Bond, James Bond

Jame Bond creator Ian Fleming

The James Bond movies are the most successful movie franchise in Cinema history. Together, the first nineteen official Bond movies have made over $3 billion worldwide. The name is a household one in every country of the world, out globe-spanning even the secret agent himself in its ability to cross borders and cultures. For forty years the series has been an international phenomenon.  Perhaps this is because even though not all of the various entries in the series have been great movies, they have all been great entertainment.

In 1952 Ian Fleming was about to be married. As he spent the summer anticipating the end of his bachelorhood, he needed something to occupy his time. A friend suggested he try writing a novel. Fleming's wartime experience with the British Secret Service coupled with an active imagination, gave him ample material with which to construct a story. With the cold war in full swing, it seems obvious that he would chose to write an espionage story featuring a British Secret Agent. All he needed was a name. A normal sounding name that would contrast with the anything but normal adventures his hero would experience. He chose what he thought was the most boring name in the world, taken from the author of a book on ornithology, James Bond.

This first book, Casino Royale, was a modest hit, but it wasn't until John F. Kennedy listed Dr. No as one of his top ten favorite books, that the world really began to take notice. And when the books were optioned by United Artists to turn into films, it was JFK's choice that decided which would be adapted first.

Relative unknown, Sean Connery, was cast as the debonair British Agent with the license to kill, despite some trepidation by the author, who thought Connery was too rough and too crude. To smooth the edges and make him more believable in the part, Connery was subjected to etiquette lessons.  Any misgivings that Fleming had over Connery were quickly allayed. So taken was the author with the actor's performance that he began writing the books with Connery in mind, giving the literary Bond a Scottish heritage similar to the actor's.

Dr. No was a modest hit, and quickly generated a sequel; From Russia with Love. The movies were gaining a reputation and a strong following. The producers moved fast to capitalize on their success.

The next Bond film, Goldfinger, was to set the standard for all the Bond movies to come. It introduced many of the set pieces and formulas that would be used in nearly all of the future movies.  It pushed them from mere hit status into the phenomenon known as Bond-mania.

Sadly, one month before its premiere, author Ian Fleming passed away from a heart attack. Like his Bond, the author was a heavy drinker, a heavy smoker, and a lover of fine foods. Although his own life was tragically cut short, what he couldn't know was that the life of his creation was only beginning.

Very few movies create an image that will last forever. Casablanca did it, Ben-hur did it, Pyscho did it, Gone with the Wind did it, and Goldfinger did it. The body of Shirley Eaton sprawled naked on a bed, covered in gold paint, was cinematic magic that etched itself on the minds of a generation of moviegoers and is still known today. And that isn't the only well-remembered moment from the movie. Who could possibly forget the machine gun firing, bullet proofed, ejector-seat equipped Aston Martin or Goldfinger's henchmen Oddjob using his metal brimmed bowler hat as a weapon?

Suddenly, the whole world went spy crazy. Competing movie franchises sprang up everywhere. Relying too heavily on gadgets and low production budgets, most of these met with little success. When Hollywood realized that they couldn't compete with Bond, they began satirizing him instead. In Like Flint, and the Matt Helm movies went strictly for laughs, but they are nearly forgotten today. Even the rights to the original Bond novel, Casino Royale was purchased and turned into a comedy featuring David Niven, Peter Sellers, and Woody Allen as different versions of James Bond. And television didn't stay out of the act either. Shows like I Spy, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Saint, and The Avengers, among many others, sprang up, all born from the idea of Bond. Spies were big business.

With the explosion of competition, the Bond producers suddenly found themselves having to up the ante. Forced to top the previous films in their own series and the plethora of Bond-wannabes, budgets increased, gadgets multiplied, and exotic locales became even more exotic. The focus shifted so heavily towards action and special effects that 007 was in danger of becoming just another one of the props.

After starring in You Only Live Twice, Sean Connery was tired. He had gone, in just over five years, from being an obscure former body builder, to being one of the most recognizable faces in the world. Frightened of being forever typecast, and frustrated at the lack of control, he shocked everyone by walking away from the part that had made him a star.

The producers paused to take stock of their franchise. The sixties were coming to close, the spy genre was starting to fade, and quite simply, they couldn't afford to keep topping themselves. After making the decision to keep the movies going by hiring another actor to take on the mantle (Australian Model; George Lazenby), they made plans to make a somewhat more subdued Bond film. For the first time since From Russia with Love, they wrote a script that featured a plot based upon the original book. And by choosing On Her Majesty's Secret Service, this meant that Bond would actually fall in love and get married.

The irony was shocking. The type of movie they chose to make was the type Sean Connery wanted to make. It required real acting, and once again made James Bond the star of his own movie.  It is virtually gadget free.  The surprise tragic ending, when his wife is killed and he holds her body in his arms, was unlike anything ever seen in a Bond movie, before or since. Had Sean Connery still been playing Bond at this point, this would have been the greatest movie in the series. Instead, it is the forgotten Bond and the Bond movie that might have been.

As it was, the movie flopped. Perhaps with Connery in the role, audiences would have accepted the dramatic change from the formula they had become used to, but without him, they wouldn't even give it a chance.

Desperate to revive their franchise, the producers persuaded Connery to come back to the part he had made so famous. They offered him a huge salary, a percent of the profits, and the offer to produce any three movies he wanted. After the four-year break, and with the promise of an enormous payday, Connery welcomed returning to role of the debonair secret agent, on the condition that this would be a one off deal. And even though he looks quite a bit older, and about thirty pounds heavier, in Diamonds are Forever, he is clearly enjoying himself and he quite firmly put the Bond movies back on track. Having learned their lesson, the producers chose their next Bond carefully. When they picked Roger Moore, they knew that while the actor had changed, the formula had to return to the tried and true.

What followed, during the seventies, was a series of big budget, over the top movies, that turned the character of James Bond into a joke and a caricature of himself, but which kept bringing in the money. This is best exemplified in Moonraker, where Bond ends up in outer space, trading in his Aston Martin and Walther PPk for a space shuttle and laser gun.

Even the producers knew they had gone too far this time. They followed up the special effects extravaganza with one of the best of all the Bond movies; For Your Eyes Only. For the first time in over ten years, the James Bond of the movies would resemble the James Bond of the books. The action was intense and most importantly, believable. Roger Moore plays the movie straight, and almost plays his own age, and without being given jokes to rely upon, he is forced to turn in a dramatic role. For fans, it was almost as good as the return of Sean Connery.

Two more Bond movies followed with Roger Moore. Although better than the films of the seventies, the franchise and its lead actor were beginning to show their age. When Moore announced he would be stepping down from the role after his seventh movie, the producers began looking for a new actor to take on the mantle.

Pierce Brosnan was the producer’s first choice, but he was trapped with a catch twenty-two contract in the role of Remington Steele. The producers of the show were going to cancel the series, but when it was announced that he might play Bond, they decided to keep it going, hoping to bank on his fame as 007. The Bond producers however, didn't want their star playing two such similar characters, and so they decided to keep looking. Subsequently, the producers of Remington Steele went ahead and cancelled the series, thus freeing him to play Bond. By then, it was too late. The producers chose Timothy Dalton to be the fourth actor to play James Bond.

Known mainly for his stage work, Timothy Dalton researched his role by reading the original novels and he based his Bond on the literary character that Ian Fleming had created thirty years before. For fans of the books, his performance was incredible. It was his intense portrayal that brought a much-needed sense of danger back into the series. With The Living Daylights, it seemed at last that the Bond movies were once again, back on track.

In only his second outing in the part however, the Bond train derailed again. License to Kill was as close to a complete failure as a Bond movie has ever come. Greeted even less warmly than On Her Majesty's Secret Service, License to Kill was panned by critics and ignored by American audiences due in large part to its departure from the tried and true Bond formula. With a South American Drug Lord as the main villain, some called it Miami Vice meets James Bond and it was not meant as a compliment.  Although still successful in overseas markets, without the American box office to support it, Dalton's License to Kill was revoked.  Rightly or wrongly, it was the actor who took the blame for the movie's failure and it was announced that he would not be returning in the role.  It would be six years before the character of James Bond would return to the big screen.

Finally, it was to be Pierce Brosnan's time to step up and assume the role he had been denied ten years earlier. He had aged into the part and it fit him perfectly.

The original James Bond and still the best, Sean Connery.

With the release of Goldeneye, critics and audiences alike hailed the return of the much beloved movie icon. Two other Bond movies with him as the lead followed. Tomorrow Never Dies, and The World is Not Enough each built in success.

Now, forty years after the first Bond film was released, Brosnan's fourth, and the series' twentieth movie is being released. Having gone from a humble idea in an expectant bridegroom's head, to a worldwide phenomenon, the Bond movies have kept audiences shaken but not stirred, providing a constant hero in a world of inconsistencies.

Its longevity isn't hard to understand, Bond, the ultra-cool super spy is a fantasy that women want, and men want to be. He appeals to everyone, providing a martini of action with a twist of sophistication. With a cocksure grin, and flippant remark, he saves the world and gets the girl all without ever losing his cool.

So here's to 40 years of James Bond, and here's to his creator, Ian Fleming. Let's all slip into a tuxedo, head to the nearest casino, and raise a Martini glass in their honor. Or at the very least, we can slip into our local movie theater and wait for that music to play, you know the music I mean, watch the gun barrel bob across the screen, and escape into the world of James Bond.