Stacey Sutton

The geologist heiress fighting Zorin in A View to a Kill.

Stacey Sutton is the main Bond girl of the 1985 James Bond film A View to a Kill, a California geologist played by Tanya Roberts.

Quick Facts

Portrayed by: Tanya Roberts
Series: James Bond
Gender: Female
Affiliation: State of California; Owner of Sutton Oil

Facts from the source article.

Background

Stacey Sutton is the granddaughter of a California oil tycoon and lives at Dunsmuir House, handed down from her father's side. As heir apparent she was in line to take over the company, but Sutton Oil was taken over by the billionaire Max Zorin when her father died, and she is locked in a lawsuit against him; because of the protracted legal battle she has sold much of the house's furnishings. She works as a geologist for the state at San Francisco City Hall under an official named Howe. Bond first sees her at Zorin's horse sale near Paris, overhearing him write her a cheque for 5 million dollars; when his henchmen later try to frighten her into accepting the bribe, she tears up the cheque.

After Bond tells her Zorin is pumping sea water into oil wells she tries to alert Howe and is fired. Zorin and May Day capture Sutton and Bond at City Hall and frame them for murdering Howe, trapping them in an elevator and setting the shaft on fire. They escape the burning building and steal a fire truck when officers try to detain them. Entering Zorin's mine undetected, they discover he plans to detonate the Hayward and San Andreas faults and flood Silicon Valley in a double earthquake to win a microchip monopoly.

When Zorin floods the mine she is separated from Bond. Sutton climbs out of the mine through an upright shaft and is lifted by Zorin onto his airship. Bond clings to a mooring rope and anchors the ship to the framework of the Golden Gate Bridge; Sutton knocks out the henchman Scarpine, hits Dr Carl Mortner and tumbles out of the airship, and Bond grabs her hand so she can gain footing on the framework. Zorin falls off the bridge to his death, and Mortner and Scarpine are killed by their own dynamite when Bond cuts the mooring rope. Q's robot camera finds the pair in the shower.

Entertainment Weekly ranked her the second-worst Bond girl in 2006, and Roger Moore later said the two had little or no chemistry; critics note that after her heroic stand she spends the rest of the film wailing for help, and most agree May Day overshadows her.