The Think Tank

Who hasn’t heard those famous words?  Surely if you live in the US or UK you have heard at least that 007 phrase, and probably many more.  If you were ever a young man, chances are you stood in front of a mirror and uttered that line more then once.  After all, it seems to work on the ladies in the movies, right?

The dashing and stylish British spy has been a cult hero since the 1950’s and has been the main character in 21 (official) feature films.  The 007 series is the second largest grossing film franchise in history at $3.9 BILLION world-wide (bested only by Star Wars) and one of the longest running too: there has been a new Bond film every year or two since 1962, save for a few exceptions when legal battles delayed a films release.

With his suave mannerisms, roguish good-looks, witty one-liners and downright awesome gadgetry – who wouldn’t want a car that turns into a submarine or a watch that has a built-in laser beam – James Bond is a staple of American pop culture.  But unless you are a real Bond aficionado like myself (read “geek”), there is some confusion about the franchise.  Many people are unsure of who portrayed the first Bond, what was the first film, and even how many films there have been total.  So, here are the facts about Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.

Ian Fleming invented James Bond in 1952 while staying at his Jamaican resort named Goldeneye.  Bond was named after an American ornithologist who wrote several books on Caribbean birds.  (This was later referenced in Die Another Day when Bond poses as an ornithologist during a foray to Cuba).  Fleming himself was an avid bird enthusiast and was a fan of the real James Bond’s works, so he barrowed the name for his infamous hero.  When asked about the choice of names, Ian Fleming was quoted as saying “I wanted the simplest, dullest, plainest-sounding name I could find, James Bond was much better than something more interesting like ‘Peregrine Maltravers.’ Exotic things would happen to and around him but he would be a neutral figure – an anonymous blunt instrument wielded by a Government Department.”

There is great debate about who served as inspiration for the character of James Bond, but the most likely conclusion is that Bond was based on Ian Fleming himself:  Both served in British Naval Intelligence, both rose to the rank of Commander, and both were renowned for drinking, smoking and womanizing.  Fleming himself would never comment on Bond’s inspiration however, so I guess we’ll never know.  What we do know is that Fleming said the plot for his first novel Casino Royal was based on real (or at least partially real) events from a trip he took to Lisbon with the Director of Naval Intelligence.

The first “Official” Bond film was 1962’s Dr. No, starring Sean Connery.  Other possible choices for 007 were James Mason or Carey Grant.  Fleming eventually settled on Connery after first having dismissed him as being a “overgrown stuntman”, and came to like Sean Connery’s portrayal so much that he rewrote James’ history to include having a Scottish father.  Interestingly, Bond’s mother was named Monique Delacroix, after a young woman Ian Fleming was once engaged to marry.

So… Dr. No was the first “official” film appearance of James Bond.  But what about “unofficially”?  In 1954, CBS paid Ian Fleming $1000 for the rights to produce a made for TV version of Casino Royal, starring American actor Barry Nelson as fledgling CIA agent Jimmy Bond.  This TV movie is not widely known and is not considered to be a real James Bond movie since it was not produced by Albert Broccoli’s EON Productions or MGM, which has produced every “official” film since Dr. No.  (Albert – or “Cubby” as he was known – passed away shortly after the 1995 blockbuster Goldeneye, but his legacy has been carried on by his daughter Barbara, who has produced all of the Bond films since).

In addition to this years release of the new, gritty, series-reinventing version of Casino Royal, there was one other adaptation of of Ian Fleming’s first novel.  It was a very peculiar spoof movie released in 1967, starring David Niven as Sir James Bond and 5 other actors as “fake” Bonds, most notably Peter Sellers.

Another Bond flick that has been reincarnated is 1965’s Thunderball.  The first “official” version starred Sean Connery and is considered in many circles to be finest Bond movie of all time (the other usual front runner being the 1964 smash Goldfinger.)  Thunderball was revamped and re-released in 1983 as Never Say Never Again, also starring Sean Connery and produced by Sony Pictures instead of MGM, who owns the rights to the 007 legacy.  The legal wiggle-room came about because Ian Fleming had some help in writing the screenplay for Thunderball, from a man named Kevin McClory.  With the success of the James Bond Franchise, McClory claimed a right to part of the series and petitioned the courts for the ability to start a rival Bond series with Sony Films.  The courts granted the claim in a limited fashion, allowing McClory to produce the remake in 1983.  Afterward McClory tried again to get permission to start a rival series starring Liam Neeson as 007 in a screenplay tentatively titled Doomsday 2000, but ultimately EON Productions and MGM prevailed, leaving Sony and McClory both shaken and stirred.  These legal battles were the primary reason for the six year lapse between Licence To Kill and Goldeneye.

One of the most consistent traits of all the Bond films is his transportation.  Always sleek, always stylish and always hot off the production lines, James Bond can always be found behind the wheel of a damn nice ride.  The true classic of the franchise is the silver Aston Martin DB5 that first debuted in Goldfinger and made special appearances in 4 other films, despite Bonds penchant for Bentley’s in the novels. In addition to being a beautiful piece of machinery, the DB5 also introduced us to such lavish amendments as ejector seats, radar capabilities, machine guns behind the headlights, rotating license plates, and a special compartment for chilled champagne.  Over the course of the franchise, several DB5’s have been used, one of which sold this year to a collector in Arizona for a whopping $2 million bucks.

Other cars include the Lotus Esprite, the Toyota 2000 GT and the Citroen 2 CV.  Beginning with GoldenEye BMW became a marketing partner, and James started driving Bavarian beauties.  The Z3, Z8, 750iL and even BMW’s first motorcyle, the R 1200 C Cruiser made everyone’s mouths drool in the 90’s.  But come the new millenium 007 was back to his good old English Aston Martins, racing around the ice in Die Another Day behind wheel of a V12 Vanquish (complete with cloaking device) and then demolishing the absolutely stunning new rendition of the DB S in Casino Royal.

To date there have been a total of six actors who portrayed James Bond in the official films.  Sean Connery starred in 6 (plus the unoffical Never Say Never Again for a total of 7) and Roger Moore did 7 films as well.  George Lazenby wore the tuxedo only once for On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, after which he voluntarily left the series because he felt it was losing its audience.  Timothy Dalton took the reins in the late 1980’s for two films before he was replaced by Peirce Brosnan in 1995.  Brosnan had been offered the job prior to Dalton, but was unable to disengage himself from his Remington Steele contract.  He starred in 4 films before being replaced by Daniel Craig in this years rendition of Casino Royal.  I will admit that at first I was very skeptical of Craig, who, Like George Lazenby, does not have the traditional suave appearance we’ve come to expect from Double Oh Seven.  But having seen this new, gritty, reinvention of the series that Casino Royal seems to be, I am quite pleased.  It feels like the production crew is trying to steer Bond back to his roots, casting him as more of the “blunt instrument” that Ian Fleming talked about and concentrating less on the technical wizardry of Q Branch (which did not appear at all in Fleming’s first novel or this latest film.)  All in all I think I am happier with the grittier, more realistic version of Bond even if it means losing the ejector seats and laser-beams, and I think Daniel Craig fits this new bill very well. 

Interesting trivia:

The longest bungee jump ever recorded was for the opening scene of GoldenEye.  Wayne Michaels jumped more then 750 feet from the top of the Verzasca hydroelectric dam in Switzerland.  The stunt took more then two weeks to set up and resulted in less then one minute of film.  And of course there was only one take.

James Brolin, Robert Wagner and Burt Reynolds were all considered and auditioned for the role of James Bond.

Every actor who auditions for James Bond is required to do the same scene, out of From Russia With Love.

Joe Don Baker and Charles Gray are the only people ever to play both a Bond villain and ally.  Baker played the evil Brad Whitaker in The Living Daylights and later CIA agent Jack Wade in GoldenEye and Tomorrow Never Dies. Gray played Bond’s contact in You Only Live Twice and the infamous Earnst Blofeld in Diamonds are Forever.

Desmond Llewleyn, who played Bond’s gadget man Q, was the only person to appear in 18 official James Bond films.  Until his death in 1999, he had been in every film except Dr. No, in which the only gadgets were a watch that glowed in the dark and a Geiger counter.

Five Ian Fleming book titles have never made it to the big screen: The Property of a Lady, Quantum of Solace, Risico, The Hildebrand Rarity, and 007 in New York.

Only one Bond vixen has returned to play the same role in more the one film.  Eunice Gayson played Sylvia Trench in both Dr. No and From Russia With Love.

Both the 2006 Casino Royal and the 1965 Thunderball were filmed at the casino resort on Paradise Island in the Bahamas.

George Lucas based his Indiana Jones title character on Sean Connery’s Bond, which is why he asked Connery to play Dr. Jones’ father in The Last Crusade.

The phrase “My name is Bond.  James Bond” was honored in 2005 by being ranked the 22nd greatest quotation in cinematic history, by the American Film Institute.

“Vodka martini.  Shaken, not stirred” was ranked 90th on that same list.

Only one James Bond title song has become a #1 hit: “A View to a Kill” by Duran Duran.  Several other have made the Top 10 list.

Chris Cornell, who performed “You Know My Name” for the 2006 version of Casino Royal was the first male lead vocalist for a Bond film since A-Ha in 1987.  The song is also only the 5th song to have a different title then the film it appears in.

Shirley Bassey is the only singer to ever perform more then one opening theme.  She has performed three.