man Who Would Be King," co-starring Michael Caine. Connery received the best reviews of his career up to that point. He ended the year with the epic "The Wind and the Lion," but the film failed at the box office. 1976 brought the busy Connery back two more times. The first was as an aging Robin Hood opposite Audrey Hepburn's Maid Marian in the wonderful "Robin and Marian." The film was only a moderate success but is now thought of as one of his best. His other film was a forgettable (and box office dud) spy thriller called "The Next Man." In 1977 Connery appeared along with a legion of leading actors in the epic "A Bridge Too Far," but the film was lost amongst a group of bigger hits including "Star Wars" and "Smokey and the Bandit." After a year's absence Connery returned in 1979 with three films, all box office flops. The first was the Victorian caper "The Great Train Robbery" with Donald Sutherland that was written and directed by Michael Crichton. Next up was one of the very worst films of Connery's career starring with Natalie Wood, Brian Keith, Karl Malden and Henry Fonda in the disaster film "Meteor." The film, with its awful special effects, was critically lambasted and laughed off the screen by those precious few who saw it. Connery ended the decade with "Cuba," an adventure/romance that was well received critically but bombed at the box office likely due to the fact that it was released at Christmas and got lost in the shuffle amongst such higher profile films as "Star Trek: The Motion Picture," "The Jerk," "The Electric Horseman," "The Black Hole" "1941" and "Going In Style."

1980's - This decade was filled with many flops but also saw his Academy Award winning performance and his final return to his best known role. The decade began in 1981 with his leading role in the futuristic thriller "Outland," which failed at the box office. Later that year Connery took a small role in Terry Gilliam's "Time Bandits" and had his first hit in years. 1982 was a bad year despite working with two top directors. First up was Richard (The Professionals; In Cold Blood; Looking For Mr. Goodbar) Brooks' "Wrong is Right," a political satire that was neither thrilling nor funny and was a huge bomb at the box office. An even bigger bomb was "Five Days One Summer," director Fred (From Here To Eternity; Day of the Jackal; Julia) Zinnemann's last movie about a romance between an older man and younger woman amidst mountain climbing. The film never received a wide theatrical release. 1983 was the year fans has been waiting for over a decade. Connery came back one last time as James Bond in "Never Say Never Again" and audiences turned out in droves to see the 53 year old pull off the role as if he had played it yesterday. Connery then took a three year hiatus before returning in 1986's "Highlander," a critical disaster and mild box office hit that became a huge cult film after its initial release. Later that year he appeared in the confusing drama "The Name of the Rose" and audiences failed to show up. In 1987 Connery joined Kevin Costner, Robert DeNiro, and Andy Garcia as Chicago cop Jimmy Malone in Brian DePalma's "The Untouchables" and walked away with the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. His first post-award film was 1988's "The Presidio," a forgettable mystery co-starring television actor Mark Harmon. Despite critical disharmony the film was a mild hit likely attributed to Connery's star power. 1989 brought Connery another role that he will be remembered for, that of Dr. Henry Jones - father of Indiana - in "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade." Needless to say the film was a huge hit. Later that year he appeared in the crime drama "Family Business" with Dustin Hoffman and Matthew Broderick. Despite the strong acting the film didn't connect with audiences and the reviews were mixed.

1990's - The new decade started strong for Connery as he appeared in two films in 1990. The first was one of his best performances in one of his best films, "The Hunt For Red October." The film was a huge success. His next film was "The Russia House" co-starring Michelle Pfeiffer, based on the novel by John LeCarre. The film's tedious pace and overlong length lead critics to mostly dismiss it while audiences stayed away altogether. In 1991 Connery appeared only briefly in "Highlander 2" and made a last scene cameo in Kevin Costner's Robin Hood - Prince of Thieves." In 1992 Connery appeared in the adventure "Medicine Man" and had another failure. In 1993 Connery co-starred with Wesley Snipes in the mystery "Rising Sun," based on the enormously popular novel by Michael Crichton that, despite mostly negative reviews, turned into an enormously popular film. In 1994 Connery made "A Good Man in Africa" that was apparently only seen by that man and his family. 1995 saw Connery in two more failures, the first being the murder mystery "Just Cause" and the second as King Arthur in the critically acclaimed "First Knight." In 1996 Connery had his last true smash hit but first came the sci-fi adventure "Dragonheart" in which Connery voiced the Dragon but is never seen on screen. He then appeared opposite Nicolas Cage and Ed Harris in the summer smash "The Rock." In 1998 Connery appeared in two flops, one of them a notorious one for its time. First up was the talky romantic drama "Playing By Heart," which barely played in theaters. He followed that up by playing the villain in the infamous flop "The Avengers." The decade ended with Connery playing a thief opposite Catherine Zeta Jones in "Entrapment," a critical dud but mild hit.

2000's - Sadly this decade has only seen two Connery films and neither will be well remembered. The first was 2000's "Finding Forrester," an earnest drama by Gus Van Sant with Connery as a reclusive writer who befriends a young man. Connery is terrific in the role but the script is weak. The film received mixed reviews but flopped at the box office. Connery's last film (sadly) was 2003's sci-fi adventure "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen," which was a monumental bomb with critics and audiences alike. Connery reportedly feuded with the film's director, going so far as publicly announcing the man "couldn't direct traffic." Connery was so put off that before the film was even released he had decided to retire.

Let's hope Connery one day reconsiders and that he can go out on top again and not leave because of his dis-association with a director. He deserves better then that.