One Lucky Bastard

November 10, 2014
This collection of random anecdotes, repurposed jokes and tales of the many personages of Moore's vast acquaintance is as genial as it is superfluous. The 86-year-old former James Bond and star of the â60s British television show The Saint reels off a series of droning accounts, though many are third hand, such as a wheezy tale of Bette Davis' wit, circa 1931. With disjointed timelines and out-of-date references to past Hollywood hot spots like Ciro's and minor celebrities such as Don Rickles, the lack of structure gives the feel of this as a ghostwritten grab-bag of names and notions that didn't fit into his first two works of autobiography. To his credit, Moore makes no pretension about his own acting talents, nor does he exaggerate his celebrity status. He's an amiable raconteur, though his tales of yachting hijinks on the French Riviera are rarefied enough that Moore is really discussing glory days that will resonate with only the most hardcore fans of the Bond franchise and British actors of the 1960s.