Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.The greatest role that Roger Moore ever played was not James Bond, but that of Roger Moore: magnetic leading man, swoonworthy sex symbol, debonair gentleman. This is the notion put forward in From Roger Moore with Love, a fittingly slick tribute to the suave actor, who died in 2017. Comprising previously unseen home videos, archive interviews and testimonies from family, friends, co-stars and successors — Joan Collins, Christopher Walken, Pierce Brosnan and more — the film traces how a working-class boy from south London turned himself into a global icon of regal British charm. Steve Coogan’s narration draws partly on Moore’s own words and pays homage to the actor’s penchant for self-deprecation and double entendres.Unusually, this is the story of a rise without a fall. The closest we get to the latter is an anecdote about a mildly embarrassing skiing mishap. But if Moore would become the epitome of eyebrow-arching cool, it was, we’re told, achieved through years of mentorship. It was Irish film director Brian Desmond Hurst who first taught the winsome but diffident young man how to “hold a room”. Then it was Moore’s second wife, singer Dorothy Squires (12 years his senior), who in the 1950s introduced him to A-listers across the Atlantic. In 1968, Moore left her for Italian actress Luisa Mattioli, with whom he spent 30 years and had three children (all of whom appear here).The rest is a slightly hurried tour of the career stepping stones that led to one of the most coveted roles in screen history. While the discussion of his seven Bond movies amounts to little more than a few anecdotes and some effusive words, the documentary accentuates how Moore — facing an early barrage of disdain from critics — was able to make the part his own: lighter, less chauvinistic.For all the praising of Moore’s character, the film can feel impersonal, lacking in detail and insight. And though there are references to his flirtations, affairs and some devastatingly unsexy love letters, the tone alternates between hagiographic and ironic detachment thanks to Coogan’s impish narration.Nevertheless, From Roger Moore with Love is an enjoyable, uplifting watch, shot through with genuine affection for a man who seemingly lived a full life without regrets and who wore his fame as well as his signature tux.★★★☆☆BBC2, Christmas Day at 9pm and streaming on BBC iPlayer
